We must continue to honour our Anzac heroes
ANZAC DAY is more important than ever as World War II passes from living memory to history.
Southern Courier
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ANZAC DAY is more important than ever as World War II passes from living memory to history.
That is the message from veteran John Flint ahead of this year’s commemorations.
The 94-year-old, who served in Darwin from 1942 through to the end of the war, said it is vital young people are involved in Anzac Day events.
“There aren’t many of us around any more,” the Clovelly veteran said. “It is encouraging to see so many young people at the dawn services and I hope that continues.”
Mr Flint was working for the Postmaster-General’s Department (PMG) in Martin Place at the start of the war. Given the workers’ knowledge of communications, the 17th Line of Communications Signals Unit was formed and Mr Flint was rushed to the Northern Territory after the first raid on Darwin.
“What people don’t realise is that more bombs were dropped on Darwin than at Pearl Harbour,” he said. “There were 64 raids on Darwin and the Northern Territory in total.”
Mr Flint and his colleagues were tasked with manning the communication lines and repairing them every time the Japanese dropped their bombs.
“There was a siren and we would have a few minutes to get in our slit trenches. It was scary, you never knew where the bombs were going to drop,” he said.
Darwin was the country’s frontline. Generals were waiting for a Japanese invasion and there was no doubt as to where the enemy would land.
“We were just concentrating on surviving out there,” Mr Flint said. “The conditions were harsh but we knew we had a job to do.
“It is important we remember. I’ll be down at Coogee on Anzac Day, I always like to go there.”
Meanwhile, on the eve of this year’s commemorations the Australian Army Unrecovered War Casualties team has identified nine Diggers found in a mass grave at Fromelles — one of whom was from Randwick.
Claude Yeo was an auctioneer who answered his country’s call in July 1915.
At 38, he was among the older recruits to be sent to the battlefields of Europe. He was unmarried and had no previous military experience.
No photos have emerged of Mr Yeo but from his military records we know he was 5 feet 6½ inches, with blue eyes, lights hair and a fresh complexion.
He left the sunshine of Sydney Harbour in November 1915, arriving at the blood drenched battlefields of Northern France by mid 1916. Just weeks later he was dead.
“Pte Stan Stevens was standing close to him when a shell burst,” a battlefield report read. “When the smoke cleared there was no sign of Yeo ... he had been blown to pieces.”
Given the sheer number of casualties at Fromelles and the devastating injuries inflicted, it was common that corpses were piled into mass graves. Some 250 Australian and British soldiers were found in Private Yeo’s grave in the mid-2000s.
In 2009 they were exhumed and anthropologists, archaeologists and DNA specialists studied their remains.
“It was one of the most incredible forensic projects in battlefield history,” Andrew Bernie, manager of the Unrecovered War Casualties team, said. “By looking at the dental remains and the bones we can accurately estimate age and height.”
The team then check through the list of missing from the battle and see if they can make a matches. If they think they can they track down descendants and perform a DNA test. That information is then sent to an identification board and only then can they identify a soldier. “It is our whole raison d’être, it is about honouring these guys and the ultimate sacrifice they made,” Mr Bernie said.
Private Yeo is now buried in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery at Fromelles and a headstones will be erected on the anniversary of the battle in July.
Do you think you may be related to Claude Yeo? If so call Ben James on 9288 2594 or email ben.james@news.com.au.
LA PEROUSE MEMORIAL IS ON THE WAY
By Marie Hogg
A PROMISE to erect a monument at each end of Anzac Pde to honour our fallen heroes is becoming a reality.
When the Anzac Parade Memorial Obelisk was unveiled at Moore Park in 1917, the public were told the boulevard would be flanked by another at La Perouse.
But the second memorial was never built.
Last year Randwick Council committed to realising the dream following a steadfast campaign by the daughter of an Anzac, Margaret Hope.
Now the public can have their say on the project.
“On their way to board their ships, they marched along Randwick Rd, later named Anzac Pde, past where the Memorial Obelisk was later erected in their honour,” Ms Hope said. “It was in Moore Park near Kippax Lake that the soldiers stopped to bid farewell to their families.”
A prominent elder would also like to see a memorial at La Perouse to honour the Aboriginal soldiers who fought.
Pastor Ray Minniecon, co-founder of the Coloured Digger Project at Redfern, said their legacy had been forgotten or written out of history even though an estimated 200 indigenous soldiers fought in World War I.
“They fought on the Western Front and then fought racism back home,” he said.
Meanwhile, all are welcome to attend the dawn service at 5am at the obelisk, located at the entrance to Moore Park near the Moore Park Rd-Anzac Pde intersection.
Share your Anzac stories, suggestions and give feedback on the proposed location. Visit yoursayrandwick.com.au/LaPerouseANZAC.
SERVICES, PARADES AND TWO-UP VENUES
SUNDAY PARADES
● Mascot RSL, meet at 2pm at Mascot Library for march to Mascot Memorial Park.
● Maroubra Cenotaph, Anzac Pde, Maroubra, meet at 10.45am.
● Randwick Bowling Club, The Avenue, meet at 11am.
● Fallen Lifesavers Memorial, Coogee Beach, 10am.
● Coogee Legion Club, Arden St, Coogee, meet at 11.30am.
● Bob Clarke Memorial Reserve, Anzac Pde, Malabar, meet at 11am.
ANZAC DAY
DAWN SERVICES
● Botany Cenotaph, Booralee Park, Bay St, meet at 6am.
● Coogee Legion Club, Arden St, Coogee, meet at 4.30am.
● Maroubra Cenotaph, Anzac Pde, Maroubra, meet at 4.30am.
● Matraville Cenotaph, Norfolk Pde, Matraville, meet at 5am.
ANZAC DAY TWO-UP
● Selina’s at Coogee Bay Hotel, from 12pm.
● Coogee Coach and Horses Hotel, Avoca St, Randwick, from 1pm.
● Juniors Kingsford, Anzac Pde, Kingsford, 1pm to 5pm.
● The Regent, Anzac Pde, Kingsford, from 12pm.
● Coogee Diggers, Carr St, Coogee, 2pm to 6pm.
● Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, Botany Rd, Botany, from noon.
● The Dog, St Marks Rd, Randwick, from 10am.
● The Bay Hotel and Diner, Marine Pde, Maroubra, from 2pm.
● Randwick Racecourse, from noon to 3pm