Remembrance Day commemorates the signing of the Armistice at the end of World War I in 1918. This took place at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. The central element of Remembrance Day ceremonies is the one minute silence.
In 2008 we commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Armistice and a service will be conducted at the Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France. This event has already been preceded by the re-dedication of the Australian Corps Memorial Park at Le Hamel on Saturday 8 November.
http://www.dva.gov.au/commem/rememb/Rem_day.htm
90 years ago on 24 April 1918 Australian troops recaptured the village of Villers Bretonneux from the Germans ending the German advance on Amiens.
This year, 2008, a special Anzac Day dawn service was held at Australian War Memorial at Villers Bretonneux. This is the first time an Anzac day Dawn service has been held on this site.
Since 1919, the memory of the Australian contribution to Villers–Bretonneux has indeed been ‘kept alive’. The town was adopted by the City of Melbourne and funds collected to help with its reconstruction. Victorian schoolchildren raised money towards the rebuilding of the local school which has ever since been known as the ‘L’Ecole Victoria’ (Victoria School). In the school building is the ‘Franco–Australian Museum’ which houses a range of materials dealing with the Australian connection with the town both during the war and into more recent times.
And, since 1919, the men and women of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, on behalf of Australia and all the other countries of the old British Empire and Commonwealth who lost soldiers and airmen in the battles around Villers–Bretonneux, have carefully tended and looked after the war cemeteries and memorials which dot the region.
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Hi all — I am a Canadian teacher who is blogging about my personal journey from ‘techno-dino’ towards becoming a passionate proponent of using technology to make learning more engaging for the students in our school.
Lately my students have been working on a global project called “Powerpoint for Peace” and I was asked to weave together their pieces into a video for our school’ Remembrance Day ceremony. I spent some time looking for ideas, music, and images online to help me come up with the thread that would hold their individual pieces together.
As part of this preparation process, I added this post to my blog. I invite you to take a look and add your responses –> Remembrance Day.
Perhaps some of my other entries will be of interest to teachers in your part of the world.
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