Wondai Pauses To Remember

Member for Flynn Colin Boyce with guest speaker Commander Ronald Forbes RAN (ret’d) and Reserve Forces Day organiser Sgt Noel Selway 1/19 RNSWR (ret’d)

July 6, 2023

Her Excellency Governor Jeannette Young PSM was the special guest at this year’s Reserve Forces Day commemoration in Wondai on Sunday.

The annual event – which is one of the few held in Australia – is always well-attended but the presence of the Governor attracted more than the usual number of attendees at the morning commemoration and parade.

The day began with a flag-raising ceremony and the laying of wreaths at the base of the Wondai Memorial.

The crowd then headed up Mackenzie Street to the Wondai Post Office where QCWA volunteers were offering morning tea.

The marchers then assembled and headed back down Mackenzie Street, saluting the Governor as they passed, and into Coronation Park.

The parade was led by the Wondai & District Band and the 5th Light Horse Gympie re-enactment troop (see Parade photos, below).

In the park, everyone gathered in front of the Percy Iszlaub soundshell for the official part of the commemoration, which included prayers by Padre John Cheyne and speeches by Commander Ronald Forbes RAN (retired) and the Governor.

Wondai’s Reserve Forces Day commemoration focuses on a different arm of the military each year.

This year it was the turn of the Navy.

Commander Forbes’ speech remembered the sinking of the light cruiser HMAS Perth during the Battle of Sunda Strait, near Java, in 1942 with the loss of 353 officers and men.

Perth had a company of 681. Survivors were taken as POWs by the Japanese but many died on the infamous Thai-Burma Railway. Only 218 of Perth’s sailors were eventually repatriated to Australia after the war.

Other Australian vessels lost in 1942 included HMAS Canberra, HMAS Nestor, HMAS Vampire and HMAS Voyager.

Commander Forbes said that all up, nearly 2200 Australian sailors lost their lives just on these five vessels.

After the speeches, the Wondai & District Band played the Last Post and Navy Reveille.

Guests were then invited to adjourn to the Wondai Diggers Club for refreshments.

During her visit to the South Burnett, the Governor also visited Murgon and Wondai hospitals, met members of the Proston Heritage Association and enjoyed lunches at Clovely Estate Vineyard in Moffatdale and with the Proston QCWA.