2011 | 2010 | 2009
Remembrance Day Posters
Remembrance Day, 11 November 2011
This year’s Remembrance Day poster marks the centenary of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), commemorated on 10 July 2011.
Since 1911, the RAN has played an important role both in Australia’s defence and on offensive operations. This began with ships of the RAN assisting in capturing German colonies in the Pacific during the First World War.
While the RAN lost no surface ships during that conflict, the Second World War proved more costly and involved Australian vessels in regular combat from the Mediterranean, through the Indian Ocean and into the waters around Southeast Asia and northern Australia.
In Korea, the RAN played a vital role, providing gunfire support for United Nations ground troops, attacking North Korean shore-based positions and employing the Fleet Air Arm in combat operations from the deck of HMAS Sydney.
During the Vietnam War, the RAN carried troops and provided gunfire against enemy targets on land. Today, members of the RAN are serving on operations in Afghanistan, the Sudan, the Middle East and East Timor, as well as taking on the task of protecting Australia’s borders.
The 2011 Remembrance Day poster features a central image of an unidentified Petty Officer who had served at least three years at sea during the First World War. This is surrounded by contemporary images honouring the role and contribution of the Royal Australian Navy in Australian wartime history and its strength as part of today’s Defence Force. Images are courtesy of the Department of Defence and the Sea Power Centre.
Download the image of the poster (PDF 607KB)
Issue No 8 of Wartime Snapshots contains background information and teaching activities related to the 2011 Remembrance Day poster.
Download the Wartime Snapshots (PDF 1.5MB) (RTF 97KB)
Remembrance Day, 11 November 2010
The 2010 Remembrance Day poster marks a significant anniversary in Australia’s wartime history—the 60th anniversary of the commencement of the Korean War.
The war in Korea began on 25 June 1950, with the invasion of South Korea by North Korea, with the intention of implementing communist rule throughout the country. Australia’s involvement began in June 1950 with personnel from the Royal Australian Navy and Royal Australian Air Force committed to United Nations Command forces. The Australian Army were committed in July but did not reach Korea until September. A major battle involving Australians was the Battle of Kapyong, which saw the 27th British Commonwealth Brigade, including The Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR) head to the Kapyong River valley to support South Korean and New Zealand forces. An Armistice was signed on 27 July 1953 and Australia held a presence in Korea until 1957.
The 2010 Remembrance Day poster depicts the image of a Korean War veteran laying a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier at the Australian War Memorial in July 2010. The fractured image on the left is of Private ‘Bomber’ Brown, 3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR), wearing a bandage to cover a head wound received from his involvement in the battle on Hill Sardine.
Download the image of the poster (JPG 614Kb)
Issue No 5 of Wartime Snapshots contains background information and teaching activities related to the 2010 Remembrance Day poster.
Download the Wartime Snapshots (PDF 993Kb) (RTF 49Kb)
Remembrance Day, 11 November 2009
At 11 am on 11 November 1918, after more than four years of continuous fighting in Belgium and northern France, firing ceased along the Western Front. Following the failure of German offensives in the first half of 1918 and the success of allied armies in the second half of 1918, the Germans in November called for the suspension of fighting, an armistice, as a prelude to a peace settlement.
At 5 am on 11 November 1918, three German government representatives accepted the terms of the armistice which would come into force six hours later at 11 am. Germany had received the armistice terms four days earlier. The terms included the immediate evacuation of occupied countries and the left bank of the Rhine, surrender in good condition of specified numbers of artillery, machine guns, trench mortars, military aircraft, motor lorries, locomotives, railway wagons and all submarines. German surface vessels were to be interned in an allied or neutral port.
The war did not formally end until 28 June 1919 when the Treaty of Versailles was signed but the anniversary of the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month attained a special significance and Armistice Day became the opportunity for the annual remembrance of those who had died or who had suffered in the war. After the end of the Second World War, the name ‘Armistice Day’ was changed to Remembrance Day so that day would commemorate all war dead.
As a mark of respect to those who have suffered and died, people in Australia are encouraged to stop what they are doing at 11 am to observe one minute’s silence and reflect on the loss and suffering caused by war.
Each year the Department of Veterans’ Affairs produces a Remembrance Day poster with a commemorative focus. The 2009 poster features an image of the Flanders poppies, an enduring symbol of remembrance, and is overlaid with the text of the poem by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, In Flanders Fields.
Download the high resolution size image of the poster (JPG 701Kb)
The red poppies which bloomed on the battlefields at Ypres in 1915 inspired Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae to write the poem, In Flanders Fields. He was a Canadian surgeon attached to the 1st Field Artillery Brigade during the battle of Ypres. Over a seventeen day period he worked treating the injured men. The suffering and loss of life he witnessed in the dressing station was hard to bear and the death of a friend and his burial in the cemetery close by moved him to write the poem.
Although McCrae initially threw the poem away, a fellow officer retrieved it and sent it to the newspapers in England. It was rejected by The Spectator, in London, but published in Punch on 8 December 1915.
Issue No 3 of Wartime Snapshots contains background information and teaching activities related to the 2009 Remembrance Day Poster.
Download the Wartime Snapshots (PDF 993Kb) (RTF 44Kb)