Generations remember

By Shaun Inguanzo
HUNDREDS of people braved intense heat and humidity last Sunday to pay their respects to fallen service people at a state Remembrance Day service in Springvale.
The Returned and Services League (RSL) of Australia held its Victorian State Remembrance Day service to honour those who were killed, and who fought, during World Wars I and II, at the Springvale Necropolis’ War Cemetery.
Masses of representatives from Victorian RSL subbranches were in attendance, along with family and friends.
Government representatives included Tim Holding, Daniel Andrews and City of Greater Dandenong mayor Maria Sampey.
School students from Haileybury College, Keysborough, and St Margarets School, Berwick, placed Australian flags near war graves and presented speeches on the significance of the Remembrance symbol, the poppy flower.
The afternoon was concluded with the laying of wreaths at the foot of the cemetery’s large cross.
State RSL Remembrance Service Commemoration Committee chairman Malcolm Carson said the ceremony had now entered its 20th year along with other milestones such as the 90th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing, 60th anniversary marking the end of World War II and 30 years since the Vietnam War concluded.
The day, however, was not without its trials, the hot sun proving too much for some to take. Several of the ceremony’s participants required medical assistance after being exposed to heat in excess of 30 degrees and relative humidity of more than 30 per cent while wearing full length kits.
St John Ambulance member Rosemary Shakespeare said the hefty uniforms had taken their toll on those who had been directly exposed to the heat throughout the 90minute ceremony.
Ms Shakespeare said that there were no serious treatments administered, although water was being handed to elderly attendees.