Military

2023 marks 61 years since the arrival of the Australian Army Training team in South Vietnam on the 3 August 1962 and 51 years since the withdrawal of combat troops in 1972. During the Vietnam War 523 Australians gave their life for their country ... the Warwick and district Vietnam Veterans will honour Lionel James Baxter at the Warwick Cemetery in a Service of Remembrance.

Serena Kirby. Members of the Denmark RSL are calling on locals to help support a new returned veterans’ respite program. Known as Albany At Ease, the initiative is designed to assist Australian Defence Force members and veterans who are experiencing mental and physical health challenges as a result of military service.

Nariel woman, Joy Bennetts, will be one of 30 participants from the region who will participate in the Centenary of Legacy Torch Relay which will travel through the streets of Wodonga and Albury on Saturday 5th August. The local torch bearers all have a connection to Legacy or the Australian Defence Force ... King Charles helped kick off the London leg of the Legacy relay.

Aimee McCartney. On May 5, 2023, Headquarters Air Academy (HQ AirA) personnel gathered at the RAAF East Sale Yarning Circle to celebrate the significant service and diverse career of Wing Commander (WGCDR) Garry McKee ... At 16 years of age, WGCDR McKee, from Charlton in Victoria, enlisted into the Air Force as an apprentice Radio Technician.

The Veteran Games is an exciting opportunity for former and current serving military personnel to showcase their physical resilience, teamwork and problem-solving in an Australian-first team competition.

Last Wednesday representatives from the RSL at both district and state levels arrived in town to celebrate and enjoy the facilities at the Allora RSL Hall. Feedback about the RSL and Allora was positive with the state fundraising manager commenting that it’s one of the nicest facilities she’s seen.

Standing since 1921, the Cambooya War Memorial will need to be rebuilt after a vehicle drove into it early last Saturday, causing significant damage including toppling over the obelisk. A Queensland Police Service spokesperson said between 5.50am and 6.10am on Saturday, a single vehicle left the road and hit the War Memorial.

The four honour boards in the Rappville Hall that were destroyed in the 2019 bushfire have just been replaced with new and better versions ... Resident Roger Bailey was a driver of the project to restore the boards that hang on the shiny, white walls of the new hall.

The Northern Territory is currently on show at the Northern Australia Defence Summit – a key industry event to promote opportunities and enhance support for the defence industry. The Northern Territory is positioned as a key enabler for defence in the Indo-Pacific region and the Northern Territory Government is undertaking a range of strategic investments to support a capable and resilient defence industry.

Around 1000 people gathered at first light for Naracoorte’s Anzac Day Dawn Service where a special haka performance enthused the crowd. The performance has since gone viral via various traditional and social media platforms.

Serena Kirby. After a stormy night, the rain stopped and the clouds cleared for this year’s Anzac Day Parade in which participation numbers were down from previous years. An estimated 150 spectators attended the mid-morning street parade and service.

Residents and visitors totalling 55 attended the Anzac Dawn Service in Baker Park, and for the first time since the wet morning in 2017 the kookaburras missed the Dawn Service. This years commemoration was attended by two serving Army personnel, Sergeant Matt Devereaux and Corporal Michael (Mick) Elliott, son of Bill Elliott, from the Air Support Unit, RAAF base in Richmond.

Matthew Retmock. Today is a sad day. Today is not a day for shallow nationalistic chest-beating. Today is a day when we remember the victims of war and express our gratitude to the brave few who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Carly Brisby of Yanchep was among those to attend the Anzac Day service in the Yanchep National Park earlier on 25 April 2023. “My grandfather fought in World War II and was a prisoner at Changi I believe so I’m just here to remember him and the other soldiers that fought in all the wars" ... In his Anzac Day address Yanchep Two Rocks RSL president Bill Jones said in the very early morning 108 years ago the landing of allied troops took place along the rocky shores and headlands of the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey.

Catherine Grimley. Promptly at 9.30 on Tuesday morning marchers stepped off at the Transit Centre for the ANZAC Day March to the RSL ... This year’s main address by Sergeant Pam Dillon focused on the sacrifices and service of animals in war (represented by the purple poppy)...

An inspired address by former Charlton resident, Wing Commander, Garry McKee resonated strongly with the large crowd attending the 2023 Charlton Anzac Day ceremony last Tuesday on a gloriously mild autumn morning ... The deaths of 8,709 Australians and 2701 New Zealanders and a total of 44,000 Allied soldiers on that small peninsula introduced the theme which Garry wove throughout his speech – “They knew their chances were slim, but they went anyway.”

This year’s Anzac Day commemorations remembered and honoured military service men and women lost during wartime conflict and peacekeeping missions. 2023 commemorates 108 years since Anzac troops landed at Gallipoli in World War I and 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War.

The first formal commemoration of Anzac Day at Westbrook was organised in 2008 by the local Hall Committee and since then, attendances have improved each year.

Hundreds of people across the district flocked to Anzac Day marches and services ... A large crowd surround the memorial park to hear Cohuna/Leitchville RSL president, Geoff Dale, conduct the service, with assistance from military personnel, school children, Gannawarra Shire Council CEO Geoff Rollinson and Sergeant Josh Coombs.  

A small but moving commemorative service was conducted by the Salvation Army on Tuesday at the local cemetery. Wreaths were laid, Hymns were sung and Marco recited a poem he’d written "Such is War". After the Ode, the Last Post and one minute’s silence the crowd dispersed to Herbert Street for the Parade.

In his welcome to the Anzac Day service in Corryong on Tuesday, RSL sub-branch secretary, Greg Nankervis, told of how two towns half a world apart were honouring the memory of a young Upper Murray soldier this year. Malcolm Chisholm was the first Australian to die and the first of some 60,000 Australians who lost their lives on the First World War battlefields.