Remembrance Day 2023
On 11 November 1918, the guns of the Western Front fell silent after four years of continuous warfare. The Armistice was signed bringing to an end WWI. In 1918, five divisions of the Australian Corps had been at the forefront of the allied advance to victory. Beginning with their stunning success at the battle of Hamel in July, they helped to turn the tide of the war at Amiens in August, followed by the capture of Mont St Quentin and Pèronne, and the breaching of defences at the Hindenburg Line in September. By early October, the exhausted Australians were withdrawn from battle. They had achieved a fighting reputation out of proportion to their numbers, but victory had come at a heavy cost. They suffered almost 48,000 casualties during 1918, including more than 12,000 dead.
In the four years of the war more than 330,000 Australians had served overseas, and more than 60,000 of them had died. The social effects of these losses cast a long shadow over the postwar period.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning; We will remember them.
Laurence Binyon 1914
Remembrance Day at the Australian War Memorial
Menin Gate at Midnight
The Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing is in Ypres Belgium. "Menin Gate at midnight" is a painting by Will Longstaff to commemorate those soldiers with no marked graves on the Western Front during the First World War. The painting is also known as "Ghosts of Menin Gate". The painting is held in the collection of The Australian War Memorial.
The link below is a video reflection on the inspiration behind one of the most moving and captivating paintings following the end of the First World War.
The inspiration behind "Menin Gate at Midnight"