The Voice of New
South Wales Serving
and Ex-Service Men
and Women
The price of liberty
i s e t e r nal v i g i lan c e
Gallipoli 100
Centenary of ANZAC
“Lest We Forget”
VoL 88 No 3 MAY-JUNE 2015
Subscription $5.50
PP243459/900095
ANZAC DAY 2015
Photography by Katherine Gatfield with Mark Lee and Claudia Edwards
At 100: more relevant than ever
Fifty years after the Landing at Gallipoli
commentators in the media told us
ANZAC Day was fading towards
irrelevance, that in another fifty years,
Australia and its growing population of
non-Anglo-Celtic migrants would have
put it all to one side and no-one would
bother to march.
How wrong could they have been?
There is no accurate way to measure
the number of people who attended any
of the scores of Dawn Services in NSW
on ANZAC Day 2015, nor how many
applauded those in the March in Sydney.
We do know that more than 20,000 men
and women marched through Martin
Place, past the Cenotaph, and along
George and Bathurst Streets to Hyde Park.
REVEILLE 6
We know that Martin Place was filled to
capacity soon after 3.00 a.m. as perhaps
some 30,000 vied for the best positions,
an hour before the Dawn Service began.
Reports from the suburbs and regional
centre suggest that attendances were
bigger than ever at those local services
– at least 9000 at North Bondi, 2000 at
Roseville, double and even three times
the figures seen in previous years.
By the time the Sydney March started, the
footpaths along the route were lined three
and four deep by well-wishers; within an
hour those footpaths were impassable. Fifty
years ago it was fashionable among some
spectators to wave placards that decried
war and insulted the veterans marching;
this year the sons and daughters of that
generation carried signs that said, simply,
“Thank You.”
By 11.30 a.m., an hour before the
Commemoration Service at the ANZAC
Memorial was due to start, there were at
least 2000 people surrounding the Pool
of Reflection or seated under cover.
The critic who fifty years ago might have
forecast the demise of ANZAC Day would
also have been surprised in 2015 to have
seen evidence that Australia’s migrant
population has adopted the heritage of
our military history with enthusiasm. The
younger veterans, the serving personnel,
the banners being carried by descendants
of those who fought for freedom under
foreign flags, and the faces of the spectators
– all pointed to today’s generation having
ANZAC DAY 2015
inherited respect for our defence forces past
and present.
At the head of the March was a veteran,
retired General David Hurley, 38th
Governor of NSW, whose 42-year career
in the ADF included deployment to
Somalia in 1993 and most recently, three
years as Chief of the Defence Force.
Newly elected State President Rod
White, who served in Vietnam, led the
RSL contingent, which included veterans
of contemporary conflicts, a widow with
young son whose husband had been
killed in Afghanistan, a group of East
Timorese veterans, and Bob Hill, vice
president of the New Zealand Returned
and Services’ Association and a veteran
of Malaya and Vietnam.
And if there had been any lingering
doubts about the relevance in 2015 of
ANZAC Day, they should have been
dispelled by the reported television ratings.
Yes, ratings had been lower than expected
for drama products which had screened
weeks and months earlier. But on ANZAC
Day itself, the ABC alone had 3.6 million
viewers nationally, a million more than one
year earlier, as the audience tuned in to the
commemorations including the marches in
capital cities and the Gallipoli and VillersBretonneux Dawn Services.
One hundred years after the Landing, the
volunteers who fought and died at Gallipoli
provide all Australians with a shared sense
of solidarity and a shared inheritance.
John Gatfield
REVEILLE 7
ANZAC CENTENARY 2015
REFLECTIONS AT ANZAC COVE
By Ken Doolan
In the few minutes before the
commencement of the Dawn Service at
ANZAC Cove on Saturday 25th April
2015 the capacity crowd fell silent, the
lights dimmed and the only sound was the
Mediterranean quietly lapping the shore.
Gazing out into the darkness across the
placid waters it was easy to imagine
the boats carrying the ANZAC troops
making their way to the shore exactly
one hundred years earlier. In the stillness
of those moments before the first light of
day it was also possible to imagine the
thoughts of those in the landing boats as
they looked up beyond the beach to the
heights surrounding the cove where they
were to come ashore. Would they come
CRONULLA
under fire? Would they survive?
And then the imagination turned to
what would have come next. The eruption
of gunfire, the shouts of command to
disembark and attack the defenders,
the cries of those mortally wounded
even as they reached the beach and the
desperate sounds of those coping with
events completely beyond the experience
of many who landed on the shores of
Gallipoli on 25th April 1915.
But this reverie was short lived. The
Master of Ceremonies took the rostrum
and the Centenary Dawn Service at
ANZAC Cove commenced.
Seated close by were the Australian
Widows of World War 1 veterans, in
pride of place as they should have been.
BATHURST
At the later commemorative service at
Lone Pine, these remarkable women
were treated to a spontaneous round
of applause by the capacity crowd as
they moved in to take their seats not
long before the commencement of that
ceremony.
These were experiences those privileged
to attend will remember for the rest of
their lives. Those who gave their lives on
that fateful day and during the subsequent
Gallipoli campaign have not been
forgotten.
Australia and New Zealand together
honoured the fallen of those long ago
battlefields and in so doing also paid
tribute to the Ottoman Turkish soldiers
who perished defending their homeland.
CASTLE HILL
HAY
Warren McDonald was recently promoted
to the rank of Air Vice Marshall, taking up
the appointment of Deputy Chief of Air
Force from July 2015. Born and educated
in Hay, he is well remembered by locals.
The Hay War Memorial High School
held a commemorative service in the
Spirit of ANZAC Hall (on the school
grounds). The Hall was filled to capacity
(around 350 – 400 people).
A mural was also unveiled in memory
of the sacrifices made by the men of
Hay and district, cover a time line from
Gallipoli to today.
REVEILLE 8
Left to right: Captain Mike McCarthy RAN, Air
Commodore Warren McDonald CSC, President
Paul Edwards, Secretary Mick Beckwith, Nicholas
Harrison
Sue Johnston, Publishing Editor
Printed Post Magazine/Hay
TILLIGERRY
Members of the Worimi Aborigine
people and their friends have just paid
their respects at the ceremony standing
underneath our make believe ANZAC
Tree.
ANZAC CENTENARY 2015
KOKODA TRACK MEMORIAL WALKWAY
A stunning performance of a specially
commissioned work of music, Meeting
the Sun, by the Royal Australian Navy
Band and the Sydney Children’s Choir,
was the highlight of a Dawn Service at
the Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway
on Sunday 19 April. The 18-minute
performance was written by acclaimed
Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin,
NSW Veterans Affairs’ Minister David Elliott, Health Minister
Jillian Skinner and DVA Deputy Commissioner Jennifer Collins
laying wreaths at the Memorial Walkway centrepiece
Canada Bay Deputy Mayor Tony Fasanella, NSW
Governor General David Hurley, and Mrs Hurley
prepare to add their poppies to the giant display
at Brays Bay
Meeting the Sun is a dramatic musical composition
in five movements, inspired by texts from both WWI
and WWII
The Royal Australian Navy Band and Sydney
Children’s Choir
Far left: The large crowd included many WWII and
contemporary veterans
Left: Composer Elena Kats-Chernin and RAN Band
Director Lieutenant Matt Klohs acknowledge the
standing ovation
who was inspired initially by Sacrifice,
the magnificent sculpture at the centre of
the ANZAC Memorial in Hyde Park.
“I couldn’t get Sacrifice out of my
head,” said Ms Kats-Chernin. “I placed a
postcard of it on my piano stand. It was
very important for me to see this image
and to keep playing music.”
The words to be sung by the choir
were drawn from several texts, including
a poem, This Lovely Day, written by
Sergeant Robert Ball during WWII.
Ball’s widow and other members of
his family came from Melbourne and
elsewhere to be present for the world
premiere of Meeting the Sun, which
was given a standing ovation by the
thousands who had gathered.
REVEILLE 9
ANZAC CENTENARY 2015
CONCORD
Silk embroidered postcards were sent
home to families in Australia by those
serving overseas during World War 1.
Many of these were hand embroidered by
women in France, Belgium and England.
As part of the Embroiderers’ Guild of
NSW ANZAC Centenary Exhibition,
members from across the state have
designed their own postcards to reflect on
World War 1. These postcards, along with
original World War 1 “Silks” and textiles
sent back to Australia between 1914 and
1918, will be on display in the Guild’s
Concord West headquarters until May 27.
A grant from the Concord
sub-Branch will cover the
cost of the secure postage,
for family items on loan
by members, to and from
the ANZAC Centenary
Exhibition in the Guild’s
Rooms in Concord West,
as well as the postage of
boxes of these cards which
will form the Travelling
ANZAC Postcard
Exhibition visiting Groups
around New South Wales.
School students led the parade carrying
the Australian and New Zealand flags.
Kandos High School students carried a
banner of Poppies made by local ladies.
followed by veterans, Ladies Auxiliary,
school children from Kandos, Rylstone and
Ilford, as well as Scouts and their leaders.
Angus Avenue was lined with children and
adults waving Australian flags.
Over four hundred people attended the
service, where students read their essays,
said prayers and the local choir, “Wollemi
Voices”, sang a medley of songs.
President John Taylor, photo R. Evans.
Larry O’Connor, Glen Evans, John Taylor, Jim Dunn,
Paul Edwards, Ike Levy
NARRABRI
REVEILLE 10
President Len Costelow learns
about embroidered post cards from
President Jenny Marty.
BELFIELD
KANDOS
Over two hundred people attended the
Dawn Service, where a chorus of white
cockatoos flew over head to welcome
the coming day. Wreaths were placed
at the Memorial from the sub-Branch,
veterans, Legacy, schools, council,
ambulance, police, Rotary, Scouts,
NRMA and local community members.
Many guild groups will
host the Travelling ANZAC
Postcard Exhibition with
the assistance of their local
RSL. Wagga Wagga will
be the first group to show
these postcards in June.
Information about the
Exhibition: 02 9743 2501
Bob Turner, Hon Sec
SEVEN HILLS
On the 19
April 2015
Belfield
celebrated
ANZAC
Sunday.
Guests
included our
Patron and
a former
Mayoress of Canterbury Council
Kayee Griffen MP, the current Mayor
of Canterbury Brian Robson and Tony
Burke MP representing the seat of
Watson.
Ron Weewan, Hon Sec
ANZAC CENTENARY 2015
KATOOMBA
KIRRIBILLI
BALMAIN
This year 11 of our members as well as
Shore School Chaplain Rev. Paul Dudley,
his daughter Olivia, our Bugler Nathan
Chapman plus 3 friends of members
totalling 17, together with 86 BridgeClimb
staff and their family and friends witnessed
the Dawn Service conducted by President
David McDowell.
A total of 103 were at the very summit
of the Sydney Harbour Bridge when dawn
broke over the Sydney Heads. It was a
magnificent sight and there was not a
breath of wind as we contemplated the
landing at Gallipoli 100 years ago to the
day. A fitting beginning to a memorable
day’s commemorations.
NAROOMA
Back in October 2014 we decided on a
Centenary Project on the Charge of the 4th
Light Horse Brigade at Beersheba, in the
form of a diorama.
Whilst Welfare Officer Ian Noormets
travelled through the community for
sponsors of the scale figures, RSL member
and modeller Jeff Iles set to work on the
base for the project.
The resultant model was unveiled, with
the help of the four Narooma public school
captains, Jack Westoll, Makayla Morris,
Piper Smith and Thomas Hodge, at our
The pre-dawn service was led by a magnificent Sikh Marching
Band down Darling Street to Australia’s oldest War Memorial.
recent April meeting.
All the figures/buildings etc were
sponsored by local individuals or
businesses and take up the whole RSL
display area at the Narooma Sports &
Services Club.
The model of AE2 was commissioned by
Club Narooma and donated to the display.
The school captains with Jeff and the complete display
in the background
Some of the diorama detail and AE2
REVEILLE 11
ANZAC CENTENARY 2015
TAMWORTH
Tamworth sub-Branch was
overwhelmed by the turn-out at all of
the ANZAC Day services and march.
An estimated 10,000 people attended
the Dawn service at ANZAC Park and
traffic was banked up for almost 45
minutes after the service. The march
saw increased numbers of participants,
particularly younger veterans, and
approximately 5000 school children
took part. The watching crowd was 15
deep on either side of the main street
for the entire route of the march. At
the main service in the Town Hall, it
was standing room only with a seated
audience of over 1000 people.
GRANVILLE
WAGGA WAGGA
As part of the 2015 Centenary of ANZAC
commemorations, a moving ceremony
was held in Wagga Wagga on the 24th
of February, when Wagga’s oldest living
World War 2 veteran, Colin Bell, assisted
by Kevin Kerr, President Wagga Wagga
RSL sub-Branch, relit the Eternal Flame
during the ceremony.
The ceremony followed
an extensive $130,000:00
renovation of the flame,
reflection pond and
surrounding memorial
walls that had been
carried out by the City
Council in partnership
with the sub-Branch and
the Wagga RSL Club,
using a design by John
Wood.
in the Victory Memorial Gardens.
The relighting was carried out in
the presence of Daryl Maguire MP,
Member for Wagga Wagga, Cr Rod
Kendall, Mayor of Wagga Wagga, local
service chiefs, sub-Branch members,
local schoolchildren and members of
the public. The RSL Commemorative
Rural Youth Choir Inc. performed
REVEILLE 12
ANZAC CENTENARY 2015
AUBURN
The Centenary of ANZAC was launched
in the Sydney suburb of Auburn with
the unveiling of an Australia – Turkey
Friendship Wall and the rededication of
the relocated and refurbished Auburn
War Memorial.
Over 1000 citizens of Auburn gathered
in Memorial Park on Saturday February
28 to witness this unique event with
veteran broadcaster, Lieutenant Colonel
John Moore as MC.
The Mayor of Auburn City Council,
Mr Ronney Oueik renamed the former
Railway Park, the Consul-General of the
Republic of Turkey, Dr Seyda Hanbay
Arca unveiled the Australia-Turkey Wall
of Friendship and the refurbished war
memorial was unveiled by sub-Branch
member Wing Commander (AAFC) Paul
Hughes JP, Officer Commanding 3 Wing,
Australian Air Force Cadets.
The sacrifice of both Australian and
Turkish soldiers was remembered in a
Requiem for the Fallen presented by
the Auburn sub-Branch and prayers
for peace were offered by Major Paul
Moulds of Auburn Salvation Army and
Dr Abdurrahman Asaroglu of Auburn’s
Gallipoli Mosque.
Adding colour and dignity to the
occasion were Bankstown City Brass
Band, the 307 Squadron Air Force
Cadets providing flag bearers and
a catafalque party, the Auburn and
Newington Community Choirs and the
Gallipoli Mehter Takimi (the Turkish
Marching Band).
Auburn is a very cosmopolitan part of
Sydney with a large Turkish population.
Within the Auburn sub-Branch there is
a Turkish Chapter of those who have
served in the Turkish armed forces. Both
the sub-Branch and the Turkish chapter
were keen to launch the centenary
of ANZAC with a joint event, since
2015 marks the centenary of battles as
significant to the Turkish community as
they are to Australians.
In the defence of The Narrows and in
the Gallipoli battles thousands of Turkish
soldiers gave their lives to defend their
country against foreign invasion.
The Turkish general, Ataturk, went
on to establish the modern Republic of
Turkey and he extended goodwill to
Australians wanting to visit the graves
of over 6000 diggers who lie buried in
Turkish soil. The tribute to the ANZACs
penned by Ataturk, and displayed in the
foyer of RSL NSW headquarters, is well
known.
Following the sale of all RSL property in
Northumberland Road, Auburn in 2013,
the sub-Branch had to find a new home
for Auburn’s fine Great War Memorial.
Auburn City Council convened a
committee with representatives from the
sub-Branch and the Turkish community
to recommend a new site and to consider
how both the sub-Branch and the Turkish
community could have monuments
to jointly commemorate the Anzac
Centenary.
The end result was a fine public
commemorative area with the war
memorial embraced by the Wall of
Friendship along with accompanying
flagpoles, landscaping, lighting and
paving. The concept was developed by
Thompson Berrill and the project was
managed by Frances Hamilton, landscape
architect of Auburn City Council.
The Australia – Turkey Wall of
Friendship is inscribed with Ataturk’s
well-known message to the mothers of
the ANZACs along with a tribute to a
compassionate Turkish soldier penned by
Gallipoli veteran, Lord Casey, later to be
Governor-General of Australia.
The Auburn Great War Memorial has
moved three times over the years and is
now back in the same park in which it
was first erected in 1922. The original
unveiling was carried out by the popular
commander of the Australian Second
Division, Major General Sir Charles
Rosenthal.
The Auburn sub-Branch met the
$220,000 cost of relocating and repairing
the war memorial and is very pleased that
the memorial now has pride of place in a
fine commemorative area in the heart of
Auburn.
REVEILLE 13
ANZAC CENTENARY 2015
SUTTON VENY, UK
The ANZACs established a major base,
No 1 Command Depot, in an idyllic
little English village called Sutton Veny,
located between Bath and Salisbury, in
December 1915. After the Armistice in
November 1918 No 1 Australian General
Hospital was located in Sutton Veny.
Casualties rose as the battles in France
became more ferocious. The hospital
could not save all the wounded soldiers
and those that died were buried in the
local churchyard of St John’s Church. In
1917, quite spontaneously, children from
the local primary school collected wild
flowers from the fields and woods and
made posies. They placed them on each
individual grave. It was a most generous
gesture and generations of schoolchildren
have continued this annual act of
remembrance.
An ANZAC Day Service was held
this year at St John’s Church. This is a
beautiful English Parish Church which
has a dedicated RSL Chapel. There
was standing room only for the service.
All the School attended and they were
joined by members of the Connecting
Spirits Tour of 5 South Australian High
Schools on a War Graves pilgrimage
of Europe. Poppies were on display
and these had been donated by the RSL
Club in Geraldton, West Australia. All
the schoolchildren were presented with
ANZAC biscuits made by students
from Bridgwater School, South
Australia. During the service Major Matt
Worthington, a serving officer from the
Australian Army, thanked the students
for the way that they remembered the
War dead over the last 100 years.
At the end of the service all the students
left and laid their posies on each of the
war graves in the churchyard. After a
short service at the memorial a wreath
was laid by Major Worthington and the
last post was played by a bugler from
the Yorkshire Regiment of the British
Army. There are 142 soldiers and 2 Army
Nursing Sisters graves in the churchyard.
It was a most solemn occasion. One
Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM)
and 3 Military Medals (MM) holders are
amongst those heroes buried there.
John Parry, RSL Member
Ex 30th Battalion RNSW Regiment
Ex 5th Battalion King’s Regiment
(Liverpool)
Above: Private Rose’s (Age 16) Headstone, Below:
Children placing flowers on ANZAC War Graves
DELEGATE
TORONTO
Delegate sub-Branch held its very
first Dawn Service this year. We were
fortunate to have a troop of Boy Scouts
riding through the district that morning
and quickly commandeered them to
assist with flag duties at the service.
Special thanks also due to
LCDR Ray Arthurs, CPO Walter
Baumhammer and FLTLT Michael
Brady for providing a uniformed
presence and Ian Sellers, and Judy
and Bec Dare for cooking the scouts’
breakfast.
The Maori contingent also took
part in the main service that day
by singing E Kiwi E which was
a welcome home song sung to
NZ veterans returning from the
war. They then sang the NZ
National Anthem in Maori and
English followed by the Haka.
REVEILLE 15