REMEMBRANCE DAY 2018:  Part 3:  608 Squadron, AAFC

For 24 continuous years now, No 608 (Town of Gawler) Squadron, Australian Air Force Cadets has supported the Remembrance Day ceremony conducted by the Town of Gawler and RSL Gawler Sub-Branch.

CAPTION: The 608 Squadron Honour Guard for the Gawler 2018 Remembrance Day memorial service. Photos by Flying Officer (AAFC) Paul Rosenzweig.

Coinciding with the Centenary of the Armistice, this year’s ceremony included a dedication of the newly-installed Pioneer Park War Memorial. The giant bronze sculpture by renowned South Australian artist Robert Hannaford was funded by Arts South Australia, the Town of Gawler and the Gawler RSL.

The 608 Squadron Catafalque Party was commanded by Cadet Flight Sergeant Casey Dibben. CFSGT Dibben honoured the WWII service of her maternal great-grandfather Private Geoffrey Whiteman (1922-1985) from Williamstown, SA.

Private Whiteman first served with the 18th Garrison Battalion in SA, then in Darwin and north Queensland, and then as a 20 year old in Port Moresby, New Guinea, with the 6th Australian Division Workshops (Australian Electrical & Mechanical Engineers).

Among the members of the Catafalque Party, Cadet Sergeant Lucy Tassell honoured the war service of her great-grandfather Leading Aircraftman Owen Forrest (1924-2015), who first served with the Australian Military Forces (Militia), and then during and immediately after the war with the RAAF in the South West Pacific Area.

Cadet Madison Grungo wore the medals of her paternal great-grandfather, Sapper George Raymond Dunstall from Colonel Light Gardens in Adelaide. He saw Militia service from 12 August 1940, and then served in the AIF from 10 August 1942 until 7 December 1945, with the 2nd Field Squadron, Royal Australian Engineers.

Sapper Dunstall’s service included duty in the Northern Territory operational area in 1944, for which he was issued the Returned from Active Service Badge.

6 Wing Public Affairs Officer, Flying Officer (AAFC) Paul Rosenzweig said, “On Remembrance Day we reflect on the service of our veterans and the sacrifices our forebears made during war”.

“When we say ‘We will remember them’, the most important thing we can do is remember someone, by name – a person is never truly dead until they are forgotten. As long as we continue to speak their name, no-one’s ever really dead.”

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At the going down of the sun,
and in the morning . . .
We will Remember them
Lest we Forget

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