Anzac Day Assembly 

On Thursday 24th April Viewbank College celebrated Anzac day with 2 assembly's Senior school and middle school. 

We were lucky to have The Hon. Anthony Carbines MP - Minister for Police, Minister for Crime Prevention and Minister for Racing and State Member for Ivanhoe attend the senior assembly. 

Senior and middle school leaders lead the assemblies and also placed the wreaths at the flag poles. Both assemblies were beautiful. 

Hear are two reflections from year 12 students on Anzac Day. 

My great-great-grandfather, who joined in 1914 in the first world war was only 16 years old. He fought in Fromelles, France, serving as a gunner on the front line. The war cost him much of his hearing, but he fought bravely until the war’s end. In 1918, he returned home and married my great great grandmother. Little did he know that only 2 decades later his son would follow in his footsteps of joining a world war to young.

My Great Grandad was just 17 years old when he joined the Second World War. Eager to serve, he told them he was 18. It wasn’t his first attempt—he had tried multiple times before, each time lying about his age desperate to join the fight. He served as a soldier and a century guard at a POW camp in the north of Australia. My Ma (his daughter) says when he came back from war he changed. In the end, he hated what war had done to people, the friends he lost, families that were destroyed and who he became when coming back. He was still a kind father to all his kids but the trauma that he carried for the rest of his life grew stronger as the years moved on. He always said to my Ma he never wanted his sons to experienced what he did.

These stories represent just a few among countless others. I feel deeply honoured to share them and to bring awareness to my family’s contributions to this country. To me, ANZAC Day is a time of profound gratitude and remembrance. It is a day to honour the sacrifices made by so many, including my own family. I feel incredibly fortunate that both of these remarkable men—fathers, soldiers, and survivors—were able to return home because if it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be here today. Thank you and Lest we forget 

Charli White 

ANZAC Day is a day that commemorates the sacrifice of Australian and New Zealand service men and women who have died in the service our great nations.  

For many of us, ANZAC Day may bring with it mixed emotions. It’s a day of mourning the loss of the many who have served our country. But it’s also a celebration of mate ship, camaraderie, and the achievements of the Australian and New Zealand militaries, past and present. 

To me, ANZAC day has always been a day that I vividly remember each passing year, always attending dawn services for as long as I can remember. Every year I strive to learn more about my family’s military history, and this year for me is no exception. I asked my grandfather about his service, and he recounted his life for me.  

He remembered serving in the civilian military forces for 6 years from 1972-1978, being a recruit instructor specialising in drilling recruits and weapons training and eventually undertaking the role of company clerk, before being told he would have to fight in Vietnam. Even though his company was stood down from leaving for Vietnam, he embodied the spirit of ANZAC as he was at the front of the line, willing to lay down his life as he prepared for conflict.  

As he told me his story, he mentioned how his father served in World War 2 and his grandfather served in World War 1, his father fighting in the harsh desert of El-Alamein and the gruelling jungles of New Guinea, and his grandfather serving on the brutal beach of Gallipoli. 

In fact, it’s through my grandfather’s recollection that further reinforced to me how important it is to acknowledge and remember, and to keep telling the stories of generations who served, including those who did not return, and to collectively give our thanks. 

As former Governor General, Sir William Deane so elegantly phrased it: 

ANZAC is not merely about loss. It is about courage, and endurance, and duty, and love of country, and mate ship, and good humour and the survival of a sense of self-worth and decency in the face of dreadful odds. 

Modern day service still brings with it considerable self-sacrifice and family sacrifice, and that must be recognised. Much like my brother and father, who are reservists in the defence force, all service members have knowingly signed themselves up to be prepared to give the ultimate sacrifice in the defence of our great nation, if, and when, required to do so.  

This is why it is so imperative that we balance the memory of those who have fallen, with admiration for those who are prepared to do the same. As we move forward, we must remain wary of not glorifying the death and destruction that is war but rather honouring the sacrifices of the Australian and New Zealand soldiers, past and present, who have or are willing to lay down their lives to protect our freedom. 

Lest We Forget

Kieran Holmes