Clip description
This silent black-and-white newsreel clip from about 1925 shows a large crowd of people gathered on the steps of Parliament House, Melbourne for an Armistice Day ceremony. The crowd stands for two minutes silence then the 'Last Post’ is played. The clip ends with shots of Spring Street and Nicholson Street as the crowd disperses after the ceremony.
Curator’s notes
Armistice Day commemorates the end of the First World War, when the Allied powers signed a ceasefire agreement with Germany on 11 November 1918, bringing peace to countries around the world. Since then, further wars have been battled and Armistice Day, now known to Australians as Remembrance Day, has remained the day to honour all those who have suffered or lost their lives in all wars and conflict.
In this newsreel clip we see the commemoration ceremony of 1925, only 7 years after the end of the First World War.
The ceremony is on the steps of Parliament House in Melbourne. This was the site of Australia’s Federal Parliament at the time before it moved to the nation’s capital, Canberra in 1927.
During the postwar period many Australians were directly affected by the war and so crowds for the Armistice Day commemoration were large. As the initial title card describes, these are 'impressive scenes at Parliament House’. Basic intertitles are used and the newsreel is black-and-white.