Anzac Day 2018 Commemorative Service Speech by Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Kate Warner Ac Governor of Tasmania Deloraine, Wednesday 25 April 2018
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1 ANZAC DAY 2018 COMMEMORATIVE SERVICE SPEECH BY HER EXCELLENCY PROFESSOR THE HONOURABLE KATE WARNER AC GOVERNOR OF TASMANIA DELORAINE, WEDNESDAY 25 APRIL 2018 Good morning everyone. May I begin by paying my respects to the traditional and original owners of this land— the Tommeginne and Pallitorre people. I acknowledge the contemporary Tasmanian Aboriginal community, who have survived invasion and dispossession, and continue to maintain their identity, culture and Indigenous rights. Thank you to the Deloraine Returned and Services League of Australia Sub- Branch for inviting Dick and me to the Deloraine Anzac Day Service. I know that Anzac Day in Deloraine each year comes together as a result of community inclusion. All of your service clubs play a vital role in making Anzac Day possible, along with the many community clubs, schools, special groups, and sporting clubs contributing in any way they can to assist. On behalf of the Deloraine Sub-Branch of RSLA I thank you for your support. Today is the second time since I have been Governor of Tasmania, that I have had the opportunity to deliver the Anzac Day address away from Hobart. In 2016 Dick and I travelled to Evandale to commemorate the day with that community and reflect on the sacrifice that town and district had given in the service of their country. For me this is the essence of Anzac Day, a local event around a town’s cenotaph, which is an opportunity to respectfully remember those who have been killed, wounded and traumatised by war including the devastating effect of war on lives back home. Around Tasmania today there are more than 80 Anzac Day services from Avoca to Zeehan. 2 The Tasmanian War Memorials Database describes this war memorial site at Deloraine as a, quote, “Most impressive war memorial set in a lovely park beside the Meander River”i. It certainly is that. The database also provides a detailed list of those who fought and died in that period of 1914 – 1918 and the conflicts that Australian service personnel have fought in since. As we approach November 2018 and 100 years since the end of the First World War, it is poignant to reflect that there are 108 names on this memorial of Deloraine men who fell in that conflict. This is out of a total of 410 names of men who served in this war from the Deloraine municipality. Staggeringly, one man in four who served from this municipality lost his life. What a devastating impact this must have had on their loved ones, the community and its resources. I would like to spend some time today in reflection of one of those men, whose name appears on this memorial and then on the achievements of one other soldier from this area, who fought at Beersheba and who was awarded a Military Cross for his actions in that battle. The first name on the War memorial in front of us is that of William Henry Andrewartha, a married storekeeper from Dunorlan. Records held in the Australian War Memorialii indicate that William was 23 and married to Grace Andrewartha when he enlisted. He was enlisted as a Private and assigned to the 15th Infantry Battalion of the 1st Australian Imperial Forces (AIF). After his initial training, William embarked from Brisbane, Queensland, on board HMAT Kyarra in January 1916. He served in the Western Front. It is recorded that shortly after arriving in France William was posted to the 47th Infantry Battalion, and sometime later he was promoted to the rank of Corporal. William died of wounds he received on active service on 5th August 1916. He is buried in the Puchevillers British Cemetery, Puchevillers, Picardie, France.iii A word now about James Norbert Griffin, from Dunorlan, who enlisted on 18th August 1914, aged 24 years. Already in uniform, James had been serving in the militia as part of 26th Squadron, Light Horse Regiment since 1912. iv 3 A good soldier and a fine horseman, James proved to be a competent member of the 3rd Light Horse Regiment, his posted unit: so much so that by 1916 he was a Warrant Officer Class 2 and holding the position of Squadron Sergeant Major. In July 1916 James’s Commanding Officer recommended that Griffin be promoted to the rank of Second Lieutenant, a recommendation that had as its final approval signature that of Major General Harry Chauvel, Commander of the Desert Mounted Corp. James was a Lieutenant holding the position of Troop Commander when late in the afternoon of 31 October 1917, the soldiers of the Brigadier General William Grant’s 4th Light Horse Brigade made its famous and decisive Cavalry charge to capture the stronghold of Beersheba and its wells. The capture of Beersheba meant that the Gaza-Beersheba line was turned. Gaza fell a week later and on 9 December 1917, the British troops entered Jerusalem. For his part in the capture of Beersheba, James was awarded a Military Cross, the citation for which reads, and I quote: “For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He led his Troop into action with great courage and skill, repeatedly advancing under heavy machine-gun and rifle fire, which enabled his Squadron to advance across exposed ground. His personal courage proved a fine incentive to his men.”v James returned home to Tasmania in May 1919. He was finally discharged in September 1919, returning to civilian life as a farmer at Whiteford Hills. He did however remain as a serving member of the militia. In February 1920 as part of his visit to Tasmania, General Sir William Birdwood came here to Deloraine to personally award Captain James Norbert Griffin the Military Cross. The Examiner newspapers of 25 February 1920 records the occasion, and I quote: “General Birdwood received a most enthusiastic welcome at Deloraine… A dense mass of people assembled before the Town Hall, where a double line of returned Soldiers were drawn up… 4 “The general passed up and down the lines, renewing acquaintance with the returned soldiers, after which Captain Griffin was called up to receive at the hands of General Birdwood the Military Cross won by him at Beersheba, Palestine. When this had been pinned on by the general, the crowd cheered lustily.” End of quote.vi In an article in the Examiner article published on 12 April 2014, James’s son Jim Griffin recalls that his father went on to become a Major-in-Charge at Mona Vale during World War II and was 61-years-old when Jim was born in 1950.vii So, there we have two contrasting Deloraine stories this Anzac Day. Memory of them, the 108 names on this memorial, our memory of all who have served their country in battle and behind the lines, friends and foes, should remain with us today. And we should not forget the devastating impact on those who remained at home. The 1000 Turkish soldiers who died in the Battle of Beersheba, had families too. Finally we should not neglect our living veterans. There are many former ADF members who are homeless. A University of Western Australia study found almost half of 2952 former ADF members who had experienced homelessness in the last year were found to have a serious brain injury, PTSD or head trauma.viii They need our help. We should remember them all. Lest we forget. i https://trove.nla.gov.au/version/48846479 accessed 11 April 2018. ii https://www.awm.gov.au The collection › Fact sheets accessed 11 April 2018. iii LTCOL D M Wyatt, Unpublished manuscript – Collections of Biographical data 2006. iv https://discoveringAnzacs.naa.gov.au/browse/person/192989 accessed 11 April 2018. v 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 150 Date: 24 September 1918. vi LTCOL D M Wyatt, Unpublished manuscript – Collections of Biographical data 2007. vii www.examiner.com.au Gallipoli calling war hero's son 12 April 2014. viii Helen Kempton, ‘Help call for forgotten veterans’ The Mercury, 21 April, 2018, p 23. .