Mrs Nerida Hadfield - Deputy Principal
On Monday we spent time as a whole school to remember and honour the Australian and New Zealand Army Corp that began a battle in World War 1 in 1915, on the beaches at Gallipoli. This year it was 106 years since that day, which caused ANZAC day to be entrenched in the hearts of Australians. This battle was not an easy fight for our soldiers but their courage as they banded together has left us with a legacy of mateship and determination that is a true lesson for us to remember today.
We talked about 'The Unknown Soldier'. Many Australians died in World War 1 without a headstone because no one knew their names. On the 75th Anniversary of the end of the First World War, an Unknown Australian Soldier was placed in the Hall of Memory at the Australian War Memorial on 11 November, 1993.
Our Prime Minister at the time, Paul Keating delivered a Eulogy. He said, “We do not know this Australian’s name and we never will. We do not know his rank or battalion. We do not know where he was born, nor precisely how he died ... We will never know who this Australian was ... he was one of the 45,000 Australians who died on the Western Front ... He is all of them. And he is one of us. The Unknown Soldier honours the memory of all those men and women who laid down their lives for Australia. His tomb is a reminder of what we have lost in war and what we have gained’.
On the tomb it says “An unknown Australian soldier killed in the war of 1914–1918”. At the head of the tomb is written “Known unto God” and at the foot, “He is all of them and he is one of us.”
I like how it says “Known to God”. This is the opposite of the title of “Unknown Soldier”.
We are all known to God. He knows everybody's name and everything about us. He sees the things we do. He sees us care for others and help others, just like the unknown and known ANZACS. Matthew 10:30 says that God even knows the number of hairs on our head. It is also written in the War Memorial in response to the unknown soldier, a verse from John 15 - There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. This is what all the ANZACs have done for us.
As we reflected as a school, we were encouraged to be thankful for the freedom we have as a result of the sacrifice of our ANZACs, to know that God not only knows us but also loves us, and to respond by being kind to others and caring about them in the same way the ANZACs cared enough to die for our freedom and the same way Jesus cares for us by dying on the cross.
Our School Captain and Vice Captain Lily and Kieren, along with our Service Captain Tehya, led our service beautifully. Oliver from 2G read the Ode and Audrey from 4H read the poem “In Flanders Fields”. Each of these students are commended for their outstanding contribution to this service. The Captains also accompanied Mr Gorman to lay a wreath at the memorial in Mawson Park.
