Dear Editor,
Remembrance Day on 11 November 2018 marks 100 years since the Armistice that ended the First World War. At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918 the Armistice ending the First World War came into effect and the fighting on the Western Front stopped.
From a population of fewer than five million people, 416,809 Australian men enlisted in the First World War, of whom more than 60,000 were killed and 156,000 wounded, gassed, or taken prisoner.
Sadly, this was not the last time that Australians have been called upon to fight, and die, for the values and freedoms that also define our national character.
This day has become a day of recognition and remembrance of those who lost their lives to protect these freedoms.
This Remembrance Day we will reflect on over a century of service and sacrifice as we honour more than 102,000 Australians who have died serving our country.
I encourage everyone to pause for one minute’s silence at 11am this Sunday and to wear a red poppy in memory of our servicemen and women who have lost their lives fighting for our freedom in all theatres of war and conflict.
Lest we forget.
Tony Pasin MP
Federal Member for Barker
