Newcastle’s Fort Scratchley Historical Society will remember the fallen through a new visual illumination on the fort’s walls.
Titled Lest We Forget: A Diggers View, it is set to screen images from the 35th Battalion, known as Newcastle’s Own, as well as diggers from the Hunter Valley.
The visual illumination aims to showcase the intensity of war to the community to commemorate this year’s Remembrance Day (Monday 11 November).
Fort Scratchley Historical Society member Karen Smith said the soldiers in the photos were present on the battlefield.
“[They] were there, they fought, they died in battle, and they left loved ones behind,” she said.
“There wasn’t a family anywhere in Australia that wasn’t affected in some way in that they lost a father, a son, a brother, a fiancé or a friend.”
At 11am on November 11, 1918, the guns on the Western Front fell silent after more than four years of continuous warfare.
The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month has attained a special significance in the post-war years.
Apart from the illumination, the historical society will host a series of events, including a screening of a short film Fort Scratchley: Through the Years, to mark the occasion.
There will also be a Banner of Remembrance, where you can purchase a poppy for a gold coin donation and write a message to a digger to express your gratitude.
Ms Smith said it was important Australians remember and honour the fallen and the effects the war had on families and how they carried through generations.
“We are free from conflict and live in harmony,” she said.
“This is what [the soldiers] believed they were fighting for and we should always think about the fact that, in some instances, if it wasn’t for their sense of duty and their self-sacrifice, we probably wouldn’t be experiencing the same sorts of freedoms we have now.
“We should be striving not to ever become involved again [in war] like that.”
The visual illumination will be screened on Sunday 10 November from 7.30pm to 9pm at the Fort Scratchley lawn.
Visit the Fort Scratchley Historical Society’s Facebook page for more information.
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