General News
29 April, 2024
Youth take the lead on Anzac Day in Dunolly
Dunolly’s 2024 Anzac Day commemorations were led by some of the region’s youngest community members on Thursday, with the clouds parting on a drizzly morning just minutes ahead of the town’s annual march along Broadway. Dunolly Primary School...
Dunolly’s 2024 Anzac Day commemorations were led by some of the region’s youngest community members on Thursday, with the clouds parting on a drizzly morning just minutes ahead of the town’s annual march along Broadway.
Dunolly Primary School student Dean Liddicoat on the drum and his father Callum on the bagpipes were at the head of the march, followed by fellow students, veterans, local CFA members, police and riders symbolising light horse brigades and medical units.
School students then emceed the service in the RSL Hall, led songs and spoke on what the tradition of the Minute’s Silence meant to them — from remembering family members who served, to those who fought at Gallipoli when they were only a few years older than the students themselves.
Local Rachel Buckley led the crowd in song for the national anthem and later renditions of WWI marching song Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag and WWII ballad We’ll Meet Again.
The service concluded outside the hall with The Ode, The Last Post, a Minute’s Silence and flag raising.
Dunolly-Bealiba RSL sub branch president Richard Gale said the ceremony was a success and he was proud of the town’s youth.
“We’re extremely happy with the turn out to both the morning and the dawn service, the weather held up for us,” he said.
“The students in particular were fabulous and it’s a great experience for them.
“We want the youth involved to learn what happened over the war years, particularly Gallipoli and the slaughter of our men.
“Even in Dunolly itself, the number of men lost here through that war and others — a lot of people have a connection and the children are learning about it.
“We don’t celebrate war; we commemorate what’s happened. The biggest thing is reflecting back on it, and trying to work forward and hope we don’t have more conflict.”
Dunolly’s 2024 Citizen of the Year Jan Brock was the service’s guest speaker, reflecting on her own ties to those who served.
Ms Brock’s brother, John, was called up for the National Service in 1968 and six months later was posted to Vietnam, her father John Brock joined the army at 22 and was eventually posted to Tarakan, Borneo, and during WWI her grandfather Harry Jackson was sent to the Western Front in 1916 with the 31st Battalion. All three miraculously made it home.
“I have three generations of my family who served so I’ve always been very touched by Anzac Day,” she said.
“When you look back over a brother, a father and a grandfather who served, none of them ever talked about it. You don’t really know about it until they die and then you hear about what they did at their funeral, which is a bit sad. They were just expected to come back and get on with it.
“Anzac Day is a good opportunity to reflect on this. It has helped my brother in that he’s now written his story down, from being conscripted and training, and getting sent off to Vietnam, what it’s done to him and how many mates he’s lost.
“Hearing Rachel Buckley sing all those war songs… people of my generation who had parents who served in the war, it just stirs up so many memories and we still love it.
