101 years ago, in the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, the guns of war fell silent, general hostilities ceased and the carnage of four years of battle concluded as the Great War came to an end.
The historical milestone is commemorated annually on Remembrance Day, also known as Armistice Day or Poppy Day and a two minute silence is observed in honour of the fallen.
In the words of Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, who is believed to have been pivotal in implementing the tradition of the two minute silence in commemoration of the fallen, “It is due to the women, who have lost and suffered and borne so much, with whom the thought is ever present. It is due to the children that they know to whom they owe their dear fought freedom. It is due to the men, and from them, as men. But far and away, above all else, it is due to those who gave their all, sought no recompense, and with whom we can never re-pay – our Glorious and Immortal Dead.”
In Vryheid, many will gather at the St Peter’s Anglican Church, the site of the cenotaph that bears the names of the fallen, on Sunday, November 10, to pay homage to those who offered the ultimate sacrifice and gave their lives for their country, in battle.
André van Ellinckhuyzen will be present at the Remembrance Day gathering and will read the list of names of those who died at war. The gathering will take place on Sunday, due to November 11 falling on a Monday this year.
“Remembrance Day,” states André, “a day to acknowledge all my God-given blessings. To give thanks to God for my life, second chances, my wife, my children, my family, my friends. Most of all, a prayer that I and my loved ones will never be subjected to the tragedy of war.”
Local war veteran and member of Vryheid’s Memorable Order of Tin Hats, Francis Fynn, had the following to say about Remembrance Day and the significance thereof to him:
“My father and uncles fought in two world wars,” explains Francis. “Myself and comrades fought our wars in Africa. I was brought up to honour those who served and died. As a child in the 1950s, my memories of Armistice Day, as we knew it, was of the town siren going off at 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month, and the whole town stopping for two minutes silence! At school we always held a remembrance service! Vryheid, my home town now, lost a lot of good men over the years starting with the Anglo Boer war up to the 1980’s! Two of the main tenets of the MOTH movement are True Comradeship, and Sound Memory! To not honour and remember them is unthinkable to me! This coming Sunday, we will be parading at the war memorial to honour their memory, it is our duty. I can freely write and give my opinion because good men and women were prepared to lay down their lives for us to be free! Please come and join us in honouring our people. We will remember them.”
Also read: PHOTO GALLERY: Moths gather at Sunset Parade in memory of the fallen
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