Today's Remembrance Day service in Geraldton

The City of Geraldton R&SL held a Remembrance Day service at Birdwood House at 11.00 am on 11th November to mark the 97thanniversary of the armistice which ended WWI. R&SL Secretary Steve Butler and President Ian Heberle addressed the gathering and wreaths were laid.

The service was well run and well attended and appreciated by all. At the conclusion of the service R&SL President Ian Heberle invited those attending to fellowship in Birdwood House.

The picture below shows the forecourt of Birdwood House during the 97th Remembrance Day service in 2015.

In the foreground are Verna Holmes-Tanner of the Kelmscott-Pinjarra 10th Light Horse Memorial Troop with “Cuffy” standing with reversed boots in the stirrups and a rifle in the scabbard in memory of fallen members. Verna says Cuffy is from Clayton Station on the South Australian border, the Kidman Remount Station which supplied horses to the Australian Forces in the Boer War and World War II. He is likely a descendant of the horses of the original 10th Light Horse.

One Andrew Barton (Banjo) Patterson when promoted major, commanded the Australian Remount Squadron in the Middle East from October 1916 until he returned to Australia in mid-1919. He may have trained or ridden some of Cuffy’s ancestors.