Bendigo remembers fallen

Those who never made it back.

For World War II veteran Ron McHardy, who served with the 27^th Infantry Battalion D Company between 1942 and 1946, it will be mates left behind on the islands to Australia’s north.

“That’s what it’s all about, all those that are still over there, never come home, and that’s always in you mind. A lot of my friends are over there, over in New Guinea and Bougainville, quite a few of them,” he said.

“It’s a big day for us because we remember it and never forget it – and that’s the one glorious thing about it, you never forget, always remember those mates, that’s the biggest thing for me.”

November 11 is of particular significance for Mr McHardy, in honouring the generation that came before him and fought on the blood-soaked beaches of Gallipoli and the battlefields of Flanders.

“Those people who fought that Gallipoli business have paved the way for us in some fashion, none of us will ever know why,” he said.

But despite his deference to his fallen comrades and those who came before him, Mr McHardy remains a staunch anti-war advocate, saying “war’s no good for anybody”.

“Nobody wins, I've always said that, because heaps of people don’t come home on both sides so how could you win?” he said.

“It’s no good saying you won a war, you don’t win them – too many dead people.”

Mr McHardy will also spare a thought for the tireless work of his beloved Kangaroo Flat RSL, of which he has served as president and treasurer, and became a life member in 2002.

“The amount of work they do and the people that push it and keep it alive, that’s the greatest thing on Earth,” he said.

“One day it’ll all fold up and be nothing, we hope it don’t but it probably will one day, but it’s a great thing for me to be apart of it.”

Mr McHardy said while crowds were not always as big as they used to be on Remembrance Days past, the younger generation had much to learn from the experiences of their elders.

“The old soldier, he can tell you some mighty stories,” he said. “They always remind everybody, all those who were over there, that it was terrible.”

The Bendigo District RSL will mark Remembrance Day with a ceremony at the Soldiers’ Memorial Institute in Pall Mall from 10.40am on Friday, while the Kangaroo Flat service begins at 10.45am at the Kangaroo Flat Soldiers’ Memorial in High Street.