Remembrance Day service times and where to buy poppies

TODAY clubs, schools and volunteers will gather to honour fallen service personnel with RSL sub-branch groups hosting Remembrance Day commemorations at cenotaphs and memorial parks across the region.

Services will be held at Ballina, Byron Bay, Lismore and Tweed on Tuesday, November 11 with a minute’s silence to be observed at 11am.

The Ballina RSL sub-branch will hold a commemorative service and wreath laying ceremony in Memorial Park.

It will start at 10.45am with veteran Narelle Scott to be a guest speaker at the service, with lunch to follow.

“She has had a long and distinguished career, it will be fitting for her to talk about her perspective as a veteran,” Ballina RSL sub-branch president Jamie Tanner said.

“It’s a chance for the public to come along for a little while, pay their respects and then go about their day.

“We’ve already got about 60 people confirmed for lunch afterwards which is a good sign.

“Phil Walsh will provide some light entertainment with music, and we’ll have our youth ambassadors there, too.”

Times for lunch and tickets can be found at ballinarsl.com.au/remembrance-day/

The City of Lismore RSL sub-branch will be conducting its official Remembrance Day service and wreath laying at 10.30am.

The service will be held at the Lismore Cenotaph at the Memorial Baths in Molesworth Street.

The sub-branch and auxiliary group will be selling poppies and badges at Centro, Goonellabah Village, Lismore Shopping Square and Bunnings over the weekend.

The Byron Bay RSL sub-branch will hold its service at the Byron Bay Cenotaph, located at the entrance to the recreation grounds.

Following the service, which starts at 10.45am, attendees are invited to gather for lunch at the Byron Bay Services Club, which is free for its members.

The Tweed Heads and Coolangatta RSL sub-branch will hold its service at the Twin Towns RSL Memorial Park.

It will be followed by the Coolangatta service one hour later at 11am Queensland time.

Remembrance Day is held on the anniversary of the Armistice that ended fighting with Germany in World War I.

At around 5am on 11 November 1918, the Armistice was signed by representatives of France, Britain and Germany, and six hours later at 11am, the guns fell silent on the Western Front.

Remembrance commemorations began a year later in 1919, on what was originally known as Armistice Day.

Its name changed to Remembrance Day after World War II.