What is Remembrance Day?

Originally called Armistice Day, the date of November 11 is now known as Remembrance Day, a day when we stop at 11am and observe a minutes’ silence, to remember those who gave their lives in the service of Australia.

A procession in Flinders Street East, Townsville, to commemorate Armistice Day, November 1918.

Photo: Townsville City Libraries. 

The signing of the armistice between Germany and the Allies on November 11, 1918, brought the First World War (then known as the Great War) to an end. In 1919, on the first anniversary of the armistice, at the request of King George V, two minutes’ silence was observed for the first time, at 11am. This was the hour that hostilities had ceased the previous year.

In the decade that followed the Great War Australians dutifully observed two minutes’ silence on Armistice Day. Whilst on the surface it was a day to remember those who had been lost, the commemoration of Armistice Day also carried the hope that the conflict had been a “war to end all war”.

Procession in Flinders Street, Townsville, to commemorate the Armistice that ended World War I,  November 1918.
Photo: Townsville City Libraries.

In 1939 Australia was at war again, and commemorating Armistice Day while the Second World War raged on, seemed incongruous to many people, marking as it did the cessation of fighting in one war, even though we were once again embroiled in another. So the RSL began calling for the day to be more appropriately named Remembrance Day.

After the end of the Second World War, Armistice Day was changed to Remembrance Sunday, at the behest of the British monarch, King George V. In 1946, newspapers throughout Australia reported that:

“In accordance with the wishes of his Majesty the King, Armistice Day will in future be observed on the Sunday nearest November 11. This day will be known as Remembrance Sunday.”

Not everyone was pleased with the change, which first took effect in November 1947. An editorial in the Townsville Daily Bulletin in November 1948 noted the “pathetic passing of a once-honoured day”, remarking that the idea behind the Armistice Day anniversary was “both dramatic and beautiful” and that the people who remembered the first Armistice Day would “never forget it”.

“This year's Armistice, or Remembrance Day, was celebrated last Sunday, and so little of its former glory remains that practically no notice was taken of its observance throughout Australia,” the Bulletin wrote.

The change to Remembrance Sunday seems to have led to some confusion, and according to the Bulletin:

“Although church congregations in Townsville were larger for the Remembrance Day services on Sunday, only a small official body was in attendance at the Cenotaph at 12 noon for the laying of wreaths.”

In Brisbane, where only 175 people gathered at the Shrine of Remembrance in Anzac Square, the State President of the RSL, Mr R.D. Huish, felt that the crowd was small because people were still confused over the replacing of Armistice Day with Remembrance Sunday.

In 1949, the RSL sought to have the commemoration reverted to November 11 each year. Mr Huish said that the league believed the change had “brought about a loss of significance to the Armistice commemoration.”

By November 11, 1950, the Federal Government had bowed to pressure from nearly all the State Governments, the RSL and Church authorities, to revert to November 11 as the day of commemoration, which has since that date been referred to as Remembrance Day.

Prelude to Peace

The signing of the Armistice between Germany and the Allies on 11 November, 1918 signalled the end of the First World War and sparked a celebration in Townsville, the likes of which the city had never seen before. 

A float outside the Railway Station, ready to celebrate the Armistice signed between Germany and the Allies on 11 November 1918.  Photo: CityLibraries Townsville Local History Collection

The first news about the signing of the Armistice reached Townsville on Friday, 8 November, and the Mayor, Alderman J E. Clegg, invited the public to gather together at the Town Hall at noon the next day. However, this news turned out to be premature, as the agreement hadn’t been signed yet. 

Considering that the events of the previous few days all pointed to the likely cessation of hostilities, Alderman Clegg felt it was only a question of hours before the German command gave way, so the celebration went ahead anyway. At the Mayor’s request, all businesses closed at 11.30 am, and a procession was organised by the Returned Soldiers’ Association which marched from the Post Office to the Railway Station and back to the Town Hall. 

Floats in Flinders Street, celebrating the signing of the Armistice, November 1918.
Photo:  CityLibraries Townsville Local History Collection.

The signing of the Armistice remained unconfirmed until the night of Monday, 11 November. The following day there were jubilant celebrations in Townsville. Most of the workers in the railway workshops, the waterside workers and employees of local traders, marched in Flinders Street from 9.30 am until noon. The City Council’s regular meeting was postponed. 

At 3 o’clock a crowd assembled in front of the Railway station, with all sections of the community eager to participate. The procession was made up of an estimated 55 motor vehicles, 36 motor and horse lorries and about 100 cabs, buggies and spring carts, all of which were elaborately decorated. 

Crowds assemble outside the Town Hall in Flinders Street, celebrating the signing of the Armistice, November 1918.
Photo:  CityLibraries Townsville Local History Collection.

The procession stretched over a mile and a half and passed through Flinders Street three times. Celebrations went on into the evening and included a huge bonfire on top of Castle Hill, and a patriotic concert held on The Strand. 

The Cairns Post considered Townsville’s enthusiasm for the celebrations “unprecedented”, and described all the colour and noise of the celebrations on 12 November. 

“Early in the morning the whistles of vessels in the harbour were set going and continued for hours. The waterside workers took up the movement by ceasing all work, and headed by two motor lorries bedecked with flags and accompanied by a couple of pipers, marched into town and along Flinders Street.” 

Parade celebrating the Armistice in Flinders Street East, Burns Philp building on the left, 12 November 1918.
Photo: CityLibraries Townsville Local History Collection.

“One by one the business places closed and bevies of girls rushing into the street with flags of all sorts, commandeered whatever vehicles were available, delivery vans, motor and horse vehicles, and tradesmen’s carts, and within an hour the main street presented an unprecedented spectacle.” 

“All sorts of toy trumpets, bullock bells, kerosene tins, dinner gongs and anything that could produce a noise, was called into requisition, and the din was continuous, until lunch.” 

“An adjournment was then made until 4 pm, when the most remarkable procession ever seen in Townsville paraded the main street, accompanied by three bands, two orchestras, pipers and a bugle band. The decorations of all conceivable kinds of vehicles were brilliant, and the throngs lining the streets were immense.”

Women and children crowd on to a motor vehicle in the parade to celebrate the Armistice that ended World War I.
Photo: CityLibraries Townsville Local History Collection.