Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

An article in the Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay and Burnett Advertiser Friday 28 April 1916 about the opening of the Memerambi Rifle Club also included the unveiling of the Memerambi Roll of Honour by Mrs Ellwood. There are 28 names listed. I have found 19 so yet a further 7 to go. Not easy when first names given are as known not birth name. Page 32 of Memerambi Moments by Dr Judith Grimes states: Many young men from Memerambi enlisted for overseas duty. As each left, the town gathered, first to fete them as heroes for enlisting and then to bid them farewell at the railway station.
Page 32 of Memerambi Moments states: Lieutenant Robert Ellwood survived Gallipoli to serve on the western front as a Lieutenant. He remembered his first encounter with fighting. “It was really the most terrifying experience. We were all on deck, close together and crowded up, waiting to get into the boats. I suppose we were there for two or three hours, waiting for daylight. There was a terrific din, It gave me a feeling for what those fellows on death row feel like when they are waiting for the gaoler to come along and take them to the execution chamber. The sound of the explosions, the noise – it gave one the impression that it was the end of it all. Nobody could live through that sort of business. Well we landed, fortunately without getting into too much trouble, and from there on it was hard to describe. It was a vert torrid experience.
Robert Ellwood service continued. He witnessed the beginning of the battle involving the German Raider, Emden when it fatally attacked the Australian warship HMAS Sydney. He served again in the Second World War and reached the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the 5th Light horse Regiment. His patriotism and memories meant he never missed an ANZAC parade and remained a member of the RSL for his entire life.
Lest We Forget