November 27, 2014
Every Remembrance Day local resident Denese Brown places three red poppies on the Kingaroy war memorial in memory of three men … the only problem is, she doesn’t know who they are.
Denese’s grandfather David Daniel Roots kept the photographs of the three soldiers with him all his life and they were found amongst his effects when he died.
The mystery trio – possibly Canadian soldiers – must have been very important to him.
Somehow they are linked to David’s incredible World War I experiences.
David Roots was born in Aramac in Central Queensland but after his parents divorced he moved at the age of 12 to live with his aunt in the South Burnett.
He was a first day pupil at Cloyna State School.
Amongst his fellow pupils were a lot of German speakers, and he quickly picked up the language – a skill which Denese believes probably saved her grandfather’s life.
When World War I broke, David returned to Aramac to get permission from his father to join up.
Shipped off overseas as part of the “fighting” 15th Australian Infantry Battalion, he ended up, as so many Anzacs did, in France.
The 15th Battalion suffered heavy losses at Bullecourt and David was captured (the family story goes that he was actually captured three times, and twice managed to escape).
Most of his friends died at Bullecourt, and when David didn’t reappear people thought he had died, too.
This confusion even continued after the war with David’s name being added to the memorial at Aramac.
However, he was very much alive.
After spending 20 months in prisoner-of-war camps, he somehow made his way to the Netherlands and back to England where he wrote home: “It is a pleasure to be out of the lands of Fritz and back in Blighty. I would be better pleased when I am back in Queensland in the land of sunshine.”
Back home in Australia, he married Edith Hyland in 1920. The couple settled in Brisbane and had three children: Virnis, Jack and Dave.
Denese said that like many veterans, he didn’t speak much about the war but on every Anzac Day he would toast his comrades with a rum and milk.
He was popular and long-serving member of the Wynnum RSL Club.
David died in Brisbane on May 21, 1990, at the age of 92, and that’s when the mystery photographs surfaced.
Neither Denese or her mother Virnis know who the men are, but they don’t appear to be wearing Australian uniforms.
However, Denese knows that they must have been important to her grandfather. So every November 11, when she remembers him, she honours them as well.
She may not know who they are, but they haven’t been forgotten.
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