By JESSE GRAHAM and KATH GANNAWAY
UPPER Yarra RSL welfare officer, Dennis Reeves, painted a vivid picture on Remembrance Day of what Australian troops experienced as they endured the second year of WWI.
Speaking to a small gathering, compared to the Anzac Day crowds, he invited the diverse group at the Yarra Junction Cenotaph to take a trip back in time to 1915 where he said over 8000 ANZACs died.
“Unknown to us in 1915, the war will continue for another three long years with the name ANZAC becoming both feared and respected among the nations of the world as they battled their way across Europe and north to Jerusalem,” he said.
Mr Reeves said the First Armistice Day was held in 1919 with two minutes’ silence observed in London and Australia.
At the end of World War II, in 1945, the name of the observance was changed to Remembrance Day as a commemoration of all war dead past and present.
“Today we remember their sacrifice and to those who survived and returned home battered and worn, but still built our towns such as Yarra Junction as we know it today,” he said.
In Healesville, Ryrie Ward councillor Fiona McAllister then made a moving speech to the crowd, to illustrate some of the devastation families back home felt during the “War to End All Wars”.
“As many, if not all of them headed off to war, we can only imagine what it felt like in the weeks and months and often years that followed, waiting for news … in those days before the internet, mobile phones and even just waiting for letters to reach you, while you waited and worried,” she said.
Cr McAllister said those left behind during the wars were “the lucky ones”, and that Remembrance Day served as an occasion to pay tribute to those who suffered fighting for their country.
“And today, as on many days, I pause to remember their incredible contribution and the terrible legacy of war,” she said.
At 11am, everyone at the services also paused to remember the contributions and the sacrifices made by those who came before, and those currently serving the country abroad.
