At Bodangora’s weekend ANZAC Day service Maurice Campbell said that people might wonder why it was important to meet at a village memorial in a paddock.
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Many families of fallen soldiers travelled from across the state for the service, as they did last year for the rededication of the Bodangora memorial.
“This is where all the people who enlisted from here would have played cricket and tennis,” Mr Campbell said.
“Australian traits such as an indomitable spirit were on display for the first time for the world to see.”
On display was Wellington’s Finest, a book by Trevor Munro which covers the history of more than 1000 men from the area who fought in WWI.
Mr Munro said he had favourites in the book such as Norman Lovett and Nat Barton. They were in the 7th Lighthorse Regiment and came to the school library when he was a child to talk about the slaughter. It was this that motivated him to become a doctor after the war.
One of the more intriguing figures Mr Munro started out with was a nameless photo on display with the honour roll at the Soldier’s Memorial Club.
It took seven years for him to find out that the photo was of his great great uncle, who had actually been one of the original inspirations for his book.
Another story he found interesting was of a soldier who snuck into the Lighthorse when he was 16.
“It’s important to imagine what that would have been like today if someone of that age were in Afghanistan.”
“Whether it would have been an adventure, thrill or risk, it was something so different that was happening across the other side of the world. I see them as young men from that time,” he said.
“As history gets longer there is less emphasis in the schools on the importance of what happened and we need to be proud and maintain that history from the district for young people to look back on.”
Wellington’s Finest can be borrowed from the local library.
