ANZAC DAY ADDRESS 2021
MR President, members of the RSL, current and ex-serving members of the Australian Defence Force, ladies and gentlemen.
It is with a sense of humility, enduring reverence and tremendous pride, we pause here at the Dubbo Cenotaph – free and confident beneficiaries to a legacy born of idealism, forged in self-sacrifice and passed now to our generation.
We gather on this day to remember the sacrifices that have been made in the past, so that we can enjoy the freedoms that we have today. Anzac Day is a day of remembrance; a day to contemplate our good fortune in being Australian, and calling Dubbo home.
On this day, in the darkness before dawn, 16,000 young Australian and New Zealand soldiers stormed ashore in a place now known as Anzac Cove. Two kilomteres from the intended landing site, these brave men were faced with a barrier of steep hills, cliffs and ravines dotted with prickly scrub. They came under unrelenting machine gun fire from the Turks.
By day’s end, 2000 Anzacs had made the ultimate sacrifice; but through perseverance, courage and comradeship, those remaining dug in and held their ground.
Private James Rhodes, 4th Australian Infantry Battalion, a New Zealander who had been working at the Court House Hotel in Dubbo before he enlisted, recounted the landing:
“The enemy made several attacks on us with greatly superior numbers, but we repulsed them every time. Not an inch of ground did we retreat.”
It was our first major contribution to the world as a nation, and it was undisputedly a baptism of fire.
At Lone Pine, in just over two days, from 6 August 1915, seven Victoria Crosses were awarded for valour to Australians. They established a tradition and national pride that we should be proud to follow.
Australian troops incurred losses and casualties far out of all proportion to the total number of troops engaged in this bloody and futile war.
The Gallipoli campaign lasted another eight months, until the 35,000 Anzacs remaining were evacuated.
We will never forget the deeds, courage and fortitude of these original Anzacs, and we will never forget brave soldiers who represented Dubbo with pride.
Call it national duty, idealist notions or a chance to participate in a great adventure; whatever the reason, over 2000 men from the surrounding district travelled to Dubbo to volunteer for the Australian Imperial Force. Over 500 men recorded Dubbo as their home address at enlistment. Of these, 256 did not return. The small community of Dubbo had lost son’s, fathers, uncles, brothers and friends. The surviving families rebuilt, but never forgot.
The price Australia paid during the Great War was frightening and debilitating – with a population of just four and a half million, over 330,000 were thrust onto the battlefield, with over 59,000 killed and 152,000 wounded.
Almost an entire generation of young men and women volunteered for service in the First World War. One in every five of them died on the battlefields of Turkey, Palestine, France or Belgium. Of the remainder, more than a third were wounded or returned home with lifelong disabilities.
Out of it came feats of heroism and self-sacrifice which are now part of Australian folklore, epitomised by stories such as that of Simpson and his donkey.
Whatever is said of Anzac, it must be conceded that it stands for something very holy, something very simple in the nation’s life. It marks the time when young men voluntarily forewent their easy freedom to accept the discipline of arms, when young men learned to live with old world loyalties, when young men, often careless of commitment, made the final dedication of their lives. These men, many deceased or maimed, have earned their measure of respect for what they did.
Anzac Day had developed as a focal point of all Australians, irrespective of geography, state or ethnicity; for indeed the Anzac tradition of service in defence of a worthwhile cause has been espoused by many whose origins are not those of Australia’s ‘mother country’. In many respects, it marked a national coming of age.
The Australian paradox is that the defining event of our national psyche occurred not upon our land and seas, but on a distant and formidable peninsula, half a world away and completely unknown to the Australians of that time until the landing at Anazac Cove.
The war was a conflict in which most Australians felt their interests were involved. They responded from kinship, commitment and an automatic recognition that in a world dominated by colonial empires, a great conflict between those empires must have profound consequences for Australia.
Gallipoli is relevant for today’s Australians for both its reality and its myths. The qualities shown by the Anzacs are invaluable and enduring; they are qualities, which subsequent generations admire and to which they aspire.
From the original Anzac campaign was born the legend of the Australian fighter – resourceful, resilient, independent and prepared to dedicate their life to loyalties and values.
No veterans of the First World War are still with us, but their examples and traditions have been picked up with enthusiasm by many courageous men and women and used in many conflicts and operations. Since the 25th April 1915, Australians have gone on to serve in every major conflict this century.
On this Anzac Day, in the Centenary year of the formation of the Royal Australian Air Force, I am proud to share with you a story of courage, loyalty and above all, selflessness.
The Australians who flew with Bomber Command from England comprised only two per cent of those who enlisted in World War II, yet they sustained 20 per cent of all Australian combat deaths. 3486 men were killed in action.
In late 1942 Pilot Officer Rawdon Middleton, born in Sydney, raised in the Central West, educated in Dubbo, trained in Narromine,
was on his 29th mission to bomb a factory at Turin in Italy. Approaching the target his Stirling Bomber was struck by anti-aircraft fire.
One shell exploded in the cockpit destroying Middleton’s right eye, lacerating his right leg and rendering him unconscious. The aircraft went into a dive and was recovered just in time by the co-pilot, who was also wounded.
Regaining consciousness, Middleton persisted with the low-level attack before commencing the four-hour flight to return to England. Middleton was an outstanding pilot but his injuries and the damage to his aircraft made the return flight both dangerous and slow.
After they flew clear of the gunfire, Middleton told the crew:
We will try to make our coast and you fellows can then bale out and save yourselves – I cannot get away with my wounds anyway.
The wireless operator on the flight, later recalled:
During the return home there were many opportunities for us to abandon the aircraft over France, and for Middleton to live. But he preferred that we, his crew, and the aircraft of which he was Captain, should not fall into enemy hands. That was the kind of man he was...
Pilot Officer Middleton was the first member of the RAAF to be awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest military award in the British Empire.
Our soldiers, sailors and airmen have earned the respect of allies and alike for their bravery and tenacity in times of adversity. Names like Kakoda, Tobruk, Long Tan and Uruzghan, are as familiar to all of us as that of Gallipoli. Many Australian families can recount the history of a relative who was involved in one of these conflicts, from the world wars through Korea and Vietnam, to the Middle East and United Nations peace keeping forces. Many of our service personnel have or continue to serve in places such as the Sahara, Israel, Cambodia, Bosnia, Somalia, Rwanda and East Timor.
The Dubbo community is rich with the history of local men and women who have made sacrifices, some of which forfeited their life for friends, loved ones and the ideals we all hold dear. Their stories are worthy examples of service and sacrifice: service to our community, to our mates, and the willingness to sacrifice all for a way of life.
Our Australia enshrines principle above position, and values before value. These values permeate all aspects of our community, from the Rural Fire Service to the State Emergency Services, the Guides, the Scouts, our schools and sporting clubs, our volunteers. They give, not because they seek recognition, but because they want to make this community, this country, a better place for all.
As today draws to a close, let us reflect with gratitude and appreciation, on the pain, suffering and death which so many have endured in defence of principles in which they believed profoundly.
Let us remember and be grateful, lest we forget.