City united in salute
Heroes of campaign honoured
CAIRNS has paid fitting tribute to the 5770 Australians killed in combat during the Battle of Polygon Wood, a turning point of World War I.
A joint effort between Cairns Regional Council and the State Government yesterday marked the 100th anniversary of the bloody conflict with a ceremony at the Cairns War Memorial.
Mayor Bob Manning explained the battle held special significance for the Far North.
“The 51st Battalion, which was then raised out of Perth, was involved and was later repositioned to Cairns,” he said.
“So there is some meaning for us. There were more casualties than the population of Cairns at that time.”
Cr Manning noted that next year’s Anzac Day parade at Villers-Bretonneux in northern France, marking the centenary of one of the most important Anzac victories, would pay special mention to the 51st Battalion’s contributions.
“The colours of the 51st Battalion and the Far North will be part of that event,” he said.
“These links are reaching out from the past.
“They’re being honoured and rightly so. Our council takes some pride in being involved in all of this.”
The name Polygon Wood came from a forest that lay along the axis of the Anzacs’ advance near Ypres in Belgium.
Cairns RSL Sub Branch vice-president Phil Warwick said Polygon Wood was the “beginning of the end” for the German-Ottoman alliance.
“While history records that it was a significant victory, it was also very costly in terms of Australian lives,” he said. Watch the video online at www.cairnspost.com.au