Thread: REMEMBRANCE DAY - Give one minute for so many many sacrifices

Tomorrow will see me attending a service at my local club.

I have just set the alarm on my phone to remind me. I like to turn the wireless on for this moment.

We observed the minutes silence at work, it was good to see.

Lest we forget.

CAPT RAA. 1803699/8244073

from the ARMY site. Origin of the period of silence...
(just for interests sake)



Silence for one or two minutes is included in ANZAC and Remembrance Day ceremonies as a sign of respect and a time for reflection.


The idea for the two minute silence is said to have originated with Edward George Honey, a Melbourne journalist and First World War veteran who was living in London in 1919. He wrote a letter to the London Evening News in which he appealed for five minutes silence, to honour the sacrifice of those who had died during the war.

In October 1919, Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, a South African, suggested a period of silence on Armistice Day (now commonly known as Remembrance Day) in all the countries of the empire. Throughout the war, whenever South African troops suffered heavy losses on the Western Front, a period of silence had been observed at noon in Cape Town.

Fitzpatrick's suggestion was presented to King George V, who readily agreed to the proposal. But after a trial with the Grenadier guards at Buckingham Palace, at which both Honey and Fitzpatrick were present, the period of silence was shortened to two minutes. It is unclear whether Honey and Fitzpatrick ever met or discussed ideas about the silence.

On 6 November 1919, the King sent a special message to the people of the Commonwealth:

I believe that my people in every part of the Empire fervently wish to perpetuate the memory of that Great Deliverance, and of those who laid down their lives to achieve it.

The King requested that "a complete suspension of all our normal activities" be observed for two minutes at "the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" so that "in perfect stillness the thoughts of everyone may be concentrated on reverent remembrance of the Glorious Dead".

Two minutes silence was first observed in Australia on the first anniversary of the Armistice and continues to be observed on Remembrance Day, 11 November. Over the years, the two minute silence has also been incorporated into ANZAC Day and other commemorative ceremonies.

At league clubs around Australia, the remembrance silence has become part of the now nightly six o'clock (previously nine o'clock) ritual, when any light other than a memorial flame is dimmed, members stand in silence and then recite the Ode.

In recent times, one minute of silence has been observed at Australian commemorative events, such as ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day ceremonies. The reason behind this change is largely unknown

We stopped at 11am at my school to remember, preceded by a short talk in each classroom about what it meant. In my room there were a number of former refugees who have personal experience of the effects of conflict, and who took it particularly seriously. It was great to see the usual clowning stop and all the students getting involved, including those who have grown up in safety in Oz, and showing their respect.

Bought a wrist-band yesterday. Today I wrote a little reading exercise for my students. Re-read 'In Flanders Fields' and got a bit solemn. Its not an anti-war poem, but it certainly highlighted the waste of war. Well-done John McCrae.
Lest We Forget.

Over the past few years I have noticed that wherever I have been working, no one stopped for the minute. Years back some places actually sounded a reminder minutes before the eleventh minute. Maybe that practice was not adopted here ?

Thanks for the reminder. I always try to observe it. The only time I haven't is when I have overlooked it.

At times I have been driving on the highway and pulled over. Many other cars did the same, although many didn't.