Anzac Day is arguably one of the most poignant occasions on the calendar for many Australians.
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This year, the commemoration at Eaglehawk was shared with an Englishwoman, Sarah Kellam, who travelled to Bendigo from her home country to pay her respects to her grandfather.
Mrs Kellam’s grandfather was William John Symons, the Eaglehawk born and raised soldier who landed at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915, and later earned the Victoria Cross for his efforts during the Battle of Lone Pine.
More coverage: Your guide to Anzac Day 2018 in Bendigo and central Victoria
Mrs Kellam delivered an address at Eaglehawk’s service.
“(It’s) so emotional, very emotional,” Mrs Kellam said of her being in Eaglehawk on Anzac Day.
“I’ve wanted to do it all my life.”
In her address, Mrs Kellam said it “means more… than words could say” to stand with those present at Wednesday’s service.
“I grew up hearing of my grandfather’s birthplace, which, before this week, was a familiar name on the map… But now I experience the sense of community, the sense of belonging, the remembrance of which I shall never forget,” she told those gathered at Brassey Square.
While her grandfather died 11 months before she was born, Mrs Kellam made it her life’s mission to understand him, learn more about him, and learn more about his origins.
She said her interest lay not in the fact he was a recipient of the Victoria Cross, but because he was simply her grandfather and she wanted to get to know him.
Mrs Kellam said he never told that he never talked about the war, during which he served not only at Gallipoli, but also France and Belgium.
Mrs Kellam said her mother and aunts described her grandfather as a lovely father, and someone who appreciated the education he received in Eaglehawk.
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She said her grandfather had to have been a strong person.
“I’ve read a lot about Gallipoli, the terrible things that happened and the things he had to do, and I’m amazed he came out of it sane… He must have been a very strong person mentally, and I try to be like that myself,” Mrs Kellam said.
Mrs Kellam will travel to Canberra later this week to present her grandfather’s Defence Medal to the Australian War Memorial.
Another person for whom Anzac Day is especially moving is Sharon Opie, whose grandfather Benjamin Esposito also served at Gallipoli, as well as Egypt and on the Western Front.
He survived the war, but one of his brothers, Mervyn, did not; another of Mrs Opie’s great-uncles, John Schumacher, died on the Western Front just a week before armistice.
“It’s a memory, it’s not a glorification,” Mrs Opie said of Anzac Day.