Remembrance Day 11 November 2026

On the 11^th November each year, we commemorate Remembrance Day (formerly known as Armistice Day), signifying the cessation of fighting between the Allies (including Australia) and Germany at 11 am on 11 November 1918.  The guns fell silent on the Western Front and after more than four years of unimaginable bloodshed and destruction, World War I was finally over.

A ceremony was held at Davey Square, Rochester Street, Strathfield today, organised by the Cumberland RSL Sub-Branch and supported by Strathfield Council.  Greg Read SC, Hon. Secretary of the Cumberland RSL Sub-Branch led the ceremony, which included an address by Rev. Andrew Nixon, Chaplain of the Department of Veteran Affairs and the Mayor Cr Sandy Reddy.    

I was invited by the RSL Sub-Branch to lay a wreath on behalf of the Strathfield-Homebush District Historical Society to commemorate those who served in conflicts, especially World War I.  One of these was my great-uncle who died in August 1918, shot by a sniper’s gun in the Harbonnieres in France.  This occurred only 3 months before the end of the war. He was aged only 22 years and like most of the war dead, his body never returned to Australia.              

At home in Australia, large crowds gathered in capital cities to celebrate the end of conflict. More than 416,000 Australians had volunteered for war service. Of these, 324,000 served overseas and more than 60,000 Australians were killed, including 45,000 who died on the Western Front in France and Belgium and more than 8,000 who died on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey.

Based on information recorded on local memorials, it is roughly estimated that about 1700 men and women served from our local area including Strathfield, Enfield, Burwood and Homebush.  At least 250 were killed in action.

Strathfield Council resolved on 19 November 1918 to: “Recognise the obligations every Australian owes to the men who defended our homeland from German aggression and preserved our free democracy from the evil which threatened to destroy it. Do its utmost to honour these heroes, and to care for them and their dependents. Urge every citizen of Strathfield to join with it in furthering all efforts to this end. Place on record its grateful thanks to those men and women of the Municipality of Strathfield who have rendered energetic and unselfish services in every patriotic movement.”