Australia and PNG honor fallen soldiers on Armistice Day
the Pacific, Mr Ewen McDonald, Commander of the 1st (Australian) Division, Major General Ashley Collingburn, and senior ADF leadership (Image: AHC Media)
An Armistice Day ceremony was held today at the Bomana War Cemetery in Port Moresby to remember those who lost their lives in wars and conflicts.
Armistice Day, also known as Remembrance Day, marks the end of the First World War in 1918, when the guns fell silent on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. A minute of silence was observed at 11 am to honor the fallen.
Speaking at the ceremony, Australian High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea and Special Envoy to the Pacific, Ewen McDonald, reflected on PNG’s special place in Australia’s war history.
He said that while many Australians remember Kokoda and the Battle of the Coral Sea from the Second World War, New Guinea was also the site of Australia’s first battles and deaths during the First World War.
“New Guinea was where Australia’s first successful combat action took place, capturing an enemy radio station in Rabaul, East New Britain,” he said.
Philip Polewara; Australian High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea and Special Envoy to the Pacific, Mr Ewen McDonald, Commander of the 1st (Australian) Division, Major General Ashley Collingburn; Commander 17th Sustainment Brigade, Brigadier Rebecca Talbot. Pictured at Bomana War Cemetery for the Armistice Day commemoration ceremony. (Image: AHC Media)
The ceremony also featured a recital of the famous war poem In Flanders Fields by visiting Australian Defence Force Chaplain Lieutenant Colonel Michael Folland. The poem describes the red poppies that grew on battlefields in northern France and Belgium, now a lasting symbol of remembrance.
The commemoration was attended by the visiting Commander of the 1st Australian Division, Major General Ashley Collingburn, Australian Defence Adviser Colonel Nicholas Trotter, and several members of the diplomatic and defence community.
