HUNDREDS of people lined Sturt Street before dawn to pay homage to the servicemen and women who have played their part in Australia’s military history.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A promising sight was the number of young people who lowered their heads to remember their ancestors, determined to ensure they’re never forgotten.
One of those youngsters was nine-year-old Cameron Philp who made the journey from Melbourne with his family to pay respect to his great-grandfather, Francis Ernest D'Albedyhll Lethbridge, whose name lies on the Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial in Ballarat.
Cameron, who is in his first year as a Cub, said he wanted to visit the site in his uniform and say ‘thank you’.
His mother Melanie said it was great to see her son interested in learning about his family’s involvement in WWII.
Francis Lethbridge’s bomber was shot down over Dusseldorf, Germany in August of 1942 where he was taken prisoner.
She said the family still had the diary of the RAAF Flight Lieutenant Navigator which noted stories from his time in German prisoner of war camps in Lamsdorf and Sagan during WWII.
“There was lots of camaraderie in the camps, the diary was shared around,” she said.
“They acquired newspaper snippets of information and rubbed the ink into the dairy, and it (mentioned) how they marched for miles between camps.
“There were links to ‘The Great Escape’, but he drew the short straw.”
She said it was nice to see his name remembered on the memorial.
“I didn’t release there were going to be so many names, we only know one story,” she said.