Remembrance Day falls on 11th November each year.
On the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month, a minutes’ silence is observed and dedicated to those soldiers who died fighting to protect the nation. The Fallen include many Australian rifle club members.
In Australia and other allied countries, including New Zealand, Canada and the United States, 11th November became known as Armistice Day – a day to remember those who died in the Great War. The day continues to be commemorated in allied countries.
There is no better description of Australia’s commitment to the Great War than that written by Lewis Frederickson and Victor Nurcombe in their Introduction to their recently launched book titled ‘Come On Australia – The Great War Service of Lieutenant Colonel Terence McSharry CMG, DSO & Bar, MC’. The first few pages of the book’s Introduction states:
When Great Britain declared war on Germany in August 2014, the news was met with immediate enthusiasm across Australia. Soon-to-be Prime Minister Andrew Fisher pledged his country’s full support to Britain, the Mother Country, and young Australian men flocked to recruiting centres around the nation. Few at the time considered the conflict would become the Great War of 1914-18, and that the Australian commitment was to be one of the most significant in the nation’s history. From a population of fewer than five million, 330,000 men deployed. Sixty thousand were killed and 156,000 wounded, gassed or taken prisoner. The sacrifice made by the new nation represents a defining in Australian history.
On 25th April 1915, Australian troops landed on Gallipoli to take part in a campaign that has come to shape Australia’s perception of its nationhood, at a time when it was less than 15 years old. It is difficult now to understand that the Australians who fought at Gallipoli, or who nursed nearby on hospital ships, were older than the nation they served. Yet, it was their service, and the qualities of character they displayed during the conflict that the modern nation holds so dear. The soldiers who served on Gallipoli and the many more who followed, went on to serve in the great industrial battles of the Western Front and their perseverance still resonates today. In the last months of the conflict, Australian sailors, soldiers and aviators went on to participate in as series of battles that would ultimately end the conflict.
Australian soldiers on Gallipoli and the Western Front displayed great courage, endurance, initiative, discipline and mateship. Their qualities forged a national legend, and their exploits set a standard for modern Australians. The loss to the nation during the Great War was so significant the Australian Government commissioned the Australian War Memorial, which opened in Canberra in 1941. In the same year, the Official Historian, Charles Bean, concluded his seminal work, the ‘Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918’ with an acknowledgement to these men:
That famous army of generous men marches still down the long lane of its country’s history, with bands playing and rifles slung, with packs on shoulders, white dust on boots… What these men did nothing can alter now. The good and the bad, the greatness and smallness of their story will stand. Whatever of glory it contains nothing now can lessen. It rises, as it will always rise, above the mist of ages, a monument to great-hearted men; and, for their nation a possession forever.
Bean’s admiration for these men and woman was profound. He committed his life’s work to their commemoration, and he felt that ‘Anzac stood, and still stands, for reckless valour in a good cause, for enterprise, resourcefulness, fidelity, comradeship, and endurance that will never own defeat.’ He was correct. These are worthy traits for all Australians to emulate; they remain so today.
It was equally true the Great War was a defining event for Australia. The nation’s contribution to defeating militarism fostered a sense of national pride and unity that surely resulted in Australia’s emergence an an independent nation with its own identity on the world stage. The Australian contributions to the Great War certainly earned the young nation a place at the Paris Peace Talks after the conflict. When US President Woodrow Wilson asked why Australia, a small country of five million people, had a seat at the conference, Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes replied simply, ‘I speak for 60,000 dead’. These sentiments stand the test of time.
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After World War 2, the Australian Government agreed to the United Kingdom’s proposal that Armistice Day be renamed Remembrance Day to commemorate those who were killed in both World Wars. Today the loss of Australian lives from all wars and conflicts is commemorated on Remembrance Day.
On every Remembrance Day, the National Rifle Association of Australia (NRAA) club members are encouraged to dedicate time to remember the sacrifices of those who fought in all conflicts for the security and freedoms Australians enjoy today.
Remembrance Day enables all of us to reflect upon the dedication, commitment and sacrifices of our past and present Defence Force members. This includes the 28,000 rifle club members who enlisted and fought during the Great War, some of who lie buried in far off lands, and the many other rifle club members who enlisted and fought in World War 2.
On Tuesday 11th November 2025, we pause to remember at home, at work, at club rifle ranges and at local services conducted at our Nation’s Memorials.
Lest We Forget
