[Editor: This article, regarding Remembrance Day (11 November), was published in The Armidale Express (Armidale, NSW), 12 November 1951.]
Remembrance Day
Ceremony in park
Armidale observed Remembrance Day yesterday with a short, impressive ceremony in Central Park.
On the band rotunda for the opening of the ceremony were the Mayor of Armidale (Ald. W. P. Ryan), Messrs. F. A. Antill and R. B. Gillespie, of the Returned Soldiers’ League, the Town Clerk (Mr. W. H. Quin), Dean M. K. Jones, Rev. H. MacNeil Saunders, Rev. R. A. Bell and Captain M. J. Bedwell, of the Salvation Army.
Armidale City Band was in attendance.
The order of proceedings was the hymn, O God Our Help In Ages Past, introductory remarks by the Mayor, prayer led by Mr. Bell, address by Mr. Saunders, the Last Post, two Minutes’ silence, Reveille, laying of wreaths on the monument by Mr. Antill and the Mayor, and the National Anthem.
Some 30 returned men lined up in front of the rotunda.
The address
In his address Mr. Saunders said:—
“The original purpose of this day goes back to November 11, 1918, when, after four years of the most terrible conflict in the world’s history until that time an armistice was declared.
“For years in the homeland of the British people this day was observed, but very recently His Majesty has given to the Commonwealth a new idea whereby all parts of the British people may commemorate the dead of both World Wars, and this we do without surrendering in any particular our own national observance of Anzac Day.
“The remembrance of the fallen is a grim business and must mean a stirring of broken chords in many hearts. We are called upon to remember the victims who fell in battle. For them death was swift release from the many miseries that the world has since endured. There are, too, the victims of war wounds, of prison camps, and of other after effects of war.
“There are the victims who are disabled and who still carry their disabilities with them, who one by one drop out of the ranks of their comrades.
“There are the victims on the home front, the bombed and the burnt out, and those who shortened their lives by undertaking herculean tasks beyond their strength and who are as truly casualties as those who died in the front line.
“We think today of the Bataan Death March, of the Burma Railway, of the Katyn Forest, the wiping out of the innocent village, Lidice, Rotterdam, and the many sea atrocities in all the oceans.
“It is right that here on the Lord’s Day we should think of these horrible wounds in the soul of humanity, and think of them without the desire for revenge and certainly without hatred.
Gratitude inadequate
“Civic loyalty, gratitude and homage to the fallen are inadequate, though more of these qualities are needed. We think of the implications if such things were adequate. Conquerors and plunderers would be the saints, force and fraud the virtues, the armed forces would become the religion of mankind. Spies would be the priests and fifth column agents the evangelists of a kingdom of hate and horror. We recoil from such a possibility. But we can escape it only by a more ultimate faith, and thus there arises the need for the deeper sacrifice of Calvary in all our hearts, for it was through His wounds that there are healing virtues for deceased mankind. He died not for His friends merely, but for His enemies and thus destroyed the power of death and hatred.
And through the impact of a Christian conscience, enlightened by the contemplation of our remembrance here today, we may hope that disordered mankind may come at last to the peace and goodwill of the kingdom of God.”
Source:
The Armidale Express (Armidale, NSW), 12 November 1951, p. 6
Editor’s notes:
Ald. = an abbreviation of “Alderman” (an elected representative on a city council or shire council; a member of the governing body of a local government)
He = in a religious context, and capitalized, a reference to Jesus Christ (it can also be a reference to God in Heaven)
herculean = (can also be capitalised: Herculean) regarding the effort required to carry out or perform a feat or task of great strength, effort, and/or determination; someone who possesses great strength, determination, or courage (like Hercules); someone who is extremely muscular, or who has an impressive physical presence or size; of or relating to Hercules; the term is derived from the mythological hero Hercules (in Roman mythology, Hercules was a great hero, who possessed amazing strength; Hercules was a Roman adaptation of the Greek mythological hero Heracles, the son of Zeus and Alcmene)
See: “Hercules”, Wikipedia
His = in a religious context, and capitalized, a reference to Jesus Christ (it can also be a reference to God in Heaven)
the Lord’s Day = Sunday, the primary day of communal worship in most Christian denominations; although, some Christian denominations (including the Seventh-day Adventists and Seventh Day Baptists) regard Saturday to be the day considered to be sacred to God; in traditional Christianity, the Lord’s Day is meant to be observed as a day of worship and rest
See: 1) “Lord’s Day”, Wikipedia
2) “Sabbath in Christianity”, Wikipedia
3) “Seventh-day Adventist Church”, Wikipedia
4) “Seventh Day Baptists”, Wikipedia
5) “The Lord’s Day – What is it?”, Compelling Truth
Messrs. = an abbreviation of “messieurs” (French), being the plural of “monsieur”; used in English as the plural of “Mister” (which is abbreviated as “Mr.”); the title is used in English prior to the names of two or more men (often used regarding a company, e.g. “the firm of Messrs. Bagot, Shakes, & Lewis”, “the firm of Messrs. Hogue, Davidson, & Co.”)
National Anthem = in colonial Australia, and federated Australia up until 1984, the national anthem was “God Save the King”, or “God Save the Queen” (depending on whether the reigning monarch was a king or queen at the time)
sacrifice of Calvary = a reference to Jesus Christ, who, by submitting to being seized and crucified, sacrificed himself in order to wash away the sins of mankind; Calvary was the place where Jesus was crucified (according to tradition, Calvary was a hill located outside of the walled city of Jerusalem)
See: 1) “Blood of Christ”, The Encyclopaedia of Spiritual Concepts (“Traditional religious interpretations have been that the death of Jesus was a sacrifice necessary to wash away the sins of mankind”)
2) “Calvary”, Wikipedia
[Editor: Changed “victims who on the home front” to “victims on the home front”, “Conquerers and plunders” to “Conquerors and plunderers”.]
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