On arrival at the War Memorial – quite late in the day having moved apartments – we went to the reception desk and they asked us if there was anything in particular we wanted to see. We explained that we particularly wanted to experience the Last Post ceremony which is held daily before the closure of the facility for the day. They asked if there was any significance to us wishing to witness the ceremony. I explained that I was a member of the UK Royal Naval Association and wherever we are in the world we visit a war memorial to pay our respects. I also told him about losing our oldest D-Day veteran Don Sheppard last year.

He then asked us if I would like to lay a wreath at the ceremony in his honour – both of us were completely blown away by this suggestion – as we know that each evening an Australian serviceman or servicewoman is honoured at this Last Post ceremony. So we said, yes please. They supplied the wreath and gave us a remembrance card to complete. We decided to honour Don Sheppard, who was a family friend, who passed away In September 2024 at the age of 104. He was a Royal Engineer who landed on Juno Beach, Normandy, in June 1944. After eventually passing through Nazi lines in August he moved onto Belgium, the Netherlands and eventually Germany where he was one of the soldiers who liberated the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp. So very fitting that our wreath should be in his memory.

I was walked through the ceremony by one of the staff and was lucky enough to meet the relatives of Private Herbert James Rowland who died in Gallipoli. The family had been waiting two years for this special commemorative day and the reason why there was spare wreaths was because some family members were unable to attend as Brisbane airport had been shut because of Cyclone Alfred. Very humbling indeed. The ceremony was touching and emotional and is streamed to You Tube daily. If you want to watch it please visit You Tube and type in Private Herbert James Rowland or follow the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moUy_2sQ-jE. I can only apologise for my t-shirt and shorts – would never have worn that if I’d have known that I would be involved in such a momentous occasion.

Having shed a few tears we left the spectacular War Memorial behind and headed to Dairy Farmers Hill Lookout – great night shots but sadly no sunset.

We then headed to Commonwealth Park for an open-air concert. This was very uncomfortable as the plastic chairs were basic to say the least. We moved a couple of chairs from the eating area to the concert area to be more comfortable – a great family atmosphere with picnics and blankets everywhere. Sadly we were then told off for moving the chairs so had to return them to the food outlet area. But with nothing to sit on and having had a long day I wanted to leave as I my back was creaking badly.

So sadly we didn’t hear the music and returned home to have a snack and a glass of wine in front of the TV.

Monday morning (10 March) we headed back to the Australian War Memorial to have a proper look around and joined a tour guide. He was very knowledgeable and, as the only UK tourists on the tour, he enjoyed making fun of us…. Although overall they were obviously proud to be part of the Commonwealth family fighting for King and Country.

This whole place is absolutely amazing – beautiful grounds and fantastic exhibits – including a Spitfire and a Helicopter from the Vietnam conflict. The stories were humbling, moving and quite staggering – particularly the despicable way in which the Vietnam veterans were treated on their return home. Such a waste of life…

In the afternoon we drove to Vass to see Sandy and Nigel where they had camped up with their huge caravan. We enjoyed having a look around their van and then had a lovely dinner and a few glasses of wine…. And, of course, we were having so much fun we forgot to take any photos! Lots of laughs….thanks guys. Sadly we had to leave them for the final time and said our farewells….

Tuesday we packed up and headed back to the War Memorial as we really hadn’t finished viewing everything and this time we did it alone. We enjoyed walking around and admiring the place again this time focussing on some other conflicts and peace keeping efforts that the Australian services had been involved in. The War Memorial is being redeveloped right now and we were informed that only 10% of their artefacts are on display at any one time…so the expansion will enable them to have a wider range of things for the people to see. This development is not without its detractors though as some of the investors funding the works are arms manufacturers and that didn’t necessarily sit well with the wider population.

Sadly leaving the war memorial behind us – having left a donation of course – we drove off towards Batemans Bay. So that’s where I’ll leave this blog and hope you enjoyed it. Please come back soon for the next chapter. Bye for now.

Jan