April 27, 2015
A large crowd of Cherbourg residents, elders, schoolchildren and visitors gathered at the Cherbourg Memorial on Saturday morning for a very special Anzac Day commemoration service.
The ceremony highlighted the service of the “Boys From Barambah”, the forgotten Aboriginal Diggers from Cherbourg who served in the armed forces during World War I.
These men somehow worked their way around the racist colour bar which officially prevented most from volunteering. Some were wounded. Some never returned. And now all can be remembered after dedicated research unearthed more names to be added to the Cherbourg Honour Roll.
The commemoration ceremony was chaired by Makayla Palm while Cr Arnold Murray did the Welcome To Country and Fr Michael Carroll, from St Joseph’s Catholic parish, recited the opening prayer.
Community elder Eric Law, chairman of the local ANZAC100 committee and a Vietnam veteran, delivered the commemorative address.
He spoke about his father, Vincent Law, who served during World War I.
He said his father had told him the most important thing about Anzac Day was respect.
“And the other thing (he said) is that we are able to give those people who died in faraway places a proper Australian send-off … They are with their mates and they will be for eternity.”
After the address, Uncle Eric joined with other descendants of World War I soldiers – Leila Combo (a descendant of Benjamin Combo, who died of pneumonia on a troop ship on his way to the war) and Jack Simpson (his uncle Gale Simpson was wounded twice in World War I and then went back to serve in World War II) – to unveil the new Cherbourg Honour Board.
The board has been donated to the community by the Law family, with assistance from Catholic schools.
It not only lists the “Boys From Barambah”, ie the World War I enlistments, it also lists the names of Cherbourg residents who served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.
Elgan Leedie, whose grandfather’s name is listed on the Menin Gate after being killed in action at Passchendaele, read the roll call of veterans. As the names were being read out, members of the Cherbourg Junior Police Rangers and schoolchildren walked up to the memorial to place small crosses into a display box and name plaques on the wall.
The box of tiny crosses, made by the Junior Police Rangers, will be added to the permanent “Boys From Barambah” display at The Ration Shed Museum.
Patti Bond, on behalf of the Bunya Wakka Wakka people, then presented Trevor Sanderson from the Murgon RSL Sub-Branch with a plaque to be mounted at the Murgon RSL Club acknowledging the war service to Australia of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Leah Hunter read the names of World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War veterans from Cherbourg.
After the Ode was read, Kingaroy State High School student Connie Shelton, from Murgon, played the Last Post and the large crowd stood silently for a minute’s silence.
After reveille sounded, Rocko Langton’s latest recording, “Boys From Barambah”, signalled an end to the proceedings.
As the crowd dispersed, more than one person was overheard saying that it had been the largest Anzac commemoration seen at Cherbourg.
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You always do wonderful coverage of news here in Cherbourg and surrounds. Beautiful day… beautiful photos, and I enjoyed watching the raw video.