Standing silent and sombre, from the youngest to the oldest, hundreds gathered at Kings Park to commemorate Remembrance Day.
Red poppies surrounded the pool of reflection as the breeze stirred Australian flags hung at half-mast beside the State War Memorial overlooking Perth.
As the flame of remembrance burned brightly at 11am on Wednesday — more than a century after the guns fell silent on the western front in 1918 — thoughts turned to the bravery and sacrifices of long-gone but never-forgotten mates and family members.
“It is 108 years since the armistice was signed to end the First World War,” Returned & Services League of Australia WA chief executive Stephen Barton told the gathering of veterans and members of the public.
“It claimed the lives of over 60,000 Australians. No street, no town, no suburb was untouched by grief or loss.
“Today, in commemorating not just the sacrifices of Australians in the Great War, but in all wars and conflicts in the life of our nation, we are trying to grapple with just how much has been given, so we might understand how much we owe.”
Picking up the theme of sacrifice, but applying it to a much more recent war, RSL WA president Duncan Anderson spoke of his own service in Afghanistan when he delivered the memorial address.
He recalled how he felt every time he saw a flag flown at half mast to mourn the death of another soldier.
“I recall the visceral feeling in the depths of my stomach on waking up and seeing yet another flag at half mast,” he said.
“Even today, a flag at half mast causes me, and I expect many others, to pause and look twice.
“Today, let us never forget the ultimate sacrifice paid in the service to our nation.
“Let us collectively pause to pay our deepest respects to every name etched in stone in all corners of Australia. Let us never forget the communities impacted by each individual tragedy.”
WA Governor Chris Dawson, Premier Roger Cook, Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas, Federal Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy, Liberal Senator Michaela Cash and Labor Senator Dorinda Cox were among dignitaries who stepped forward to lay wreaths as a lone bagpiper played.
Also attending to pay their respects were 10 naval personnel from the submarine USS Colorado, in WA as part of the AUKUS pact.
While November 11 marks the end of World War I, no veterans remain from that four years of bloody conflict.
The ranks of Diggers who faced the perils and hardships of World War II are also dwindling fast, with fewer than 50 now left in WA.
Among them is 101-year-old former sailor Robert Taylor — known to his former shipmates as “one-shot Bob.”
Born in 1925, the centenarian enlisted as soon as he turned 18 in 1943 and served as an able seaman in the Philippines, Borneo and New Guinea.
“I didn’t fancy the army,” Mr Taylor said. “I’d always liked ships, so I thought ‘I’ll go and join the navy’.”
He earned his nickname while serving on a mine sweeper, after he was ordered to fire a round at a floating mine with a machine gun that he had not been trained to use.
“I was just a lookout but I suppose because I was the only one there, they said ‘man that gun and shoot that mine’,” he said.
“I didn’t know what to do — I just grabbed it and only one bullet went.”
Luckily, that single bullet hit its target and blew up the mine.
“That was a fluke,” he said. “I’ve had a very lucky life.”
Four-year-old twins Margot and Kit Dawson also attended the ceremony, each cradling a poppy patiently until the end, when they placed them carefully among the wreaths.
Their father Gary said he had brought them to the Remembrance Day event every year since they were born.
“I just feel it’s important that the youngsters understand as well,” he said. “I mean, they’re still very young, but they do sort of get it.”
Commemorations were held all around the State, from the Pilbara to Albany.
Bunbury RSL sub-branch president Shaun Thomas said days like Remembrance Day were becoming increasingly important to ensure those who made the “ultimate sacrifice” were not forgotten.
“We respect everyone who has taken the time to come today and remember those who have fallen and our men and women who served,” he said.
As part of the commemorative services, community members paid their respects by laying wreaths, while the Last Post and Rouse were also played for a moment of reflection.
Harvey resident Kathy Chambers said Remembrance Day was important to her because her father, and others in the Harvey region, fought in World War II while her grandfather served in World War I.
“This is a special day to me,” she said. “As it should be to every Australian, I feel, to never forget.”
WA Veterans Minister Hannah Beazley used Remembrance Day to announce $1.1 million in funding to support ex-service organisations across the State to help them improve veteran facilities, memorials and places of commemoration.
“Supporting new and existing memorial infrastructure will help to preserve WA’s wartime heritage, including the stories of the service members who have died as a result of service, making sure that they, and the sacrifices they made, will never be forgotten,” Ms Beazley said.
