The nation has fallen silent to mark the 2020 Remembrance Day service, with the Black Summer bushfires and global coronavirus pandemic at the forefront of the annual service this year.
Remembrance Day on Wednesday marks the 102nd anniversary of the guns falling silent on the Western Front on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month at the end of the Great War.
Almost 62,000 Australians died between 1914 to 1918.
Frank McGovern, who is now 100 years old, was among those who attended Sydney’s service in Martin Place on Wednesday morning.
Frank – who was a prisoner of war for three and a half years – told SBS News he was very pleased with the invite to the service, saying it made him “quite emotional”.
“It reminds me of my fellow prisoners of war. An air raid killed off 30 of the fellas four weeks before the war finished,” he said.
“I’ve been well looked after,” he added. “I’ve been very fortunate.”
Frank was on the HMAS Perth in 1942 when it sunk. He managed to survive the sinking, but 375 sailors ultimately perished, including Frank’s brother Vince.
To this day, he is the sole survivor of the 683-man crew that sailed with the HMAS Perth that fateful night, and he says he wants to ensure that their story and legacy lives on.
Reg Chard, 97, worked building airstrips in Papua New Guinea during World War II.
In 1942, the then-18-year-old left his job as an apprentice baker and enlisted in the army.
Reg told SBS News it had been a “real honour” to attend the anniversary service.
He noted his father and his three brothers fought in World War I, but the brothers didn’t make it home.
“My father came home but unfortunately we’ve all got problems,” Reg said. “He still lasted till he was 91, so very, very fortunate.”
Joan McLean, 97, was responsible for coding and decoding secret information about operations during World War II.
Her specific goal was to join the ranks of the growing Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force.
The WAAAF was so desperate for ciphers for the Signals Division that when Joan went to Melbourne for her training, she and the other young women spent only 10 days there instead of the normal six weeks.
Shortly after, they were posted to Townsville where they would continue learning on the job.
The plan was for the women to take the role of men being sent overseas to New Guinea and later Borneo.
Victoria Cross recipient Corporal Daniel Keighran said the qualities that served Australians more than a century ago still applied today, as the nation continues to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
“Australia has been tested by seen and unseen enemies,” one of Australia’s most highly-decorated soldiers told dignitaries in Canberra, including Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
“Wars and pandemics have one very stark thing in common: they do not discriminate by race, gender or age.
“In the darkest days, there is always a glimmer of light found in the mateship, comradeship and loyalty that is at the very core, the essence, of all that it means to be Australian.”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Jenny Morrison lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier during the Anzac Day commemorative service.
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Corporal Keighran acknowledged that the events of 2020 had “changed us all”.
“Like war, they have shaped or sharpened our focus on what is important: family, friends and loved ones.
“Australia truly is a lucky country and even in the most challenging times there is nowhere else I want to be.”
A bugler is seen during a Remembrance Day service outside the Parliament of Victoria in Melbourne on Wednesday.
After COVID-19 disrupted Anzac Day commemorations, Remembrance Day services were smaller this year due to social distancing rules.
But across the nation, Australians still stood at 11am for a minute of silent reflection for the men and women who lost their lives in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping efforts.
Additional reporting by AAP.
