General News
28 April, 2024
Etched in stone and steel, they shall never grow old
Tall, strong, tanned Australian soldiers marching off to war...
Tall, strong, tanned Australian soldiers marching off to war...
These rugged, bronzed volunteers of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in World War I - who became known as "Diggers" - have been immortalised in bronze and brass, granite and marble, concrete and stone, timber and steel in the form of cenotaphs and monuments and on honour rolls.
Their names have been etched forevermore, so that all generations will know they were from this area and to acknowledge their service of sacrifice, endurance, courage and mateship with respectful remembrance.
The first memorial was erected in South Terrace, Adelaide, and at Armadale, Western Australia, in 1916.
Later, as others appeared, the Australian Government declared “no more monuments” - money to build them was money required for the war effort instead.
In response, mourning people planted trees which cost "10 bob" (10 shillings) each and avenues of honour started to line streets and parks right across the country.
Many Aussie boys died on the battlefield, in casualty clearing stations and in hospitals "over there", went down with their ships or lost their lives in aerial dog-fight combat or at shattered aerodromes.
Their remains are buried in cemeteries nearby; others have no known grave on land or at sea.
Later, on many WWI memorials, WWII service personnel names were added when they remained "over there" as well, too far away for mourning relatives to visit.
Local memorials were a form of closure for grieving families.
Casualties of the Korean War and later conflicts have also been added to some memorials.
Dimboola’s war memorial at Dimboola Memorial Secondary College (DMSC) comprises granite honour rolls for WWI, WWII and the Korean War, the Matron Paschke sundial memorial, the WWII gates in Ellerman Street and an information board.
An avenue of honour lines both sides of the eastern section of Anzac Drive, with an extension at the college.
Australian and New Zealand troops were highly regarded as courageous fighting frontline soldiers in WWI and suffered heavy casualties in combat while scoring many victories for the Allies with perseverance against colossal odds.
At the same time, they were referred to as "colonials" by some generals in British High Command - a derogatory term born of unwitting ignorance.
However, General Sir Edmund Allenby was one to whom these Aussies and Kiwis were a different breed of men: tenacious, resolute, resourceful.
“They have earned the gratitude of the Empire and the admiration of the world,” General Allenby said.
So too our doctors and nurses in WWI carried out their duties of treating and comforting the wounded, sick, injured and dying under hazardous, awkward and uncomfortable conditions with dedication and compassion, exposed to gunfire, air raids, extreme weather, less-than-adequate nursing facilities and medical supplies, and rough living quarters.
Many nurses and doctors were themselves casualties of war, killed outright or dying of wounds, diseases or illnesses.
The survivors were subjected to horrors that would continue to torment them on their return.
Their names, too, are recorded on war memorials.
Dimboola faithfully remembers Matron (Major) Olive Dorothy Paschke, one of 12 nurses lost at sea, believed drowned.
They were aboard Vyner Brook when it was sunk by Japanese bombs in Banka Strait off Sumatra on February 15 1942.
The Paschke Memorial is a sundial at DMSC, where a wreath is laid by local nurses during each Anzac Day service.
The living conditions of WWI were another challenge for those in combat zones, particularly soldiers at Gallipoli and on the Western Front.
Can you imagine living in waterlogged or dry, dusty cramped trenches, with the extremes of sunburn and frostbite, disease, pestilence (rats, mice, lice, fleas, flies), itches and rashes, worn and torn uniforms, inadequate rations, poor-quality drinking water, long hours on duty and chronic sleep deprivation, and indifferent sanitation, with stench and death all around.
That's enough to stretch anyone’s morale, resolve and sanity, all the while being shot at.
It was similar for blokes involved in the desert campaigns - and the Light Horsemen had their mounts to consider as well.
The loss of mates in battle, or having them die in their arms, was another challenge for diggers.
The huge adjustment to life back home was confronting for many veterans traumatised by their war service and suffering from PTSD or "shell shock"/"battle fatigue", as it was known in WWI.
Suicide was prevalent among ex-servicemen following WWI, terrorised by their war experience and unable to cope with impairment/disability, loss of dignity, unemployment and demons that just wouldn’t go away.
This pattern was repeated after WWII and every conflict since.
My grandfather, Major Charles Venden Rees MC, returned from WWI on April 25 1919, having served on the Western Front for 3.5 years as commander of an artillery battery.
He spent time out of action in 1918 on repatriation leave due to being twice wounded and shell-shocked.
While on leave in January 1918, Grandfather received his Military Cross from King George VI at Buckingham Palace, London.
His mental depression was a cause for concern, coinciding with his architectural business's downturn and then the 1929 worldwide economic and financial depression.
Grandfather mysteriously disappeared at sea between Townsville and Magnetic Island in July 1931 - another casualty of WWI.
During my research visit to Rookwood Cemetery in Petersham (Sydney) in 2011 numerous Commonwealth War Grave Commission headstones stood out.
The year of death on several was between 1929 and 1931: the start of the Great Depression.
All these men were most probably victims of their war horrors.
Unemployment was a predicament encountered by thousands of men returning to Australia from WWI so public works projects (such as construction of the Great Ocean Road) were created and agricultural Soldier Settlement schemes were established.
War's psychological and spiritual damage has consequences on a massive scale.
We remember our service personnel as gallant brave people who did what was asked of them, or sometimes more, as they stepped up to play their part.
Lord God of hosts, be with us yet. Lest we forget.