100-year-old Digger denies being a hero as he remembers his mates on Anzac Day
As centenarian Jack Braidie marks Anzac Day in Melbourne, he says memories of the mates who have gone before him are the only thing on his mind.
Victoria
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Mildura centenarian Jack Braidie is thinking of the mates who have gone before him as he commemorates Anzac Day in Melbourne for what he believes will be the last time.
Having made his annual pilgrimage to The Shrine by train, bus and car, the WWII veteran will take to the hallowed turf of the MCG in a special motorcade before Tuesday’s Anzac Day blockbuster
WWII veteran Braidie will be ferried around the ground along with another 100-year-old Victorian digger, Alan Godfrey, in a special motorcade before Essendon and Collingwood clash in the AFL showpiece.
Despite nursing broken ribs and a sore arm from a recent fall, Mr Braidie caught public transport to Bendigo by himself, then shared a lift with his son to Melbourne to take part in the special celebration.
Having turned 100 in January, he is the last surviving member of his Div 3 Signals unit of more than 300 servicemen.
“I’ll be thinking of my mates,’’ he said, when asked what would be running through his mind as a crowd of up to 100,000 fans roared their support for two of Australia’s oldest war heroes.
Not that he likes to be called a hero.
“The only claim to fame I’ve got is that I’m still alive,’’ he said.
“I was never a bloody hero.’’
But his family, friends and a dedicated band of students from Greensborough’s Greenhills Primary School disagree.
After growing up at Merbein, near Mildura, Mr Braidie joined the Army in 1941 and was transferred to Seymour for the 3rd Division Signals, owing to Morse Code skills learnt working at a post office from the age of 13.
In New Guinea in 1943, he spent five months in the ‘Wau to Salamaua Campaign’, maintaining around the clock line coverage in rough conditions and under constant threat of ambush.
In the lead-up to Anzac Day, the students who baked him Anzac biscuits hung on to his every word about his wartime efforts from Port Moresby to Wau and New Guinea.
At a special ceremony at the last tree on the right of the Shrine on Friday, Mr Braidie said goodbye to his mates again and said visions of the past would be front of mind on Tuesday.
“It will bring back good memories and bad ones, mate,’’ he said.
“It’s a bit sad because I’m the only one left of my unit.
“All of the others are gone but I’ve met many of their kids and I still stay in touch with them.’’
After the MCG ceremony, Mr Braidie will retire to the stands and have a single beer to toast those mates again, as well as his late, younger brother Vic who served in New Guinea and Borneo.
“I’ll be thinking of my mates and my brother – they will all be in my mind,’’ he said.
When it comes to Anzac Day, he said the celebrations reminded him of “a job well done’’.
His only gripe about the war was that it robbed him his best days as a footballer.
“The only thing I’ve got against the Army is that I joined at 18 after playing under 18s football for Merbein,’’ he said.
“Four and a half years in the Army between 18 and 23 – that’s the best time in life to play football.
“That’s the only grudge I’ve got but otherwise it was OK.’’
But don’t try and get him to cheer for the Bombers or the Pies come Tuesday.
“I’m a Saints man,’’ he said.
“Saints or Merbein.’’
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