Take a minute to remember this Saturday

RSL members Kelly Lienesch and Victor Bartley are inviting all community members to the Bourke Remembrance Day ceremony on Saturday. Services are also being held at Bre RSL and Walgett RSL – see details below. Photo TWH

This Saturday, November 11th, marks the anniversary of the Armistice that ended fighting with Germany in World War One and in Bourke, Brewarrina, Walgett, and Lightning Ridge, like many other places across Australia many will pause to pay respects to all service people.

“It’s one of the most significant days on our returned services calendar,” Kelly Lienesch from Bourke RSL said.

“It’s a day where we pause to remember those women and men who have served their country and paid the ultimate price.”

Helping Ms Lienesch promote awareness around the upcoming Remembrance Day is Victor Bartley. Both were serving members in the defence forces; Kelly served with the Air Force peacekeepers in East Timor, and Victor served in the army in Vietnam.

“We are both very, very proud to say that we’ve served our country,” Victor said.

“And when we see other people continue to serve, like now in Ukraine or Israel, those people deserve our thanks. It’s hard for me to say, but when people come up to me and they say, ‘thank you for your service’, I feel very honoured and proud as I’m sure Kelly does too.”

This years’ Remembrance Day Service at Bourke will be held in its usual location at the Cenotaph in Bourke’s Central Park.

A Remembrance Day service will also be held at the Bre RSL at 10.30am and there’s a Dawn Service at the Walgett RSL Park starting at 5.45am.

“We’re also very privileged to have Radio 2WEB broadcasting our ceremony live, which they do every year, and also on Anzac Day,” Victor said.

Victor said that being able to tune in to the service via radio makes Remembrance Day more accessible across the region.

“If you’ve got a radio and you’re out in the field or you’re in a shearing shed or something else, just tune in to 2WEB and listen to the service,” Mr Bartley said.

“What is so important about the ceremony is remembering those who served our countries, right from the Boer War through to now”.

“We owe those people who went before us a debt of gratitude that, in my opinion, we can never ever repay,” Victor said.

Kelly said that people currently in the services would be in the forefront of many family’s minds at the present time.

“With the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East around Israel, if you have a family member who serves in the Airforce, Navy or Army then there’s a possibility that their family member may end up over there, contributing and helping those people in need,” she said.

“Remembrance Day is our opportunity to stand up as a community and pause for a short period of time and reflect on where we are at in current conflicts and where we’ve come from in all the past wars and conflicts.”

“I encourage everybody to come down to Central Park on Saturday,” Kelly said.

The Bourke ceremony will start about five minutes to 11, and organisers would like everyone to be there by 10.45am. It is only a short part of your day to remember our men and women who’ve served their country and those men and women who never came home to their families.