99 YEARS on and Australia once again stood in silence at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in commemoration of Remembrance Day, the day the guns fell silent at the end of World War One.

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In Tea Gardens a large crowd gathered under cloudy skies to mark the occasion at Anzac Park.

Local RSL President Michael Farrar led the proceedings with RSL Vice President Scott Beaumont giving a moving tribute in honour of the more than 100,000 Australian servicemen and women who’ve given their lives in defence of peace.

“The important thing is that peace is not simply a lack of war, true peace is where we can learn to live and perhaps disagree and deal with it as mature adults,” retired Major Scott Beaumont said.

“That was the hope and dream on 11 November, 1918 and it’s up to all us to bring those hopes and dreams back so hopefully we will not see the disasters we saw from 1914 to 1918, from 1939 to 1945 and the other subsequent conflicts.’’

For the RSL’s Barry Whiteman and former NSW Governor Rear Admiral Peter Sinclair, it was a time for reflection and a walk down memory lane.

Both men remembered fathers and friends long gone.

For Peter Sinclair, Remembrance Day is also a time to honour the military servicemen and women who’ve died while on duty through peacetime.

He recalled the nine Australian personnel who were killed when their Royal Australian Navy Sea King helicopter crashed during a rescue mission in Indonesia after a devastating earthquake in 2005.

“It’s important that people recognise that there are those who’ve given their lives for their country not always during a time of war,” Mr Sinclair told News Of The Area.

The Rear Admiral was also part of the community who were invited to Peter Sinclair Gardens Aged Care Facility on the Friday before Remembrance Day for a special service.

Residents, staff and guests joined in an hour long ceremony which included a moving address from James Graves, a serving member of the RAAF Base at Williamtown.

By Margie TIERNEY