Remembrance Day service in Woy Woy

A Remembrance Day service will be held at Woy Woy Memorial Park on Tuesday, November 11.

Members of the Woy Woy-Ettalong-Hardy's Bay RSL sub-branch will meet at 11am to conduct the traditional service.

Sub-branch president Mr Bevin Router said all members of the public were welcome to attend to join ex-servicemen in commemorating the event.

"Remembrance Day is an important day on the calendar because it gives Australians the chance to commemorate the sacrifices of all members of the armed forces," Mr Router said.

"It is a special day for all Australians to observe, not just those who have personally been affected by war."

Remembrance Day - the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month - attained a special significance in the post-War years.

It was the moment in 1918 when hostilities ceased on the Western Front in World War I, becoming universally associated with the remembrance of those who had died in the war.

World War I conflict had brought about the mobilisation of more than 70 million people and left between nine and 13 million dead, perhaps as many as one-third of them without a grave.

The allied nations chose this day and time for the commemoration of their war dead.

The red poppy is used as a symbol for Remembrance Day because of its abundance in Europe during the First World War.

The poppy is a common weed in Europe and was one of the only plants that grew on the battlefield, as it thrived on disturbed soil.

During the few weeks the plant blossomed, the battlefield was said to be coloured blood red, not just from the red flower that bloomed in great numbers but from the blood of the fallen soldiers that lay scattered across the battlefield.

Artificial versions of the red poppy flower are now worn in many Commonwealth countries and the US to commemorate the sacrifice of veterans and civilians in World War I and other wars.

Clare Graham, 6 Nov 2008 Interviewee: Bevin Router, Woy Woy-Ettalong-Hardy's Bay RSL sub-branch Website, 6 Nov 2008 Australian Government Department of Defence