Remembrance Day
Lest We Forget
Sunday, 11 November 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the Armistice which ended the First World War. It is an opportunity for us all to come together and remember those who sacrificed for our freedom.
At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, people around Australia will pause for one minute’s silence to remember the lives lost, the moment the guns finally fell silent on the Western Front, bringing an end to World War I.
The poppy
Many will recognise the blood-red poppy as a symbol of remembrance, for its worn on Remembrance Day and at other commemorative events throughout the year. There’s no right or wrong way to wear a poppy. The best way to wear a poppy is with respect and pride.
In Flanders Fields – Poem
In Flanders fields, the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
The town gathered on the beach in Bowen to join in Armistice celebrations, 16 November 1918. (John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland, image number 25357)