Five students selected to visit the Gallipoli battlefields where their ancestors fought 100 years ago will have another important mission – to report the key events of their tour.
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The students have spent time at the Mercury with editor Eve Nesmith as they prepare to be cadet journalists for the trip.
Ms Nesmith said all the students had done a great deal of research and what they recorded on their trip would be important to young people in the Hunter.
This tour of the Gallipoli war front appears unprecedented in Australia, with 20 schools from throughout the Hunter Valley represented.
The five cadet journalists are Lauren Wood from St Phillip’s Christian College, Jack Olive from Francis Greenway High School, Scarlett Budden from Maitland Christian School, Adam Robinson from Cessnock High and Georgia Filis from All Saints College St Peter’s Campus.
ADAM ROBINSON
One of the most moving times in his young life is coming ever closer for 16-year-old Adam Robinson when he will look upon a patch of earth near Gallipoli around April 25.
That spot is known as Quinn’s Post – and it was there almost 100 years ago that his great, great uncle Donald Alexander McLeay played his part in defending it.
Private McLeay was there until November 1 and he died there too.
And Adam, from Cessnock, will be there this year with several students from other Hunter schools to pay their respects to Australia’s warriors as part of the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing.
“Just to be at Gallipoli 100 years after the landing – well, no words can describe what it will be like for me,” Adam told The Mercury.
“I will be on that very spot where my great, great uncle fought and died – killed by a Turkish sniper.
“We will also be going up to the nearby Shrapnel Gully where he was buried.
“There are just no words to describe my feelings about it.”
Adam’s enthusiasm for the visit are explained when he talks of the “perfect” job he hopes to do one day – to become an Army officer and command an infantry platoon.
“I have such great respect for all the men on both sides who fought there,” he said.
In the meantime, Adam and all the other students are gearing up for an event that is far more social – ballroom dancing.
“Part of our visit to Istanbul involves formal dancing in a ballroom,” he said.
“So I have been taking a crash course on how to dance.
“All I know about dancing is to stand up and wave my hands around, octopus-fashion,” he quipped.
“So a bonus to this trip for me is to learn traditional ballroom dancing.”
He added: “In the true spirit of Anzac, we will all be forging life-long friendships with other youngsters just as our soldiers did 100 years ago.”
JACK OLIVE
When Jack Olive visits Gallipoli, he will be honouring his great grandfather Leonard Christian Friis who also fought in Egypt, defending the Suez Canal.
And Jack, from Thornton, also hopes to visit the grave of a Kurri Kurri man he never knew, but who was killed in action on the Gallipoli peninsula.
This soldier, Alfred Edward Wood from Aberdare Street, Kurri Kurri, was selected for Jack as a person with a history to research.
“I am really looking forward to this trip to Gallipoli as I feel I have come to know something of these two men,” said Jack, 15, a pupil at Francis Greenway High School.
“My great grandfather was Leonard Christian Friis and he had 10 children,” Jack said.
“I know he went by boat to Egypt, where he fought defending the Suez Canal against the Turks.
“He won a couple of medals and the war was a big life-changing event for him.
“We hope to visit some graves of the people we have researched in Canberra.”
Also on Jack’s list is to find out more about Alfred Wood.
“Alfred was 21 when he was killed in action at Gallipoli,” Jack said. “I think a lot about those people and I don’t believe I would have enough courage to sign up as they did.
“I don’t like war, but if our country needs us to fight for our friends, I believe this should be done.”
SCARLETT BUDDEN
The sad story of Sydney George Budden has been researched by his great-great-niece Scarlett Budden from Maitland Christian School.
Scarlett, 15, from Wallalong, began studying her ancestor’s history as a school project.
And although he fought on the Western Front in World War I, at Gallipoli, Scarlett will honour the memory of all the men who sacrificed so much in wartime.
“My great-great-uncle Sydney Budden enlisted when he was in his 30s, serving on the Western Front with the men from Maitland,” Scarlett said.
“He had run away to marry the woman he loved and they had three children in Maitland.
“My great grandfather fought at Messines and he was later in hospital, suffering from shell shock and a war wound.”
Scarlett said that after the war, Sydney Budden’s wife requested a divorce and at some stage, he fell in an accident at work and was killed.
“I want to go to Gallipoli and honour this man and all the others who did so much for their country,” Scarlett said.
LAUREN WOOD
The number of a Digger’s grave at Lone Pine will play a vital part in a Cessnock schoolgirl’s visit to Gallipoli.
Lauren Wood, 16, will be rowed ashore at the same beach where her great great uncle Sydney Sawtell landed when he was a soldier in the 2nd Infantry Battalion in April 1915.
Lauren, from St Philip’s Christian College in Cessnock, was chosen as one of 20 students to go to Gallipoli this year to attend the commemoration.
Lauren’s great great uncle was killed there, after just 13 days of service.
“I have the grave number where my great great uncle is buried at Lone Pine and I will be laying flowers there to remember him,” Lauren said.
“Although we won that war, our victory and our freedom came at such a high cost.
“We had such terrible losses and our men were so brave. It is important to me that we ensure these men did not die in vain.”
Lauren said Sydney Sawtell had enlisted in the Australian Army when he was 22.
“But I also respect the Turkish soldiers and I want to look at this conflict from a Turkish point of view too and see things from their side,” she said.
GEORGIA FILIS
Researching the histories of soldiers who fought in Gallipoli has brought inspiration and friendships to the students who will be visiting the peninsula for the 100th commemoration.
“We have all grown from what we have learned,” said Georgia Filis, 16, of Maitland’s All Saints College, St Peters Campus.
“A great unity in our group has been established.”
Georgia, from East Maitland, has been researching the history of William Victor Bevan, a much decorated soldier who also fought in France and on the Somme.
“William was a primary school teacher at East Maitland Public School and he volunteered for war service in 1915 when he was 22,” Georgia said.
“He was a second lieutenant and he trained in Egypt, before fighting at Fromelles and the Hindenburg Line.
“I know he led his platoon with great skill and tenacity.
“His brother William also fought in Europe, was wounded and lost a leg before he died,” Georgia said.
“The history of these people is so inspiring and some of this has been very emotional for us.
“We are all so proud of our soldiers.
“My brother is only 19 and I just cannot imagine him going off to war.
“This visit to Gallipoli will be a tremendous experience for us and we hope to bring back a great deal of information for other students.”
* Don’t miss the Mercury’s 24-page 100th anniversary of Gallipoli souvenir magazine on Friday, April 24.