November 11, 2018 marks the centenary of the end of battlefield hostilities in the Great War.
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The Uniting Church in Wingham will commemorate the centenary with a service at 9am on Remembrance Day.
While the centenary commemorates the end of hostilities, it also marks the start of rehabilitation of returned servicemen and the load carried by the families of those killed in the war, and it is theme the Uniting Church is using for the service.
“Those killed were in the vicinity of almost 70,000 leaving around 22,000 widows. But another 250,000 who served and survived had been exposed to the brutalities of war and were expected by the general public to suddenly return to normal,” Lt Col (Ret.) Eric Richardson OAM said.
“Apart from those who didn’t come back and those who were damaged physically, there were a number of young males damaged mentally, many of whom never got over shell shock and battle fatigue.”
The church service will be conducted by Rev Darrell McKeogh, with contributions from people with a connection to the armed services.
Terry Gould, president of the Wingham RSL Sub-branch will recite The Ode. Prayers will be given by Mary Pilotto, a daughter of a WWII veteran, and Lyn Thomas.
Reg Ruprecht, president of the National Servicemen’s Association and Affiliates in the Manning Valley, will do one of the readings.
The other reading will be given by Renee Harper, the only WWII returned service person in the congregation. Renee put her age up to enter the RAAF and go to war.
“A feature of the service will be a song performed by Greg Walsh ‘You seldom come to see me anymore’,” Eric said.
Ex service personnel are invited to wear their medals to the service.