‘LEST WE FORGET’… 2026 ANZAC DAY IN ESK

 

Esk Cenotaph ANZAC Day 2026

When you go home, tell them of us, and say, for your tomorrows these gave their todays...  

an epitaph which has become synonymous with wars and words which echoed through the Esk Memorial Park on ANZAC Day 2026.  While this day in Esk may have lacked the scale and spectacle of ceremonies around Australian cities, the meaning of the day was no less powerfully felt by those who gathered around the cenotaph in the Esk Memorial Park on this cool and blustery morning. 

Piper Joe McGhee

A large crowd gathered as the service unfolded with the steady rhythm of tradition. Church and community leaders, politicians, and RSL Subbranch executives delivered their prayers and opening addresses with a simplicity that underscored their sincerity.    Esk Choir’s Susie and Maree sang the New Zealand and Australian National Anthems as families and community members assembled in respectful silence.   The laying of wreaths, Matthew Lukritz’s resounding delivery of the Last Post, the shared pause of reflection followed by Rouse, Piper Joe McGhee’s Going Home as veterans gathered to honour the fallen, all carried out in a stillness which allowed the significance of remembering to resonate around the park.

A highlight of the service was the ANZAC Day address delivered so eloquently by the two Toogoolawah High School Captains, Grace Jardine and Lily Eggleston, their words speaking to the enduring importance of remembering sacrifice and the connection to the responsibilities of the younger generations and communities in preserving those stories.

Despite the challenging conditions in blustery winds, Choir Director and accompanist, Alexis FitzGerald remained composed and committed at the keyboard while the Esk Community Choir delivered their moving musical contributions to this ANZAC Day service, performing a selection of reflective and inspiring songs. Their performance surely an understated reminder of perseverance in the face of difficulty which ANZAC Day seeks to honour.

RSL Subbranch President 
Charlie Elwell

Adding a distinct local flavour to the ceremony was the presence of Esk RSL Subbranch President, Charlie Elwell. Known around town as something of a ‘character’, Charlie’s address brought warmth and a balance between reverence and familiarity, serving as a reminder that ANZAC Day is as much about people as it is about history.

Though simple in its form, 2026 ANZAC Day in Esk demonstrated that the power of remembrance does not depend on scale, that the meaning of the day is still felt just as strongly through family and community connection and a deep understanding of the sacrifices that define this day.

By: Sue Walker

Esk Community Choir

Maree Lansdown

Veteran's Prayer for the Fallen

2025 - REMEMBERING THE ANZAC IN ESK

 

It is difficult to ignore the warble of magpies, lunatic with life in the park’s large trees which seem to have exploded with all the rain which has fallen of late.  Magnificent!  Just as magnificent as the sky, a hopeful bright blue, which turned out in Esk on April 25^th along with the masses at Memorial Park for the morning service on ANZAC DAY. 

Unless you arrived early you would have missed the procession of servicemen and women, both ex and serving, led by Piper, Joe McGhee and the singing of the New Zealand and Australian Anthems by Sue and Maree from the Choir.  The local scouts were there, the rural firies, ambos, police, representatives of the SES, children from Esk and Toogoolawah with mums, dads and friends and, at the ready to lead in song, members of the Esk Community Choir.

Prior to the service, a welcome by RSL President, Charlie Elwell BM and prayers by Pastor Gordon Millerick, both of whom struggled to put the human experience of horror and loss in a context primary children would understand. The eloquent ANZAC address by Toogoolawah High School’s Captain, Eloise Alderson may have been enough.  

A small company of soldiers from 2^nd/14^th Light Horse Regiment (QMI) stood, heads bowed, one on each corner of the memorial.  The soldiers looked solemn but sure in their polished black boots, their weapons across their chests.  As they looked up, they were noticeably young, probably not much older than the young men known to have served in World War 1. It is hard to believe 14-year-old soldiers existed.  But they did.

To Alexis’s consummate accompaniment, the Choir’s songs Soul of Australia and The Last ANZAC gave deeper meaning to the lyrics which speak of and celebrate the freedoms afforded Australians by the sacrifices of so many of those men and women.

Esk’s War Memorial was built in 1920 with money raised by the community, just two years after the first world war ended.  Many of Esk’s young men who went to war suffered casualties and, engraved on the memorial are names of those who died in the two Great Wars, in Korea, Malaya, Borneo and Vietnam.  On this day following Matthew Lukritz’s flawless playing of the Last Post and Reveille, and the offering of wreaths, the veterans and others serving gathered before the steps of the memorial to honour those whose lives were lost.  Though it is unimaginable that young men and women should go away to fight, never to return, it is easier to remember something awful if there is hope.

The landing on the beaches of Gallipoli took place 110 years ago.  We in Esk were just one of the dozens of communities who came together to remember a war that has no longer a living memory and to remember all those wars that have followed.  In 1933 Queensland Premier, Ned Hanlon stated that ANZAC Day is not a day to glorify war. ‘The hope is to make war impossible’.  Let us all continue to hope.

By: Sue Walker

Esk Community Choir

Di Chaplin and Marina Crichton

Maree Lansdown 

Susan Walker 

THE ENDURING SPIRIT OF ANZAC Day LIVING ON IN ESK

There was the poignancy of long stemmed red roses spread intermittently across a shoreline on a Gold Coast beach; the haunting sounds of the Last Post and Reveille both beautiful and mournful but somehow full of grace at Melbourne’s magnificent War Memorial; bowed heads gathered under umbrellas in the light of dawn at Brisbane’s eternal flame; children marching, some oblivious as to why, but with gusto alongside generations of their elders; old coves in wheelchairs unable to participate, their chests lined with the medals they so justly deserved. All these and so much more enough to move the hardest of hearts. Though the population of Esk may be tiny compared to the thousands who lined the streets of Capital Cities or filled spaces at magnificent shrines, the spirit of ANZAC was no less felt by the seemingly record numbers who gathered under a perfectly blue sky, on chairs or under the shade of trees to attend the commemorations held at the Cenotaph at Esk’s Memorial Park on April 25^th.

The march of the veterans is such a tangible public way to pay respect and honour those who have served, and are serving, in Australia’s armed forces.  Led by the strains of Piper Joe McGhee, this goose bump moment in Esk heralded the moving ceremony hosted by Esk R.S.L’s sub-branch president, Rob Rye.

Pastor Gordon from Esk’s New Seasons Church, representatives of the R.S.L, politicians and partners, the Catafalque Party from the 2/14 Light Horse Regiment A.M.I, community and club members, including the Esk Community Choir who led in song; Susie’s and Maree’s impassioned renditions of the New Zealand and Australian Anthems, the emotive tribute by Toogoolawah High School’s Erica Bickers and Grace Jardine, families, friends and a solemn moment during Mathew Lukritz’s bugling of the Last Post and Reveille, all there to pay their respects and to remember the formidable legacies from the original ANZACS -  that it didn’t matter the clothes you wore,  the colour of your old school tie, what faith or politics you might ascribe to, you were only as good as the person next to you.  And in that most awful cauldron of war, the willingness to sacrifice themselves gave rise to the idea of equality of all Australians, a legacy both beautiful and powerful.

ANZAC Day is so much more than a parade.  It is a chance to learn, to listen, to remember those who honoured us all with their service and defended us with their lives.

By Sue Walker 

   

Maree Lansdown - Australian National Anthem

Susan Walker - NZ National Anthem 

Rob Rye

Esk Community Choir

Grace Jardine &  Erica Bickers 

 

CELEBRATING ANZAC DAY IN ESK 2022

 Piper Joe McGhee with  the 2/14 Light Horse Regiment Q.M.I

The temperature dipped to an unexpected twenty degrees and umbrellas appeared as the order of the day but it was not so much the blustery weather that caused the chills this ANZAC day in Esk but the sight and sounds of Piper Joe McGhee leading the Catafalque Party of young soldiers from the 2/14 Light Horse Regiment Q.M.I. and a handful of veterans who marched with the pride of their once youthful enthusiasm which had them springing to the defence of their country; now a little slower but no less impassioned as they found their places around Esk’s Memorial Park and the Cenotaph, an honour roll of names connected to this town, surely names familiar to many.

At 11.00am, generations of families and friends bearing poppies and Aussie flags gathered under humble shelters where they could and others where they couldn’t to be present as one and pay homage to those who served when they didn’t have to; many adorned with the medals of their ancestors, solemn recognition of these family members, men and women in uniform, who have served their nation on battle fronts in many parts of the world.

Rob Rye, affectionately known as ‘Somalia Rob’ who has now filled the historically unique shoes of Esk RSL past President, Charlie Elwell, gave an impassioned welcome to the gathering so grateful to be together on this day.  Choir members, Sue and Maree were once more honoured to perform the anthems of New Zealand and Australia, heralding the speeches and poems so eloquently presented by members of the RSL. Guest speaker, Sophie Lawrence, co-captain of Toogoolawah High School, articulated with poise the reasons for celebrating what was essentially the failure of an eight-month campaign on the shores of Gallipoli but a victory for determination, resilience, courage, loyalty, and self-sacrifice, qualities which have endured throughout the many campaigns over the decades.

Prayers by Pastor Gordon to an inter-denominational assembly were interspersed with familiar hymns sung with gusto by those with the words on their programmes.  On this day, guided by Alexis and, despite the inclement weather, the faultless accompaniment by Margaret, the singing by the Esk Community Choir of Hymn for ANZAC Day and the poignant piece by Brisbane composer Tim Sherlock, The Soul of Australia, each giving deeper meaning to the lyrics which speak of the sacrifices and celebrate the freedoms Australians have been afforded by so many.

A kaleidoscope of colourful wreaths was placed at the cenotaph by representatives of many organizations in respect of the lives lost.  A quiet affair, its periods of silence broken eventually by the sounds of ‘The Last Post’ and ‘Reveille’ by bugler Matthew Lukritz stirring emotions seemingly on a par with the muted gathering of the Veterans and service men and women at the foot of the cenotaph, a silence in salute to their fallen and wounded comrades.

While literary constraints limit the mention here of the many places where Australians and New Zealanders have been involved in wars and conflicts on the world stage since the ANZAC legend was born in 1915, no matter where Aussies may be scattered across the globe, they are never far from the ANZAC story.  On the 25^{th of} April in Esk and across the world, Australians come together as one nation to capture the ANZAC spirit of quiet courage and mateship and cherish it for the legacy it has bestowed.

By: Sue Walker

ANZAC DAY 2020 – KEEPING THE MEMORIES ALIVE

For decades, April 25^th has been the day ex-servicemen and women dust of their medals and together with R.S.L. Members, families and friends gather at dawn around War Memorials in cities and towns to herald a day of remembrance for the men and women of courage whose great sacrifices in times of war have defended the freedoms that we enjoy today.  It is a day when crowds line the streets to clap, cheer and try to suppress the emotions that swell with the passing of the parade.

Dawn in Esk

The year, 2020 and the world has been battling another war though not the same.  And while the battle against the spread of Coronavirus has necessitated isolation and social distancing resulting in the ban on gatherings of people, Australians were not about to give up on honouring the ANZAC traditions which have defined the Australian identity and shaped the ways in which people view Australia’s past and its future.  

Jim Watts - Digger  Port MacQuarrie

Billy in Gatton

On a cool crisp morning at 6 o’clock on this April 25th, armed with candles, home-made crosses, poppies…some covering entire front lawns, with mementoes, memorabilia and Australian flags draped on fences and letter boxes, the next wave of young Australians and many of the old, families, couples or stand alones walked to the end of their driveways to give thanks; to reflect on the courage of our brave souls; to listen for the distant sounds of  Australian and New Zealand Anthems or Last Post played on all manner of instruments from mouth organs to violins, trumpets, euphoniums and bugles, in salute of the ANZACS and all who have served since; neighbours standing alone but together in spirit keeping the memory of ANZAC alive.

Sue Walker.

Tom Byrne Playing Last Post - Laidley 

Caitlin Wollaston- Lighting up the Dawn in Esk 

Elizabeth Browne and Billy in Gatton 

From the Skippen home in Esk

On the footpath in Laidley

Kerry  O'Niel's grand daughter 

ESK COMMEMORATES ANZAC DAY 2019

There were no TV cameras nor the presence of royalty.  No great lighting effects, vast convoys of soldiers nor land rovers loaded with men in berets.  In fact, ANZAC Day in the small town of Esk came comparatively quietly, but to me it was all the more touching for what it wasn’t.  Led by the sounds of the Brisbane Brass Band, there was just the scuff of feet on asphalt… young excited feet, old tired feet; clubs and community groups skipping, marching, limping, bikes and army vehicles cruising from the RSL Hall to the Cenotaph, the odd car carrying some who once sprang to the defence of us all but who now found the two blocks of the main street of Esk beyond them.

As the tramp of the feet and the parade of vehicles got closer to their destination, members of the public who came to pay their respects emerged from shops and their places around the Memorial Park carrying cool drinks, the occasional Aussie flag and a humble homage towards those who served when they didn’t have to. Family names on the Cenotaph honour roll surely still familiar to many in the town.

At 11.00am unprecedented numbers found their places under shade where they could and others where they couldn’t to be welcomed with the passion and unique oratory of Esk RSL Sub-Branch President, Charlie Elwell.  Special guests included Mayor Graeme Lehmann, Father Ian Bailey and Guest speaker, Captain Justin Ryan O.I.C. Support Squadron, 2/14 Light Horse Regiment who spoke so eloquently of the reasons for celebrating what was essentially the failure of an eight-month campaign on the shores of Gallipoli but a victory for resilience, courage, loyalty and self-sacrifice.  Maree was again honoured to sing the Anthem of Australia and I, the New Zealand Anthem, albeit in competition with, though undeterred by the supersonic roar of the RAAF’s F/A 18 Super Hornet’s spectacular flyover. 

Prayers by Father Ian to an interdenominational assembly were interspersed with the slightly hesitant renditions of Amazing Grace and Abide With Me, the lyrics, if not available to those with programmes, known only to those whose memories and voices were beginning to tremble. On this day, the singing by the Esk Community Choir of an ‘Australian Medley’ gave new meaning to the words which celebrate the freedoms Australians have been afforded by the sacrifices of others.

A profusion of wreaths were placed at the cenotaph for the lives lost.  A quiet affair, its muted respect and periods of silence broken eventually by the sounds of ‘The Last Post’ and ‘Reveille’ by bugler Matthew Lukritz.

Veterans and service men then gathered at the Cenotaph in respect of their fallen, many of whom would have been barely older than some of those children who had stepped forward this day to lay wreaths. 

ANZAC Day in Esk  may not have been the big gala but hands down beats the big city for capturing the ANZAC spirit with its human qualities of quiet courage and mateship, of sacrifice and sincerity and we cherish it for what it is.

By: Sue Walker

ANZAC DAY IN ESK 2018

Aria Edwards - Guest Speaker  2018 ANZAC Day Esk

I know it is considered erroneous to be writing in the first person but on April 25^th  having attended another deeply moving ANZAC Day commemoration at the Cenotaph in Esk’s Memorial Park, driving home in the silent safe cabin of my car, my brain swallowed up by the rhythm of the road, I couldn’t help harking back to those many young lives cut short in someone else’s country, defending it as if it was their own, but for their own, with no obligations only their youthful courage taking them to  places where they never could have imagined what it was going to be like.  It was through their experiences and scribbled notes in letters and diaries, that they created a history by writing theirs.  That their sacrifices and inexplicable courage will never be forgotten was so beautifully expressed by Toogoolawah High School’s Captain Ariah Edward’s in her truly eloquent address.

Led by the strains of Brisbane City Brass Band, the parade was always going to generate goose bumps until, right on cue, that supersonic roar of the RAAF’s F/A 18 Super Hornet soaring at what seemed like rooftop altitude had my heart doing a jig somewhere in my chest.  And what would be an Esk ANZAC Day commemoration without the unwavering passion and unique oratory of Esk’s RSL Sub-Branch President, Charlie Elwell who was true to form as he gave a warm welcome to what appeared to me to be an unsurpassed gathering of  guests including Mayor Graeme Lehmann, Father Ross Cameron, Moreton District’s President and Secretary,  many returned servicemen and women, veterans of subsequent wars along with all-comers who found rare spare spaces to observe and pay their respects. 

Esk RSL Sub Branch President Charlie Elwell

The 2/14^th Light Horse Troop were unwavering in their formation of the Catafalque Party and Maree and I were again honoured to be invited to sing the Australian and New Zealand National Anthems.  How fortunate is this town to have Matthew Lukritz whose bugling of the Last Post and Reveille continued to stir emotions seemingly on a par with that felt at the gathering in respect of their fallen, of the Veterans around the kaleidoscope of coloured wreaths layered at the base of the memorial.  While many of our Choir ladies were a notable presence amongst the masses, it was the Choir Men who, guided by Alexis and with Margaret’s faultless accompaniment, did us proud with their stirring rendition of “Who Are the Brave”.

And so as I chewed up the tarmac, I wanted to think that those past generations, often bruised and battle-scarred but well-rounded, wiser and wilier for it, will have been the springboard for our future generations to remember the legacies left as they make their own way.  I know that mistakes will always be made and from them, lessons learned but it is hard after being part of such a wonderful ANZAC Day commemoration in Esk not to feel optimistic…that’s what I’m thinking.

By: Sue Walker 

ANZAC DAY IN ESK- SERVICE NOT FORGOTTEN

Flt Lt Howard Robinson (ret) taking the salute at the ANZAC Day march in Esk.

“At the going down of the sun, and in the morning.  We shall remember them”.  This the promise adhered to every year on April 25^th by those of us given the privilege of being part of this important anniversary when we commemorate the mateship, loyalty, courage and sacrifice of our forefathers and all those who have followed in their footsteps in the service of our Nation, whether in times of war or peace.  

This ANZAC spirit was evident again in 2017 when huge crowds lined Ipswich Street, Esk or gathered early at the Cenotaph at Esk’s Memorial Park where, having marched to the beat of the wonderful Brisbane Brass Band, the parade of veterans, their descendants, community groups and clubs congregated with members of the public and special guests for a moving tribute hosted by Esk RSL’s President, Charlie Elwell, to all who have served their country with distinction and honour.

Flt Lt Catherine Freind (RAAF)

Following Charlie’s welcome and the National Anthems of Australia and New Zealand sung proudly by our own Maree and Susie, a tribute to the ANZACS by Mayor Graeme Lehman and Father Hegarty’s prayer for the fallen, guest speaker, Flt Lt Catherine Freind (RAAF) spoke of those ‘great’ events in history not necessarily remembered for that which they are but for the qualities of the human spirit, the determination, mateship and sacrifice displayed and the values placed on the freedoms for which they were fought. Margaret Shepherd’s emotional delivery of her poem ‘The Cenotaph’ surely embraced the poignancy of the occasion for all.  Equally heart-felt, though perhaps on a somewhat different level, was the flyover by the RAAF’s F/A-18F Super Hornet which had all faces turned skyward for that brief thrill of supreme power and throughout the morning was the beautiful singing of hymns by the choir led by Alexis and accompanied by both Margaret and the Brisbane Brass Band, our own Janette Thomas’s son a significant part of this ensemble of talented musicians. 

Many came forward for the Laying of Wreaths as the Band played Waltzing Matilda/The Last Post and during the Choir’s rendition of “Soul of Australia” the Veterans gathered in respect of their fallen.  Following Matthew Lukritz’s always faultless playing of The Last Post and Reveille and the ceremonious departure of the Catafalque Party, people dispersed to savour the events of the morning and feel grateful.

Eighty- three nations around the world have war graves in which Australians have been laid to rest. In 1934 the President of Turkey wrote in a tribute to those who died at Gallipoli; “You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Your sons are now lying in our bosom in peace.  After losing their lives on this land they have become our sons as well”.  That these soldiers were able to suppress a determined enemy and by doing so, enrich the lives of the nations in which they served is honourable and a sacrifice unparalleled.  ANZAC Day is an opportunity for  all to reflect with gratitude all those who have served our nations, to think about those lost and appreciate those whose company we can now enjoy and treasure.

 

Karen Chin and Jan Jennings had the honour of laying the wreath.

The Choir ready to participate in the ceremony

The Thomas's