Armistice Day 2018: Remembering 100 Years Ago

At the 11th hour of the 11th day of November in 1918, the First World War – ‘The War to End All Wars’ – ended; this day is known as Armistice Day. The 11th of November 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of this day. 18,200 New Zealanders died and 41,300 were wounded. Let’s take this opportunity to remember the millions of people worldwide who lost their lives in the First World War, and remember how horrible this event was — in the hope that such large-scale war never happens again.

World War One was the first modern war that made use of modern advancements in technology and machinery. This led to wholesale destruction across greater Europe, Northern Africa, and areas of the Middle East that would sow the seeds for not only World War Two, but the years of conflict in various parts of the world to come. Working class people from all around the world were conscripted to fight in World War One, in what was almost certainly an invitation to go die on foreign soil for an empire.

In remembering the 100th anniversary of the end of The Great War, let’s remember the human cost of war, not just for the soldiers involved, but for entire communities, cities, and the generations that came after.

So at 11 a.m., on the 11th day, 11th month, let’s not glorify this tragedy, but remember the lives and generations lost to it.

Get involved with these events across Christchurch and Canterbury

• Armistice Day centenary People are invited to gather at the Bridge of Remembrance at 11am on Sunday to mark the centenary of the end of World War I. Read more at Newsline: Lest we forget: Armistice Day centenary
• Armistice Concert For Peace, Air Force Museum of New Zealand, 45 Harvard Ave: Sunday 11 November, 10:45am – 1pm
• Harewood WW1 Centenary Service, Harewood School, 721 Harewood Rd: Sunday 11 November, 10:15am – 11:15am 
• Akaroa Armistice Service, Akaroa Memorial, Rue Lavaud, Banks Peninsula: Sunday 11 November 2018, 10:50am
• Witch Hill Armistice Celebration, Witch Hill Memorial, Summit Road<, Banks Peninsula: Sunday 11 November 2018, 9:30am – 1:00pm
• Armistice Day Parade and Hall Opening, Lakeside Soldiers Memorial Hall 164 Harts Rd, Leeston, Canterbury: Friday 30 November 2018 10:30am – 12:30pm

At the Field of Remembrance in Cranmer Square, a field of white crosses marks the centenary of the Great War. 4389 crosses and one Star of David depict the heavy losses suffered by Canterbury families.

Nationwide Armistice Day events

• Send your message to the Armistice beacon
• Join the Roaring Chorus

You can see a full list of events across the country at the WW100 Armistice Day events website.

Crowd in Cathedral Square, Christchurch, celebrating Armistice Day. Head, Samuel Heath, d 1948 :Negatives. Ref: 1/1-007108-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22898377

Armistice Day and the First World War

Web pages

• Armistice Day
• First World War 1914 to 1918
• First World War digital collection
  Our digitised First World War resources includes diaries, letters, booklets, and memorabilia.

Just some of the resources on WW1 that Christchurch City Libraries has to offer on display at Spreydon Library.

Books

• From The Trenches: The Best of World War 1 ANZAC Writing: A collection of letters and other writings written by ANZAC soldiers during and about WW1
• The library also has heaps of wonderful books on World War 1 to borrow.

eResources

Britannica
Online and interactive version of Encyclopædia Britannica. All branches of knowledge are covered in this resource aimed at older students and adults. You will require a library membership to access:

• Remembrance Day: An Article on Remembrance Day, the British Public Holiday that has its origins in the original Armistice Day celebration in 1919.
• World War 1: The Britannica online article on World War 1

World Book

• World War 1: A good comprehensive overview of World War 1 and its background.

Armistice Day and the First World War resources for kids

Britannica Kids A great resource to help kids with homework and other school work.

• Remembrance Day: An Article on Remembrance day designed for kids.
• World War 1: The Britannica Kids article on World War 1

World Book Kids Online encyclopedia with short and easy to understand articles.

• Remembrance Day: World Book Kids’ article on Remembrance day

More Armistice Day and the First World War resources

Armistice Day is the last day of the Canterbury Museum exhibition Canterbury and World War One: Lives Lost, Lives Changed.

Canterbury Museum has launched an online version Canterbury and World War One: Lives Lost, Lives Changed.Canterbury Museum Acting Director Jennifer Storer says this will give visitors ongoing digital access to content and stories after the physical exhibition closes on Armistice Day, 11 November.

WW100 Infographic on World War 1
This is an interesting and easy to understand infographic that aims to prevent key information about WW1 in regards to its effect on New Zealand.

The New Zealand history page on Armistice Day, World War 1, and Māori and the First World War

Armistice Day 2016

This year marks 98 years since  “The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” – the moment when First World War hostilities ceased on the Western Front in 1918, with the signing of the Armistice.

The 2016 Armistice Day RSA service in Christchurch is at 11am Friday 11 November on the Bridge of Remembrance. This is the first Armistice Day service on the Bridge since the earthquake of 2011. It’s a most appropriate location, since the Bridge of Remembrance was opened on Armistice Day 11 November 1924. The Bridge is dedicated to the memory of those who took part in World War I, with further plaques added later to commemorate the battlefields of World War II.

Anzac Day, Monday 25 April 2016. Flickr 2016-04-25-IMG_3756

More about Armistice Day and the Bridge of Remembrance

• Our page on Armistice Day
• Find Armistice Day resources  in our collection
• Armistice Day in the news
• The Bridge of Remembrance
• DigitalNZ set of images about Armistice Day and the Bridge of Remembrance.
• First World War

Crowd in Cathedral Square, Christchurch, celebrating Armistice Day. Head, Samuel Heath, d 1948 :Negatives. Ref: 1/1-007108-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/22898377

Armistice Day in the news

Wednesday 11 November is Armistice Day, when we remember New Zealanders and others who served in the First World War and other conflicts since. 2015 is 97 years since the agreement that ended fighting in the First World War came into effect on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

he Bridge of Remembrance with Cashel Street in the background [193-?] CCL PhotoCD 10, IMG0073

While Anzac Day has become the main memorial day in New Zealand and Australia, events still take place on Armistice Day. Using resources such as Papers Past we can find out more about how the day has been celebrated and then commemorated over time.

On 13 November 1918, in a article called ‘the city rejoices with wild enthusiasm‘ the Star records:

Never before in the history of the city has such intense enthusiasm been displayed as yesterday, when the news of the signing of the armistice with Germany was received. The people streamed into the town, leaving the suburbs all but deserted. Throughout, the tramwaymen stuck heroically to their tasks, this factor being a large one in the general success of the celebrations.

A year later the Press laments how long it took to move from an armistice to a final peace treaty:

Just as nobody imagined, when the war broke out, that it would last for over four years, so few people, on November 11th last year, supposed that the world would, after twelve months, be as far as it is from a return to normal conditions.

By 1935 another article in The Press states:

The celebration of Armistice Day this year will show, as previous celebrations have shown, that the anniversary does not grow less poignant or less significant with the passage of time.

This sentiment is still true.

• For more detailed information, see our page about Armistice Day.
• The Bridge of Remembrance opened on Armistice Day 1924. Take a look at this DigitalNZ set of images about Armistice Day and the Bridge of Remembrance.
• See how the media around the world reacted to the Armistice, using our historical newspaper resources.

Armistice Day 2014

Crowd in Cathedral Square, Christchurch, celebrating Armistice Day. Head, Samuel Heath, d 1948 :Negatives. Ref: 1/1-007108-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/22898377

Armistice Day marks the anniversary of the agreement that ended the First World War (1914 – 1918) and commemorates the sacrifice of those who died serving New Zealand in this and all wars and armed conflicts. The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month marks the moment when hostilities ceased on the Western Front in 1918, with the signing of the Armistice.

Armistice Day – 11 November – marks 90 years since the Bridge of Remembrance opened in 1924.

• Our Armistice Day page
• Our WW100 page
• The Sergeant Henry Nicholas Statue
• The Bridge of Remembrance
• Armistice Day and the Bridge of Remembrance in Christchurch a DigitalNZ set

The Bridge of Remembrance is 90 years old

The Bridge of Remembrance is one of Christchurch’s great landmarks – redolent of days of war, marching troops, and fallen soldiers. It was officially opened by Viscount Jellicoe of Scapa, Armistice Day 11 November 1924.

The Bridge of Remembrance with Cashel Street in the background [193-?] Flickr CCL KPCD-10-073 From the collection of Christchurch City Libraries

The Bridge means more than war. It has fulfilled its name, and is a place of remembering. Christchurch’s Earthquake Memorial will be situated near here.

We have in our digital collection Christchurch War Memorial: Bridge of Remembrance. It explores the Bridge’s history and symbolic features.

The booklet contains extracts from the address of J. Wyn Irwin, of the Bridge of Remembrance Committee at the opening ceremony.

The Memorial originated from a letter written to the Press on July 24th, 1919, by a Christchurch lady. She suggested it might be appropriate to erect a beautiful memorial in the shape of a Stone Arch and Bridge, bearing the inscription, “Bridge of Remembrance.” She recommended placing it over a site made sacred and historic by its association with the departure of the Canterbury troops.

 

As a Bridge spanning the banks of the river it should remind us of
the brief span of human existence, and of the Great Beyond.

Bouquets and tributes by the Bridge of Remembrance, Oxford Terrace. Monday 25 February 2013. Flickr: CCL-2013 -02-25-IMG_4256

It serves this purpose still.

• Read our page on the Bridge of Remembrance
• View historic images of the Bridge of Remembrance in our collection
• Our photos of the Bridge on Flickr
• Images on Kete Christchurch
• Public Art in Central Christchurch: Bridge of Remembrance – information on the Bridge and its history from this publication locating and documenting publicly owned works of art in central Christchurch.
• Search the catalogue for items about the Bridge of Remembrance

95 years ago today: Armistice Day in Christchurch

Crowd in Cathedral Square, Christchurch, celebrating Armistice Day. Head, Samuel Heath, d 1948 :Negatives. Ref: 1/1-007108-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/22898377

Armistice Day marks the anniversary of the agreement that ended the First World War (1914 – 1918) and commemorates the sacrifice of those who died serving New Zealand in this and all wars and armed conflicts. The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month marks the moment when hostilities ceased on the Western Front in 1918, with the signing of the Armistice.

The 2013 Armistice Day Commemoration in Christchurch will be held from 10.50am to 12pm at the Sergeant Henry Nicholas Statue in the Park of Remembrance on Cambridge Terrace.

Today also marks 89 years since the Bridge of Remembrance opened on 11 November 1924.

• Our Armistice Day page
• The Sergeant Henry Nicholas Statue
• The Bridge of Remembrance
• Armistice Day and the Bridge of Remembrance in Christchurch a DigitalNZ set

Lest we forget – 11/11/11

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month – Armistice Day –  commemorates the armistice signed between the Allies and Germany in 1918. In 2011, Armistice Day commemorations will be held on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, and also the eleventh year of the century (11am, 11 November 2011).

Before the earthquake,  the bells of the ChristChurch Cathedral would ring at 11 o’clock in the morning to mark the time, something we will be missing this year.

Instead, following the observation of a two-minute silence at 11am, a service will held at the Henry Nicholas V.C. M.M. statue in Remembrance Park, on the corner of Hereford Street and Cambridge Terrace (adjacent to the Bridge of Remembrance). The service is to commemorate those members of the armed forces who were killed during World War I .

• Find out about Armistice Day commemorations in Christchurch
• Read our page on Armistice Day
• Our images of New Zealand at war
• Explore our resources about World War One
• Read about World War One

Coming home

Coming Home

The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month is universally associated with the remembrance of those who died in the First World War.

The date marks the moment when hostilities ceased on the Western Front in 1918, with the signing of the Armistice.

From October 2008 to March 2009, the return of soldiers to New Zealand is commemorated in a series of events, talks, movie showings, exhibitions and recitals throughout the country.

This also sees the launch of the National Digital Forum / Digital New Zealand Coming Home widget as part of the national celebrations.

Archives New Zealand are implementing a physical and online exhibition – ‘An Impressive Silence‘, containing material regarding the WWI Armistice. (Way cool)

Christchurch City Libraries has released some new digitised content and grouped some existing material at Coming Home.

NZETC have released a large number of titles relating to New Zealand World War I History including The History of the Canterbury Regiment, N.Z.E.F. 1914 – 1919 by Captain David Ferguson

Armistice events are listed at NZlive.com

Related.

NDF Coming Home Blog