NEXT Saturday Australia will stop for a moment at the 11th hour to remember the service people who sacrificed themselves for our nation. Across the country parades in their honour will be held and wreaths laid in remembrance.
Ipswich is no different and the RSL sub branch will lead the way in remembering our fallen heroes. And of course we are all aware why 11 November is the day that we bring them back to mind. However, humans being what we are, there have been other conflicts where we have called on our armed forces, and other men and women have given their lives in them.
But those conflicts had no memorials and that was a lack that needed repairing. Sub-branch secretary Deb Wadwell knew she had a mission. She told Local Ipswich News, “There were no memorials in the memorial park. It was time to acknowledge other conflicts and the men and women who served in them.”
Give Ms Wadwell a mission and you can count on it being fulfilled. Her motto, she said, is “shove with love”. And this year she has shoved nine plinths into existence. Having gained a grant from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs she worked to make the memorials happen.
Ms Wadwell said she wanted the plinths to be unveiled before Remembrance Day and that’s what happened. The conflicts recognised include the Boer War, peacekeeping missions and the Malay Emergency.
