Coonabarabran Times (digital edition) - 27.4.2023

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THURSDAY, 27TH APRIL 2023

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COONABARABRAN – THE ASTRONOMY CAPITAL OF AUSTRALIA

What ANZAC means to me Emily Kerr provided the winning entry in the Jim Nelson Essay Competition. Emily’s entry was read at both the dawn and mid-morning services in Coonabarabran on ANZAC Day. Jim Nelson was a veteran of Gallipoli and the Western Front and finally settled in Coonabarabran. The annual award is donated by Jim Nelson’s grandson, David Collins, himself a veteran of the Royal Australian Airforce in Vietnam. Following is Emily story: What ANZAC means to me is that I'm able to wake up in my bed, sur rounded by my possessions in a safe and stable home. It’s 1914, your fourth month on a boat standing shoulder to shoulder with 100s of other men. You’ll be landing , you think to yourself, however, you have no idea what's going to happen. As you make your way off the boat on April 25th 1915, you walk into an ambush of gun fire, the rush, the chaos and the death of your fellow soldiers – something so horrific, but nothing compared to the events that are about to follow. This is the story of ANZAC soldier, Phillip Aytons Monday, 26th of April 1915 - my 26th birthday. ‘At day break the enemy started to pour shrapnel into us and sent heavy shells out to sea at the ships. Nearly all that day a terrible cannonade raged. The noise was beyond description. I had a most awful headache from the row and need of sleep and was almost exhausted from needing rest. We had a short rest in the afternoon and I fell asleep on top of my shovel. Most of my mates were the same. All the shells and bullets in the world couldn’t have kept us awake. After that we worked on till dark, having, by that time, some decent trenches dug, which the New Zealanders immediately occupied. We dug ourselves in and went to sleep, completely knocked out. I felt like a new man the next morning after a good sleep and a feed. We were ordered back to the beach then, so we collected our gear and tools, went back and worked all day making dugouts for ourselves on the side of the hill. All day the enemy shelled us and I had several narrow escapes while working’. Phillip Aytons, just 25-years-old when enlisted, was l iving in Sydney and wo r k ing on the tramways. Like many people in those times, he was young, and struggling financially. He took part in the Gallipoli landing and served the majority of his time on the western front. The trench warfare he experienced was horrendous, covered in dirt, eating rotten, and living with mice. Once the war was over, Phillip returned home to Sydney, where he married a childhood friend. Philip died in 1946 at the age of 57. Philip’s story is one of many and his experiences are nothing unique. Trench foot, disease and spending years away from family, not knowing of a return is something so brave and respected by me. What ANZAC means to me is not only to remember and cherish the heroic soldiers, but

also to come together as a family, community and nation and remember what they did for us. One of my favourite memories is waking up at 4.30 dressed up in my Air Force cadet uniform and performing a catafalque party at dawn service. As I stood still like a rock, I looked down at the faces of my community and rested my eyes on the horizon. My mind drifted off and I imagined myself as an ANZAC, waking up surrounded by a rat infestation, to the sound of the reveille and seeing the sunrise, knowing the weight that the day will bring. Being a part of the AAFC I feel connected to these soldiers in a way, like their legacy is living on through me and my squadron. Each weekend when I parade, I envision myself among the soldiers to understand the duties. I have shot a rifle, called drill, worn DPU’s and SD’s and flown in RAAF aircrafts, yet still I cannot imagine enlisting to serve. I deeply admire the bravery, courage and dauntlessness each of the ANZACs must have possessed – because being an ANZAC isn't about the clothes, weapons and pictures. It’s about the mental ability to leave your home and family and risk your life for your country and future generations for you and me.

ANZAC PHOTO S PAGE 4 Emily Kerr reading her winning ANZAC essay at Coonabarabran’s dawn service.

Photo: Sarah Baglee

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1 - Coonabarabran Times, Thursday, 27th April 2023

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