It may have been wet and cold for this year’s Remembrance Day, but that did not deter Lilydale locals from attending the 11am service on 11 November.
Umbrellas and winter clothing donned, the flag at half mast, the Lilydale CFA siren sounded over the township of Lilydale as the community gathered in sombre silence at the War Memorial.
Lilydale RSL treasurer John O’Donoghue opened the service, following a minute’s silence, recalling the significance and history of Remembrance Day.
He cited the first iteration of Remembrance Day, observed in 1919, and the suggestion from Australian journalist Edward George Honey, who wrote to the London Evening News in May 1919 that a five-minute silence be put into practice.
The monarch at the time, King George, instead insisted on perfect stillness, seeking all movement and locomotion cease, so “the thoughts of everyone could be concentrated on reverent remembrance with a two-minute silence”.
The five minutes were never taken up, but the observation of a minute’s silence began with two minutes.
“Now on Remembrance Day, we commemorate the loss of Australian lives in all wars, in conflicts and peacekeeping operations, and on this remembrance day in 2025, it’s also a time to reflect on the price paid by those who have gone before us to secure the freedoms and the way of life that we enjoy today,” Mr O’Donoghue said.
“And it is a reminder that with the world once again suffering with conflict and tensions, including our own Asia Pacific area, that we may once again be called upon to defend those freedoms, and we should ask ourselves, are we prepared to make the sacrifices as those before us have done in order to keep our way of life and our freedom?”
Evelyn MP Bridget Vallence spoke of the sacrifice made by so many Australians in the First World War and of course, the 672 men from Lilydale who volunteered, of whom 129 never returned.
“Australia’s contribution to the war effort was both great and costly. More than 332,000 Australians fought in the Great War, and Australia paid a terrible price. More than 60,000 Australians died, 45,000 on the Western Front, and 152,000 were left wounded,” she said.
“Those grim statistics mean that only one out of three Australians who went to war got through it unscathed, at least physically, with a population of only four million in Australia at that time.”
She spoke of Ralph Goode, the first man from Lilydale to join the Australian Imperial Forces at the age of 26.
He served in the Second Field Ambulance Unit as a stretcher bearer at Gallipoli before being transferred to the Western Front where he completed three and a half years.
Ms Vallence also paid special attention to the nurses who served and sacrificed so much.
“More than 2000 women served in the Australian Army Nursing Service during the war. Many of them served abroad in places such as Egypt and France, and it wasn’t easy for the nurses.
“They were expected to pay their own way in order to join the service. Nurses also had to be single or widowed in order to be eligible to serve. If a nurse did get married, they were immediately discharged.
“All these women went above and beyond in the treatment and care they provided to the wounded men, there is no doubt they saved countless lives for which we remain eternally grateful in the years since.”
The congregated community members then heard from naval chaplain Miles Fagan and students from St Patrick’s Primary School, Lilydale High School and Lilydale Primary School.
This was followed by a procession of wreaths being laid at the cenotaph, while piper Rob McKay sounded The Lament.
After the Ode was recited by Mr O’Donoghue, bugler Wally Dunkley sounded The Last Post and the Rouse, with a minute of silence between.
Mr O’Donoghue thanked all who supported the hosting of the Remembrance Day service this year and particularly the community members who came out despite the rain to honour the fallen.
