Anzac Remembrance at Flemington Primary School, 2015

The poppy wreath created by the children of Flemington Primary School as the names from the School Roll of Honour were read out.

The school Roll of Honour.

A Gallipoli Oak tree was planted by The Hon Adam Bandt, MHR, The Hon Danny Pearson, MLA, and Dr Charlotte Smith, Director, National Trust.

The children at Flemington Primary School today participated in a solemn but heart-warming ceremony to remember past pupils of the school who had served in the Great War.  The children had researched names from the board or from their family, and also Attaturk Kemal. The research was displayed on posters in the school hall, or as a slide show during the ceremony in the hall.   The school choir, orchestra and string ensemble performed for the pupils and guests. 

Moonee Valley Mayor gave the Welcome to Country.  Captain Keith Wolahan  (retired) of the Australian Army Special Services, gave a simple but moving address about what Anzac Day meant to him.  Danny Pearson, MLA, made a presentation to the school which acknowledged the special relationship which now exists between Australia and Turkey.  A student leader read the poem In Flanders Fields.

Adam Bandt laid a wreath by the Roll of Honour, then as the school Principal, Mrs Leslie McCarthy, read each name from the roll, together with their occupations and the street in which they had lived, the childen and a handful of relatives of some of the servicemen, placed a poppy in the wreath.

Andrew Seymon of the Flemington-Kensington RSL read the Ode, followed by a minute's silence.  Two students played the Last Post.

After the school orchestra played the National Anthem, guests and students filed outside to see the planting of a commemorative Gallipoli Oak Tree.  

You can locate a record of each of the names on the Roll of Honour on the Empire Called and I Answered website.

National Anzac Centre and Pat Dooley

Norval 'Pat' Dooley from the National Anzac Centre story on Sister Olive Haynes.

While having yet another look around for an image of Pat Dooley who married the Anzac Girl Olive Haynes, an interesting website unknown turned up an image of him, along with a story and immages illustrating the service of Olive Haynes.   The National Anzac Centre is based in Albany, the departure point for the First Convoy in 1914, but the stories are from other states of Australia and New Zealand.   

I have to conclude, after having found that photo of Pat, that he is not pictured in the photo of the St Thomas' Harriers.

Australian Naval & Military Expeditionary Force Commemoration

Flinders Street Station, advertising the 7th War Loan Bond.  Australian War Memorial Collection H02355.

The Victorian Government invites you
to the following free event:

Flinders Street Station departure of Australian
Naval and Military Expeditionary Force
(AN&MEF) Commemoration

When: 11am, Sunday 17 August 2014
Where: Flinders Street Station
Registration: Not required

More than one hundred naval officers and sailors departed Flinders Street Station by steam train in August 1914 on their way to Sydney before ultimately departing for German New Guinea where they were the first Australian servicemen to see action in the war. Among the AN&MEF troops was a young Victorian, Able Seaman Billy Williams, who was the first member of the Australian forces to be killed in World War One.

See also: The Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force - First to Fight, 1914  Royal Australian Navy

WW1 Centenary Poppy Project

"Between 1914 and 1918 some 112,399 Victorians enlisted to fight in the First World War. Those who died from causes associated with battle are commemorated by the War Graves Commission.

Those who returned and then lived out their lives in the community, and are buried in our cemeteries, are not recognised unless their family has recorded this fact in their inscription.  Many graves have been forgotten by families over the years and have become neglected. Younger family members may be unaware that their ancestors served at all unless their family memories and history are strong.

The Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust (GMCT), in conjunction with the Returned Services League of Australia (RSL Victorian Branch), wants to encourage families to renew their links to their family members who enlisted in the Great War and to urge them to place a permanent record of their service on their gravesite.

From March 2014, the GMCT plans to make available a decorative packed kit which will include two small, highly glazed white porcelain tiles with a striking red Flanders Poppy printed onto the surface in a slightly raised finish.   The packaging will feature the original Flanders Poem plus the Ode of Remembrance and show images of the Flanders Fields. The package has been designed with the assistance and support of the RSL".

For further details see the The Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust website

See also the Victorian Government Anzac Centenary webpage.

Men of the West

Men of the West:  Volunteers from the Essendon and Flemington districts in the Great War 1914-1918, by Rod Martin.

To mark the centenary of the beginning of the Great  War, this compilation of fifty stories about volunteers from your district is being made available on a strictly 'made to order' and non-profit basis.  The stories were originally published on the website The Empire Called and I Answered,  and are now available in this hard copy form.

If you have been enjoying Rod's stories on the website, this is a great collection of them to dip into.

About the author: Rod Martin BA, Dip Ed, Dip Ed Admin, M Ed, is a former secondary teacher/ principal who has written and co-authored a number of textbooks,  stories and articles. The First World War is one of his specialisations.

Details: 264 pages, desktop-published in Microsoft Word on  100 gsm paper, 290 illustrations.

       

PRICES: Hard cover; $100 delivered  (the binding costs $68.00)

                    Clear/black plastic spiral-bound: $40 delivered.  

             

Contact Rod at ramartin46@optusnet.com.au 
to place an order.

 

Victorian Veterans Virtual Museum

The photo above was taken by Gordon Anderson.

                           
The Victorian Department of Planning and Community Development has developed an online Virtual Museum for material relating to our war veterans.  Explore the resources here.  They include:

Victorian War Heritage Inventory

Victorian War Memorials

Digital Stories - In Our Words

Preserving Veterans Heritage

Anzac Centenary

Victorian Unit Histories 

UPDATE
Wouldn't you know it, they've moved the Victorian Veterans Virtual Museum, now under the Department of Premier and Cabinet.