Thousands are gathering across the country to remember the more than 100,000 Australians who have died at war and in peacekeeping operations.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is among those attending the Remembrance Day ceremony at the Australian War Memorial on Saturday.
The Canberra service is one of hundreds being held across the country to mark 105 years since the end of World War I.
Poppies illuminated the sails of the Sydney Opera House at dawn ahead of the day’s observances.
Recognising current conflicts still raging across the world, Veterans Affairs Minister Matt Keogh will spend Remembrance Day in the United Kingdom with Australian soldiers training Ukrainian armed forces.
“For more than a century Australia and the United Kingdom’s defence personnel have stood shoulder to shoulder in the interests of peace and stability,” he said in a statement.
Halfway across the world, battlefield historian Mat McLachlan continues tracing the Anzacs’ footsteps through Europe and is still learning new things about the fallen.
Remembrance Day ceremonies are commemorating the more than 100,000 Australians who died at war.
He relayed the story of Phillip “Tubby” Clayton, an Australian Army chaplain who founded a military hangout in Poperinge, Belgium that remains open to this day.
“Tubby Clayton, along with Neville Talbot, opened an ‘everyman’s club’ which provided rest and recreation to all soldiers, regardless of their rank,” Mr McLachlan said in a statement.
“Tubby and Neville expanded out their charitable activities to begin the international Toc H movement, which continues to deliver social service around the globe today.”
Victorian Governor Margaret Gardner will lay a wreath at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance before that state’s service.
Pigeons will be released from the Shrine’s upper balcony, a nod to the peace and love brought by the signing of the armistice to end WWI in 1918.
The commemorations come across a backdrop of lessening interest of the younger generation, with research revealing one in four Australians plan to shun Remembrance Day.
Opposition veterans’ affairs spokesman Barnaby Joyce implored those people not to turn their backs, reminding them they would not be here without the troops.
“It is incredibly important people remember those that gave their lives, were maimed, lost their marriages, became psychologically disturbed and left their lives behind,” he told AAP.
“We’re asked for one minute in return … it doesn’t have to be a big deal, just quietly stop and reflect.”
Source: AAP
