AN unbelievable, emotional experience, paying homage to a special group of men was how Waratahs Re-Enactment Committee chairman Clyde Poulton described the start of the centenary celebrations in Nowra.
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Mr Poulton, who along with a hard working local committee, have played a pivotal role in the march’s organisation said the joy and emotion on people’s faces as the march has made its way up the coast made the many hours of organisation worthwhile.
“The response to the march has been fantastic,” said Mr Poulton, who is portraying Captain Ernest Blow, who headed the original recruitment parade, in the re-enactment.
“A lot of people put a huge amount of effort into the event over a long period of time, and to be able to see it all unfold up front is pretty special.
“Something I won’t forget in a hurry.
“And I have a wonderful group from HMAS Albatross behind me who are acting as the Waratahs.”
He said the start of the march in Nowra, which included a moving ceremony at the memorial gates at the Nowra Showground, before an official farewell at the School of Arts and then marching across the Shoalhaven River bridge, just as the Waratahs had done 100 years before, was “something special.”
“The short service at the memorial gates set the scene I think,” he said.
“We laid 11 wreaths for the 11 Nowra men from the Waratahs who died, and I think that really hit home what this centenary commemoration is all about.
“Turning into Berry Street and seeing the crowd at the School of Arts was superb, while walking across the old Nowra bridge with no traffic coming towards you was the weirdest feeling.
“The crowds who turned out and cheered us on and the big reception at the northern end of the bridge was wonderful.”
Services were held in Bomaderry, Berry and Gerringong, with many of the Waratahs’ descendents taking part.
In Bomaderry, the new Waratah Park was officially opened, while Mr Poulton said the arrival at the Berry Showground was special, with members of the 115-year-old Berry Town Band playing.
“That band would have played for the original march,” he said.
“It is quite heartening to see how the various towns remember the Waratahs.
“The re-enactment has lived up to everything I had hoped.
“You can see the emotion on people’s faces. It has had an impact on people.”
There were a number of events prior to the march starting.
On Friday evening Alan Clark’s book the Centenary Edition of the South Coast Waratahs Recruiting March 1915 was launched, while on Saturday afternoon the Nowra Show Society hosted a special afternoon tea for descendents, where the families of 10 Waratahs, including three children, gathered.
One of the specials guests was Captain Blow’s granddaughter, Barbara Herriot from Culcairn, who had with her the sword he carried during the Boer War.
The centenary commemoration will continue its way up the coast finishing in Sydney on December 13.