Remembrance Day 2021: Opera House illuminated with poppies to honour Diggers
Australia fell silent on Remembrance Day to commemorate those who have died in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations.
NSW
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Despite a restricted crowd, hundreds of people descended on Sydney’s Martin Place on Thursday morning for Remembrance Day commemorations.
Returned servicemen, women and their families were among those gathered at the cenotaph on the 103rd anniversary of the end of WWI.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet and Governor Margaret Beazley were among the first to lay wreaths, before State President of the Returned Services League Ray James delivered the Remembrance Oath to crowds who stood silent at 11am.
In his address, Air Vice-Marshall Vincent levarsi paid tribute to Australians who have died and those left behind by conflicts, wars and peace-keeping missions.
“Over the course of the war 416,000 Australians AM CSC enlisted for services, 60,000 and 156,000 were wounded, gassed or taken prisoners. Staggering,” Mr Ievarsi said.
“In the Hall of Memory at the Australian War Memorial, enshrined are these qualities forged by our ANZACS…Comradeship, devotion, resource, audacity and endurance.”
“Our current defence values of service, courage, respect, integrity and excellence are all from drawn from this lineage.”
“That very Australian trait to do anything for one’s mates remains a strong part of the Australian Defence sport spirit and character.”
At dawn, the stirring sound of a bugle rippled across Circular Quay and the sails of the Sydney Opera House were illuminated in a field of poppies, marking the first sign of a day of remembrance.
For the first time in more than 20 years the country paused for remembrance while not being involved in active conflict after Australia withdrew from Afghanistan in July.
‘ALWAYS IN OUR HEARTS’: FATHER REMEMBERS LOST SON
On Thursday at 11am when the country falls silent for a minute, Robert Moerland will close his eyes and think of his son Jacob who was killed in Afghanistan 11 years ago.
On the morning of June 7 2010, Sappers Jacob Moerland and Darren Smith died in Afghanistan in a roadside explosion.
Moerland was just 21 years old.
Thursday marks the first Remembrance Day since Australia ended its engagement in Afghanistan in July after 20 years, 38,000 Australian troops deployed and 41 soldiers killed.
The combat engineer’s father, Robert Moerland, said when he bows his head today, Jacob’s face will be the first to come to his mind.
“Jacob’s face is always the first face that comes in and then it’s followed by his mates and the other 40 that died in Afghanistan,” Mr Moerland told The Daily Telegraph.
“Then it’s just a broad memory of the more than 102,000 that have given their lives whose names are all registered on the War Memorial.”
For Robert Moerland, before June 7, 2010, Remembrance Day was a meaningful event, “but only as an overall thing we heard and thought about”.
“And then our son Jacob was killed in action in Afghanistan,” he said.
“With Jacob’s loss and having seen a lot of his mates come back not the same as when they went over, it just brought home truly how much the soldiers give.
“Even though they have come back, they have still given some of their lives away.”
Mr Moerland said Remembrance Day should also be about those who survived and whose lives have changed as much as they has for the fallen.
“Remembrance is a time for reflection on all that our defence people have given to this country. For those that have come back from serving and that are OK and those that have come back and aren’t OK, whether that be from physical or mental injuries.
“Those that haven’t been affected directly by war or haven’t been to war should just feel that because all those that did go on our behalf, those that came back and those that didn’t come back, they fought so that we here can be safe,” Mr Moerland said.
A DAY OT TALK ABOUT THE PAIN
War widow Gwen Cherne looks forward to Remembrance Day because it is the one day of the year that she and her children do not have to pretend everything is all right.
“It is a day when we can grieve publicly and with the community and we don’t have to put on a mask and be OK,” Ms Cherne said.
“It is so important that we acknowledge what veterans and their families do for us voluntarily to ensure we have the freedoms that we do,” Ms Cherne said.
Her husband, former soldier Pete Cafe, took his own life, leaving Ms Cherne, Lachlan, 6, and Emily, 9, to ensure his memory continues.
“Remembrance Day gives them a chance to talk about their father and hear his stories,” she said.
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