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5 Tuesday, 11 November, 2014
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Spirit of Anzac The Knox Memorial and Honour Roll. 130312
Family friend Bert Matthews lays a wreath in memory of Pictures: KATH GANNAWAY Sgt Brett Wood. 130312
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Fallen soldiers of the Knox region will be remembered forever on the Honour Roll. 130312
Jennifer Ward and daughter Amy Ranaudo at the Memorial. 130312
Mayor Darren Pearce placed a wreath on behalf of the City of Knox. 130312
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Alison Jones and daughter Meryl Jones lay a wreath. 130312
Former Governor-General Major General Michael Jeffery gave the keynote address. 130312
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The backdrop honours all who have fought for Australia in wars over the decades. 130312
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SERGEANT William Head was killed in World War I on the shores of Gallipoli, Turkey in 2015. He was 20. There was a brief hope that it was to be the ‘War to end all wars”. On 18 July 2009, Private Benjamin Ranaudo was killed while on operations north of Tarin Kot in Afghanistan. Sergeant Brett Wood was serving with the Special Operations Task Group in Afghanistan when he was killed in action on 23 May 2011. The men, all ‘Gully’ boys, share a special place on the Knox Memorial and Honour Roll that was officially opened by former Governor-General Major General Michael Jeffery (retired) at the Tim Neville Arboretum in Ferntree Gully on Saturday 1 November 2014. “William Head is listed as the first resident on the memorial – an Upper Gully lad killed on the shores of Gallipoli on 25 April 1915, Anzac Day,” chair of the Knox Anzac Memorial Committee and Federal Member for Aston, Alan Tudge, said in the lead-up to the dedication of the memorial. “Benjamin Ranaudo and Brett Wood, are listed last. “The Anzac spirit binds them together,” he said. In between are the names of a further 117 residents from around what is now the Knox district, who died in war; 58 from World War I, 58 from World War II and one, Robert Keys, 21, who died at Phuoc Tuy Provence in Vietnam. The Memorial was instigated by Mr Wood’s mother, Alison Jones and sister, Meryl, who were at the dedication, along with Mr Ranaudo’s mother Jennifer Ward and sisters Amy and Hayley. “Alison and Meryl pointed out that there was no memorial recognising Brett in the local area – or indeed recognising Benjamin Ranaudo,” Mr Tudge said of their first approach to him in April 2012.
The Knox Anzac Memorial Committee was formed with the idea of a memorial to all locals in the area who had died in war. Mr Tudge said the committee was surprised to find that no such honour roll existed and that existing rolls were fragmented or incomplete. The Memorial has three components, the honour roll, information panels on the wars in which Australians served from the Boer War through to Afghanistan, and the tiled backdrop to the honour roll that pays tribute to all who have fought in war. He thanked the many individuals and groups who worked together on the project. Major General Jeffery said the beautiful and serene setting of the Arboretum was a fitting place for a memorial. He said it was a place where people could come to remember those who served over many decades and reflect on their achievements. “In so doing, we honour their sense of duty to our country, their indomitable fighting spirit and recall the often appalling conditions that many so bravely endured,” he said. For the families of Brett Wood and Benjamin Ranaudo it will be a central place of connection, and reflection. “I will be a regular visitor,” Mrs Jones said. “It’s a special place for me. You think about them every day, but it was important for me to have somewhere close by that I could go to and spend a bit of quiet time.” She said it would be a place they would attend on special days, such as Anzac Day and Remembrance Day. Mrs Ward said the Memorial was a fitting tribute to their sons and to all those who had given their lives in war. “It’s wonderful that they are finally recognised in their own home towns,” she said.
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By KATH GANNAWAY