Community
11 November, 2026
Village pauses to remember
Under grey skies, the people of Berrima gathered at the village's War Memorial garden on Wednesday morning - the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, which was supposed to be 'the war to end all wars.'
Under grey skies, the people of Berrima gathered at the village's War Memorial garden on Wednesday morning - the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, which was supposed to be 'the war to end all wars.'
November 11 signifies the official signing of the Armistice in fighting which was to end World War 1 in 1918.
Andy Forrest from the Berrima Residents Association led the service, with other fellow association members, Wingecarribee Shire Council representative Cr. Therese Duffy, and students from a visiting Hunter Valley school, Largs Public School, who had stopped off at the nearby playground in Berrima's Village Green and joined proceedings with their teachers.
The school party were on their way to Canberra for a camp to see all the sights, including the Australian War Memorial.
Both Cr. Duffy and the Largs Public School student representatives laid their wreathes at the village's memorial, with the minute's silence observed and flags raised to half mast.
The school also sang Advance Australia Fair for the crowd.
"It's so important that we never ever forget the sacrifices of our service men and women who have served in all wars," Cr. Duffy told the crowd.
"We have this beautiful country Australia which we have so much to celebrate about and thank you all for coming."
Mr Forrest's grandfather was in the 3rd Light Infantry Battalion and was sent to Egypt, and took a camera with him, taking over 400 photos from 1914 – 1919.
"My grandfather fought at Gallipoli and at the Nek (which was one of the very dangerous places) and fought with the New Zealanders," Mr Forrest told the crowd.
"He fought against the Turks in trenches only 20 yards (about the length of a cricket pitch away), and they hurled bombs and took potshots at each other and all sorts of other horrible things."
Luckily Mr Forrest's grandfather survived, and went on to fight in a lot of other places throughout the Middle East.
He also spoke of the famous horse, 'Dandy' who returned to Australia after the war.
Read More: Berrima, Southern Highlands