Orbost RSL Sub-Branch calls on locals to stop and pause on Remembrance Day this Sunday.
A total of 354 men and women from the then Orbost Shire enlisted in the World War 1. Many of them went overseas believing the war in Europe to be an exciting challenge and to lend a hand to the Mother country, England, who was at war with Germany.
They fought at sea and in conflicts like the Gallipoli campaign. Many fought on the Western Front of France and Belgium. Several fought in both places. Some were captured and made prisoners of war. Others nursed the injured and wounded.
One, William Rowe, the son of Orbost school principal, John Rowe, died of meningitis in the stables in Melbourne soon before he was to embark to take charge of the horses on the long journey over. Sixty others were killed in action or died of their wounds at war. Several were never found and lay buried where they were killed.
The carnage never stopped until the Amnesty was declared at 1100 on November 11, 1918. Soon the cost of the war would be counted, and the world would be horrified. And it is still horrified today. Time marches on, and it is now 100 years since the guns fell silent on the Western Front to end the Great War.
Poppies were among the first plants to bloom in the devastated battlefields of France and Belgium. Since 1921 they have been used in remembrance of those who have fallen during times of war.
A group of residents from Bemm River to Nowa Nowa have been tirelessly knitting poppies and donating them to the Orbost RSL. Lesley Clague, the appeals officer at the RSL, has used more than 1758 of the of the hand crafted poppies to produce a magnificent banner that is now on display at the Orbost Club Hotel.
There are some large wreaths hanging from the Commonwealth Hotel as well.
“So many wonderful people have contributed to the project that it would be impossible to name them all,” Ms Clague said.
“I am just so very pleased with the results and everyone who contributed should take credit.
“We know this means a lot to the many relatives of the servicemen and women from the war.”
According to Dick Roebuck, Orbost RSL Sub-Branch president, the Poppy Appeal has been an opportunity for local Victorians to come together to reflect and remember in the lead up to the Remembrance Day Commemoration Service at the Orbost Cenotaph on November 11, starting at 10.55am.
“This year, we expect that many people will take time out to commemorate the Centenary of the Armistice,” Mr Roebuck said.
“This November we are seeing so many wearing a poppy with pride to say thank you to our dedicated service men and women, past and present.
“Take time also to look at the poppy banners at the hotels. They are quite magnificent.”
PICTURED: Residents from Bemm River through to Nowa Nowa have been busy knitting poppies, which have now been made into banners and wreathes of remembrance hung on Orbost’s The Club and Commonwealth hotels.
