Ex-Orbost resident and current Alexandra Secondary College teacher, Jacki Tossol, daughter of previous residents Jack and Lu Trewin, has recently returned from chaperoning 12 Spirit of Anzac Prize winning students on a tour of Türkiye.
The Premier’s Spirit of Anzac Prize is an annual competition open to students enrolled in years nine to 12.
The Prize offers young Victorians the opportunity to explore Australia’s wartime history, join a fully funded study tour to significant war heritage sites and understand and remember the contribution of Victorian service people.
The Prize encourages students to explore the Anzac legacy post-World War I and its relevance in our diverse, multicultural twenty-first-century society.
The 12 students participating on the most recent Spirit of Anzac tour were asked to respond to a prompt asking how Anzac qualities relate to Australians in contemporary life.
The prize-winning students used artwork, poetry, video and essays to support their applications.
Three days of the 10-day tour were spent on the Gallipoli Peninsula exploring sites of significance along with visits to memorials and cemeteries commemorating the fallen.
Jacki took the opportunity to visit the locations of the three Orbost district servicemen who lost their lives at Gallipoli, leaving Australian flags at their gravesites.
Ex-Orbost resident, David Young, son of Jan nee Lynn and Tom Young provided Jacki with details of these men.
Hidler Stanley Broome from Cann River of the 15th Battalion along with James Pullar Cameron of the Australian Lighthorse 8th Battalion have their names inscribed on Panels at the Lone Pine Cemetery.
Panels are used to identify the names of fallen men whose bodies have not been recovered.
Hidler Broome died on April 30, 1915, having survived the Landing.
James Cameron died on August 7, 1915, the day of the famous battle of the Nek. Basil Hooper died on April 25, 1915, caught in crossfire during the Landing Basil, of the 7th battalion is buried at No. 2 Outpost cemetery.
Jacki reflected that Gallipoli is a confronting but also spiritual place to visit, noting that text and photos can in no way prepare you for the harsh terrain Australian service men encountered when endeavouring to achieve the unachievable.
She said that a visit to Gallipoli is an intensely emotional experience.
She hopes descendants of the three fallen soldiers are comforted by her visits to their final resting places, knowing that their sacrifices have not been forgotten.
IMAGE: Lone Pine Cemetery where Hidler Broome and James Cameron are identified on Panels. (PS)
