"The Queen has marked Armistice Day by unveiling an Australian War Memorial in Hyde Park Corner, London.

Crowds gathered to watch the ceremony, attended by Prime Minister Tony Blair, Australian PM John Howard and 27 Australian veterans.

The memorial honours the 102,000 Australians who died in the two world wars, and the million or so who fought.

A two minutes' silence was observed at the ceremony at 1100 GMT to honour all those who lost their lives.

The silence, on the 11th day of the 11th month, marks the exact moment when the guns fell silent at the end of World War I in 1918.

The two minutes' silence at the London dedication ended with an RAF fly-past.

A service of dedication then took place, with short addresses from Mr Howard and the Queen, before the memorial was unveiled.



Young and old stand in awe
Armistice Day: in pictures

Mr Howard said the memorial symbolised Australia and Britain's common history in standing together in the name of freedom.

"Whatever the future may hold for our two nations, we are tied for all time by our history, by shared language and law - but most important of all, by an enduring belief in human dignity and the democratic freedoms that should be the birthright of all," he said.

The Queen said the monument would stand as a permanent tribute to Australia's partnership and sacrifice in a common cause.

"We will be eternally grateful at how, in our darkest hour, Australia stood by our side," she added.

The memorial is in the form of a long curving wall of Australian granite, with falls of water, and set with the names of the 24,000 home towns of Australian men and women who served during the two world wars.

Relative to its population, Australia suffered more losses than any other nation in World War 1.

Other dignitaries attending the ceremony included former UK prime minister Baroness Thatcher, Australian leader of the opposition Simon Crean, Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer, Australian minister for veterans' affairs Danna Vale, and UK Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon.

The whole area was closed to traffic, with a live video screen in Green Park for the overflow.

The Queen and Mr Blair also led tributes at the annual Remembrance Day service in London on Sunday, laying wreaths at the Cenotaph in Whitehall.

The ceremony was first held in 1921 to remember those who gave their lives during World War I.

It now includes all who have died in conflict in the service of their country, including more than 50 British soldiers who died in Iraq.

Three World War I veterans, all aged over 100, 10,000 ex-servicemen and women and some 1,600 civilians joined a march past the country's main war memorial.

Services were also held across the UK and by British soldiers in Iraq."

From the BCC News website...

The above story appeared on the BBC website linked to todays Remembrance Sunday services which have been held around the country.

However, I think the story refers to events which actually took place last year..I went back to double check and the link now appears to have been pulled...

I would want verification of that figure too .

It is my understanding that in WW1 New Zealand troops suffered a casualty rate of one in every two wounded , and one in seven killed.It would be interesting to see the actual figures for Australia .

Not wanting to detract from the noble gesture any , but I suspect the figures are dubious , and certainly only apply to those nations who fought alongside Britain .

Muzza

The statistic being quoted is deaths and/or casualties (not sure which) over total population of the country.

If I remember correctly Australia had somewhere between four million and 6.5 million population in 1914-1918.

I also saw a statistic one time that Australia had one million men under arms in WW1 but could never understand that number in terms of the total population.

Wasn't there either so can tell from first hand knowledge.

Now if there are 300,000 kiwi's in Australia now, how many were there then, and did the count as Aussi's or Kiwi's???

Anybody who is interested in the figures, might like to do a search for the British and Commonwealth War Graves Commission...I am sure an email to them would perhaps provide an answer.

Were the ANZAC soldiers who fought in WW1 volunteers or conscripts?

Regards,

Pete

Pete,

All volunteers!!!

Conscription was voted down TWICE!Thank god.

Conscription was voted against by the labour party in opposition and defeated the govenment twice in WW1. In WW2 the then labour government successfully brought conscription in which remained until the end of Vietnam.

Interestingly the only reason Aussie territorials (CMF/Reserves) were able to be deployed to New Guinea in WW2 was because PNG was mandated to Aus. If it had been foreign soil we would have been in big do do's.

Craig,
Conscription was voted down by referenda.45% of the AIF voted against it.

Of course the first time conscripts were sent to foreign soil was Vietnam.