Commemorative booklet proudly presented by Michael McCormack MP Federal Member for

25th April 2011 District Proud of Military Heritage THE commitment by the men and to the Western Front women of and district to where eventually Australia’s past and present wartime and The Great War was peacetime military efforts is as dedicated won and stability as any region in the land. restored, for two decades at least, to Long lists of names chiselled into local a troubled Europe. war memorials recording the fallen and also those who enlisted and were Australia paid a heavy price for its fortunately able to make it home again, involvement in the war of 1914-18 show the strength of the response by the and many fine men from this corner region when the call to duty was made. of the world never returned to loved ones, leaving behind many young The fact Wagga Wagga is the home widows, heartbroken children, of the soldier, with every Army recruit distraught families and sorrowful going through Blamey Barracks at communities to cope with the loss. Kapooka and with Forest Hill being an important training and strategic base for But through their supreme sacrifice, both the Royal Australian Air Force and the ANZAC legend was born and the Royal Australian Navy, underline the flame burns as brightly now as it did city’s ongoing support of the country’s in 1915 when news of the ill-fated NAMES TO LIVE armed forces. Gallipoli mission first filtered through. ON FOREVER The selfless service then and now That is why we stand in silent tribute THE Cenotaph in Wagga is what is often referred to as the spirit as ex-servicemen and women march Wagga’s Victory Memorial of ANZAC and is commemorated on our most important national day. Gardens, which features on on 25 April each year. That is why we honour their courage. That is why we must and will never the cover, cost £800 and was This is the anniversary of the original forget. unveiled by Brigadier-General landings at Gallipoli when brave troops Thomas Blamey on 17 of the Australian Imperial Force rushed September 1922. ashore at the start of what would be a drawn-out, deadly and ultimately Born at Lake Albert, Blamey MICHAEL McCORMACK MP unsuccessful campaign. served as a staff officer at Federal Member for Riverina Gallipoli and on the Western Although the ANZACs did not triumph Front in World War I and on the Turkish peninsula, many went on later was Commander-in- Chief, Australian Military The Ode Forces, in WWII. “For the Fallen” (1914) English poet Laurence Binyon (1869-1943) THEY shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; The centrepiece for ANZAC and Armistice Day Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. commemorations contains At the going down of the Sun and in the morning we will remember them. the names of the 392 district Veterans who died in the World Wars and in Vietnam. The last post IN military tradition, the Last Post is the bugle call which The War Memorial Arch, signifies the end of the day’s activities. It is also sounded at shown above in pictures from military funerals to indicate the soldier has gone to his final yesteryear and today, was rest and at commemorative services such as ANZAC Day erected for £1608 plus the and Armistice Day. cost of inscribing the more than 1000 Great War local In major ceremonies, the Last Post is normally followed by enlistees. Rouse except at the dawn service when Reveille is played. Historically, Reveille woke the soldier at dawn. It was officially opened by Major-General C F Cox Kapooka bugler Corporal David Matthews will perform at (better known to his troops Villers-Bretonneux on ANZAC Day. as “Fighting Charlie”) on OFFICES OF MICHAEL McCORMACK: ANZAC Day 1927. CANBERRA: PO Box 6022, Parliament House, ACT 2600 P: 6277 4725 F: 6277 8563 The two structures stand as GRIFFITH: 100 Yambil Street P: 6964 1212 F: 6962 7722 superb monuments to those WAGGA WAGGA: Suite 2 11-15 Fitzmaurice Street P: 6921 4600 F: 6921 5900 who did not die in vain. E: [email protected] www.michaelmccormack.com.au City’s close ties with battleships

Dented but certainly (Above) TRAGIC LOSS: HMAS II and its entire crew were lost in 1941. not down (Left) SYDNEY CREW: Aboard the WAGGA Wagga is fortunate ill-fated ship. to have a relic of the first (Below) REMEMBERED: Keith Bowes, single ship action fought gone but not forgotten. by our Navy. THERE are proud and lasting links uniting Wagga Wagga and the first two The Battle of Cocos took of the five Royal Australian Navy ships place on 9 November 1914 named HMAS Sydney. during WWI off the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, in the A tall flagpole in the Victory Memorial north-east Indian Ocean. Gardens pictured below bears a battle scar On 19 November 1941 a merchant ship of a famous stoush between the original was sighted in the Indian Ocean about German light cruiser SMS Sydney and the German Cruiser Emden – 200 kilometres off the West Australian Emden attacked the British one of the first actions of The Great War. coast. Challenged by Sydney, the other cable station on Direction ship identified itself as the Dutch Straat Island and was engaged Malaka when, in fact, it was Kormoran, several hours later by the armed to the teeth with concealed original HMAS Sydney, artillery and torpedoes. an Australian light cruiser. Sydney closed to within 1000 metres Sydney I won a fierce fight and the German raider opened fire, lasting an hour and 40 sending Sydney and all on board to the minutes, losing eight men, bottom of the sea. but destroying Emden (which had 131 killed) and capturing Kormoran was also badly damaged in the enemy ship’s survivors. the battle and had to be scuttled, losing The pole which stands In the same park, on the historic 82 crew with 317 others subsequently captured. straight and proud in the Cenotaph as well as the enlistment rolls Victory Memorial Gardens on the wall encircling the eternal flame Of all the RAN officers and sailors was erected on 11 November, behind the Memorial Arch, the name who died in WWII, a third of them Remembrance Day, 1931, of one of Wagga Wagga’s bravest can went down with Sydney. 3½ years after the first Sydney be found. Sydney’s wreck was found on 17 March was decommissioned. Keith Andrew Joseph Bowes was aboard 2008, five days after a team led Sydney II when it was involved in a by American shipwreck hunter David mutually destructive engagement with Mearns located the remains of the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran Kormoran. and was lost with its 645 crew in World Thus ended one of Australia’s enduring War II. mysteries and brought closure for those Just 19 years of age, Stoker Bowes was who still grieved and pondered about born in Wagga Wagga on 9 June 1922. the loss of so many noble young men He enlisted for service at Tumblong including Wagga Wagga teenager Keith on 1 August 1939, a month to the day Bowes – a true hero. before Germany invaded Poland to Wagga Wagga-born Clifford Leslie begin a global conflict which would cost James Curtis, a 22-year-old Leading as many as 70 million lives by the time Wireman who signed on at Dandenong, TELLING TALES: A marker a truce was finally called in 1945. Victoria, also perished. on the pole details its history. Wagga’s magnificent march The Great War had lasted nearly About 70 senior cadets were next in line and behind them the Wagga Wagga Citizens’ Concert Band under four years and Australian casualties bandmaster Ernie Homann and then trooped district schoolchildren, hundreds of them, carrying bannerettes were increasing at a dreadful rate when representing the Australian flag and the Union Jack. Wagga Wagga staged one of its most The women of the Wagga Wagga Soldiers’ Comforts Fund, The Salvation Army, members of the Wagga patriotic days of all time. Wagga Fire Brigade mounted on their motor engine and a number of vehicles of all descriptions made up the It was the afternoon of Saturday, 6 July 1918 and amid impressive parade. much colour and fanfare a March to Freedom was held to recruit soldiers for the Australian Imperial Force. “Along the whole line of the march from the railway station to Hampden Bridge, flags and bannerettes were flying from The freedom marchers had started their recruitment drive almost every building on both sides of the thoroughfare at and by the time they arrived in Sydney had traversed, giving the town a gala day appearance,” visited 12 towns. trumpeted The Daily Advertiser newspaper the next day. They came to Wagga Wagga by train from Henty and Several thousand people thronged to witness the event. comprised 75 officers, non-commissioned officers and men with full equipment. “It takes a man to fight,” boomed Lieutenant Burns, the officer commanding the March to Freedom column, After a formal welcome by Mayor Edgar Collins, when it came time for speeches. the parade began with four mounted police out front followed by the Wagga Wagga Brass Band led by Drum He told the large and enthusiastic gathering he wanted Major Bill Bentley and accompanied by Bandmaster to see how many eligible men had “the heart to join in the Frederick Philpott. great game – the fight for freedom and liberty”. The column of marchers came next then the militia under Corporal McNamara, who had recovered after being Major Silvio Palazzi who had fought in the Boer War of badly wounded in action, told the crowd the name of 1899-1902 alongside his brother Joseph who was killed in ANZAC was a title of fame and glory. action, aged just 22. “Grip a rifle and fall in among the men in the March to Freedom,” he urged. Warrant Officer Judge also spoke forthrightly: “At such a time as the present there was only one way to be a man, only one way to justify their manhood and to still the small voice of conscience and that was to get into khaki uniform.” The stirring words had their effect with 19 volunteering. Two days later, at a concert in , an appeal went out to the men of that town with 11 recruits being accepted. Riverina’s own Victoria Cross recipient, Gunbar-born Private William Jackson, addressed both the Wagga Wagga and Junee gatherings. Pte Jackson must have been an inspiration. He was missing his right arm as a result of the actions which won him his VC on the night of 25-26 June 1916 near Armentières, France. At 19 he was (and still is) Australia’s youngest VC winner, our first on the Western Front and the first from to return home from the horrors of World War I. “Grip a rifle and fall in among the men in the March to Freedom.”

PATRIOTIC PARADE (above): One of Wagga Wagga’s grandest days as the March to Freedom sets off from the Railway Station along Baylis Street. The advertisement is from The Daily Advertiser promoting the big day. The other rare image (opposite page) shows the procession as it passes J J McGrath’s Saddlery in Fitzmaurice Street. COOLAMON HERO’S SUPREME SACRIFICE HIS face was one of youthful resolve… bright eyes looking ahead with a sense of purpose and spirit… not knowing what lay ahead but ready to do his best for God, King and Country. William Kelly was among the first to enlist with the Australian Imperial Force for The Great War, signing up at Liverpool on 16 December 1914 and sailing out with the 3rd and 4th Battalions on 11 February 1915. His low service number (1577) shows Private Kelly’s eagerness, for eventually “While the wounded were being removed as many as 421,809 Australians would from the trench the enemy commenced a join the military, with 331,781 serving severe attack by bomb throwers,” according overseas. to the extract from the London Gazette relating to his DCM. Sent to Gallipoli, Private Kelly – known as Bill to his mates – did his family, “Private Kelly, with great pluck, met community, comrades and nation proud it by collecting and throwing back the MONUMENT: Rear view of with his heroism but, sadly, lost his life enemy’s unexploded bombs, until one burst ’s Memorial Gate. in order so that others might live. in his hand, inflicting severe injuries. GANMAIN’S SAD LOSS The Battle of Lone Pine, from 6-10 “His gallantry and self-sacrifice AT GALLIPOLI August 1915, was ferociously fought, undoubtedly saved the lives of many with the AIF suffering 2200 casualties. of the wounded.” LONE Pine claimed the life Bill Kelly’s medal was sent to Coolamon of another from the region Included in the high toll was Pte Kelly, just 21 years old, who died of wounds and awarded to his father, Patrick, at when Frederick William a public gathering. Erskine of Ganmain paid the aboard the hospital ship Delta and was supreme sacrifice. buried at sea. He was the first from the district to die but would not be the last. Before the Remembered on the town’s Poor Bill had suffered for four days, memorial arch, his demise was having sustained serious wounds to his Armistice was signed on 11 November a particularly sad one. face and both hands, necessitating the 1918 another 46 local men – the bravest amputation of his right hand. of the brave – would be added to the list The 34-year-old farmhand, of the fallen. originally from South Africa, His remarkable courage was was hit in the chest by a bomb acknowledged by the posthumous during a charge on the night awarding of a Distinguished Conduct of 6 August 1915 and died in Medal for his 7 August actions. the arms of a mate who was also severely injured. The soldier who nursed Fred during his final moments also succumbed the next night. After an extensive search by the Base Records office for Pte Erskine’s next-of-kin, his only sister Norah Cullen of Wagga (Top right) BRAVE: War-time portrait of Wagga was finally located and Bill Kelly with his posthumously-awarded his medals forwarded to her in Distinguished Cross Medal drawn in. October 1922. (Right) MEMORIAL: Coolamon’s Ganmain mourned the loss of Cenotaph which honours the district’s finest. many good men killed in the (Above) LEST WE FORGET: Bill Kelly’s two world wars and took years name on the honour roll at the Australian to recover. War Memorial in Canberra. 2011 ANZAC DAY SERVICE times and venues Wagga Wagga 10.30am Baylis Street March begins. and district: 11am Wreath Laying, Victory COOLAMON (Includes Marrar) Memorial Gardens Cenotaph. 6am Dawn Service at Cenotaph The Salute will be taken by in Cowabbie Street. Senior Naval Officer, Lieutenant Commander Linton Lee. 10.45am Servicemen and women and BISCUITS TO KEEP ‘EM all groups marching line up Capital city services: SOLDIERING ON outside RSL Memorial CANBERRA Museum in Loughnan Street 5.30am Dawn Service at the Australian THE famous ANZAC for Main Service. War Memorial (suggested Biscuit came about, so legend FOREST HILL arrival from 4.30am onwards). goes, because mothers, wives 6am Dawn Service at Royal 6.30am The Aboriginal and Torres and girlfriends feared their Australian Air Force main gate. Strait Islander Commemorative men overseas were not getting sufficient nutritional value. GANMAIN (Includes ) Ceremony at the Aboriginal 6am Dawn Service at Memorial Memorial Plaque on the side Food supplies had to be Gate in Waterview Street. of Mount Ainslie. shipped to Great War battlefronts and naval 10.30am March starts at corner of Ford 10.15am National Ceremony at the transportation was slow, so a and Waterview Streets and Australian War Memorial recipe was formulated for a proceeds to Memorial Gate. (suggested arrival 9.45am). biscuit which would last the 11am Main service. SYDNEY distance and pass the taste test. 4.15am Dawn Service at the Cenotaph KAPOOKA in Martin Place. Ingredients 5.30am Dawn Service at Army Recruit • 1 cup each of plain flour, 8.30am Wreath-Laying Ceremony at Training Centre. All members sugar, rolled oats and the Cenotaph in Martin Place. of the public need to be in the coconut. Base no later than 5.20am. 9am ANZAC Day March starting • 115 grams (4 oz) butter. at Martin Place/George Street/ • 1 tablespoon treacle Bathurst Street/Hyde Park. 10am Service at Memorial Hall in (golden syrup). Sydney Street. 12.30pm Commemorative Service at the • 2 tablespoons boiling water ANZAC Memorial in Hyde (add a little more water if Park South. mixture is too dry). 9am Service at Cenotaph in Morgan • 1 teaspoon bi-carbonate soda. Street. 1pm Aboriginal ANZAC Day March in Redfern. Method WAGGA WAGGA 5pm Sunset Service at the Cenotaph 1. Grease biscuit tray and (Includes , , in Martin Place. pre-heat oven to 180°C. Euberta, , San Isidore) 5.45am Dawn Service arranged by Legacy 2. Combine dry ingredients. at the Cenotaph in the Victory 3. Melt together butter and Memorial Gardens, Baylis Street. golden syrup. Combine 6.30am Pilgrimage to Wagga Wagga water and bi-carbonate War Cemetery in Kooringal soda – add to butter mix. Road. Speeches by Kooringal 4. Mix butter mixture and dry High School Captains Josh ingredients. Larwood and Isabel Mulrooney. 5. Drop teaspoons of mixture PLEASE NOTE: All times and onto tray allowing room venues have been supplied in good for spreading. faith by various RSL Sub-Branch Bake for 10-15 minutes or officials and were correct at the time until golden. Allow to cool of publication. Every care has been on tray for a few minutes taken to ensure as many services as before transferring to possible have been included. For cooling racks. verification of other services please contact your local RSL Sub-Branch. *Makes about 35 biscuits. Recipe provided by Bob Lawson, (Above right) LEADING THE WAY: Warrant Officer Class 2 Ray Hingston, mace in hand, stepping in style in his role as Drum Major out front of the Australian Army Band an ANZAC at Gallipoli. Source: Kapooka in last year’s ANZAC Day parade at Wagga Wagga. Australian War Memorial www.awm.gov.au SCHOOLCHILDREN’S THOUGHTS

RIVERINA primary and secondary school students were invited to enter a writing competition “What ANZAC Day in the Riverina means to me.” Hundreds of entries were received with the ones judged most outstanding reprinted on this page and their authors receiving ANZAC-related book prizes. All who submitted an entry will receive a commemorative certificate.

A CHILD LIKE ME THE ANZACs, OUR ANZACs A child like me has lost their Nervous troops, My great Grandpa fought mother or father in the war. harder they trained, as a cook in the Army, No man ever gave up. My uncle fought on the field. ourage is what it would In roaring trenches, C As did many more take to keep living they fought to survive, without my family. Bravely pushing on. sacrifice the life They fought together! That easily could Holidays would never Whatever the cost, have been theirs. be the same, Christmas, Ploughing through as one. birthdays, Easter. The Riverina I would feel heartbroken WINNER: Grace Sorrowful men is a wonderful place, if my Mum or Dad Carmichael, 13, Year 9, sailing homeward. So far from any war. hadn’t come back from Coolamon Central School But some, It’s hard to imagine they never returned. I’m across the sea, war. Crowds on the docks, Men and women Where Aussies aying a wreath to waved and cheered. L gave their life. give up much more. remember those who A tear in my The greatest sacrifice. fought for our freedom. grandmother’s eye. So when I march on Thrill of adventure But what does it mean Devastated is the way to me today, ANZAC Day, I would feel if a family ran in their spine. I am proud War, they were headed. With blessings member passed away. so great in number? to march for those Brass buttons Well many of us Australian and New Living a peaceful life and leather boots, would not be here, Zealand Army Corps. would not be possible Bellowing generals If not for their The ANZACs, without the soldiers. commanded. courage and spirit. our ANZACs. I think of the people shooting guns to save our country. Kids think of every soldier who died in WWI and WWII. Everyone in the battlefields is scared and fears dying.

My thoughts at the sound of the bugle played at ANZAC Day services are of all the soldiers dying and fighting for me. Every country for themselves; team versus team in a BOOK PRIZE: Riverina MP Michael McCormack presents the primary age winner journey of life and death. Catherine Crebbin-Nugent, 9, with the book Simpson and his Donkey as Tolland Public School pupils (from left) Teigan Crebbin-Nugent, 11, Jayde Crocker, 10, Milika Catherine Crebbin-Nugent, 9, Tuinakauvadra, 10, Toby Hoskins, 11, Kaitlyn McRae, 11, Libby Bevan, 11, and Jazmin Year 5, Tolland Public School Cotter, 9, proudly hold their certificates, and Acting Principal Helen Nixon looks on. This material has been produced by Michael McCormack MP using his printing and communications entitlement. Authorised by: Federal Member for Riverina Michael McCormack MP, Suite 2 11-15 Fitzmaurice Street Wagga Wagga NSW 2650. Printed by Chambers Whyte Design and Print, 5 Rabaul Place Wagga Wagga NSW 2650.