People have fallen silent across Australia, New Zealand and Commonwealth nations to commemorate the centenary of the Armistice.
Services of remembrance were held from Sydney to Singapore on Sunday, as tens of thousands of people paused to reflect on the innumerable lives given to a conflict on the other side of the world a century ago.
Large crowds attended the Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in Wellington for New Zealand’s main remembrance ceremony, where a two-minute silence was observed at 11am (10pm GMT Saturday).
The sound of a 100-gun salute rang out over Wellington Harbour as the moment of reflection came to an end and white poppies fell from the cenotaph.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy, the Queen’s representative in the country, addressed crowds that included elderly veterans proudly sporting their medals.
The ceremony also featured a creative performance, He Wawa Warak: Roaring Chorus which evoked the “energy, noise and complex emotion of the moment when war finally gave way to peace”.
“This Armistice day, as we reflect on the human toll of war, we are reminded to value the living and to hold fast to hope,” Ms Ardern said.
“In a world where conflict remains all-too-prevalent we look to how we can achieve a better future.”
Nearly 100,000 served in New Zealand units overseas during the First World War, with around a fifth never returning home.
Some 12,000 people, including veterans and serving soldiers, gathered for a national ceremony of remembrance at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, where Prime Minister Scott Morrison led a minute’s silence at 11am (midnight Saturday GMT).
“It is easy from the vantage point of a century to lose sight of the sacrifices made in our name,” he said in a commemorative address.
“Those who fought in the Great War had the same normal flaws and frailties as any other Australian of any other generation.
“Yet their selflessness at the darkest of times has set them apart for eternity in our nation’s consciousness.”
In Sydney, crowds gathered at the Anzac Memorial, an extension of which was unveiled by the Duke of Sussex during his recent trip with Meghan.
There was also a service at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, albeit amid tight security following Thursday’s terror attack in the city centre.
Some 331,000 Australians served overseas during the First World War, the vast majority of whom fought on the Western Front alongside British soldiers and their allies.
Over 60,000 died in the conflict, more than two-thirds on the battlefields of Europe.
In Singapore, the British High Commission held a service at the Kranji War Cemetery, resting place for 3692 casualties from both world wars.
A special bell was rung to mark the Armistice centenary, while sailors from HMS Argyll, which is currently visiting Singapore, attended the service, along with Gurkha bagpipe players.
In Malaysia wreaths were laid at the cenotaph at the National Monument in Kuala Lumpur during a service organised by the British High Commission.
Remembrance ceremonies were also held on a number of South Pacific Islands.
In Fiji a ceremony was held at the National War Memorial in Veiuto led by President Jioji Konrote, while in Tonga the centenary was marked at the the Cenotaph in Nuku’alofa.
There was also a service at the Coastwatchers’ Memorial in Honiara, the capital city of the Solomon Islands.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here