25th April 2011 Commemorative booklet proudly presented by Michael McCormack MP Federal Member for Riverina region gave it’s all in war time WHEN the call came in our nation’s Australians have greatest hour of need, the mighty men always put service – and women too – from the Snowy above self in the Mountains region of the Riverina pursuit of peace. responded magnificently. It is the just and They enlisted in their hundreds – right thing to do. patriotically, voluntarily and most of It is the way of the all enthusiastically. Willing to do their Digger… the ANZAC spirit. bit. Ready to serve. Prepared to die This booklet commemorates that if necessary. remarkable sense of courage and They boarded ships which took them responsibility which courses through to faraway lands where they fought with the veins of all who have worn an vim, vigour and valour. Australian military uniform and those who continue the proud tradition today. Many, sadly, did not return. They were buried in foreign fields, often where they On April 25 each year – the anniversary fell… some with markers over their of the 1915 Gallipoli landings by the hastily dug graves, many without. Australian and New Zealand Army Corps – communities large and small The names of those brave souls who paid appropriately and respectfully mark the ultimate price and lost their lives are our most important national day by chiselled into monuments both here and conducting services and marches. abroad – their sacrifice made, their duty done, their memory eternal. Times and venues for local ANZAC events are included in this publication Gallant sons and daughters of Adelong, as well as two moving pieces by local Batlow, Coolac, Gundagai, Rosewood, schoolchildren who have eloquently Tooma, Tumbarumba, Tumut and written about what ANZAC Day in the surrounding districts who went to Riverina means to them. gundagai war to uphold the noblest quest of all – remembers freedom. Freedom for people overseas who MICHAEL McCORMACK MP GUNDAGAI’S many desperately needed help, whose countries Federal Member for Riverina monuments will ensure had been taken by force and whose lives for all time its military men were at risk. and women will never be forgotten. australian war memorial The town is dotted with memorials including the one well worth a visit (pictured) at the intersection “HERE is their spirit, in the heart of the of Sheridan and Virgil Streets land they loved; and here we guard the and Railway Parade. record which they themselves made.” This large red and grey This is what Charles Bean, who played granite and concrete obelisk an essential role in the creation of the The iconic Canberra museum was contains 1133 names of those Australian War Memorial, had to say opened in 1941 and today welcomes who fought in the two World about the national military shrine in 1948. Wars, Korea and Vietnam. nearly a million visitors, a quarter of Bean’s idea was to set aside a place in those children, annually. Its foundation stone was Australia where families and friends Entry is free (donations welcome) and laid by Major-General could grieve for those buried far away the museum is open 10am-5pm every Charles Cox on 24 May 1928. and difficult to visit – a place which day except Christmas Day. would also serve to contribute to the Gundagai’s main street understanding of war itself. Visit www.awm.gov.au for more details. also has a Boer War monument while near the town’s famous Rugby League OFFICES OF MICHAEL McCORMACK: field, appropriately named CANBERRA: PO Box 6022, Parliament House, ACT 2600 P: 6277 4725 F: 6277 8563 ANZAC Park, there is an GRIFFITH: 100 Yambil Street P: 6964 1212 F: 6962 7722 impressive dedication to WAGGA WAGGA: Suite 2 11-15 Fitzmaurice Street P: 6921 4600 F: 6921 5900 locals who served. E: [email protected] www.michaelmccormack.com.au a silent sentinel, he stands stony-faced… always on duty… forever on guard. NIGHT DUTY: The rescued soldier commemorates the service of those from Grahamstown BRAVE BOY and Shepardstown. EVER-WATCHFUL: FROM BATLOW Adelong’s other sentry stands FIVE Batlow-born soldiers atop a plinth honouring the town’s war heroes in went to the Vietnam War but Memorial Park. sadly only four survived the conflict which for Australia lasted from 1962-73. on guard at adelong Maurice George Beasley, Alan George Gardner, Paul Perhaps it is no William Patrick Daniel to Adelong with plans Anthony Gow and Mitchell coincidence he looks O’Brien, a former Tumut to re-erect it in Memorial Ross Oddy all returned to over Adelong one way Mayor, rallied people Park. Instead, it remained loved ones after their duty with the small town’s for subscriptions for the in pieces for a couple of was done. other marble sentry facing original memorial. years until shifted to the Trooper Albert Lesley him, albeit several streets Adelong Shire Depot Doubtless he was driven Casey, however, was killed away in Memorial Park, by the sadness of having where a council worker as if they are watching placed the base in a in action aged 20 a week short lost two sons, Orlando of just three months in the over the good folk who in the Battle of Messines corner of the yard and, live there from both keen to practise his B Squadron, 3rd Cavalry in Belgium in 1917 and Regiment of the Royal directions. lighthorseman Assal gravedigging skills, laid the soldier to rest “six Australian Armoured Corps. The main street statue in Palestine just nine feet under” nearby. (which features on the months later. He is remembered on the cover) is on a pedestal Master sculptor Francis Local historian Alan honour rolls on his hometown with four white columns Rusconi of Gundagai Turner, whilst researching War Memorial (pictured) and the names of the built the memorial Grahamstown’s World as are the 17 Great War and 72 brave men from which was located in War I contribution in 12 World War II locals who Grahamstown and the Shepardstown 2001, became fascinated died serving their country Shepardstown engraved school grounds and was by the monument’s and community. into dark grey granite officially opened by Mr disappearance. tablets and highlighted From the time of the arrival O’Brien amid solemnity An article was published in black. of Australia’s first military yet fanfare for it was an in the Tumut and Adelong important occasion. personnel in July 1962 almost Just how this magnificent Times and soon after 60,000 Australians, including monument came to take Those in attendance the long lost soldier was ground troops and members up residence in Adelong exhumed, minus his gun. immediately set about of the Air Force and Navy, is a remarkable tale fund raising for a statue A matching rifle was served in Vietnam; 521 died combining all the to adorn the monument sourced in Europe elements of community as a result of the war and and Mr Rusconi was and Kell and Denson spirit, loss, survival, more than 3000 were again commissioned for stonemason Andrew perseverance and, most wounded. the project which was James painstakingly of all, the true essence completed in 1922 with restored the soldier of ANZAC Day… Mr O’Brien doing the and the monument to remembrance. unveiling honours once its present glory in time The memorial, without its more. for its latest tour of duty soldier, was first erected at The soldier stood alongside the Adelong Grahamstown in 1921 to proudly until 1968 when Services and Citizens honour the district’s finest the school closed and and Bowling Club, who went off to fight in with the site sold, carried out after the The Great War, 14 of the monument was official re-unveiling whom never returned. dismantled and taken on ANZAC Day 2008. RECRUITS: The Wagga Wagga Kangaroos before they set off on their march which would lead them to Europe’s battlefields. John Ryan is in the back row, fourth from the left. Photograph courtesy The Kangaroo March by Sherry Morris and Harold Fife. saluting Private ryan he is tumut’s greatest hero. unmistakably so. A man unafraid to do more than his duty who unflinchingly risked his life in an act of remarkable and selfless bravery. A recipient of the nation’s highest honour – the Victoria Cross – and deservedly so. Edward John Francis Ryan, known as John or even more sentimentally as Jack, was the right man in the wrong place at the right time. His calm, cool temperament, ability to rally and lead others and derring-do turned a desperate situation into a victorious one and earned Pte Ryan a place in the pantheon of Australia’s greatest soldiers. Certainly his VC is proudly on display in the Australian War Memorial’s Hall of Valour where it belongs – alongside those awarded to other Diggers who by their actions earned an honoured place in history. John Ryan was just an ordinary man who performed extraordinary feats in the heat of battle. He neither sought benefit nor gained any later in life from the military fame he achieved on the afternoon of 30 September 1918. His decoration was earned during an assault on the famous (Above) REMEMBERED: Hindenburg Line as the 55th Australian Infantry Battalion The memorials in Richmond attacked near Bellicourt, France. Park, Tumut, where Pte John Ryan VC is honoured. Pte Ryan’s VC citation best describes his bravado: “In the initial assault on the enemy’s positions, Private Ryan went (Left) FOR VALOUR: forward with great dash and determination and was one of the first John Ryan’s Victoria Cross.