Outside the old Post Office on Hunter Street is the Great War Memorial, with its poignant statue of the Australian soldier, arms reversed and head bowed.
The Memorial's foundation stone was laid early in April 1916, less than one year after the landing at Gallipoli.
It is a reminder of the long and proud history of service by the people of Newcastle and the Hunter Valley.
Affixed to the memorial is a plaque to the 35th Infantry Battalion.
With the bulk of its recruits drawn from our region, the 35th became known as 'Newcastle's Own', and on Remembrance Day my thoughts will turn to them, and their courage, service and sacrifice in some of the most brutal battles on the Western Front.
I will remember Frank Jarrett, a shop assistant who lived with his wife Grace in New Lambton before he enlisted in February 1916.
Frank knew something of soldiering from his service in the militia, and he was promoted to Lieutenant in August 1916 and then to Captain in May 1917.
On 5 July 1917, Captain Frank Jarrett died of wounds received in action at Messines in Belgium.
The Newcastle Herald of July 1917 tells us that it fell to Reverend Weatherall to tell Frank's wife Grace, their daughter Daphna and his parents, Mark and Ann, that their beloved Frank would not be coming home.
After Messines, the 35th's next major battle was around Passchendaele on 12 October.
Heavy rain had drenched the battlefield, and thick mud tugged at the advancing troops and fouled their weapons.
The fighting through sheer exhaustion in the most appalling of waterlogged conditions, was vicious and losses were horrendous. 'Newcastle's Own' went into the battle with 508 men but only 90 remained unwounded at the end.
For the next five months, the 35th alternated between periods of rest, training, labouring, and service in the line.
When the German army launched its last great offensive in the spring of 1918, the battalion was part of the force deployed to defend the approaches to Amiens around Villers-Bretonneux.
It took part in a counter-attack at Hangard Wood on 30 March, and helped to defeat a major drive on Villers-Bretonneux on 4 April.
The desperate nature of the fighting is revealed by the fact that the 35th Battalion suffered nearly 70 per cent casualties during these operations.
Later in 1918, the 35th also took part in the battle of Amiens and fought several small battles during the rapid advance that followed.
At the end of September they provided reserves for the joint Australian-American operation that breached the Hindenburg Line, thus sealing Germany's defeat and helping to bring the war to an end, 106 years ago today.
More than 103,000 Australian service personnel have lost their lives in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations, from the shores of Gallipoli to the dust of Afghanistan.
Each death left behind a grieving family and a sorrowing community, and of those who lived to return home to Australia many carried the physical and mental scars of war for the rest of their lives.
On Monday, we pay our respects not only to all those who made this enduring sacrifice but to also give us the courage to do what is needed to prevent war.
Next time you take the Newcastle Memorial Walkway from Strzelecki Lookout, take a look at the family names inscribed on the steel silhouettes.
They tell the story of the immense service and sacrifice of our Australian service personnel, and the families who have loved and supported them as they protected our country and our national interests. We owe them all a debt of gratitude.
Whether you attend the Newcastle RSL's service at Civic Park, or one of the other services throughout our region, or whether you are simply at work or at home, I hope you will join me at 11am on Monday to observe a minute of silence in honour of all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, and pay our respects to their families.
Lest we forget.
*Pat Conroy is the Defence Industries Minister and Shortland MP
