Remembrance Day Commemorative Services were held at Pittwater RSL and Avalon Beach RSL on Monday November 11th. Hosted by the Clubs and their Sub-Branches, these Services marked the 100th year such remembrances and prayers for the fallen have been given in Australia. In the years preceding 1919, and following the Armistice declared on November 11th, 1918, services were held around the country for those who had fallen on a weekly basis - most of them in churches and outdoor areas as no cenotaphs alike those now installed in Pittwater's villages had yet been dedicated.
From Our Special Correspondent
Sunday, July 6, 1919, will long live in the memory of Australians, for in accordance with the command of His Majesty King George it was a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God for the blessing of peace. From one end to the other of our vast continent, wherever there was a place of worship the church bells rang out a great Te Deum. Sydney was blessed with most perfect weather, and though owing to the influenza epidemic the outdoor services had to be abandoned, in every church of every denomination services were held and were crowded, all classes being well represented. It seemed as if the wish to express to the Almighty our gratitude, for His great mercies, and the peace which crowned all, made us 'one kin,' and no thought of creed interfered with our thankfulness.
Just before the Nestor left London a big Peace Ball was given at the Piccadilly Hotel and was attended by all the 'diggers' and many well known Australians who were then in London. Miss Dorothy Brunton and her mother brought a large party, so did Sir John and Lady Monash. Miss Ivy Shilling, Miss Sybil Arundalo, and many other well known folks. Influenza was very bad while our men were in London and still is, but it does not in any way interfere with one's social life. SOCIAL GOSSIP. (1919, July 11). Daily Advertiser (Wagga Wagga, NSW : 1911 - 1954), p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article142254713
The newspapers were filled with notices about sons and daughters coming home:
COMING HOME.
Lieut. W. D. Scott, son of Mr. and M A. W. Scott, of Cavendish-street,. Stanmore is returning, after being on active service for three and a half years. He enlisted in the Victorian regiment He was gassed twice, a wounded twice-once in the knee and once the head.
Lance-corpl. Robert V. Pell, only son of Mr. and Mrs. R. S. Pell, of Glebe Point, is returning by the Dorset, after having been on active service for three and a half years. He is suffering from malaria.
Mrs. M. Moneur, of William-street, Canterbury, has been informed that her second son, Sergt. D. G. Moneur, is returning by the Marathon, after four years' active service in Gallipoli and in France. His elder brother returned quite recently.
Mr. and Mrs. R. C. Marsh, late of Bourke now of Kogarah, have received news that their son, Driver P. P. Whittaker, of a machine gun section, is returning on the Boonah, after an absence of two and a half years.
Mrs. F. Shepherd, late of White and Brenn streets, Leichhardt, has been advised that her son, Lieut. H. J. Murray, D. C. M., is returning to Australia by the troopship Boonah.
Mrs. Chisholm, of Strathalbyn, Colin-street, North Sydney, has received news that her son Lieut. A. R. Chisholm, is returning by the hospital ship Karoola, and is expected to arrive in Sydney about June 25. Lieut. Chisholm served on the Western front, and sine the signing of the armistice has been acting as an education officer.
Mrs. K. Miller, of Hordern-parade, Croydon, has received advice that her son, Driver E. F. Miller, is returning by the Commonwealth, which is due in Sydney on June 16. His brother is expected in July.
Mr. and Mrs. B. Rhodes, of Tasma, Bondi road, Bondi, have been notified that their son, Private Cecil Rhodes, M.M., of the 4th Batt. is returning by the steamer Boonah, after an absence of three and a half years on the Western front.
Mr. W. E. Wearne. M.L.A., has received news that his two sons, Driver D. E. Wearne and Driver Eric Wearne, of the 39th Battery Field Artillery, who have been away for three and a half years, are returning by the steamer China, which will reach Sydney about June 12.
Mr. James Hickey, of Fitzroy-street, Moore Park, has been advised that his eldest son, Sergt. J. J. Hickey, D.C.M., of 1st Light Trench Mortar Battery, is returning to Australia by the Boonah, after being abroad for four years. His two brothers and a brother-in-law are still with their units.
Mr. and Mrs. Honeyman, of Kingston road, Camperdown, have been notified that their youngest son, Ted Honeyman, is returning from Egypt after three years' active service, by the Dorset. Two brothers are still on active service.
Mrs. C. L, Harrison, of Glebe Point and Byrock, Narrabeen, has received information that her son, Lance-corporal C. S. Harrison, is returning by the Boonah. He has been on active service since 1916, and has been wounded twice. He was for some years an alderman of the Queanbeyan Municipal Council, and was later in business at Byrock, near Bourke. - Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Wednesday 4 June 1919, page 8
However, from 1914 on, more page space was taken up with column upon column of those who had lost their lives or been wounded in action. Their names would continue to be listed among the masses of 'In Memorium' tributes which would persist for as long as their grieving relatives would live.
The first Remembrance Day in Britain and the Commonwealth was held on November 11th 1919 at 11 a.m., one year to the day and hour since the Armistice that ended World War One commenced. Australian born journalist Edward George Honey is originally thought to have proposed the idea of an observance for all those who fell in a letter published in the London Evening News on May 6th, 1919, under the pen-name 'Warren Foster', in which he appealed for five-minutes of silence of national remembrance. South African politician Sir Percy Fitzpatrick echoed this idea for observance and called for a period of silence on Armistice Day, 11th of November, in all countries of the British Empire which was approved by King George V. As five minutes silence was deemed too long, two minutes was decided upon.
King George V issued a proclamation calling for a two minute silence: "All locomotion should cease, so that, in perfect stillness, the thoughts of everyone may be concentrated on reverent remembrance of the glorious dead."
Services were held in Australia with some Australians, still on active service or healing in England prior to being shipped home, attending that first Armistice Day Remembrance Service in London.
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