SIRENS, silence, songs, a Sunday service and a centenary celebration have the region’s RSL sub-branches hopeful crowds will turn out en masse.
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This year’s Remembrance Day will mark 100 years since the armistice was signed, bringing an end to The Great War
It will be a poignant day for the Tamworth sub-branch which celebrated its own centenary in May.
President Bob Chapman said the observance of memorial events had only been building.
“We’re getting further from major conflicts of the past, but the patriotism of the Tamworth region has been better than ever,” he said.
“There’s been more people at services than I've ever seen, it’s only been building, not diminishing.”
At 9am, a new plaque will be unveiled at the town hall commemorating a century since the armistice, while the traditional service will begin at 10.15am with performances by school choirs and tunes by local songwriter Bill Gleeson.
While Remembrance Day is usually a time to reflect in silence, Manilla’s sub-branch will commence its service with an aural blast from the past.
Secretary Ian Bignall said a siren will ring out from from the town’s fire station just prior to the 11 o’clock service, reviving a tradition of years gone by.
Mr Bignall said the sub-branch would also re-install Australian flags on about 230 headstones belonging to veterans in the cemetery.
The Quirindi RSL sub-branch will continues its push to get more students involved in the services.
President Doug Hawkins said interest among local youngsters had been growing.
“I think the availability to research ancestry online has had an effect,” he said.
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“You only have to have a name and birth date and you can research a family’s war history.
“We’ve seen a lot of younger people marching with their grandfather’s medals which we encourage and I think it’s a great thing.”