The official unveiling of the Board was performed on Anzac Day 1921, in
the grounds of the Springwood
Public School where it
was hung temporarily against a background of Flags of the Empire, with the
Australian flag most prominent. It was intended to move it to a permanent
position in the School
of Arts . More than 300
people assembled for the ceremony, which was performed by Cr Savage, President
of the Blue Mountains Shire. He had been present at a memorial service at
Katoomba the previous Sunday and had met Sir Charles Rosenthal who had said in
his speech at that event:
Possibly you may not find some of the boys who come back all that you would like them to be, but you must be patient with them. You must remember the hell they have lived and fought through, and give them time to settle down — not one year, but many years — for some of the lads may never be as they once were.
Other speeches were made by Mr Hedley D. Meagher, the Rev. Kellett and
the Rev. Father Brauer. School children, members of the Rifle Club, Red Cross
members and private people placed wreaths at the foot of the board. One of the
official guests at the unveiling was Cr Wall whose son, Private John Douglass
Wall died at Fleurbaix , France , in 1916. His name is not on
the Roll. Hedley O’Meagher conducted the ceremony and other guests were the
Governor, Sir Walter Davidson, Mr James Lawson and Mr Broughton. At the
conclusion of the unveiling ceremony the trophy machine gun captured by the 5th
Machine Gun Section was officially declared in position outside the School of Arts , and its working was demonstrated
by Sergt W. Hall, M.M. assisted by Gunner L. Mills. The disposition of the
balance of funds raised is not known and the present whereabouts of the
souvenir machine gun is also a mystery.
Unveiling the Honor Roll, 1921 |
The Springwood District Honor Roll |
INTRODUCTION
Ever since Australian troops scaled the
heights of Gallipoli in 1915, war has played a major role in the way we see
ourselves and the ‘digger’ has become for many the quintessential image of the
typical Australian. We have also made the war memorial a prominent feature of
our cultural landscape, present in just about every city, town and hamlet
across the country. Some are on a grand scale while others are more modest and
discreet in both design and location.
‘Honour boards’ fall into the second
category, although ‘modest’ may misrepresent their importance. While they could
be as elaborate as budget and imagination allowed, to many in the community
they offered a more economical but no less respectful way to recognise wartime
service and sacrifice. They were produced in vast numbers and can be found in
public buildings, churches, sporting clubs, Masonic lodges and even commercial
premises throughout Australia.
There are many honour boards in the Blue
Mountains, containing hundreds of names that once struck deep and personal
responses in the community. Inevitably, time has eroded this immediacy and
most, if not all, of these names have become – well, just names! To all but a few local and family historians
these people have lost their identity. On memorial occasions they are honoured,
not as individuals, but as a vague, abstract group.
This is why this present book is so
important. The World War I Honor Roll preserved by the people of Springwood has
been given new life and the historians responsible are to be commended. Their
research has rescued the men recorded here from the creeping anonymity that
would have been their fate and given them back to their community as
individuals who lived and breathed their own special human uniqueness. It also
places their enlistment and war-time experiences within the social context of
the time. We get a glimpse into what the Springwood they came from was
like.
These were men who like most of us lived
ordinary lives and worked at ordinary jobs, but who were thrust by one of those
moments of history into something extraordinary. But for a quirk of fate we too
might have had to endure what they did. Some had exemplary military records,
some found the discipline difficult to handle. Some survived unscathed
physically, others were wounded and some were killed in action. But all of them
were individuals, unique expressions of humanity. Think how much more
meaningful Anzac Day ceremonies in Springwood will be when those participating
have read this book!
This has been an important project and
hopefully the work of these Springwood historians will be seen as a part of a
wider community work-in-progress. What an achievement if, eventually, all the
honour boards throughout the Blue Mountains were given the same re-birth!
John Low
From: Remembrance: Springwood District Honor Roll 1914–1919
Shirley Evans and Pamela Smith, Springwood Historians, 2008