Moorabool News 25 August 2020

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Moorabool News The

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Tuesday 25 August, 2020

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Vol 14 No 34

A first for WWII veteran By Lachlan Ellis (3rd Yr Deakin Uni) He helped in the recovery effort at Hiroshima as a volunteer and now the former Army linesman James Ginnane, has become Bacchus Marsh’s first recipient of the new Commemorative Medallion, awarded for service in the Second World War. The Commemorative Medallion marks the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Pacific and the end of WWII. James is 95 years old, and according to his son John, doesn’t have the memory he used to. “But I remember Dad’s war stories vividly,” he said. “My little ears used to go flapping, because Dad used to talk to a local priest here in Bacchus Marsh. He used to go around and talk to all the Army people, to make sure

they were mentally okay…they didn’t talk about their experiences until they became friends with this priest, [Herbert] ‘Rusty’ Steele,” Mr Ginnane told the Moorabool News. “Dad put his age up … he was 16 but he said he was 18 to get into the Army. “He was stationed in Cairns … there were no telephones in those days, so they ran telegraph lines through to Darwin. At different stages while he was driving a truck, he had to transport coffins. I believe they were from New Guinea. “There was a raid in Darwin and New Guinea – Japanese submarines. After that was over, each of the soldiers were allowed two weeks back home to visit family … that’s when Dad met Mum, at a dance in 1942,” Mr Ginnane said. After the atomic bombings at Hiroshima

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and Nagasaki, and the subsequent Japanese surrender, James Ginnane volunteered to travel to Japan and help with the recovery effort. “We can all try to imagine what it’s like to be in the Army fighting a war, but … to go and clean up after, I think over 80,000 deaths at Hiroshima where he cleaned up … you can’t imagine what they found … what sort of clean up was there.” James didn’t see his wife Marie again until March 1947, over 18-months later. James Ginnane has unfortunately not yet received the physical medallion, but John says his father is “absolutely rapt” to be commemorated. “He has slight dementia … but you only have to mention anything to do with the RSL, he gets a smile. He knows he’s been recognised … he’s very happy with it.”

MAIN: Mr James Ginnane in the ANZAC Day 2017 parade in Bacchus Marsh. INSET – Mr Ginnane upon enlisting (WWII) and his medals. Photos – John Ginnane

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