RSL state president Tim Hanna says to remember soldiers from all conflicts ahead of Anzac Centenary

THE focus on the Gallipoli centenary must not detract from honouring service personnel from other conflicts, RSL state president Tim Hanna said. MARCH MAP

HONOUR ALL: State RSL president Brigadier Tim Hanna.

THE focus on World War I as the nation prepares to mark the centenary of the Gallipoli landings next year must not detract from honouring service personnel from other conflicts, RSL state president Brigadier Tim Hanna said.

As the nation marks Anzac Day in the centenary year of the outbreak of WWI, Brigadier Hanna urged the community to honour the fallen and service personnel from all conflicts, ranging from World War II through to Afghanistan.

“We want the community to recognise not just 100 years since Gallipoli but 100 years of service so we don’t overlook the various other conflicts,” he said.

News_Module: ADV PROMO ANZAC MAP

“Obviously as we lead into the centenary of Anzac there is a heightened sense of awareness among the community of World War I, but increasingly we are also getting younger people to march — people from more recent conflicts such as the Solomons and Afghanistan.

“It is something we are a bit cautious about. Next year there will be a special focus on Gallipoli but we will work hard not to overemphasise it at the expense of honouring sacrifice in other conflicts.

“We also have to be careful people don’t tire of it through too much focus.”

Brigadier Hanna encouraged the public to attend today’s Anzac Day march and said he was pleased with community enthusiasm for the commemoration.

But he cautioned that it always must be seen as a commemoration, not a celebration.

“The march is not a party, it is not about parading to be seen,” he said.

“It is about those marching to remember those who did not come back, their mates. It is a solemn occasion, not a festival.”

Honouring sacrifice should also include dressing appropriately and behaving with respect, he said.

Brigadier Hanna said the RSL is doing its best to accommodate next-of-kin in the march but noted the focus should be on those who served.

The RSL this year has launched a novel way for people to reflect with a minute’s silence while also raising funds.

Anzac Appeal organisers have created The Minute of Silence phone call, a prerecorded minute of silence which can be purchased for $2.26 by phoning 1902 25 04 17 or texting SILENCE and state to 1999 1234.

“Give a minute for those who gave everything,” the website states as a reminder the donation is a small price to pay in honour of those who paid the ultimate price in the service of Australia — see www.minuteofsilence.com.au.

The Anzac Day march commences at 9.30am on North Terrace.

There is free public transport today for veterans and military personnel who are in uniform, wearing service medals or carrying a war veteran’s identification.

There will be bus services into the city for the march from RSL Halls at Henley, Grange, Semaphore, Blackwood, Largs Bay and Elizabeth as well as the Port Adelaide Naval Association, Naval Club and Royal Air Forces Association Club in Elizabeth South.

Following the march, a free ‘Diggers Shuttle’ will operate from 12.20pm to 1.50pm from the Cross of Sacrifice to Victoria Square.

Love is never forgotten

By Jordanna Schriever

GERTRUDE June Ballinger admits her memories of husband Claude Joseph are faint but fond.

“He was a very quiet man ... he didn’t talk as much as I did, I was a gossiper,” she said.

News_Image_File: Gertrude Ballinger holds a picture of her husband Claude. Picture: Calum Robertson

The war widow, who prefers to be known as June, is just one of 20 widows of WWI veterans who receive support from Legacy — and just one of five aged over 100.

Mrs Ballinger celebrated her 100th birthday last year, just months after moving from her home in North Adelaide to Southern Cross Care in North Plympton.

When the pair met after WWI, Mrs Ballinger was living in Perth and “determined to be an accountant”.

Mr Ballinger, who was born at Koolunga, near Clare, and educated at Naracoorte High School and later the University of Adelaide, worked in Perth in the pharmaceutical industry.

He had enlisted in July 1918, aged 20, after his first year of a medical degree.

News_Image_File: Claude and Gertrude Ballinger on their wedding day.

He travelled to London later that year, but records reveal his time was spent mostly in hospital after he became ill on the journey and later contracted mumps and possibly tuberculosis.

He returned to Australia on the warship Wandilla in May 1919 and his military service ended the next month.

It was not until April 1942 that the couple married in Sydney. They never had children.

Mrs Ballinger said her husband never spoke about his time with the Australian Imperial Force.

“He didn’t talk about it at all. Men are funny like that,” she said.

Family history documents suggest Mr Ballinger worked for pharmaceutical company FH Faulding in Perth after WWI, and later in Indonesia and Singapore, where he was among the last to flee when the Japanese invaded in 1942.

Mr Ballinger died in January 1982 from complications with his lungs, part of which he lost from his illness more than 60 years earlier.