{"id":377508,"date":"2026-11-11T20:28:45","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T10:28:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=377508"},"modified":"2026-11-11T20:28:45","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T10:28:45","slug":"why-remembrance-day-is-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2026\/11\/11\/why-remembrance-day-is-important\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Remembrance Day Is Important"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Wreaths were laid on memorials across the South Burnett … these were placed on the catafalque in Kingaroy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

November 11, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

The names engraved on war memorials across the South Burnett record the enormous sacrifices local families made during World War I.<\/p>\n

The figures are astounding … more than 57,000 Queenslanders served in the Great War, and more than 10,000 died.<\/p>\n

Nationally, almost 417,000 Australians enlisted and about 60,000 died from war-related causes.<\/p>\n

Local history buff Noel Selway has identified 291 men who enlisted from Wondai, out of a population of about 1600 adults.<\/p>\n

Cherbourg Council has found at least 47 Aboriginal men connected with the Barambah mission who enlisted.<\/p>\n

Then there’s Nanango, Kumbia, Murgon and all the areas in between … a total across the South Burnett believed to be about 1200 people.<\/p>\n

This is why Remembrance Day – formerly known as Armistice Day – is still such an important day on the South Burnett calendar.<\/p>\n

It records the moment – at the 11th hour, on the 11th day of the 11th month – that this horrendous war finally ended and soldiers could return from the bloody battlefields overseas.<\/p>\n

Commemorations to mark Remembrance Day were held in most South Burnett towns on Wednesday morning.<\/strong><\/p>\n

These days, November 11 also remembers the sacrifices made by Australian Defence Force personnel in all the conflicts since 1918 … including World War II, Korea, the Malayan Emergency, Vietnam, the two Gulf Wars and Afghanistan as well as numerous peacekeeping operations.<\/p>\n

In Kingaroy, a crowd gathered in Memorial Park to watch veterans, and the relatives of veterans, march from the park entrance to the Memorial Rotunda, accompanied by local schoolchildren.<\/p>\n

(South Burnett Regional Council staff worked hard over the past few days to repair the rotunda in time for Remembrance Day after vandals damaged it; the work finished just hours before the commemoration started.)<\/p>\n

Wreaths were laid, prayers were said and Kingaroy State High School’s Matt Phillips played the Last Post and Reveille.<\/p>\n

A choral group from the school also sang Amazing Grace and the Australian National Anthem (in English and Wakka Wakka).<\/p>\n

In Nanango, a large crowd gathered at the Memorial on the corner of Henry and Drayton streets for speeches and a wreath-laying ceremony, accompanied by a lone piper.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ceremonies were also held in Kumbia, Wondai, Yarraman, Blackbutt, Murgon, Wondai and Goomeri.<\/p>\n