Ballarat stopped on Wednesday to pay respect and acknowledge the sacrifices made by Australian war veterans.
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Hundreds attended the main Remembrance Day service at the Ballarat Cenotaph in Sturt Street, with a large contingent of school children gathering.
Ballarat RSL president Alex Tascas said she was very happy with the turn out, particularly younger people showing support.
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"You never know with Remembrance Day, but it was a great service and great to see people out in this cold weather," she said. "Remembrance Day is so important.
"A lot of my generation and maybe a bit younger, our grandparents were the ones that went off to war and Remembrance Day was always very special for us as school children - more so than Anzac Day really.
“It was the day when everyone stopped. I can remember growing up that bells would sound at 11am on the 11th and for two minutes everything would stop. If you were in a car, shop or on the street it didn't matter, no one would move and you remain in silence.
“That was something extremely special because we knew our grandparents had gone off to war and it was a horrible war.”
A highlight of the Ballarat service was a speech by former Shrine of Remembrance young ambassador Laura Benney from Ballarat High.
The year 10 student spoke about a personal connection to war with her great, great grandfather and great grandfather both killed in battle.
“One hundred years on in the world their sacrifice helped create, the memory of both Horace Potter and Thomas Carey continues, passed from Adelaide (Potter’s daughter and Carey’s wife), to her daughter, to her daughter’s sons and now to me,” Ms Benney said.
“Military history has always fascinated me, but I think a special part is the personal stories of the men and women who were once ordinary people.
“As a young person, I know that our servicemen and women should always be remembered...never will time diminish our remembrance for those who gave their lives so that we may live.”
During the service a tribute for the 3801 Ballarat and district residents that served the nation during World War I, which was created earlier this year by the Ballarat Laurel and Legacy Clubs, was presented to representatives at the Ranger Barracks where it will be placed on display.
