Remembrance Day in Australia commemorates the noble sacrifices of armed forces and civilians during times of war. At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, one minute of silence is observed across the country to mark the cessation of hostilities on the Western front during WW1 after over four years of gruesome warfare.
Men and women in Australia and around the world have made sacrifices, many have given their lives. Yet the freedom we enjoy was secured at a price. Since Federation, Australian units have served in the Boer War, the Boxer Rebellion, World War I, World War II, Korea, the Malayan Emergency, the Indonesian Confrontation, Vietnam, the Gulf War, the War against Terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq, and in many Peace Keeping Operations around the world.
The Ode is the fourth stanza of Laurence Binyon’s poem ‘For The Fallen’. We read this now and then stand, honouring those who have died with a minute’s silence.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.
