Anzac Day in the Riverina & Central West
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ANZAC DAY IN THE RIVERINA & CENTRAL WEST 25th APRIL 2019 Commemorative booklet proudly presented by Michael McCormack MP Deputy Prime Minister of Australia Federal Member for Riverina AT LAST!: is Great War-era postcard celebrates peace COVER: A hero for the ages … West Wyalong’s Alexander and acknowledges Australia’s part in achieving it. Ignatius O’Connor whose Great War photograph survived a re and whose amazing story should be a source of inspiration now and for all time. BACK PAGE: A contemporary postcard, by the famous Fred Spurgin (1882-1968) – renowned for his patriotic and CONTENTS humouristic World War I drawings. is one was sent on 26 February 1919 from France, where the Armistice was especially INSIDE: rejoiced, given the death and destruction on the Western Front. 24-25. 3. Editorial: Our hero typies ANZAC spirit Our Navy's baptism of re 4-13. Alexander Ignatius O'Connor ...e greatest 26-27. Centenary of World War I Armistice: VC that never was Barmedman marked its special place in history 14-15. A treasure of love among us 28. Little Kikoira did the nation proud 16-17. Sergei's Letter: ankfully not his last 29-33. 2019 ANZAC Day Riverina and Central West 18. Colin a modest war hero service times and venues 19. Major General Mackay's Light Horse vision 34-39. honoured Riverina and Central West school children’s ANZAC writing awards 20-21. Bimbi paid high price for war eort 22-23. Carraill family’s heart-breaking sacrices 40. Contemporary postcard - Peace CONTACTS: CANBERRA: PO Box 6022, Parliament House, PARKES: 207A Clarinda Street, Canberra, ACT, 2600 P: 6277 7520 Parkes, NSW, 2870 P: 6862 4560 WAGGA WAGGA: Suite 2, 11-15 Fitzmaurice Street, E: [email protected] Wagga Wagga, NSW, 2650 P: 6921 4600 F: 6921 5900 www.michaelmccormack.com.au @M_McCormackMP facebook.com/MichaelMcCormackMP MichaelMcCormackMP m_mccormackmp 2 IT’S OVER: Australian soldiers marching in the Victory OUR HERO TYPIFIES ANZAC SPIRIT Parade in London, England, in 1918. ALEXANDER Ignatius O’Connor features prominently Now more than ever heroes in this year’s ANZAC in the Riverina and Central West such as Alec O’Connor need to be – must be – publication and deservedly so. remembered and exalted by all who care deeply about our Like so many other young men of his era, Alec headed nation and where it is headed. o to e Great War to do his duty for God, King and Country. Never before has our history been more important as we Every one of those 416,809 Australian Imperial commemorate a hundred Force enlistees was brave beyond belief and so many years since the peace Treaty enthusiastically, willingly and voluntarily signed on for of Versailles, 80 years since service from rural and regional areas. the beginning of World War II and what these milestone Country families – just like Alec’s in the emerging military anniversaries mean in a modern context. community of West Wyalong – sent so many of their Only by ensuring the next generation fully appreciates nest to the battlefront … often never to see them again. and understands that yesteryear’s sacrices ensured today’s freedoms and that today’s preparedness safeguards On the following pages you will read of Alec’s our tomorrow will we guarantee that the blood shed in remarkable yet tragic tale – how he was recommended the past was not for nought. for a Victoria Cross and how he met his untimely end doing the right thing by his mates and his nation. Remember to always give gratitude to a Veteran and that Colourful and spirited, Alec was daring when it mattered the price of peace is eternal vigilance. Lest We Forget. most – his audacity not dissimilar to that displayed by other plucky soldiers who were awarded VCs. Our local Digger is long gone yet the re-telling of his THE HON. stirring actions and deeds here enables a new generation MICHAEL McCORMACK MP to know and admire the enormous courage he showed Deputy Prime Minister of Australia under re at Péronne in northern France in the Second Minister for Infrastructure, Transport Battle of the Somme in the closing months of that and Regional Development bloody 1914-18 con¦ict. Federal Member for Riverina 3 WHERE A HERO LIES (main picture): e headstone over Alexander Ignatius O’Connor’s nal resting place in the Catholic section in Rookwood Cemetery. TEARSHEET (right): Local coverage in the 15 November 1929 edition of e West Wyalong Advocate of Alec O’Connor’s tragic work accident death four days earlier. 4 Alexander Ignatius O’Connor … THE GREATEST VC THAT NEVER WAS! A WEST Wyalong soldier overlooked for his country’s greatest honour yet highly decorated by another nation returned to Australia and ultimately met his fate in bizarre and somewhat ironic circumstances. Alexander Ignatius O’Connor was unquestionably one of our battle-hardened nest – someone who fought the good ght and risked his own life whilst saving those of many mates. “ere was no more eªcient soldier, none braver and none better liked and respected than O'Connor,” eulogised e Reveille, the oªcial journal of the New South Wales branch of the Returned Sailors and Soldiers Imperial League, on 1 May 1932. “His memory will ever remain with those who were privileged to serve with him.” ere are many facets to the tale of this gallant Digger yet perhaps the saddest, apart from his untimely death at age 40, is the state in which his nal resting place has fallen due to the ravages of time. Had Sergeant O’Connor been presented with a Victoria Cross as was recommended, rather than a Distinguished Conduct Medal, his grave in Sydney’s Rookwood Cemetery would have been better cared for by authorities as is the case with recipients of this most prestigious of military awards. MOTHER AND SON: Alec O’Connor and his dear mother, His headstone is still legible yet no longer upright and Margaret. lies, unceremoniously, in a bed of bark, leaves and rubble. His daughter Patricia Bacon, now in her 94th year, is You have to know where to look to nd it and even then, justiably proud of a Dad she hardly knew but much you have to look hard. of the amazing story which was his life and death had His name is not engraved on the Wyalong Soldiers’ disappeared in the mists of time … until now. Memorial which has two marble tablets comprising the e telling of his tale in this annual publication is, names of 73 locals who made it home from e Great perhaps, a more tting memorial than a pristine War … and 22 who did not. monument no-one … or precious few … will ever visit. Nor is his name on any of the several wooden honour is way, people across the Riverina and Central West scrolls contained in the Wyalong Museum across the will come to know a little about an ordinary man who road. performed extraordinary deeds in the thick of battle and In death as in life, Alexander O’Connor has largely been who later lost his life after dutifully paying his respects forgotten. on … of all days … Armistice Day 1929. continued... 5 GOLD RUSH Alexander O’Connor was born on 5 May 1889 at Deniliquin, the eighth of 11 children and fth son of Irish-born Malachi (1835-1917) and his wife Margaret, née McKenzie (1858-1937), born at Howlong who became a well-known and much-loved nurse at West Wyalong. eir rst 10 children were born at either Deniliquin or Jerilderie – the youngest, Kathleen (1891-1993), being born at West Wyalong. Noting Malachi O’Connor’s death at age 82 in its edition of 3 November 1917, e Wyalong Advocate and Mining, Agricultural and Pastoral Gazette wrote that he had “resided on this eld for the past 24 years”. Malachi, with many thousands of others, had rushed to Wyalong soon after gold was discovered there by Joseph Neeld in September 1893. By May the following year there were 12,000 miners. In 1895 West Wyalong was developed ve kilometres from Wyalong around the bullock track, without the benet of town planning, resulting in curious kinks in the road to avoid trees and the crooked course of the main street today still re¦ects that. By the end of the 19th Century the Wyalong elds were reported as the most productive in New South Wales with 1264 kilograms extracted in 1899. Yields declined particularly from 1910 and gold mining had ceased by 1921, by which time more than 12½ tonnes had been uncovered. Despite the cessation of mining and the fact the twin towns lost many of their best and bravest in e Great War, the area did not die. Whilst the rush was on, large pastoral parcels of land were being divided up for smaller wheat holdings. Mixed farming developed and the Wyalong district became the largest cereal-growing region in the State. Eucalyptus oil production began in 1907 with the Vicary brothers Arthur and Frederick – who fought with the Australian Imperial Force’s famed 13th Battalion – engaged in that activity, a local industry which is still in operation. STREET SCENES (right): Early street scenes in Wyalong and West Wyalong. SIBLING (opposite page): Alec’s only younger brother James (seated in front of an unknown comrade), who went to war in 1915 with the 8th Infantry Brigade 30th Battalion as a Driver, was wounded in action in France in 1916 and returned home in 1919. He died in Marrickville on 11 October 1959. 6 e two left with 4 Infantry Battalion 9th Reinforcements aboard HMAT Argyllshire A8 on 30 EARLY LIFE September – amongst the 1650 to leave Sydney that day, including many from the Riverina.