Balingup locals gathered before their Anzac Day march to share stories and memories of war. Here are some of their tales and some photos from the day.
Chris Irvine: “Wilfred Harper enlisted with his brother and cousins in the 10th Light Horse. The 10th Light Horse was called on to defend a strip of land called the Nek in Gallipoli, so a New Zealand unit could come in above. Wilfred and his brothers charged mistakenly. Their commanding officer had gained permission to stop the charge, because the men were getting mown down, but he returned too late to stop them leaving the trench.”
Molly MacLeod: “My Dad was in World War 2. I’ve got letters he wrote to my mother from the war. I stopped reading them, because they were so personal, but it is a way to understand this difficult time my parents went through.”
Carol Bullard: “She used to get up every day on the washhouse roof, looking for her fiance’s ship.”
Kasia Dziewialtowska-Gintowt: “My friend’s grandfather survived Gallipoli, but was killed in the Somme. On their last day in Gallipoli he and a friend made porridge and a cup of cocoa over a fire, said this is for Johnny Turk, and left it there. They had compassion for their enemy.”
Andy Wilson: “As a small child in the 1950s, we used to visit a ward in the Shenton Park Rehabilitation Hospital. I never knew why. It was full of World War One vets who’d been gassed. I was struck by their respect for the enemy. They used to say, `Johnny Turk, he fought hard, but he fought fair. The reason he fought so hard was he fought for his country.”
Ron Robertson: “I have these letters from my father to my uncle in Scotland dating from 1913. They were both killed in France.”
