Image of Lest We Forget ANZAC Day Poppy
Remembrance Day
11.11.2011At 11am exactly 93 years ago the armistice became operative that bought an end to the fighting in World War One (the Great War) - at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. Remembrance Day was dedicated by King George V in 1919 as a day of remembrance throughout the Empire (Commonwealth) for members of armed forces killed in the Great War.
Today as a nation we tend to overlook Remembrance Day in favour of ANZAC Day. It is however worthwhile to consider more than once a year that in World War One Australia mounted a major war effort - sending 331,781 troops overseas to fight for King, Country and the British Empire.
The casualty rate amongst Australian forces (60,000 killed and 137,000 wounded) of 60% was appalling. Trench warfare meant that many battles were pure slaughter and stalemate was the norm for almost 3 and a half years on the Western Front (France).
One can judge by the war memorials in every town you visit around Australia on which are prominently displayed the dead from the Great War, the enormous impact the Great War had on all communities. Phrases such as "No Man's Land" and "Over The Top" and "All Quiet On The Western Front" have remained to this day in our vocabulary.
Gallipoli forever symbolises the ANZAC spirit but other battles that Australians took part in on the battlefields of France - Somme 1916, Poziers 1916, Third Battle of Ypres 1917, Passchendale 1917, Messines 1917, Villers-Bretonneux 1918 and Second Battle of the Somme 1918 - were all fought at enormous cost.
The red poppy has become the emblem of Remembrance Day as these poppies bloomed across the ravaged battlefields of France and their brilliant red colour was highly appropriate considering the blood of a generation spilled on those fields.
When it is 11am today take a moment to think whom in your family is in their 20's or 30's - husband, son, brother, nephew or cousin - and consider that almost a century ago they probably would have been fighting a war on the other side of the world with a 60% chance of either being killed or suffering debilitating injury.
We indeed live in the lucky country and should take a moment to recall the sacrifices that past generations have made.