Rochester acknowledges Remembrance Day

The warm weather shone brightly from a cloudless sky as everyone from young to old sat quietly in rows of seats.

Rochester RSL president and Salvation Army captain Cameron Lovering hosted the service.

Rochester Fire Brigade’s Ray Liddicoat spoke of the sacrifices of the many people who gave their lives so we can live in a peaceful, free society.

Rochester RSL vice-president Cade Kindness recited the famous poem In Flanders Fields by John McCrae.

“We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

In Flanders fields.”

Captain Maryanne Lovering of the Salvation Army led the hymn O Valiant Hearts, Who To Your Glory Came.

Captain Cameron Lovering returned to deliver the internment eulogy of the Unknown Australian Soldier, which was first shared by then Prime Minister Paul Keating on Remembrance Day in 1993.

St Joseph’s Primary School principal Liz Trewick delivered the bible reading and led the prayers of thanksgiving and intercession.

Phil Whatley recited The Ode of Remembrance before The Last Post and the most poignant time of all, the minute’s silence.

Local community organisations, including the SES, Rotary and Probus laid wreaths on the cenotaph before the crowd sang the national anthem.

The ceremony wrapped up with Father Ashley Caldow, who gave the Lord’s Prayer and Benediction.

Among those in attendance was Gary Ward, who served four years with the Australian Army Reserve in the late 1970s.

“Remembrance Day is for every veteran, especially for veterans who have been posted overseas and served their nation,” Mr Ward said.

“My father served in the Australian Army for 38 years as a regimental Sergeant Major in the Corp of Transport, where he also had several deployments up north in Queensland.”