11 November 1918 the guns fell silent
Three very Important events happened on this day for Australians.
Three very Important events happened on this day
Why is this day special to Australians?
With Terry O'Hanlon.
1
At 11 am on 11 November 1918 the guns on the Western Front fell silent after more than four years of continuous warfare. The allied armies had driven the German invaders back, having inflicted heavy defeats upon them over the preceding four months. In November the Germans called for an armistice (suspension of fighting) in order to secure a peace settlement. They accepted allied terms that amounted to unconditional surrender.
The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month attained a special significance in the post-war years. The moment when hostilities ceased on the Western Front became universally associated with the remembrance of those who had died in the war. This first modern world conflict had brought about the mobilisation of over 70 million people and left between 9 and 13 million dead, perhaps as many as one-third of them with no known grave. The allied nations chose this day and time for the commemoration of their war dead.
2
The Dismissal of the Whitlam Government on November 11, 1975 was the most dramatic political event in the history of Australia’s Federation.
Ladies and gentleman, well may we say God Save the Queen because nothing will save the Governor-General.
The proclamation which you have just heard read by the Governor-General’s official secretary was countersigned ‘Malcolm Fraser’ who will undoubtedly go down in Australian history from Remembrance Day 1975 as Kerr’s cur.
They won’t silence the outskirts of Parliament House, even if the inside has been silenced for the next few weeks.
The Governor-General’s proclamation was signed after he already made an appointment to meet the Speaker at a quarter to five.
The House of Representatives had requested the Speaker to give the Governor-General its decision that Mr Fraser did not have the confidence of the House and that the Governor-General should call me to form the Government.
3
ON 11 NOVEMBER 1880, notorious bushranger and infamous Australian character Edward ‘Ned’ Kelly was hanged for murder at the Melbourne Goal.
Kelly and his gang were infamous through Australia in the 1870s for highway robbery, bank swindles and confrontations with local police. After going on the run in 1878, the gang also constructed unusual bullet-proof, plate-metal armour and helmets from farm tools, which gave them their trademark look.
This – and Ned’s flair for drama – cemented his place in history as an Australian folk hero, and his story was chronicled by Australian newspapers right up until his last moments.
Legend holds that before the noose tightened, he simply said, either “Ah well, I suppose it has come to this” or “such is life”.
