Two separate yet inextricably entwined services took place in Ballarat yesterday as the Garden of of the Grieving Mother opened alongside the memorial service commemorating the 75th anniversary of the catastrophic fall of Fortress Singapore.
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The Governor-General of Australia General Sir Peter Cosgrove was present at both services and spoke movingly of the sacrifices made by Australians of previous generations – both those who served and those who were left behind.
“We remember the mothers who, with the death of a child they have loved, raised and nurtured, have come to carry their own pain and grief… it can linger and lead to despair,” said the Governor-General in his address to the audience at the opening of the Garden.
Sir Peter invited the mother of the late Cameron Baird, VC, MG to join him in the unveiling of the statue. Lance Corporal Baird was killed in Afghanistan in 2013 and received the Victoria Cross posthumously for his bravery in an attack on an enemy position.
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Arch of Victory Committee member Gary Snowden said he was thrilled the day had gone well, and the speakers were an inspiration; as was the performance by Ballarat’s David Hobson, who sang ‘Bring Him Home’ from Les Miserables.
In a much larger ceremony at the Ex-POW Memorial, 16 former prisoners of war gathered with thousands of others to remember suffering of those who underwent the brutality of the Japanese army in captivity.
Broadcast live to the nation on the ABC, the RAN band played as a service of commemoration unfolded paying a solemn tribute to the 15,000 Australian soldiers captured by the wartime enemy.
Over 8,000 Australians died in the camps and working on the Japanese railways in the Burmese and Thai jungles.
AIF veteran Colin Hamley and HMAS Perth’s David Manning were in prison camps and worked on the railways together during the war.
“These fellows were already in the camp when we arrived,” said Mr Manning. “They really looked after us.”