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Centenary of Anzac Commemorations at Knox
Thursday, 30 May 2024
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The Reviewing Officer for this year’s Anzac Memorial Service for the Old Knox Grammarians’ Association was Major General the Honourable Paul Brereton, AM, RFD, SC (OKG75). In his Address, Major General Brereton spoke of his personal association with the Service and, in this centenary year, shared the history of the commemoration of Anzac Day at Knox through the decades. As he spoke, he wove in the stories of some of the men included on the Roll of Honour “whose names we hear each year… but do not know.” He noted that over the years of the Second World War the death toll of Knox Old Boys grew to 70 names and included brilliant young men, with illustrious lives awaiting them. The Roll of Honour perpetuates the memory of these Old Boys who gave their lives; but the General also urged the gathered crowd to not forget also, the many more who served with distinction and returned - there were more than 600 others of this great School generation who fought and returned. Major General Brereton who has had a distinguished career in the Law and the Military, shared these recollections to emphasise to the Cadets and their families “that if you take the opportunities presented to you… to gain skills, qualities and attributes not learnt in the classroom or on the sporting field, one among you could easily stand here, where I am standing, in a few decades’ time.” “But as personal recollections fade, still the words of the Prologue and of Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, the sounds of the Last Post and the Lament, and the reading of the Roll, will preserve the memory of the men we honour, and serve as an enduring acknowledgement of the contribution of the School, and of the Knox Grammar School Cadet Unit, though those men and others, to the defence of our country, in wartime and in peace.” Read the full text of the Reviewing Officer’s address on the OKGA website. |