World War II service publicly commemorated by NSW Governor
Jordan FallonThe contributions of more than 100 service men and women from the villages of Kearsley and Abernethy during World War II were today honoured and commemorated at a ceremony by the Governor of New South Wales, Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC QC.
The Kearsley Community Dawn Service Committee hosted a remembrance ceremony for 103 men and women who were engaged in conflict during World War II but received no public recognition of their service.
“The vast majority of these men and women served our nation – during one of its darkest hours – with great distinction. Despite their sacrifice to ensure our freedoms, they never received any public recognition” Committee Chair, Jordan Fallon said.
The Committee has spent the last two years undertaking historical research to uncover and identify local residents who had served during World War II as part of their commemorations project.
“Countless hours spent analysing service records, historical newspaper articles and trudging through cemeteries across NSW culminated in a list of 103 additional names”.
During the ceremony, Governor Beazley unveiled individual memorial plaques to commemorate the service and sacrifice of each of the 103 recovered men and women, which will be located in the Kearsley Remembrance Garden that has been established by the Committee to honour local service personnel.
“It is a fitting tribute to these selfless local residents that the Governor visit their hometown and pay her respects to the significant contribution they made to the ongoing development of our nation both at home and abroad”.
Military service is an important part of the social fabric of Kearsley and Abernethy with many local families farewelling loved ones who have answered the call to duty in different theatres of war.
“Uncovering these service personnel and sharing their stories has had an immense impact on our community. There are local families who weren’t even aware of their ancestor’s service until we delved deep into the nation’s history books.”
“Now they’re bursting with pride knowing their ancestor was instrumental to the defence of Australia during World War II.”
From the 103 individuals honoured during the ceremony, 83 served with the Australian Army, 17 with the Royal Australian Air Force and 3 with the Royal Australian Navy.
Descendants from across Australia attended the ceremony to pay their respects to those ancestors who had answered the call to duty.
“The real tragedy is that these veterans are no longer with us. The purpose of our commemoration project is to ensure they are honoured publicly. They may be gone but their contribution and sacrifice will be with our community forever” Mr Fallon said.
Three of the 103 service men and women died as a result of their service during World War II, including Driver James Ridgely of Abernethy who died from malaria upon his return home from the front.
Driver Ridgely’s death was recognised by the Australian Government as being as a result of his war service and was buried at Aberdare Cemetery with full military honours.
