Finding a way to remember
COVID regulations may have restricted crowd numbers at Remembrance Day services last week, but many West Gippslanders still found a way to observe the special day.
In a year that has been marked by restrictions and lockdowns, Drouin RSL president Rod McNab chose to remind people the pandemic was no comparison with the hardship the Australian people endured during and after World War 1.
In Warragul, the service may have been closed to the public but it didn’t stop more than 100 people pausing near the cenotaph on Remembrance Day.
The service was formally limited to Warragul RSL sub-branch executive members, HMAS Cerberus personnel and Baw Baw Shire councillor Danny Goss. However, residents paused in the surrounding streets and in shopfronts to join a minute’s silence at 11am.
Warragul Municipal Band’s Nathaniel Jackson played the bugle whilst the Warragul RSL’s Kylie Sage and Chris Berg were tasked with the flag raising.
Warragul RSL acting president Ben Vahland reflected on the waste and violence of wars, noting a long list of wars and conflicts in which Australians have paid the ultimate sacrifice.
He urged those gathered to remember the sacrifice they, their families and the nation have made whilst also remembering the survivors.
Mr Vahland said let’s not forget those currently serving in Afghanistan, Iraq and in peacekeeping operations as well as the role defence has played in Australian communities over the past 12 months.
“As you’ll appreciate, defence has been very busy,” Mr Vahland said, noting between bushfires and coronavirus duties as well as border protection operations, many have been unable to take leave or see families for one to two years.
He urged the community that on this 102nd Remembrance Day to remember the sacrifice of our defence personnel, the fallen, the present and the living.
Drouin’s Remembrance Day commemorative service on Wednesday was smaller and shorter than in past years but observed with the same respect for the day since it was first held more than 100 years ago.
The service led by Drouin RSL president Rod McNab included wreath and poppy laying at the War Memorial at Memorial Park in Princes Way, reciting of The Ode, the Last Post, one-minute’s silence, Reveille, flag-raising and the National Anthem.
In a brief address Mr McNab reflected on Australia at the time of the First World War.
During the War from 19141918 some 330,000 Australian solders served overseas, more than 60,000 of whom died in action or from wounds.
Mr McNab said at the time Australia had strong political and religious divisions, was “broke” and, on the home front, women were called on to do many things they had never done before.
But he said this year, with lockdowns and other restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, was no comparison with the hardship the Australian people endured during and after World War 1.
Wreaths were laid during the ceremony by returned servicemen Brian Milner, on behalf of Drouin RSL, and Peter Cuthbertson for Central Gippsland Legacy Group.
Many of the about 30 members of the public that attended the observance laid poppies at the memorial including newly elected Baw Baw Shire councillor Ben Lucas of Drouin, who served with the 1st Battalion Royal Australian Regiment on peacekeeping duties in East Timor.
A small gathering of people stopped to pay their respects and in a short service at the Trafalgar RSL.
The service began with the sounding of the siren at the Trafalgar fire station, followed by a minute’s silence to remember the brave men and women who fought for the countries freedom.
Trafalgar/Thorpdale RSL vice president Jim Crowe led the service, which saw several people including Trafalgar High School student leaders and re-elected Baw Baw Shire councillor Michael Leaney pay their respects with wreaths and poppies.
With COVID-19 preventing a larger crowd from attending, the RSL live streamed the service online.
Mr Crowe said while Remembrance Day was the recognised day to remember, we should all remember those who fought always.
“We should always remember the sacrifice of those who fought in all wars, not just the first world war. My father and grandfather both fought in the first and second world wars and it’s just so important that we always remember the sacrifices that others made for us,” he said.
There were only a handful of people at the Bunyip cenotaph for the Remembrance Day service but others watched from outside shops and on footpaths to pay their respects to Australia’s fallen service personnel and others that served.
Among those attending at the cenotaph to take part in the ceremony, reduced in length and number of attendees due to Covid-safe requirements, was a small group of visiting veterans.
The short ceremony was conducted by Bunyip RSL president Colin Teese and the only wreath laid was by local resident Martin Sayers.