Remembering bonds of friendship forged under fire
by SANDI MILLER
4th May 2026
COMMEMORATIVE services were held across Australasia to mark the 111th anniversary of the landing on the shores of Gallipoli by the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.
Dawn Service
For those of us in Warrandyte, a trip to either Doncaster or Eltham to take part in the Dawn Service is becoming a popular start to the day of remembrance.
Doncaster RSL held a moving service with Captain Andrew Downie commemorating the 110th anniversary of the Battle of Fromelles in July 1916.
“My grandfather, Lieutenant Reginald Joseph O’Sullivan DCM, served in the 1st Australian Imperial Force during the First World War.
He enlisted in June 1915, at a time when the war was meant to be over by Christmas; it became something far more brutal and far more drawn out than anyone could imagine.
He was posted to the 31st Battalion of the Fifth Australian Division.
The Battalion made up largely of men from Queensland and Victoria, ordinary Australians who found themselves fighting on the other side of the world in the mud and shellfire of France.
In July 1916, his Battalion was committed to the Battle of Fromelles, arguably the most dangerous and disastrous battle in Australian military history.
Fromelles was intended as a diversionary attack during the Somme offensive, but it became a catastrophe.
In just 24 hours, more than 5,500 Australians were killed, wounded, or captured.
It remains the bloodiest single day in our history.
Men advanced across open ground at night, under sustained machinegun and artillery fire.
Units became isolated, officers were killed, and communications failed.
Chaos and courage existed side by side.
At that time, my grandfather was not yet an officer — he was a Platoon Sergeant.
When leadership faltered under devastating fire, he continued to organise and rally the men on the frontline.
For his actions during the fighting around Fromelles, he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal, which was, at that time, second only to the Victoria Cross for gallantry.
My grandfather survived the Great War.
But came home a broken man.
He died on New Year’s Day 1926 at the age of 39.
I remember him today.”
Captain Downie also reflected on his uncle’s service in the Pacific.
“In 1942, Gunner Ivan Leo Olden Hatcher was part of the Australian garrison in Rabaul.
When Japanese forces advanced through the Pacific, Rabaul became a key objective.
The Australian Force there — Lark Force — was under-resourced and heavily outnumbered.
Rabaul fell, many Australians were killed, and others, including my uncle, were captured and became Prisoners of War.
On June 22, 1942, hundreds of Australian prisoners from Rabaul were loaded onto a Japanese transport ship, the Montevideo Maru
On July 1, 1942, off the coast of the Philippines, the ship was torpedoed by an Allied submarine, the USS Sturgeon, unaware that Prisoners of War were on board.
The Montevideo Maru sank, with the loss of 1,053 souls, including 845 servicemen.
It provides the worst maritime disaster in Australian history.
For them, there was no grave, no battlefield, only the sea.
The men of Rabaul stood in defence of Australia at a time when the threat was quite close, the future uncertain.
They served where they were sent.
They endured capture, and some paid the ultimate price.
When we speak of the Anzac Spirit, we remember not only famous battles, but the quiet sacrifice.
Today, I wear these medals in honour of both men and of all those who served beside them.
Their resting places might differ; their wars were different.
But their service endured.”
Those gathered in the breaking light then heard from New Zealand veteran Alton Taylor, who spoke of mateship and camaraderie, and the enduring bond between Australia and New Zealand.
“We’re here to remember a bond of friendship that has lasted over a century.|
“It’s a friendship forged in the sand of Egypt, the cliffs of Gallipoli, and the mud of the Somme.
“While we spent the last hundred years arguing over who actually owns the Pavlova and Crowded House, the Anzac Spirit proves that when the chips are down, we’re essentially the same — just that one of us was better at rugby.”
The service was supported by music from the Doncaster Secondary College Wind Symphony; members of the School of Signals mounted the Catafalque party.
After the service concluded, attendees were invited to a gunfire breakfast in the RSL clubrooms with a sausage sizzle provided by Rotary Manningham City.
Warrandyte Commemoration
Around 200 people came together at the Whipstick Gully carpark for the March along Yarra Street to the Warrandyte RSL Memorial Gardens.
Once there, following a Welcome to Country and Lord’s Prayer, those who gathered for the commemorative service heard from former Member of Menzies and Afghanistan Veteran, Keith Wolahan.
“How do you remember the 103,000 Australians who died for this country?
How do you remember almost 2.5 million who have served this country?
Some of whom are here today.
How do you remember those who were wounded?
The families who walk into an empty bedroom.
It’s almost an impossible task.
But at moments like this, we do our very best.
So, my task is to give you one man, one person.
It is not someone I knew — his name was Ernest (Ern) William Kiernan.
He was a WWII veteran.
A group of Australians who still walk amongst us, although they probably need a walking cane, because most of them who are left are over 100.
But they’re here with us; we live with that generation.
And Ern didn’t have a family that served; in fact, he didn’t even know who his family was.
He was an orphan.
He grew up in an orphanage, not knowing his mum or dad, or his brothers or sisters, yet when the time came to serve, he put his hand up to serve his country.
Ern was one of the 14,000 Australians who served in Tobruk; 2,000 of those were Victorians.
What they didn’t know was that they were to take on the General of all Generals, being General Erwin Rommel, who had never lost a conflict and invented Blitzkrieg, which means lightning war.
And he had never lost a conflict until he met men like Ern.
In Tobruk, Ern and his friends, his fellow Australians, not only held back the might of the German Army, but they never gave up, and over 242 days, they earned the title of the Rats of Tobruk.”
After the wreath laying, the Last Post, the minute’s silence, and Reveille, at the conclusion of the service, there was a moving rendition of I Am Australian.
The music itself was a simple broadcast of the recorded music, but it was accompanied by Warrandyte Primary School Auslan Choir, who sang along with the song in Auslan, conducted by performing arts teacher Kirsty Wolters.
This warm, genuinely inclusive service was a credit to the Warrandyte RSL and the volunteers from our community who made it happen.
Jennifer Bryant, the Secretary of Warrandyte RSL, offered the RSL’s gratitude to the following people who participated in the service:
- Catafalque Party: Doncaster Squadron Australian Air League
- Bagpipes: James Dimmock/Thomas Cameron
- Side drums (with Pipers): Oliver Smith (who came all the way from New Zealand to play.
He was visiting the piper and volunteered to March with him and play the side drum.) - Bugler: Blake Robertson-Hall
- Guest Speaker: Keith Wolahan
- Warrandyte High School Captains: Zoe Wheelan, Lachlan Williams, and Jack Brenna
- Warrandyte Primary School: Auslan Choir with supervision by Kirsty Wolters
- Simon Barton: The Ode
- Bunnings Ringwood: for their gardening donations and assistance
- The RSL Committee and all volunteers who help with the March, Service (especially audio person, Wade Farrell), and morning tea
- Warrandyte Scout Group: who attended before Anzac Day to assist in cleaning up the Memorial Gardens
Lest we forget.
