Sunday 18th April 2021
Community March, Service at Cenotaph and Lunch and Entertainment in Palm Room
Sunday 25th April 2021
Dawn Service and Gunfire Breakfast
VP Day/Vietnam Veteran’s Day
Sunday 15th August 2021
Service at Cenotaph and Refreshments in Palm
Thursday 11th November 2021 Service at Cenotaph and Lunch and Entertainment in the Palm Room
Friday 2nd – Monday 5th April 2021
Origins of Remembrance Day
Why is this day special to Australians?
At 11 am on 11 November 1918 the guns on the Western Front fell silent after more than four years of continuous warfare. The allied armies had driven the German invaders back, having inflicted heavy defeats upon them over the preceding four months. In November the Germans called for an armistice (suspension of fighting) in order to secure a peace settlement. They accepted allied terms that amounted to unconditional surrender.
The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month attained a special significance in the post-war years. The moment when hostilities ceased on the Western Front became universally associated with the remembrance of those who had died in the war. This first modern world conflict had brought about the mobilisation of over 70 million people and left between 9 and 13 million dead, perhaps as many as one-third of them with no known grave. The allied nations chose this day and time for the commemoration of their war dead.
The Minister’s Letter follows:
On 15 August we will pause to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, Victory in Pacific Day, ending a war that cost millions of lives across the world.
More than one million Australian men and women fought to protect our country and our allies, fighting in theatres of war from Europe to North Africa, the Mediterranean and the Middle East, to Asia and the Pacific, with the conflict also reaching Australian shores.
As we approach this anniversary, we recognise that it will be one of the last opportunities we have as a nation to publicly acknowledge the remaining veterans of the Second World War, of which there are around 12,000 still with us.
Australia can never fully repay the debt we owe these amazing men and women but, to mark their service, the Department of Veteransâ€™ Affairs is producing a Commemorative Medallion and Certificate of Commemoration for the remaining living veterans of the Second World War.
The Australian made medallion will be presented in a display case and is a small memento for our veterans. This is but a small gesture of appreciation from a grateful nation that we extend to those veterans who fought to protect our way of life in the terrible conflict that ended 75 years ago.
I invite eligible veterans to apply, or their families on their behalf, either online at www.dva.gov.au/medallion or, for those without internet access, by phone on 02 61918217 during business hours. Medallions will be distributed during August.
Thank you for your service.
Lest we forget.
Minister for Veteransâ€™ Affairs
Minister for Defence Personnel