This Anzac Day, people throughout Wide Bay will come together, in person and in spirit, to remember those who have served Australia in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations.
Today (Sunday April 25) we pause and reflect on the courage and sacrifice of our Australian defence personnel who have served our country; and to remember the more than 102,000 Australians who have died to protect our shores, our freedom and our way of life.
We remember these men and women who have given so much in our nation’s name, and we also give thanks to the current Defence personnel serving on operations around the globe.
The Australian and New Zealand Defence Forces are known worldwide for their courage, commitment, endurance and mateship, a reputation that has grown in the decades since the first diggers landed in Turkey at what we now call Anzac Cove, on that fateful day of 25th April 1915.
This date, April 25, will always be an important part of Australia’s history, and this year we also commemorate 80 years since the start of the Siege of Tobruk.
This was another significant point in Australia’s defence history when about 14,000 Australian soldiers, as well as four regiments of British artillery and Indian troops, were besieged at Tobruk in Libya by the German-Italian army during the Second World War.
It was critical that Allies held the town of Tobruk to prevent the enemy’s advance into Egypt by forcing them to bring their supplies overland from the port of Tripoli, across 1500 km of desert, as well as diverting troops from their advance.
Tobruk was subject to almost constant shelling and bombing, and repeated ground assaults.
The tenacity of the courageous men defending Tobruk led Nazi propagandist Lord Haw Haw (William Joyce) to deride them as ’rats’’. It became a term that the Australian soldiers embraced as an ironic compliment, and we still know them by this name today.
The Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy provided invaluable support, acting as the garrison’s main link to its supply base – but they paid a heavy price, and lost numerous ships during the siege, including HMAS Waterhen, three sloops including HMAS Parramatta, and 21 smaller vessels.
Half the Australian garrison was relieved in August 1941, the rest between September and October. However, 2/13 Battalion could not be evacuated and was still there when the siege was lifted on 10 December, the only unit present for the entire siege.
During the course of the siege, the 9th Australian Division and attached troops saw 832 men killed, more than 2,170 injured and around 940 taken prisoner.
It is sacrifices such as these that make Anzac Day an integral part of our nation’s story.
On this day, we take time to pause, reflect and remember those who have served and those who have given their lives for Australia and acknowledge their role in shaping our country, allowing us the freedom and security we enjoy today.
