On Monday, Orbost residents joined the nation in a solemn tribute marking the end of WWI, 106 years ago.
At the Orbost cenotaph, residents gathered in their largest numbers in years, with three of the ceremonial troop light horse also in attendance, united in honouring the sacrifice and resilience of those who served.
From Australia’s population of just under five million at the time, more than 400,000 men enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force, with over 330,000 serving abroad.
Of these, more than 60,000 never returned, giving their lives in the trenches of Gallipoli, the Middle East, and, most notoriously, on the Western Front in France and Belgium.
Worldwide, the so-called “Great War” claimed the lives of 10 million military personnel, impacting families and communities around the globe when an armistice ended the fighting on November 11, 1918, celebrations in the victorious nations were tempered by grief and sorrow.
From 1919 and every year since, at 11am on November 11, people pause to remember the dead until two decades later when the world was plunged into a second global conflict and no longer could armistice day remain only a day to remember the dead of WWI.
Following the end of WWII, in 1945, November 11 was to be known as Remembrance Day instead.
As she addressed the crowd, president of the Orbost RSL Sub-Branch, Sandra Porteous, reflected on the enduring significance of the day.
“Was there anything in this war or any other, to justify such sacrifices?” she asked, invoking the profound question posed by war historian Charles Bean, whose writings encapsulated the heart of the Australian spirit he witnessed.
“Bean found the answer in the very mettle of the men themselves,” Porteous continued.
“To be the kind of man that would give way when his mates were trusting to his firmness… Life was very dear, but life was not worth living unless they could be true to their idea of Australian manhood.”
Her words highlighted values deeply embedded in Australia’s identity: courage, endurance, sacrifice and mateship – principles that sustained Australians through all the horrors of conflict and our way of life whether it be through civilian acts of courage motivated by nothing else than our concern for others.
The ceremony included the ode, last post, national anthems of Australia and New Zealand, and the Reverend Bevil Lunson’s prayer brought the morning’s tributes to an emotional close: ‘We gather to remember, for if we remember, they did not die in vain.’
