By KATH GANNAWAY and JESSE GRAHAM
COMMUNITIES around the Yarra Valley commemorated Remembrance Day on Monday attending local cenotaphs at 11am to remember those who died in war.
While numbers attending were small, compared to Anzac Day, the sentiment was the same – to pay tribute to Australian servicemen and women who have given their lives for Australia from World War I through to the present day in Afghanistan.
The day was originally called Armistice Day, marking the signing of the armistice at the end of World War I and the end of the war on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month 1918.
It was changed after World War II to Remembrance Day to commemorate all war dead.
A group gathered at the Healesville RSL to pay tribute to those lost to war, with newly-elected mayor Fiona McAllister speaking about the importance of the day and the scale of the destruction witnessed.
“We are gathered here today to commemorate the sacrifice so many have made in times of war and peacekeeping and to remember the importance of peace,” she said.
“We commemorate their ultimate sacrifice here today – we’re here to observe the life and death of those who died and to remember that war is hell-on-Earth, something to be avoided at all costs.”
Healesville’s Bob Gannaway and Healesville High School’s Daniel Garth and Hayley Chandler also spoke at the event, before community members and veterans formed lines and planted poppies and rosemary sprigs to honour those lost.
At Yarra Junction, Upper Yarra RSL member Dennis Reeves put the number into perspective saying
“I can give you 104,000 reasons why we’re here today” including in his talk the loss of 28,000 men in the Battle of the Somme over the battle time.
“That’s five men every two minutes per 24 hours – that’s the approximate population of this valley from Lilydale to Reefton.
“Can you imagine the annihilation of this valley in a time frame of between now and Christmas,” he posed an unimaginable question.
Listing the numbers of Australian lives lost since WWI he concluded with Afghanistan where he said: “Forty men have become heroes the hard way.”
Among those attending ceremonies around the valley, many wore their own medals and those of relatives who may have counted in the sobering numbers.
“If you add up all those lives lost, then you have almost 104,000 reasons why we should remember on Remembrance Day,” he said asking for a minute’s silence for The Ode.
