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On 11 November 1918 at 11 am the guns of the Western Front fell silent after more than four years of continuous warfare. This year marks the 90th Anniversary of the Armistice, when Australians remember those who fought and died for our country in war and armed conflicts.
Letters and diaries held in the Memorial’s collections bring to light what soldiers were doing on the 11th of November and how they felt about their current situation. As would be expected, many of the diaries contain general entries about the weather and warfare.
The Australian War Memorial -blog brings you excerpts that were taken from those diaries.
Captain Walther states that “a pneumonia patient died today” and was buried at sundown. He mentions that at the funeral messages of sympathy “were received from other boats” and the “last post was played”. The Last Post is the bugle call that signifies the end of the day’s activities. It is also sounded at commemorative services such as Remembrance Day to indicate that the soldier has gone to his final rest. Sadly, Captain Walther was one of the soldiers who did not return from the war as he died of wounds in July 1916.(Diary of Captain Bernhardt Herman Walther. PR00937)
