ANZAC DAY DAWN SERVICE 2025
- catepatterson9
- Apr 28
- 10 min read
With a rain bomb overnight more than 200mls was recorded in three hours on the Range at Montville. Nevertheless at 5.30am the Montville Hall was packed and spilling over into the Supper Room and the Deck. Thanks to Event Coordinator Lou Tasker and all the MVA Volunteers who assisted in the behind-the-scenes smooth running of the MONTVILLE ANZAC DAY DAWN SERVICE 2025.
ORDER OF SERVICE
ANZAC DAY DAWN SERVICE – MONTVILLE
SERVICE COMMENCES 5:30AM
FRIDAY 25 APRIL 2025
Prelude Piper, Gordon Ferguson Welcome Master of Ceremonies
Matt Dykes, President,
RSL Mapleton Sub-branch
Flag raised to masthead and Eli Haslam and Armani Rickard
lowered to half-mast Montville School Captains
Hymn I Vow To Thee, My Country – John Watson Reading The ANZAC Requiem
Eli Haslam and Armani Rickard On this day, above all days, we remember those Australian men and women who died or suffered in the great tragedy of war.
On the morning of April 25th, 1915, Australian and New Zealand troops landed under fire at Gallipoli, and it was then and in the violent campaign which followed, that the ANZAC tradition was forged. The elements of that tradition have inspired and offered an enduring example to later generations of Australians.
Each year we pay homage not only to those original ANZACs, but to all who died or were disabled in their service to this country. They enrich our nation’s history. Their hope was for the freedom of mankind and we remember with pride their courage, their compassion and their comradeship. They served on land and sea and in the air, in many places throughout the world.
Not only do we honour the memory of those Australians who have fallen in battle; we share the sorrow of those who have mourned them and of all who have been the victims of armed conflict.
On this day we remember with sympathy those Australians who have suffered as prisoners of war, and those who, because of war, have had their lives shortened or handicapped.
We recall staunch friends and allies, and especially those of the first ANZAC Day.
May we and our successors prove worthy of their sacrifice.
The names of the fallen Wayne Parcell, MVA President
WORLD WAR 1 (32 ENLISTED)
Cecil Greber
Frederick Harmening
Wilfred McKenna
Ernest Palk
Charles Smith
Thomas Waller
World War 2 (62 Men, 13 Women Enlisted)
Jim Berry
Hilary Brown
Lloyd (Joe) Foster
Leonard Harvey
Richard Lippet
Herbert Steinhardt
Conflicts Since World War 2
With the transition to a more mobile society, it is no longer easily possible to identify fallen servicemen and women as being Montvillian. They are all Australian and we remember them.
Laying of wreaths Piper, Gordon Ferguson
The Ode Lloyd Anderson
Please stand
THE ODE OF REMEMBRANCE
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.
Last Post Recorded Music
One minute’s silence (All) Lest We Forget
Reveille Recorded Music
Flag raised to masthead Eli Haslam and Armani Rickard
Address Roger Loughnan
(Anthems – to be sung by Flight Lieutenant Lily Lancaster – leading people to sing)
ADVANCE AUSTRALIA FAIR
Australians all let us rejoice,
For we are one and free;
We've golden soil and wealth for toil;
Our home is girt by sea;
Our land abounds in nature's gifts
Of beauty rich and rare;
In history's page, let every stage
Advance Australia Fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance Australia Fair
Benediction Peter and Michelle Maher
The Range Church
Closing Matt Dykes
Flags lowered to half mast Eli Haslam and Armani Rickard
“LEST WE FORGET”
After the service you are warmly invited into the Village Hall
to enjoy coffee/tea and Anzac Biscuits.
NOT AS A SOLDIER - The ADDRESS
By Roger Loughnan
Good morning past and current serving men and women, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys.
Thank you to the Montville Village Association and the Mapleton RSL, for giving me the honour of presenting the address on this 110th anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli.
I acknowledge that the men and women who have fought for our country comprised representatives of ALL Australians, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
I also acknowledge the men from this district who gave their lives in defence of our nation, and whose names are carved here on this cenotaph.
We gather today, not to glorify war but to pause and reflect the sacrifice made by so many, who bequeathed us our free society.
I speak today, not as a soldier, but like so many of you, as a proud descendant of families that have given their share of sacrifice in the defence of our nation.
My 2 uncles served in the Light Horse in WW1.
In WW2, our family lost a cousin killed over Germany; an uncle and a cousin served in the RAAF in New Guinea, Uncle Percy wounded at Kokoda and my father Kitch and Uncle Alex served in Malaya, and were both captured in Singapore by the Japanese.
The Anzac legend was born at Gallipoli. The courage of the Kiwis and the Diggers on this day, has inspired Australian and New Zealand troops in every conflict since then. World War 2 German General Rommell is purported to have said, “If I had to capture hell, I would use the Australians to take it and the New Zealanders to hold it.”
WW1, begun in 1914 and supposedly “The War to End All Wars” finished when the guns were finally silent in 1918 and Australia had lost 60,000 men.
Tragically, the Peace that had been won at such great cost, did not prevail. Instead, WW2 started only 21 years later, and again Australians joined up in their thousands to fight against tyranny. In that War, 40,000 were killed.
30,000 were captured during WW2 with 265 dying as prisoners of the German forces.
Of the 22,000 Australians captured by the Japanese in WW2, over 8000 perished, mostly as slave labourers in Burma, Thailand, Malaya and Japan…. More than 1 in 3 lost their lives as captives. These were strong young men in the prime of their life...dead not from combat, but from disease, slavery and starvation.
Death marches such as Sandakan, where only 6 soldiers survived out of 2400 and the Banka Island massacre, where 22 Australian army nurses were machine gunned with only one survivor, should never be forgotten. Nearer to home, was the torpedoing off Moreton Island of the clearly marked Hospital ship Centaur, by a Japanese submarine. Only 64 survived out of 332 passengers including nurses and doctors.
I would like to share one soldier’s story from WW2, my father and my mate, Kitch, army number QX10108, later Japanese pow number 2213. He didn’t receive any bravery awards in battle, but survived 31/2 years of hell as a prisoner of the Japanese.
Kitch left his property at Mitchell and joined the all Queensland 2/10th Field Regiment. They trained around Caloundra and Woodford before sailing to Singapore as part of the 8th Division, where they faced the Japanese invasion of Malaya. Many of the men from the bush had never seen a ship, so when they boarded the Queen Mary in Sydney, they thought it was sinking when they saw the bilgewater being pumped out.
Like Gallipoli, the Malayan campaign was also a woeful disaster due to utter British ineptitude. After the Fall of Singapore in 1942, 15,000 Australian soldiers became prisoners of war. Kitch was sent north to build the Burma Thai railway where it is estimated over 100,000 Malays, Burmese, British and Dutch died as well as 3000 Australians. In just 12 months, the 415 km railway was built through the remote jungle during a monsoon with primitive tools and no bulldozers, just sheer manpower, where they say, “a life was given for every sleeper.” The Japanese and Korean guards carried out acts of extreme, unimaginable cruelty and withheld food, mail and medicines. Tropical diseases including cholera, malaria, ulcers and extreme working demands, meant men were being starved and worked to death at the same time. “No work - no food” was the Japanese order, and so the working men shared their meagre rations with their sick mates. Kitch helped dig the graves and witnessed eight Australians executed for trying to escape.
It was through these terrible times that the soldiers displayed humour, incredible courage, love and kindness to their mates.
Whilst the Railway was being built, Australian soldiers were fighting the Japanese in New Guinea and German forces in Europe, Africa and the Mediterranean.
Having survived the building of the railway, Kitch was picked to go to Japan and was transported in a hell ship called the RAKUYO MARU with 1300 Aussies and British pows. They had .25m2 per man in the hot, filthy hold. With no POW markings on their ship, they were torpedoed by a US submarine. Only 159 survived of which 90 were rescued by US submarines and the rest, including my father, were picked up by the Japanese after days in the water. Some pows were machine gunned and hundreds were left to drown. His family held a service for him as he was “Missing, presumed drowned”. His Mother heard he was alive 12 months later.
Finally reaching Japan, Kitch was taken up to Sakata, where he worked in timber yards and carting coal. He survived pneumonia without any medicine through the coldest winter for 70 years when 3 metres of snow fell, and he had only straw sandals for boots.
Weighing 87 kilos and standing 6’ 2 when he enlisted, he was 59 kilos and 6’ when liberated by US forces. Whilst pows, starvation was a major factor. The only thing Kitch brought home from the war, was the collar of a little dog he ate in Japan that saved his life. I am standing here thanks to that dog and Kitch's fortitude.
The love of Australia, his home, family and mates helped him to “never give up” despite incredible odds to survive. He often said, “I’ll try and forgive but I’ll never forget.” He kissed the ground when he got back to Australia and never missed an Anzac Day service. Having seen the very best and the very worst of humanity, he chose to focus on the best. He had a great sense of humour and still loved rice long after the war ended. He said many times, “he would not have survived without his mates, they were closer than brothers.”
His best mate, Dr Rowly Richards went back soon after the war to see the Japanese families that had been kind to them and to find the captain of the ship that came back for them after being torpedoed, however he had been killed.
The words Mates and Australia go hand in hand so here are some verses of a poem called “Mates” by ex POW Duncan Butler.
“I’ve travelled down some dusty roads.
Both crooked tracks and straight.
And I’ve learnt life’s noblest creed.
Summed up in one word MATE.
Someone who’ll take you as you are
Regardless of your state
And stand as firm as Ayres Rock
because he is your mate
My mind goes back to 43
To slavery and hate
When man’s one chance to stay alive
Depended on his mate.
You’d slip and slither through the mud
And curse your rotten fate.
But then you’d hear a quiet word
Don’t drop your bundle mate!
And so, to all those who ask us why
We keep these special dates
Like ANZAC Day, I tell them why
We’re thinking of our mates.
AND SO, WE REMEMBER THEM TODAY
Since WW2, Australian men and women have served in many conflicts and peace keeping roles. The major ones being Korea, Viet Nam, the Gulf, East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan.
As we stand here today as free people, let us take a moment of personal reflection to show our solemn respect and thanks for all those men and women that have served in defence of our freedom. We owe them more than just a debt of gratitude – we owe them our determination, resilience and courage to protect their legacy OF A FREE NATION.
Tens of thousands of our soldiers, men and women “gave their tomorrow for our Today.”
Thank you to every man and woman who has donned our uniform to protect our freedom. We are so, so fortunate to enjoy the legacy they have given us.
LEST WE FORGET.
BENEDICTION
Heavenly Father,
We bow our hearts before You today, grateful for the peace that rests upon our shores, and mindful of the price paid to preserve it.
Thank You for the ANZACS.
Men and women of unwavering resolve, who stepped into the breach with courage forged in conviction. Who laid down their lives, not only for their comrades, but for generations they would never meet.
Their sacrifice echoes still.
May we never grow distant from the weight of their offering. Let it not fade into the pages of history, but inspire us to live lives with purpose.
May we, too, rise with honour in our hearts to protect what is good, to pursue what is right, and to live not only free, but faithful to what truth demands.
Your Word reminds us in John 15:13:
“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
Let this love continue to shape the soul of our nation. And today, we declare:
We will remember.
And, we will carry the torch of legacy, not only in word, but in deed. And we will ensure that our children, and their children after them, inherit not only land and liberty, but also, faith, justice, honour, and purpose.
Bless this Great South Land of the Holy Spirit and establish Your kingdom among us by Your Grace. Reveal to every heart the depth of that Grace, and the price You paid, that we might receive it freely.
Thank You for Your Son, Jesus Christ, Who laid down His life and rose again, to make the way for the greatest freedom of all. Freedom not won by war, nor undone by darkness, but sealed eternally in love.
In His mighty name we pray,
Amen.
Ps Michelle Maher
The Range Church
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