There is a piece which is read at Anzac Day services across the country.
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It’s a piece called The Ode which comes from For the Fallen, a poem by the English poet and writer Laurence Binyon.
It became the ode for the Returned and Services League and has been used in services across the country since 1921.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
On Tuesday, thousands of people across our region will stop to pay their respects.
We will each take our moment of silent reflection thinking about the sacrifices many have made.
For people like Margaret Collins and her extended family, the day has enormous significance.
It also comes with, understandably, enormous emotion.
Margaret doesn’t attend Anzac Day dawn services as the haunting refrain of a long bugler playing The Last Post brings her to tears every time.
The song brings back thoughts of her uncles Dud and Basil, who was commonly known as Babe, who both tragically died in 1942 (Singapore and Papua New Guinea respectively).
Brothers Henry Jr, Bill, Rufus, Don, Dudley, Jim, Jack, Basil and her father Lance Lucas all fought in World War II
The story of the Lucas brothers is entrenched in Bega Valley lore. The nine brothers who all went off to battle is a contribution that warranted acknowledgement by the King at the time and deserves to be remembered long into the future.
Many more mothers, fathers and families across the Bega Valley “gave their sons and daughters” to the war – and all subsequent conflicts across the world.
And while not all of them are as well known, or acknowledged as often in the pages of the local paper, as the Lucas boys, each and every one is deserving of our respect and of having their memory preserved.
A sentiment regularly expressed by those who have seen war is “I only hope my children don’t have to experience it”.
With the situation around the world at the moment, we could not agree more.
So, “at the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them”.
