Hundreds gather to mark Remembrance Day at Kings Park in 2026 commemoration

Résumé détaillé

Standing silent and sombre, from the youngest to the oldest, hundreds gathered at Kings Park to commemorate Remembrance Day.

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.

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