Commemorating ANZAC

C O M M E M O R AT I N G A N Z A C

We will remember them

C O M M E M O R AT I N G A N Z A C Memories cease to fade after 52 years Angaston man and Vi e t n a m v e t e r a n , M r Norm Ogden and his RAR Association plaque.

By Laura Sneath Fifty-two years on and Angaston man, Mr Norm Ogden is forever reminded of his time serving as a Vietnam veteran.

It was only at 19 years of age that Mr Ogden was “caught up in the idea” of joining the army.

“We were being fed by the government at the time that if we didn’t help the South Vietnamese to quell the insurgency from North Vietnam, they were propounding ... the domino theory whereby the communists would sweep through,” he told The Leader.

“Being an impressionable young fella, I thought, I think I’m going to have some of

this, so I stepped up and joined.”

From visiting the recruitment office in Sydney, it was 14 short months before Mr Ogden and his platoon set up base in the Phuoc Tuy province, Vietnam.

“I remember the day I went to the recruitment office ... there would have been a dozen of us all lined up for assessments.

“When it came time to be bussed down to Kapooka near Wagga Wagga, of the dozen there were only three of us on the bus.

“The nine others were rejected for whatever reason, or decided to opt out.”

After the recruitment training Mr Ogden was allocated to the 5th RAR Unit and was on his way to Vietnam.

From having never shot a gun to raiding enemy camps, Mr Ogden vividly recalls the struggle and hard decisions that had to be made.

“Our job was simply to hunt down, kill and capture the enemy,” he said.

“I served in Vietnam with the battalion from February, 1969 until March, 1970.”

He was away from friends and family for 13 months, in which time his mother wrote to him regularly and even made sure he received his 21st birthday present.

“We had many operations, we were in the field from anywhere between three and six weeks at a time.

“We encountered many enemies and we killed many enemies.”

For his first operation, the entire battalion, about 1,000 men, raided a local village in the middle of the night.

“We found all sorts of weaponry, food (and) money.

“That was difficult in a way.

“We were on edge all the time because you

couldn’t say anyone was a specific enemy because they’d be tending to the field during the day and at night they’d be in the black pyjamas harassing other villagers.

“So, it was very difficult to work out who was who.”

Mr Ogden has resided in Angaston for over 30 years, and continues to battle with PTSD. “Even to this day which is 52 years later, I don’t sleep well, I just don’t.

“Generally, I’m okay, but I have a lot of flashbacks.”

Despite the traumatic memories Mr Ogden said at no point did he ever have any misgivings about signing up for the army.

“I stayed in the army after we came home and I ended up serving 20 years with a total of six years in the infantry.

“Then I transferred and became a military policeman for the next 14 years and I retired as a sergeant military police.”

He said he formed a close bond with those in the battalion and tries to meet up with ex-servicemen throughout the year.

Mr Ogden said ANZAC Day is a time to commemorate those who fought and laid down their lives for this country.

“We would each die for the others and to this very day the bond is just incredibly close.”

For ANZAC Day Norm attends the Dawn Service locally in Tanunda and then heads to Adelaide for the ANZAC Day march.

It is thanks to the efforts of people like Mr Ogden that the rest of us can live harmoniously in this brilliant country.

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C O M M E M O R AT I N G A N Z A C

Young Carl gave his life at just 19 years RAAF Special Duty Officer, Carl Krieg.

Airmen memorial.

Born in Nuriootpa on October 10, 1924, Carl Krieg began his journey towards enlisting in the Royal Australian Air Force.

Carl attended Nuriootpa High School where he studied language and received a leaving certificate with a credit in German, a skill which proved handy in his upcoming years.

From June, 1942 to January, 1943 Carl trained as a cadet in the Air Training Corps before enlisting in the RAAF in January, 1943.

He enlisted as a Wireless Air Gunner and completed his training in Ballarat, Victoria.

Carl became a Flight Sergeant in 1944 and embarked from Sydney and arrived in the United Kingdom on March 12.

I n M a y, 1 9 4 4 , C a r l j o i n e d a telecommunications squadron known as the RAF Squadron 101 as a Special Duty Officer.

This position was fitting because it required a good knowledge of German to be able to notice when the Germans would give fake instructions as diversions.

The Special Duty Officer was tasked with recognising German code words and was sat afoot of the main spur in the aircraft.

Carl would often be isolated from the rest of the crew and was often in darkness with no windows to observe from.

Since Carl was in a section which didn’t get a lot of heat, he would have to wear bulky electric suits, slippers and gloves.

When flying over Europe, temperatures

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“

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– Conte de Saint Céran The Mayor of Langon wrote a letter about the events of that night.

“On the evening of June 30 on a very dark night, a squadron of British Lancasters came over the railway station of Vierzon,” the letter read.

“The bombardment lasted for nearly an hour … the airplanes were flying over our estate.

“My daughter … heard at about 1.30 a.m.

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a fight between all the machine guns of a Lancaster and a German fighter.

“We all heard the crash of the big plane.”

The airmen who were killed that night were buried in the cemetery in Langon on July 3.

Wing Commander of the 101 Squadron, R.I. Alexander sent a letter home to Carl’s mother when the crew hadn’t reported back to base.

“I am writing to offer you the sincere sympathy both of myself and the entire Squadron in the anxiety you have experienced since hearing that your son, Sergeant C. V. Krieg is missing from Air Operations on the night of June 30,” the letter read.

The letter read that the aircraft which Carl was a crew member took off over enemy territory and failed to return to base.

“There is always the possibility that they may have come down by parachute or made a forced landing in enemy territory, in which case news of this would take a considerable time to come through.”

Carl’s mother later found out her son was one of the many men who was killed.

In respect to those who sacrificed their lives, the mayor made a promise that up to the end of his life and his children after him, the graves of the airmen of the RAF, RAAF and RCAF would be taken care of.

There currently lies a large memorial on the graves of all the crew.

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would drop to minus 50 degrees Celsius, and Carl would lose skin off his fingers if he attempted to touch metal without gloves.

In the Spring and Summer of 1944, the 101 Squadron made an attack on targets in France in support of the allied invasion of Normandy.

It was on one of these missions that Carl was killed, at just 19 years old.

Carl’s Lancaster was shot down near the town of Langon in France about 1.30 a.m. on July 1, 1944.

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C O M M E M O R AT I N G A N Z A C Lenore “Bill” Higgins: One of many

Lenore “Bill” Higgins as a newly enlisted 18-year-old.

By Mel Jaunay There was nothing special about Lenore “Bill” Higgins’ time in the army according to her daughter, Ruth Colben of Eudunda.

“She was just one of many women, each with their own story but each with the commonality of being enlisted in the Armed Forces,” Ruth said.

Ruth says this not out of disrespect to her mother’s contribution, but rather to raise the point that sharing stories of women in the Armed Forces, particularly during

commemorations such as ANZAC Day, needs to be as second nature as sharing the stories of men.

“Given the fact that women were involved in Australian military campaigns since the Boer War, it’s no longer acceptable to forget their contribution. You have to keep it in the forefront of people’s minds,” Ruth said.

“The next generation won’t have to think about it, it will already be part of their dialogue, but it is still a struggle now and it shouldn’t have to be.”

Twenty-four thousand women enlisted in the Australian Women’s Army Service during World War II. There were 679 officers among them, led

by Colonel Sybil Howy Irving.

Women served as drivers, provosts, canteen workers, cooks, typists, signallers, and cipher clerks.

Lenore’s story is just one of those thousands.

Better known throughout her life as Bill or Billy due to her tomboyish nature, Lenore was born in 1926 onto the family sheep station, Kulcurna in New South Wales, east of Renmark.

She was one of three daughters of John Higgins, a war veteran himself who had served in the Light Horse in North Africa in World War I, along with his brother, Alick.

“In mum’s family in particular, there was a strong pride to have served in the army,” Ruth said.

“She was very proud of and close to her father... so there was always that awareness of what he and Uncle Alick had contributed to the forces.”

Ruth believes that sense of duty, pride and adventure was what inspired a young Bill to enlist in the army in September, 1944 at age 18.

“Plus, at the time mum joined up, all the men from the sheep station had gone to the Second World War, and there just wasn’t enough money to pay for her keep,” Ruth added.

“Without discussing it with her parents at all, she just came to Adelaide and enlisted.

“She was a woman that wouldn’t discuss decisions, what she decided to do, she would do.”

Bill became a driver in the Security Service Intelligence Corps, and while she remained fiercely proud of her army service throughout her life and her ability to drive expertly because “the army taught her”, the details of what she actually did in Adelaide during the war were seldom talked about.

Ruth assumes she may have been sworn to secrecy, an oath Bill would not have taken lightly.

“My mother was highly principled, very black and white, and if she was told she had to keep her stuff secret, she kept it secret for the rest of her life,” Ruth said.

“The only stories that she would tell us about was having to wake Generals up when they’d fallen asleep in the backseat of the car after going to a dinner party or something like that, and she’d have to wait outside.

“Whether she’d have to drive Generals to secret meetings or secret locations, I don’t know. It may not be any mystery at all, it may be basic standard service, but she wouldn’t elaborate on the finer details.”

Bill passed away in 2012 in Mildura, and the secrets she kept of her time in the service, however significant or benign, went with her to the grave.

“Her story is a story of no story, because what she did she kept to herself and wouldn’t reveal it for love or money,” Ruth said.

While she wasn’t close to her mother, Ruth respects what she did for her country as one of the many women who answered the call of duty during the nation’s time of need.

It is Ruth’s hope that all women of the Armed Forces will be remembered, represented and acknowledged as automatically as their male counterparts are, now and in the future.

Ruth Colben of Eudunda, Lenore Higgins’ daughter.

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C O M M E M O R AT I N G A N Z A C Remembering women who served: Matron Gertrude Ronayne Matron Gertrude Lilian Ronayne was born in Tanunda on September 1887, the daughter of Carl Stanislaus Von Bertouch and Pheobe neé Mann.

Prior to joining the Australian Army Nursing Service, she was a Nursing Sister, enlisting in August 1917.

According to research by the WWI Unley Honour Roll Board, she served in London during the first World War, and on a hospital ship.

In 1919 she returned home per ‘Karoola’ and worked in the operating theatre and laboratory at Repatriation General Hospital, Keswick.

According to a report of her death in The Advertiser in 1945, she served for the first eight months of World War II as the matron in charge of 105 AGH. At the completion of her eight months service she became ill and was later discharged from the AANS. She returned to the Repatriation Hospital at Keswick, where she was senior staff sister of the surgical and theatre block.

She died on July 11, 1945, aged 57 years and was buried at Centennial Park Cemetery.

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• 1/2 cup butter • 1 teaspoon baking soda • 3 tablespoons boiling water

Method: 1. Preheat oven to 150•c 2. Mix traditional oats, coconut, sugar and sifted plain flour together and set aside 3. Mix baking soda with boiling water, add honey and melted butter.

4. Add to dry ingerients and combine with a wooden spoon.

5. Place 1 tablespoon of mixture at a time onto a baking tray covered with baking paper and bake at 150•c for 15-20 minutes.

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Matron Gertrude Ronayne with a companion. Photo from the Virtual War Memorial Australia.

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C O M M E M O R AT I N G A N Z A C

A family honoured to serve

Linda, Roger and Mark Leslie have all served their country with pride. INSET: Linda and Roger at HMAS Cerberus, where they first met and their son, Mark as a Private with the Royal Australian Army’s 8/9 Battalion.

By Alicia Lüdi-Schutz

The Leslie family, of Nuriootpa, share a rare bond, one very few will ever understand.

Roger and Linda served in the Navy during the Vietnam war and their son, Mark served in East Timor as a private in the Army and whilst each had vastly different experiences, all agree it’s the bonds of friendship they cherish most.

“You can ask anyone who is in a service,” said Roger. “It’s the camaraderie.”

Ranked Able Seaman Leslie, Roger

signed up as an 18 year old.

“I had always wanted to join the Navy, ever since Grade 7,” he said.

“Mum and dad didn’t want me to go so dad got me a job as an apprentice at Siegi Sobotta’s bakery in Greenock.

“I thought I would join the navy and be a cook, it made sense. But, when I did my recruit course they said they’d much rather me be a technical operator. I did that and didn’t like it...then I became a marine engineer which I did like

because it was hands on.”

Roger was on board the HMAS Supply, a fuel carrier that supplied the ships at sea “like a big floating petrol tank”.

“Then my first ‘proper’ seagoing ship was the HMAS Swan, a brand new ship, commissioned in 1971 - I just loved it!” Roger said.

“I finished up in the engine room making fresh water from sea water for the boilers.”

Shift work for “four hours on and eight hours off” became a way of life for Roger who

was out at sea for up to 30 days at a time.

“I went to different places all over the world, Singapore, Hong Kong, The Philippines, Japan, Fiji, saw the African coast, went to New Zealand a few times we went all over the shop!”

Roger recalls when the HMAS Swan was based in Singapore for about nine months and their job was to escort the HMAS Sydney which was known as the “Vung Tau Ferry”.

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C O M M E M O R AT I N G A N Z A C WRANS hold fond memories for Linda Serving one’s country runs in Linda Leslie’s family.

“My Dad was a Korean vet and my grandfather was in WWII,” said Linda.

“I joined the Women’s Royal Australian Navy Services, the WRANS on January 7, 1969 - four days later I met Roger at the pool at HMAS Cerberus!”

After she completed her course in communications, Linda was drafted to HMAS Harman in Canberra.

“I was there for about six months. Then I went to HMAS Coonawarra in Darwin until 1972.”

She describes her duties in the busy land

base office environment whilst the Vietnam war raged - typing, coding and decoding messages which contained highly classified information.

“I was on watch the day the Voyager hit the Melbourne and all these bells and whistle were going off in the communications room,” recalled Linda.

“We had to act extremely fast to get those messages out because it was not like today where you just send an email, everything was manual handling and you had to type up each message and send it off.”

The WRANS were not permitted to serve at sea and when they got married, they were discharged. That’s how Linda

concluded her Navy career.

“Things are certainly different now and I don’t know whether I would join today,” said Linda.

“I felt as though yes, we were women in the Royal Australian Navy and we were treated as such, whereas now you are not, you are all sailors regardless.

“I suppose you would call that discrimination but I didn’t see it that way - it was just the norm in those days and I enjoyed it.”

Linda still keeps in close contact with those she trained and served with, sharing the very same camaraderie both her husband and son speak of so fondly.

Roger Leslie achieved his childhood dream of joining the Navy.

Continued from previous page “It was an aircraft carrier that was converted into a troop carrier and they used to put all the vehicles and helicopters up the top and all the troops were on board as well.

“We met her out at sea and escorted her into Vietnam - that was pretty scary stuff...We were in active area. You weren’t allowed up on deck while you were based there, just in case.

“Then we escorted her back to Singapore - we did that about twice.”

It wasn’t all hard work though and Roger has plenty of funny memories both on-board and ashore. From sneakily throwing bananas overboard because they were tired of eating “bananas and custard followed by custard and banana” for weeks on end after a refrigerator broke down, to dining on dry crackers and jam because of wild seas.

“We were told the biscuits were leftovers from WWII! Whether it was true or not, I don’t know, but it was so rough, the cooks couldn’t cook.

“We went through hurricanes. The front of your ship is going down, the bridge gets absolutely swamped and the propellers are whizzing around up in the air!”

Roger left the Navy in 1973, a year after marrying Linda.

“I came home and dragged Linda with me,” he laughed.

“The job I got back here was pretty similar to the job I had in the navy. I was a distiller at Chateau Tanunda making brandy. Then Graham Anderson poached me from there to come to the TARAC and I was there for 40 years.”

The WRANS with Linda Leslie (nee Payne) marching in the fourth rank of the left row.

Army was a life-changer for Private Leslie Mark Leslie was 28 years of age when he decided to follow in his parent’s footsteps and serve his country.

“I was in a bad place in my life at that time and I needed some guidance,” admitted Mark.

“I came home one day and asked dad what I should do and he said join the Navy.

Unfortunately I get seasick in the bath, so Army it was!

“It definitely gave me the push in the right direction, that’s for sure. My whole life, growing up with mum and dad being as structured as

they were, I finally understood where it all came from.

“It put me in good stead for the rest of my life.”

Mark was a Private with the 8/9 RAR Infantry Battalion from 2008 until 2012 and served for four months as part of the stabilising force protecting and training the East Timorise.

He says there are “too many” memorable moments to recall.

“The whole time was pretty much good and I much rather try and keep the good than try and remember the bad really,” Mark said.

However, he does admit there was no official support offered when he returned to civilian life after years of “weapon training, running, PT, eat, sleep and repeat”.

“A person can’t go through that sort of experience in your life without it changing you in some way,” added Mark.

“The strength of my boys - the team work, the camaraderie, that’s what I mainly miss...

My civilian mates have got no idea what I’ve gone through but my army mates could be anywhere in the world and call on me and I’d be there in an instant. I can’t say that

about my civilian mates.”

That strong sense of camaraderie and pride in country returns every ANZAC Day. “The feeling you get when you put your ‘gongs’ on ANZAC Day morning, the hairs all stick up on the back on your neck.

Yeah it might be the gunfire breakfast that you just had, but there’s nothing quite like it,” Mark said.

“I thought I knew the honour before joining the Army, seeing mum and dad march, but no, that’s nothing to having my own medals, my own honour.”

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C O M M E M O R AT I N G A N Z A C Remembering those who served for Kapunda and the Commonwealth Trinne, Benjamin Waldemar (Wally) Private. Regimental Number 1511, 10th Infantry Battalion.

Wally Trinne was born in Jeparit, Victoria on May 31, 1897 but spent his youth in Kapunda.

He was a railway porter at Kapunda and was among the youngest from his town to enlist at 18 years of age.

Possibly the youngest to enlist from Kapunda was Robert Shannon at 15.

Trinne served at Gallipoli and was the first Kapunda man killed in France at Pozieres on 22 July 1916 at aged 19.

Five other Kapunda men were to meet their fate in the following days in the same battle.

They were David Munro, Leonard Hughes, Tom Whitbread, Thomas Kelly and Nicholas McInerney.

Wally is recognised at the VillersBretoneux memorial and not at a cemetery indicating that his body was not found or he was buried on the battle field.

His elder brother Dick also served but survived the war.

Memorial Plaques were issued after the First World War to the next-of-kin of all British and Empire service personnel who were killed as a result of the war.

The plaques are cast in bronze and about 120mm in diameter.

They came to be known as the ’Dead Man’s Penny’, ‘Death Penny’, ‘Death Plaque’ or ‘Widows Penny’ because of the similarity in appearance to the much smaller penny coin. Kapunda has five of these plaques on display in the RSL clubrooms and one of which was presented to the family of Wally Trinne.

The name of the soldier is cast on the plaque and two others of these five commemorate men on Kapunda’s honour rolls.

They are Arthur Holthouse and William Colbert.

The other two are WR Newby and AJ McKechnie.

1,355,000 plaques were issued, which used a total of 450 tons of bronze, and continued to be issued into the 1930s to commemorate people who died as a consequence of the war.

Kapunda man and Gallipoli veteran, Benjamin Waldemar Trinne.

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C O M M E M O R AT I N G A N Z A C Chantelle’s Navy career begins

Chantelle Linton, from Cambrai enlisted into the Royal Australian Navy on April 12.

Having completed Year 12 at Nuriootpa High School last year, Chantelle is based in Victoria where she will commence her 12 month gap year.

It’s a dream come true for Chantelle, who celebrated her 18th birthday, attended her school formal and shaved off her beautiful 50cm long hair for Cancer research back in February before enlisting.

Chantelle was enlisted by Lt. Nelson from the Defence Force Recruiting Centre in Adelaide.

Chantelle Linton and her mother, Serena with Chantelle’s Certificate of Enlistment into the Royal Australian Navy.

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C O M M E M O R AT I N G A N Z A C An aircrew member in war and peace

By Emma Clark An 18-year-old Ron Letch of Tanunda volunteered to be in the Royal Australian Air Force and joined 11 days after D-Day in 1944.

With a swag of medals to his name, recognising his contribution in serving the country, Ron humbly admits it was just a job.

“The war was on and it was getting near the end but we didn’t know exactly how close,” Ron said.

“They used to print aviation magazines and newspapers were

full of it... all the different types of aircraft and the men who flew them.”

A stint in the air training corps together with these publications inspired Ron to join the RAAF and he set off to RAAF Clontarf in Western Australia.

He was a rookie but soon acquired the skills which included basic unarmed combat and weapons training. In addition to this he learnt morse code and aircraft and ship recognition.

Ron recollects working on the

Ron Letch with his Royal Australian Air Force medals.

wharves to load and unload the freighter for a couple of weeks.

He also had a stint in an aircraft depot, tending to damaged aircraft and cleaned weapons at the base headquarters in the WA goldfields.

Two years after joining, the forces were demobilised and Ron found himself looking for work.

He managed to secure a role at a Perth factory where sea markers were made and used as target practice for bombing.

“When peace came and Japan surrendered all the factories closed down,” recalls Ron. “They hadn’t started creating new industries.”

Ron found himself living on deferred payment in 1946 and was fortunate to stay with his father on a Perth sawmill site.

He then pursued an Army advertisement for new soldiers in an interim Army and then soon sought to take on a role in the RAAF. Given his prior experience in the RAAF, Ron pursued aircrew training for the postwar Air Force and by 1952 he was posted to a squadron in the Korean War. Ron’s main task was to transport troops and supplies between Japan and Korea as well as medical evacuation flights.

But despite the task his posting entailed, Ron said he never saw a bullet shot in the air.

Ron recollects the amount of people who were transported,

just like it was yesterday, and the countries of which the wounded represented.

He spent time serving in a number of countries overseas and had his last posting in Western Australia where he took on the role of a ground instructor.

Ron’s association with the RAAF was long, flying aircrew in war and peace in a service that spanned from 1944 to 1971.

This included four years in the Army, a time which Ron described as relaxing.

Before officially retiring he asked to be posted to Richmond and returned to the base where he had spent some time at during his service.

Ron recalls many happy memories of this site. As the years went on, Ron was keen to spend

more time with family and he moved to South Australia.

Through all this time and post service, Ron never found his “true love”.

One of four boys, Ron took the opportunity to uncover his family history and has compiled four editions of Mixed Fortunes - A Family Story on his own computer and with the use of his own photos.

But the comment “this is good, but what actually did you do” led to the compilation of Air Force One - One in 2019.

He flicked back through the pages of old log books and selected highlights to compile the publication.

He now pursues his interest in painting next month the proud Tanunda RSL member will turn 95.

Ron Letch in the back row, second from right at the Air Gunnery School in 1951.

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C O M M E M O R AT I N G A N Z A C Proud to be an Australian soldier

By Emma Clark There’s a proud retired soldier who lives in Williamstown and you only need to take a look at his front yard to see why.

Chris Jermey’s garden is adorned with tributes to veterans and if you are fortunate to step into the backyard you will see a similar theme shine.

As a 21 year old Victorian, Chris was walking in the mall one day with his father and saw a recruitment van for the Army and was soon enlisted.

With a great-grandfather in the British Army, Chris believed if he could be half the man that he was, then he would be a good man and soon set on his quest.

Enlisted, Chris left home and undertook a three month recruitment course and it wasn’t long before he gained more skills in an area which was to become his life for nearly 30 years.

“The training was good... it was different,” recalls Chris.

“I had never handled a weapon before and it was all new to me.”

Spending four and a half months in an infantry course, Chris said that experience was full on. It was there where he learnt to be a rifleman and gained his first posting.

“It was pretty cool but full on... even when you went to the battalion you still had to prove yourself,” Chris said.

It was at his second posting that

Chris Jermey during a training course.

Chris spent four years at. He notes it is the first and second postings where you gain what’s required to be a solider that you remember the most.

Chatting to Chris you soon discover his journey - from rifleman to gunner and number one scout.

He has been posted at bases over Australia and was sent on deployment to Malaysia, East Timor, when the Tsunami hit and Afghanistan, a posting which led to his retirement.

“I wasn’t in the right head space then and I thought I had done enough,” said Chris.

“I thought I needed to do something for myself and family.”

Reflecting on his contribution, Chris adds, “I’m happy... I am proud

of what I have done. I still believe that everyone I worked with and met that they made a difference.

“I am pretty proud that I was a soldier. It was the best thing I have ever done.”

He said being a serviceman has made him the father, grandfather, mate and person he is today.

But there are aspects that he has blocked out from his memory over time, allowing him to create new memories of family, mateship and helping others.

Injuries are part and parcel of the service, according to Chris and his arms are proudly filled with ink - tattoos of aspects from his past.

Chris said he is glad he came back to South Australia to retire, a decision mainly inspired by family.

“When you are in the Army you miss out on a lot of stuff. I wasn’t here, or I was on course somewhere in Australia or overseas,” Chris said.

He has a number of elements at his home to pay tribute to the fallen and those who have served their country.

Some of them are keepsakes from his time in deployment, others he has collected along the way.

“It means a lot and it is very emotional... just to pay the respect over my career,” Chris said.

While retired to the Barossa in 2014, Chris continues to keep in touch with others who he served with and with pride attends the ANZAC Day dawn service.

“I enjoy helping people... friends,

Williamstown’s Chris Jermey served in the Army for nearly 30 years. mates and family,” Chris said.

“I enjoy spending time with the grandchildren, Aleira and Luca and just helping people.”

He has signed up to participate in NJF, a veteran health welfare programme that operates from Starplex and is something Chris praises highly.

“It is one of the best things that I have done since I got out,” Chris said.

“It has kept me focused... we do a circuit, so it is a bit like that defence

aspect as well.”

Proudly serving their country is a common theme in the Jermey family with Chris’ twin brother, Kenneth in the RAAF and his youngest brother, Steven also serving in the RAAF for 19 years.

Chris said he is proud of his years of service and reflects on the sense of mateship and camaraderie.

“You are part of a brotherhood,” Chris said.

“It makes you who you are and it makes you a community member.”

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C O M M E M O R AT I N G A N Z A C ANZAC Day commemorations 2021 Nuriootpa No public service.

‘Light up the Dawn’ initiative encouraged by lighting a candle at home and tuning into the Dawn Service broadcast.

Members of the public are invited to attend the memorial later in the day to lay a wreath, respecting social distancing requirements.

Tanunda Public service at 6.15 a.m. at the Garden of Remembrance, corner of Murray and Bridge Street, followed by Gunfire Breakfast at The RSL Hut, Bilyara Road.

March from Tanunda Post office to the Soldiers’ Memorial Hall. Muster at 10.30 a.m., step off at 10.40 a.m.

Memorial service at the Soldiers’ Memorial Hall at 11 a.m.

Luncheon at The Hut following the service will be for RSL members and invited guests only.

Mount Pleasant Public service at 6.15 a.m. at the Soldiers’ Memorial Hall, Melrose Street.

Breakfast to follow and memorabilia display inside the hall.

Angaston Public service at 6 a.m. at the Angaston War Memorial, corner of Penrice Road and Murray Street, conducted by Chaplain Tim Hodgson RAAF and Pastor Rob Morgan.

Angaston & District Lions Club will provide coffee and the Angaston CWA will provide biscuits.

Gawler No public service or march.

‘Light up the Dawn’ initiative encouraged.

Kapunda Public service at 6.30 a.m. at the Kapunda Cenotaph, corner of Mildred Street and Clare Road.

Robertstown Public service at 9 a.m. at the Robertstown War Memorial, Commercial Street. Will include the unveiling of the Aboriginal Soldiers’ Monument.

A free barbecue will follow.

Eudunda Public service at 6.15 a.m. at the Eudunda War Memorial, Gunn Street.

Williamstown Public service at 6.30 a.m. at the Williamstown RSL Memorial, Memorial Drive.

Preceded by a march-in by current and ex-service personnel and next of kin.

Sedan Public service at 9 a.m. at the Sedan War Memorial, corner of Bank Road and Angaston-Swan Reach Road.

No breakfast, regular church service to follow.

Sanderston Public service at 6.30 a.m. at Sanderston War Memorial, Angas Valley Road.

Breakfast to follow at Angas Valley Tennis Club.

Tarlee Public service at 9.30 a.m. at the Tarlee War Memorial.

Will be followed by the official unveiling of a memorial dedicated to Lone Pine at 10.15 a.m.

Freeling No public service.

‘Light up the Dawn’ initiative encouraged.

Swan Reach Public service at 6.30 a.m. at the Swan Reach Memorial, corner of Victoria Street and Hesse Hill Road.

Breakfast to follow at 7.30 a.m. hosted by the Swan Reach Bowls Club.

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