Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day (11 November) marks the anniversary of the armistice which ended the First World War (1914–18). Each year Australians observe one minute silence at 11 am on 11 November, in memory of those who died or suffered in all wars and armed conflicts.

Armistice Day

In late 1918, after more than four years of bitter fighting, Allied forces finally broke stubborn German resistance and forced Germany to sue for peace. Entire nations cheered as fighting ceased and the armistice took effect at 11am on the 11th November 1918.

One year later the first commemorations to mark the end of the war were held across the Commonwealth on the 11th November 1919. At the request of King George V the people of the Empire ceased work at 11am to hold a two minute vigil to remember the fallen. This vigil would evolve into the minute's silence of today's Remembrance Day services.

Remembrance Day 

By the end of the Second World War Armistice Day had grown from solely a remembrance of  the men and women of the Great War into something larger, becoming a day to honour all those who had fallen in war.  With this evolution came a change of name and the 11th of November became known as Remembrance Day.

Under this name Australians today remember all those who served and sacrificed during times of war and on peacekeeping operations in recent decades each November 11. Services are held at memorials, RSL clubs and schools across the country and 11am on this day, each including a minute's silence dedicated to the fallen.

The Shrine of Remembrance

Armistice Day was also the date chosen for two key events at the Shrine of Remembrance - the foundation stone of Victoria's Great War memorial was laid in 1927 and the Shrine was officially dedicated on the 11th November 1934. The dedication was witnessed by more than 300, 000 people, more than half the population of Melbourne and the largest crowd seen in Australia at that time.