A recent clear crisp Saturday morning welcomed a team of Helping Hands volunteers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as they arrived at King’s Park. They had come from the four Perth stakes (dioceses). They were bright eyed, with buckets, brushes and families in tow, and came eager to serve their mortally wounded countrymen.
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Kings Park is home to the Honour Avenues, a group of tree lined streets which were planted in memory of fallen soldiers who served in the World Wars and other engagements. At the base of each tree is a plaque inscribed with the name of the deceased, age, date, manner of death and who dedicated the plaque. For hours, these streets were a sea of bright yellow as volunteers of all ages lovingly cleaned and polished over 1,400 plaques in preparation for the annual ANZAC Day dawn service memorial--which would attract over 40,000 people.
The Honour Avenues in Kings Park are cared for by a unique group of volunteers from the Returned and Services League WA who warmly welcomed the Church’s work for the second year running.
As members greeted each other and divided into groups they had little realisation of just how profound a service experience this was to be.
Patricia Madden of the Heathridge Ward (parish) wiped away tears as she and her three year old grandson scrubbed a plaque of a soldier who died in the Somme region in Belgium. As a child growing up in Antwerp, Belgium, Patricia frequently visited relatives on her mother’s side in Somme. Patricia expressed her gratitude for the Australian soldier who fought in her homeland and said, “Being able to serve him was an honour and a privilege.”
Not far from where Patricia was working was the plaque of Louis Spencer Frederick, who is the great uncle of Christine Hannan of the Madley Ward. Louis served in the 44th Battalion AIF until his death in 1917 on the Battlefield near Warnton, Belgium. Christine was able to take her mother, Nell Eacott, who at 97 years old is the oldest living member of the Church (in membership terms) in Western Australia. At the memorial plaque they placed an Australian flag. In 1924, a few years after her uncle’s death, Nell was baptised in the Perth Swan River. She was in attendance for the dedication of both the first chapel in WA and the Perth Temple, where she was able to meet Gordon B. Hinckley, then President of the Church.
As some reflected on their family history, others were making new discoveries. Marlene Renton of Perth came across a plaque dedicated to one of her uncles. The couple that arrived there first kindly stepped aside so she could clean it on behalf of her family. “As I drove home that day,” Marlene said, “All I could think about was what those ANZACS must have been feeling—waiting on the ships and barges to storm ashore at Gallipoli, knowing that this could very well be their final resting place.”
Many volunteers were sobered to see fallen ANZACs their same age and younger. One young lady was overhead to say, “Well done, Mate,” as she polished.
Christine summed up the day’s feelings with the scripture from John 15:13 that appears on many ANZAC memorials.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
When I see that, I cannot help but think about Jesus and what He did for us. There is definitely a connection between what He did and what soldiers everywhere have done so that people can enjoy freedom--it is something we cannot take for granted.”
ANZAC Day, 25 April, is often considered Australia's most important national occasion. It marks the landing of Australian and New Zealand forces on the Gallipoli peninsula to open the Dardanelles for the allied navies. The troops met fierce resistance from the Ottoman Turkish defenders, endured eight months of severe hardship, and saw 8,000 fall from their ranks.