Remember to remember at 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month.
A Remembrance Day service is being held in Cobram on Thursday, November 11, to pay respects to those who have served for Australia.
This will mark the first Remembrance Day service since 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic prevented outdoor gatherings.
The Cobram-Barooga Community Commemorative Committee is organising the service on behalf of the Cobram Barooga RSL.
Committee chairman John Hanlon said he was happy to give community members the opportunity to gather and pay their respects at the memorial.
“Fewer restrictions than were in place in 2020 will draw us closer to the traditional services of the past,” Mr Hanlon said.
Cobram and district residents are invited to attend the service at the Cobram and District War Memorial on the corner of Punt Rd and William St at 10.45am.
Ceremonial support has been requested from the Army School of Health for a catafalque party and the address will be delivered by commanding officer Antony McNamara.
The ceremony will include a fly past by the Murray Border Flying Club at 11am.
Those wishing to lay a wreath should check in with the wreath co-ordinator at the memorial before 10.15am on the day.
“While the original Armistice Day provided a mechanism for remembering the sacrifice of those who died in the quest for peace on the battlefields between 1914 and 1918, or of their wounds, it has since been recognised that many of the survivors of conflicts continue to suffer the effects of war, as do their families, and even those who served on home soil,” RSL sub branch president Rob Brown said.
“As people gather at the Cobram and District War Memorial and pause at 11am on November 11, we hope the inscription reflects their reason for being there – ‘Dedicated to the memory of those who gave of themselves in war that we might live in peace and freedom’.”
All attendees will be required to provide evidence of their double vaccination status and sign in upon arrival.
Masks must be worn if attendees are unable to maintain a distance of 1.5m from non-family members.
There will also be a brief service conducted at the memorial at the entrance to Barooga Sporties commencing at 12.30pm.
This year marks the 103rd anniversary of the signing of The Armistice at 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 — ending the hostilities of World War I.
A symbol of remembrance associated with this commemoration is the red poppy.
Look out for the Cobram Barooga RSL Poppy Appeal stalls in Cobram, starting on Thursday, November 4, with all proceeds put towards veteran welfare.
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
– John McCrae