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Local’s reflected on the service and sacrifice of Shire’s service personnel from all wars and conflicts today.
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This year, ANZAC Day held the added recognition of being the Centenary of WWI – an anniversary that was not overlooked by the large crowds assembled throughout the Shire.
At Bellingen’s 9am service, mayor Dominic King spoke about ANZAC Day in the modern context, as well as reflecting on his family’s personal story.
“While April 25 marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during WWI, the meaning of ANZAC Day includes the remembrance of all Australians killed in military operations,” Cr King said.
“Like so many fellow citizens we gather in our town to honour the memory of those gallant men and women who sacrificed their lives in service to their country.
“By your presence here I know there is no doubt in your hearts and your minds that today is especially significant for you.
“Many of you here had, or have a family member that was involved in an overseas conflict and this is also a day for our community to pay our respects to those who made it back alive and still suffered the terrible consequences of going to war.
“For me personally, I have fading memories and sketchy stories of my own Grandparents involvement in WWII as it was not something they ever openly shared with me or others that didn’t experience it themselves.
“My mother’s father, Sgt Henry Maloney was a gunner in the Eighth Army and served for six year in the British Army in the Middle East and Africa.
“I do recall being told by my family that he lost his best mate to flying shrapnel fighting in the Middle East and it was something that he never recovered from. He appeared to carry that loss very hard and the pain of that loss stayed with him for the rest of his life.
The only information I have about my other Grandfather Sid King was that he was a rear gunner in the RAF. He was then asked to be a trainer of other Airmen.
“I imagine that having to train other young men to do this dangerous job would have also weighed heavily on his own conscience. The fact that he was given the job of trying to prepare others to go on dangerous, sometimes deadly missions from which they may never return, is difficult for us now to even contemplate.
“One firm memory I have of both of these men was their reluctance to speak of their involvement in the war and I now realise that their silence in many ways spoke louder than the words they chose not to speak. It is now apparent that their memories of war were not primarily filled with stories about bravado, adventure and excitement but they were about pain, fear and the loss of comrades who never made it back.
“I also had a neighbour when I was a teenager who had fought in Vietnam. He also would never speak about his experiences, even when we were game enough to ask him for details of what it was like to fight a war. He was a good neighbour but he was also clearly impacted by his own memories and his poor treatment on return to Australia.
“Many diggers I have spoken to over the years also had the same opinion of war and that it should never be glorified. Too many good people have died and too many communities here and abroad have suffered for it to be taken lightly.
“ANZAC Day is a day to remember the fallen but it is in no way to be seen as celebration of war.
“The message that I take from my contact with those few people that I have known personally or have spoken to about war is, that we as a community must continue to pay our respects and remember their sacrifice and suffering of these brave men and women.
“We need to also acknowledge the tragic loss to our local towns of many of the future civic leaders, fathers, wives and citizens to the tragedies of war. However most importantly we must remember the silent message that the people who survived these conflicts portrayed to us.
“We must strive as a nation and a global partner to avoid at all costs the danger of being dragged into another conflict. My grandparents had no choice but to go to war as the threat was imminent and clear for all to see. However on their return how they wished the trauma that this caused them and their families could have been avoided.
“We must continue to gain insight from history and also observe what is happening in other regions of the world today. Wars in Syria and Iraq and Afghanistan remind us that there are no real winners in war.
Finally, it is important to ensure our young people not only learn of the sacrifices of war but understand that ANZAC Day is part of our history and enables the deeds of those men and women in years past to live in our hearts forever.”
Bellingen’s 9am Service line-up
- Welcome to country – Dylan Kelly
- Minister Reverend Lindsay Cullen, Uniting Church
- Main address – Mayor Dominic King
- Bellingen High School captains’ address – Meagan Davis and Blaise Borrer
- Australian National Anthem – Michelle der Kinderen
- NZ Anthem – Tu'ulenana Iuli with the 1st Bellingen Guides
- The catafalque party was provided by Charlie Company, 41 RNSWR.