On the centenary of the Anzac landings at Gallipoli, the Dandenong Journal looks at the stories behind the Anzac legend … at the men – and the families and communities they left behind.
They came from all walks of life: fathers, sons, husbands and even workmates – and faced horrors that few spoke of openly, in a baptism of blood that helped shape the values of a young nation.
From them we understand mateship, courage, wariness of authority and the unmistakable Aussie sense of humour.
The Journal published a special commemorative Anzac centenary edition on Monday 20 April 2015 and here we present the stories from that edition, and coverage from the Anzac ceremonies that week.
The Diggers
Uniform is badge of honour
THE World War I uniform in the Dandenong RSL foyer it more than just clothing.
Onto the pages of history
ROUSED from what must have been a fitful sleep at 3am on 25 April 1915, Harold ‘Shaver’ Tulloch ate breakfast at 4am and by 5am was ready to take his place in the second wave of landings at Anzac Cove.
Brothers on the battlefield
THREE Fleming brothers left Springvale for the foreign battlefields of World War I.
Bayonet charge on enemy
SERGEANT Charles Henry Masters was one of the first men in Dandenong to enlist for World War I.
Farmer’s blood soaks into foreign field’s soil
IF YOUNG Keysborough farmer Eric Martin had time to take any comfort in the moments before his death from wounds sustained on the blood soaked shores of Gallipoli on 25 April 1915, it was that he was not alone.
Boys booted up to serve
BROTHERS in arms until the very end, a well-loved and greatly-mourned Dandenong Football Club tandem gave their lives in the service of our nation 100 years ago.
Battle’s school of hard knocks
THE ghosts of Lighthorsemen past ride on at Dandenong High School, their memory preserved in the school’s official colours – dark blue, light blue and red.
The daily grind of battle
THE amputation of a thumb failed to hamper Eric Keys’s writing ability as he passed time convalescing in Egypt far from his mates at Gallipoli.
Battlefield aggression led to critical success
MOST visitors to Springvale Botanical Cemetery would walk past Robert Cuthbert Grieve’s grave without a second glance.
Diary of dispatches
LANCE Corporal William John Meehan kept a detailed diary throughout World War I.
Memories kept in silent sleep
THE first name on the World War I honour board that hangs in Dandenong’s Drum Theatre is that of Albert Edward Alexander.
In the thick of the fighting
WILLIAM HOLFORD was among the fortunate Anzacs who lived to watch the grisly Gallipoli peninsula fade into the distance as the British forces and their allies stole away in December 1915.
Wounded but ready to fight again
SERGEANT Edward Barker literally lived to fight another day. Wounded twice in World War I, and undeterred by the battle scars of the Great War he later enlisted in World War II.
More time spent fighting his own side
EDWARD James Regan was court-martialled three times during his World War I service – once after shooting himself in the foot.
Service in a sea of suffering
A DECORATED World War I nurse is buried at Springvale Botanical Cemetery.
Women’s work for battle’s wounded
NURSES were often the unsung heroes of the Gallipoli campaign. Behind the front lines they patched up wounded soliders and comforted men who were destined to die of their wounds and never to return to loved ones in Australia.
Brother and sister at the front
A SISTER followed her brother into wartime duty soon after he was wounded on a French battlefield during World War I.
Journal staff go off to war
THE Journal farewelled several members of staff as they signed up to the fight in Europe and Turkey during World War I.
The families
Standing where others fell
COUNCILLOR Angela Long has stood in Turkey where Australian and New Zealand soldiers fell 100 years ago.
Rise of natural leader
LIEUTENANT Raymond Alva Jeffers rose from humble beginnings on a farm in Cora Lynn to become a highly-decorated World War I soldier and Dandenong’s mayor.
Life scarred by war horrors
Journal columnist Jack Johnson is the son of a World War I veteran. In this special commemorative edition Jack writes “with love to our dad“ Frederick Herbert Johnson, 6th Battalion, AIF.
Mission to save wounded
DANDENONG man Rod Tharle thought his great uncle had died on a World War I battlefield.
Families scarred by war’s tragedies
THE scars of the Great War run deep in many families as Dandenong RSL sub-branch president John Wells knows all too well.
The community
Historic dawn rises
WITH war still raging in Europe, the Dandenong community gathered at the town’s state primary school on 25 April 1916 to commemorate the first official Anzac Day.
To football from the front
IT TOOK five years for Dandenong Football Club to get a second chance at a premiership.
Duty bound
WOUNDED Gallipoli veteran George Pearson was lauded as a hero when he returned to Dandenong in October 1915.
Women torn by war’s pull
JACQUELINE Dinan knows more than most about the impact of war on the women left behind.
Greatest bravery laid to rest
EIGHT Victoria Cross recipients have been laid to rest in the Springvale Botanical Cemetery – probably more than any other cemetery in Australia.
Journal in the trenches
COPIES of the Journal were sent to Gallipoli to keep soliders in touch with news from home.
Trail hosts signs of war
INTERACTIVE signs will take visitors on a World War I tour across Greater Dandenong.
The legacy
Fortitude shows the Anzac spirit is in us all
The Anzacs are still here. The centenary of the landings at Gallipoli is a great opportunity for us all to think about who we are and about how we became the people we are.
War to end all wars didn’t end madness
WAR has become a family affair for the Meehans, but Noble Park RSL president John hopes the tradition ends with him.
Crosses tell tragic tale
THE 53 former Dandenong Primary School students who served in World War I were remembered when the school’s recently restored honour board was rededicated on Saturday 18 April.
Red poppies to remember
GIANT red poppies adorn the lawn at Dandenong Civic Square as a symbol of peace and hope.
Young vet’s convoy north
SELF-DESCRIBED “young veteran” Lance-Corporal Scott May’s thoughts went beyond Gallipoli on Anzac Day.
Service of thanks
YARRAMAN Oaks Primary School held a moving service last Friday to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Anzac troops landing at Gallipoli in Turkey.
Spirits go undampened
SACRIFICE, mateship and courage were the common themes at Anzac centenary commemorations held in Springvale and Noble Park yesterday (Sunday).
Battlefield is still revealing its past
A RUSTED and battered piece of metal will take pride of place in the Dandenong RSL.
