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At 5am Paris time on 11 November 1918, representatives of France, Germany and Britain met in a railway carriage parked in a French forest and signed the Armistice that ended World War I. It followed a difficult year for both sides, in which German military leaders came to believe they could not win the war. The cease-fire came into effect along the entire Western Front six hours later, at 11am.
As the guns fell silent and the news broke, rejoicing erupted from Paris and London to the cities and towns of Australia. The reaction was understandable. After more than four years of bloody conflict and countless casualties, the war was at an end.
But for many Australians the effects of World War I remained with them for the rest of their lives.
This showcase highlights a small selection of National Archives records relating to the end of the war and its after-effects. It accompanies the exhibition Shell-shocked: Australia after Armistice.
Most urgent cablegram
Extraordinary Government Gazette
Soldiers returning from overseas
Machine shop training
Millinery class for war widows
Anzac Hostel ward
Lady Galway Home
Poppy Day appeal
On the eleventh hour
Design for a memorial
Original grave and marker
Annie Munro’s request
A soldiers’ memorial highway
Message to Parliament
'God will answer'
See other features in the project Shell-shocked: Australia after Armistice.