Remembrance Day

On November 11, we remember the service and sacrifice of those who lost their lives in war. The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month commemorates the moment that the armistice to end the First World War went into effect. Over 60,000 Australians were killed. Several of them were my ancestors.

Harold Heathcote Hayes Chambers, my paternal grandmother’s cousin, enlisted on 22nd October 1914. He was in the first wave of infantry to land at Gallipoli – his first major campaign.  He was killed in action on 28th April 1915, just 3 days after the first Anzac Day.  He was buried at Beach Cemetery at the southern point of Anzac Cove.

Stanley Chambers, another cousin, enlisted at the age of 18.  He landed at Gallipoli on 17th September 1915, and 6 days later, he was dead.  He was buried at the Main Cemetery at Gallipoli. Read more of the young Chambers boys here.

Henry Bowen was my maternal grandmother’s uncle. He was en route to Gallipoli on the 2nd September 1915, when the ship he was on, The Southland, became the first Australian Troopship to be torpedoed. He was thrown into the water and drowned. Henry had two other brothers who served. Read more of their story here.