Commemorative booklet proudly presented by Michael McCormack MP Federal Member for Riverina 25th April 2011 District ProuD of Military Heritage THE commitment by the men and to the Western Front women of Wagga Wagga 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 Sydney 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 Albury 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.