“It is my melancholy duty to inform you… Great Britain has declared war upon her and that, as a result, Australia is also at war. No harder task can fall to the lot of a democratic leader than to make such an announcement.”
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On September 3, 1939 Prime Minister Menzies read the speech that chilled an entire nation. It has been 75 years since his announcement of the war marking WWII, and 100 years since the war to end all wars - WW1.
Legacy Week has just wrapped up, a time to honour the great men and women that shaped our country. The act of remembering can mean different things to different people. For me it’s my great grandfather who served in WW1, a grandfather who died in WW2 and brother who served in Afghanistan. I think how these stories have endured, and how a modern generation can respond to them – and I ponder, will we remember them in another 100 years’ time?
It is ours to remember as it is theirs never to forget.
The following is a collaboration of stories told by local veterans.
Frederick Cassidy RAAF
Frederick Cassidy was 18 years old when he enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force RAAF in WW2. He trained as a wireless operator, navigator, air gunman and as a specialist navigator in the 30th squadron on a plane called the British Beaufighter, “The Japanese named it the Whispering Death, because of the silence of the plane's motor, we could be over a target before they knew we were coming.”
“The greatest thing we had was the battle of the Bismarck Sea, which we sank, together with the Americans, 10 transports and 6 destroyers. These were supplying the Japanese military after they had been turned back at Kokoda. They were determined to get back to Port Moresby, and when we sank that convoy the Japanese didn’t have the equipment or men to continue their assault on Port Moresby,” Fred explains.
The battle of the Bismarck Sea was one of the greatest turning points in the war, from there on the Japanese were on the back foot. They weren’t able to gain nor were they able to establish a base.
One of the more terrifying prospects was being captured by the Japanese, Fred revealed, 16 of his squadron men were caught and executed.
“You didn’t want to be caught because really that was the end.”
Fred came back to marry his sweetheart Wendy in 1943, they have been married for 71 years.
“I met Wendy on a Tennis court when she was 15, she was the most wonderful girl and since then I haven’t had eyes for anyone else.”
Ranked as Flight Lieutenant Fred Cassidy, he is still an active member of the Beaufighter Association. Fred’s contribution to the war and service in the battle of the Bismarck has been remembered and commended both nationally and internationally for the last 71 years.
Sydenham Dobbin RAAF
Sydenham Dobbin joined the Royal Australian Air Force RAAF at the age of 18 and trained at the Temora Elementary Flying Training School before transferring to a more specialised training at Point Cook.
“I did 11 months of training, Point Cook was very dangerous, during training in June and July 1942, 26 members were killed.”
Shipped to England, Syd saw much of the atrocities of World War II in London; including the many air attacks. On his 20th birthday whilst ice skating, he watched as Buzz bombs dropped all around him.
“It was quite a remarkable thing to witness, I was with a girl at the time and when the sirens started going off she just kept skating, unconcerned, as they fell from the sky. It was such a normal occurrence for them they didn’t react much at all.”
Late in the war Syd flew Spitfires, his wife Patricia was an Army nurse and served four years in the Australian Women’s Army Service AWAS, Medical Core.
“Patricia was so eager to serve, she was 18 and had her bags packed on the wharf ready to be sent overseas when at the last minute they discovered her age. At the time they weren’t letting women travel overseas until they were 21. She still served in Australia during this time, she really is a remarkable woman.”
Syd went on to study dentistry after the war, and became part of the Yass Municipal Council between the years of 1953 and 1983, serving as Mayor for four terms from 1965 to 1979. Sydenham was awarded the 1986 medal by the Queen for Services to the Community, particularly in the field of dentistry. He is considered to be the father in fluoridation of water, one of his many great achievements.
Check next week's story on the dynamic duo; Ricco Eccles and Sam Yates. Both served as infantrymen, Ricco in the second World War and Sam in the Korean War.