Anzac Day 2014
The Anzac Day service commenced at the Pickering Brook War Memorial at 6.00 a.m. in front of a huge crowd which was bigger than last years. The service was led by Steve Lamont and complimented by the Pickering Brook Primary School Choir. They presented some fantastic singing which added so much to the service. Wreaths were laid on behalf of the Pickering Brook Community, the Shire of Kalamunda, Pickering Brook Primary School and many local families.
BILL GAYNOR PRESENTING HIS SPEECH #6
Past President of the Western Australian R.S.L. Mr. Bill Gaynor OAM RFD gave this very moving speech;
Good morning everyone and thank you for inviting me to share with you your 2014 ANZAC Day Commemorative Service. This year marks the 99th Anniversary of the Gallipoli Landing by troops of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps on 25th April, 1915. That single event has become a defining event in Australian History, and one, which we hope will remind future generations of Australians of how we became a unified nation with the key virtues of freedom and democracy as our cornerstones.
Next year we will be commemorating the centenary of that most significant event in Australian Military History – the landing of the ANZAC’s at Gallipoli in 1915 – and at that time we will give special acknowledgement to those who paid the supreme sacrifice and passed on to us, and future generations, that legendry ‘Spirit of ANZAC’.
As we think about ANZAC Day it must be remembered that we do not celebrate war on Anzac Day, but rather it is a day for us to remember and commemorate the sacrifices that over 110,000 Australian men and women have made over the past century.
The focus of Anzac Day must never be permitted to become anything else but an acknowledgement of the sacrifices of those who served their country and upheld the values of freedom and democracy that are the pillars of our modern society. Our soldiers who risked their lives, and continue to do so, were, and are, just ordinary people: wars were not of their making.
They deserved to be remembered.
Let us now think about where the ANZAC story started. Did you know that the ANZAC story actually began in Greenmount, in the Perth Hills at a training camp on Blackboy Hill. It was at that training Camp the men of the Western Australian Battalions did their training prior to going to War.
PICKERING BROOK PRIMARY SCHOOL CHOIR #7
There is a memorial at the site of the camp and a memorial with the names of ten Victoria Cross winners who trained at the camp.
Another important event was the departure of the troop ships going to war from Albany. Soldiers from the Eastern States left from that port to go to war after their ships took on supplies.
To many, that would be the last they saw of Australia as so many were killed at Gallipoli.
You will hear much more about the departure of the fleet later this year when a special service will be held in Albany to remember those soldiers.
When the troops from Australia arrived in Egypt they undertook training for battle before departing for Gallipoli.
On 25th April 1915, Australian and New Zealand troops, in the cold light of dawn landed at Gallipoli and engaged in a fierce battle and in doing so, wrote themselves into the pages of Australian Military History.
It is on the anniversary of that event in each year the nation stops and remembers.
We also remember that the Gallipoli landing was not the first time Australians had been in battle. Australian had previously fought in the Maori wars, the Sudan and in the Boer war and had distinguished themselves in those campaigns.
The 1915 Gallipoli Campaign was not an Australian battle. We were fighting alongside troops from New Zealand, Britian, France and Newfoundland in support of our ‘Mother Country – Great Britian’.
But what made Gallipoli different for Australia was it was the first major battle in which Australians fought as a nation. Soldiers from every State of the newly federated Australia volunteered and fought.
However, what impacted on our national soul was the sheer scale of casualties.
Gallipoli, a battle that lasted eight and a half months, resulted in the deaths of 7,600 Australians and 2,500 New Zealanders with 24,000 wounded.
Gallipoli was a battle we lost, so why do we celebrate defeat?
The answer is, I believe, that in commemorating Anzac Day we have not set out to celebrate victory but to honour those who forged what we now know as our Australian way of life.
As a people, we choose this day, when war first scarred the conscience of a young nation. The loss of a generation of young life was felt across the whole community and it was a great tragedy.
As a young nation, just 15 years old, the tragedy gave us the opportunity to think as individuals of those ordinary Australians serving their nation at a time when our democratic way of life was threatened to such a degree that it has been necessary for us to go to war.
Today we think of those who have served, and those currently serving, who make our defence forces one of which we can hold in high esteem.
We salute their commitment and courage.
We salute their endurance and strength.
We think of the families and those who stayed behind.
They battled their own problems in tough war times and supported those who fought.
We think of the prisoners and wounded – those who still suffer today. Above all, on Anzac Day, we honour those who died for us, our nation and for peace.
But what of the Anzac legacy – and the Spirit of ANZAC – that was born at the Gallipoli landing?
How important is it today? Why do we still talk about this mythical Spirit with great passion and tell young people that it is important to grasp hold of it and pass it on to others?
Following Gallipoli and the end of the Great War servicemen returning home brought home with them the qualities that they fostered while on the battlefield; those being the virtues of mateship, trust, duty, courage, teamwork, loyalty, humour and self-sacrifice. These virtues were passed on to the next generation of whom many fought in the Second World War.
To many of us here today, we have been the recipients of the Spirit which has clearly defined a developing Australia over the past century.
There is no doubt that as the spirit is passed on we will build a better and stranger Australia.
Today, Anzac Day is a day for the people and that is evident in the way we mark it. It is not a day of military parades and power.
It is a day for our service and ex-service men and women to meet at reunions or at commemorative services and for communities to honour those who have, or still are serving their country.
It is our day – a day to remember with affection the courage of people and the value of friendship – to honour our fallen and to acknowledge those who still suffer the effects of war.
We do not celebrate victory or glorify war -We celebrate the human spirit –
The Spirit of Anzac.
May we not break faith with those who gave their tomorrow so we might live today.
LEST WE FORGET
PICKERING BROOK PRIMARY SCHOOL CHOIR #8
SILIO DeMARCO & GEORGE SPRIGGS WREATH LAYING ON BEHALF OF THE PICKERING BROOK COMMUNITY #9
JESSIE FERNIE & GEORDIE COLE-RADICI WREATH LAYING ON BEHALF OF THE PICKERING BROOK PRIMARY SCHOOL #10
WREATH LAYING #11
Cr. JOHN GIARDINA WREATH LAYING ON BEHALF OF THE SHIRE OF KALAMUNDA #12
VIEW OF HUGE CROWD #13
VIEW OF THE LARGE CROWD ATTENDING #14
#15
VINCENT SALA TENNA RECITING THE ODE #16
DAPHNE & GEORGE SPRIGGS #17
STEPHEN LAMONT AND DOREEN HEMY #18
THE CREW HARD AT WORK #19
#21
#23
JUDY PETRUCCI & BEVERLEY GIUMELLI #24
FLAG ATTENDANTS Cub TRISTAN HEMINGWAY & Scout ETHAN WALKERDEN #30
#31
#32
The service was followed by an egg and bacon roll breakfast followed by tea and coffee. Free Anzac biscuits were distributed with thanks to Lee Gregory for supplying these. Fellowship and friendship continued until about 9.00 a.m. when everyone finally dispersed and went home after an enjoyable mornings service.
WREATHS ON THE WAR MEMORIAL #35
References: Article: Pickering Brook Heritage Group
Images: 1, 7, 9, 10, 12, 35 Gordon Freegard
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 23, 24, 30, 31, 32 Warwick Hemy
20, 22, 25, 26 27, 28, 29 33, 34 Tom Price