Return Home: ‘Perhaps Tomorrow We Will Know Exactly How the Situation Stands’

Abstract

The news that an armistice had been signed between Germany and the allied forces was met with a range of mixed reactions by Australian soldiers. For up to four and a half years they had worked as soldiers, they had received regular pay, and they had made their home in their battalion and the military. By November 1918, they were well accustomed to the demands of their officers and the regular demands of work. Suddenly, and in some places without so much as a shout or a fuss, the war was over and their job was complete. The diary entries written by Australian men on 11 November 1918 reveal a sense of shock and confusion more than anything else. Some celebrated wildly, as they were well expected to do, while others took the news calmly with a cautious sense of disbelief. Some officers gave their men the afternoon off work, and local French and Belgian towns and villages became a focal point for celebrations. Yet others, still recognising their role as soldiers, received the news and then returned to their usual daily tasks.