APRIL 25 is a date that has a profound impact on me and I’m sure it does for all Australians and New Zealanders.
We take this opportunity every year to pay tribute to those who fought for and sacrificed their lives for our freedom and democracy.
To say I’m passionate about Anzac Day and retaining the importance of this date in our society is somewhat of an understatement.
When I think of the sacrifice’s soldiers like my great-grandad Perce endured to protect our freedom and democracy, I find it a little befuddling that some choose not to rise for a dawn service to remember and pay their respects.
To dedicate this time to honour, remember and thank those who so bravely fought and suffered through horrific conditions for us is a privilege.
I’m excited to be given the opportunity to spend this Anzac Day in Villers Bretonneux, France, the Sister City of Robinvale and to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the twinning of the two towns.
This trip came about after I feared the invitation to attend the four-day celebration would be declined and felt it my duty to represent Robinvale, given my obvious close connection as a resident, MP and great-granddaughter of a solider who fought on those battlefields.
My great grandfather; Private Percy Pitt Goulett, Service Number 5022 of the 21st Australian Infrantry Battalion, served on the Western Front in World War I.
During 1918, the 21st Battalion was in the thick of the action which stopped and then reversed the Germans’ last ditch “Spring Offensive”; then the subsequent Allied push towards the “Hindenburg Line”.
Percy was lightly gassed near Villers-Bretonneux in late July/early August 1918 when the Germans bombarded the area with gas shells.
The gas shells were continually breaking the communication lines with Battalion HQ, necessitating Percy and other signallers to go out to mend them during the bombardment itself.
There is a lot more to grandad Perce’s story including the awarding of a Military Medal at the battle of Montbrehain, but I’ll save that for an Anzac Day address at a later date, because it is so important we keep telling the stories.
As Anzac Day approaches, I urge you and your loved ones to go to a service to pay tribute to those who have fought for your freedom and those who are currently deployed around the world protecting it.
We should be giving them the respect and thanks they deserve not just on Anzac Day, but every day that we get to live under the freedom of the Australian sun.
I look forward to wearing grandad Perce’s medals on the very battlefields he fought on this Anzac Day and cannot think of a greater honour to represent not just Australia, but the sister city of Villers-Bretonneux.
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them.
Lest we forget.
