By Mikayla van Loon
Remembrance Day commemorations were held in traditional Lilydale style on Friday 11 November, seeing residents, traders, students and RSL members surround every edge of the cenotaph on Main Street.
The service was opened by the Lilydale CFA brigade’s siren sounding 15 seconds before the clock struck 11am.
Lilydale RSL president Bill Dobson began the opening remarks by saying “we will always remember to never forget our veterans and their loved ones who suffered.”
“We’re on sacred ground here, this cenotaph represents and pays tribute to all those local people who died because of war and are buried elsewhere around the world,” he said.
In a deeply personal tribute to his own family, Yarra Ranges Council Mayor Jim Child said we must always remember the sacrifice that hundreds of men and women made decades ago in World War I, even if to him “it was an unnecessary war”.
“It was meant to be the war to end all wars,” he said.
Mayor Child said on average 38 members of the Armed Forces died per day during the conflict of World War I.
“I can’t imagine the pain and misery that must have been experienced on the battlefield but also at home for those receiving the news of a lost husband, a son, a grandson,” he said.
Fast forwarding to World War II, Mayor Child told the story of two brothers from Kalorama, one who was captured at the fall of Singapore and held prisoner, the other, the oldest who served in the Middle East and New Guinea.
“Upon coming back, he spent 40 years plus fighting another campaign – the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“The Department of Veterans Affairs recognised his disabilities from service just 18 months before his death.
“I know this story first hand because that older brother was John Arthur Child, my father, who is named on the shrine at the Lilydale Athenaeum Theatre’s World War II honour board along with so many others who served on behalf of the residents of the Shire of Lilydale.”
Humbled by what Mayor Child spoke about in his speech, Mr Dobson said he “it’s good he could open up about that on a day like today.”
“It’s hard enough putting up with the effects of war without a veteran having to prove that there’s something wrong with them,” Mr Dobson said.
The rest of the service saw Evelyn MP Bridget Vallence, school students and Naval Chaplin Miles Fagen conduct prayers and speeches, while the Mount Lilydale Mercy College choir sang.
“It’s wonderful that so many school children want to come along and reflect on the day and it shows that it’s still alive in the young people which is fantastic,” Mr Dobson said.
