Nudgee Stories

Story Added : June 2007

NUDGEE COLLEGE - ANZAC DAY 2007

The Annual Anzac Day Memorial Service at Nudgee College was celebrated on Tuesday, 24th April.2007.

The celebration, held on Ross Oval, was arranged by the College Staff and Students and attended by all of the College Community including Fr John Kilinko, College Chaplain and Parish Priest of Zillmere.

Following an address of welcome by Dean of College, Graham Leddie, the flame was ignited by Tom Dick (1938). Fr Kilinko read a Scripture passage from the Gospel of St John. White crosses and red poppies commemorating the many men and women who sacrificed their lives in various theatres of war were placed on the oval and wreaths were laid at the flame by representatives of the College Community. Paul Bolger (1946) laid a wreath on behalf of the Nudgee College Old Boys’ Association.

The occasional address was delivered by Keith Grant (1937)

“Today we are gathered together to remember our fallen comrades, their bereaved families, and our surviving comrades. This is truly a day of remembrance.

Past Nudgee Boys have always been ready to answer the Call to Arms when our country has been threatened and have acquitted themselves well in the service of the Army, Navy, and RAAF in all theatres of war including the Middle East, North Africa, Greece, Crete, Malaya, New Guinea, and the Pacific Islands to mention just a few.

My own family offered four of its six children to the services.

My brother, Allan, with us here today, joined the army on the first day of recruitment and bravely served for six years in Greece, North Africa and New Guinea. Allan is the Patron of the 21st Tank Attack Regiment Association.

My brother, Ronald, was a rejected AIF Volunteer but later was called to the militia and served on the “Brisbane Line”. Illness has kept him away today. My sister, Bernadine, who passed away only three years ago, served as a VAD attached to the AIF for two years at Rocky Creek and other hospital depots. Bernadine’s husband, , John Behm also a Nudgee Old Boy, now deceased, served as an artillery officer. It is interesting to note that my eldest sister, Karma’s, husband, Robert MacGregor, who passed away only recently, also served during the war as a Captain in the British Paras and the Special Boat Service (SBS), and that he survived the jump into Arnheim. Karma lives in Toronto in Canada close to her four children and many grandchildren. My youngest sister, Jeanne, was a war bride, marrying an American Naval officer. They live in Los Angeles in the USA. I was a late starter, only turning 18 in 1944, and became a Flight Sergeant Air Gunner in the RAAF shortly before the war ended.

I guess that we were a typical Nudgee College family at the time. The team spirit imbued into us throughout our school years has been a good basis for future team achievements. This is a great credit to Nudgee College, which ensures that the team spirit lives on.

The youth of today would find it very sobering to read of battles far away and those closer to home in the newspapers of the first half of the 1940s and to search the casualty lists for relatives and friends. Words like Changgi, the Kokoda Trail, and the River Kwai are names that will long be in the memories of Australians – very sobering indeed making us realize that peace, freedom, and the uninterrupted lives we enjoy today comes at a very high price.

Today, we honour the memory of those who paid the ultimate price defending our country and our freedom.

I sincerely thank the committee for allowing me to address you today and am honoured to stand before you, a proud Old Boy of Nudgee College.”

The Ode – “Lest we Forget” was read by Allan Grant (1938).

Following the “Last Post”, One Minute's Silence, Flag Raising and Concluding Prayer were observed.

The Final Blessing was given by Fr Kilinko and the National Anthems of New Zealand and Australia were sung. Year 12 Students formed a Guard of Honour across the oval through which guests proceeded to Ryan Hall where morning tea was served.