Sport
27 April, 2022
Locals pay their respects
CROWDS gathered across the region on Monday to pay their respects to fallen, wounded and serving Australian soldiers on Anzac Day.
CROWDS gathered across the region on Monday to pay their respects to fallen, wounded and serving Australian soldiers on Anzac Day.
Mortlake Returned and Services League (RSL) branch president Merv Hampson said the annual march, from the post office down Dunlop Street to the Mortlake War Memorial before holding a service, drew a large crowd of onlookers.
“It was a terrific day, and we were really impressed with the big crowd both at the monument and watching the march,” he said.
“The two schools were very well represented.”
Mr Hampson spoke about the suffering of prisoners of war at the service.
“I talked about the privations they all had to suffer through, and the horrendous death toll,” he said.
Mr Hampson thanked the community forits support.
“The public donated to our collection for Legacy during the service, and the public was really generous. We had a great collection,”he said.
“We also had a very successful year ofbadge sales.”
This Anzac Day marked a special occasion for members of the Terang RSL with members of the 2nd Royal Australian Regiment’s Delta Company (D-company) visiting for the march and service.
Terang RSL president Terry Fidge said the support from the community was overwhelming, with hundreds turning out for the dawn service, march and following service.
“I was blown away by the amount of people who turned out,” he said.
“Speaking from the monument and looking out over the crowd, it was fantastic to see so many smiling faces.
“It’s something we haven’t seen due to COVID, with everyone previously wearing masks. We haven’t had a decent march for that period of time.”
Mr Fidge said the support of the community did not go unnoticed by veterans.
“It’s been great to see everybody get together, particularly the school children, sporting clubs, service clubs,” he said.
“The whole community came together to serve on Anzac Day, and I’m ecstatic with comments we’re receiving.
“The Terang community have got right behind us.”
Terang service Guest speaker, D-company Second Lieutenant Gordon Hurford AM, delivered a moving speech to the large crowd at the Terang obelisk monument.
He questioned why Anzac Day had become a day so deeply imbedded in the hearts of the Australian people.
“What seared itself in to our national souls was the sheer scale of the casualties. 16,000 Australians landed on the rugged peninsula of Gallipoli to open a campaign, to open the black sea and to try to force Turkey out of the war.
“They had no hesitation about the nobility of their cause, and they fought with great courage, skill and audacity.
“At the end of the first day, 700 Australians lay dead and more than 2000 were wounded.
“In the 11 years we spent in Vietnam by comparison, Australia lost 521 dead and 3000 wounded.”
The battle of Gallipoli was lost at enormous cost of life, which Mr Hurford said reverberated across the nation.
But he believed Australia never set out to celebrate defeat nor victory, but to honour the Anzac Spirit which lives through Australians each day.
“The spirit of the Anzacs is alive in all of us, particularly in times of crisis or hardship,” he said.
“You only have to think in recent years how we’ve suffered deeply. All Australians have come together to rescue one another.
“To ease suffering, provide food and shelter, and to look after one another. Just like they did at Gallipoli.”
Mr Hurford also spoke directly to young people in attendance.
“Please do not think Anzac Day glorifies war. It is about honouring ordinary people who are asked to do extraordinary things for their country,” he said.
“Those young men exhibited loyalty, mateship, courage and endurance because they thought what they were fighting for was worth it.
“Would you feel the same way? Would you feel the same way if you were called upon to defend our freedoms and our way of life?
“Today’s service is to remind us we value who we are and the freedoms we have, and to acknowledge the courage and sacrifice of whose who contributed so much to shaping the identity of this very proud nation.”
