60th Anniversary of the ArmisticePrint Page

The plaque commemorates the 60th anniversary of the Armistice which ended the fighting in November 1918 in World War One.

The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice that ended fighting on land, sea and air in World War One between the Allies and their opponent, Germany.  It came into force at 11 a.m. Paris time on 11 November 1918 ("the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month") and marked a victory for the Allies and a defeat for Germany, although not formally a surrender. It bought to an end four years of brutal conflict which took the lives of almost 62,000 Australians.

The actual terms, largely written by the Allied Supreme Commander, Marshall Ferdinand Foch, included the cessation of hostilities, the withdrawal of German forces to behind the Rhine, Allied occupation of the Rhineland and bridgeheads further east, the preservation of infrastructure, the surrender of aircraft, warships, and military material, the release of Allied prisoners of war and interned civilians, eventual reparations, no release of German prisoners and no relaxation of the navalblockade of Germany.

Although the armistice ended the fighting, it needed to be prolonged three times until the Treaty of Versailles which was signed on 28 June 1919, took effect on 10 January 1920.

Location

Details

Dedication