Nick Thompson
Coronation Day 1953 and the small hinterland town of Kin Kin was celebrating.
As the locals formed up for the parade down Main Street, a group of five men were taken aside for a photograph.
After a bit of local historical research, we know now just how special that picture is.
One of these Kin Kin men fought a war in Africa on horseback. Another battled his way ashore at Gallipoli and endured the nightmares of trench warfare in France and Belgium.
Yet another flew in Second World War flying boats and, even when this photograph was taken, the youngest had just returned from serving in Korea in the age of atomic bombs and rockets.
Between them they went to war under two queens and two kings.
Charlie Vines, in the flat cap on the far left, served with the Australian forces when Queen Victoria was still on the throne. He fought during the second Boer War (1899-1902) in South Africa. It was one of the last wars where horses provided the principal form of land transport.
Next to him, in uniform, is Dave Palmer, who served in the Second World War (1939 -1945) when King George VI had the keys to Buckingham Palace.
In the middle, wearing a suit, is Arthur Glasby, who served in the First World War (1914-1918) when the forces swore allegiance to King George V.
Arthur was with the ANZACs and was wounded at Gallipoli but recovered and then fought on the Western Front. He returned to Australia where he took up a “soldier’s block” of land near Kin Kin. His family still farms in the area.
Next to Arthur is Dudley Lister, who served with the Royal Australian Air Force on Catalina flying boats during the Second World War.
On the right-hand side is Bill Rees, who served during the Korean War (1950-1953). That conflict was still active at the time this photo was taken. Commonwealth forces in Korea are said to have marked the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II by firing red, white and blue coloured smoke shells at the enemy.
Can you imagine the conversations these five men might have had if they’d sat together around a table in the Kin Kin Hotel during the Coronation Day festivities?
Ordinary men. Special men.
