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Cliff
CHARLESWORTH (47B) & his wife Pauline [Reporters: Greg PECK & George MILLIE] Day eight – ANZAC
Day Parade, Toowoomba Monday 25th April (George MILLIE) Special
permission had been sought by me and granted by the organizing committee for
the FEOFA contingent to march in the ANZAC Day parade at Toowoomba. Although we would have preferred to form a separate
group this was disallowed on the grounds that it may set a precedent leading
to fragmentation of the parade in future years and we were consigned to the
ranks of The British Ex-Services Association (B.E.S.A.) of which organization
I am a member. All those on parade were to be at the designated assembly area
by (Greg PECK) ANZAC
Day started for the Peck household at the ungodly hour of sparrowf@rt as the queue formed for the
washbasin and the toilet. A hasty breakfast was consumed and then the car was
loaded with all the requirements for the 145 kilometres trip up to Toowoomba.
“Yetaboon” – Cliff & Pauline (Photograph: Margaret Peck) Clad
in our "grovel" shirts and strides but not our highly polished
shoes, jackets bedecked with commemorative medals, and berets. These were
safely stowed in the back of the wagon. We set off at 06.10 hrs, with all the
signs of a fine day clearly evident. Our route was via the Logan/Ipswich
Tollway, Ipswich Freeway and the The
countryside we passed through showed clear signs of drought stress, which was
a pity, as it is a very pleasant drive when all is greened up and
thriving. The various valleys that the We
finally ascended the very steep climb up onto the After
Cliff and Pauline had been welcomed by George and Marion, we had a leisurely
cuppa, a chinwag and a biscuit, before we marchers started to put on our
"regimentals", as we like to call them.
FEOFA HQ, Toowoomba – Gerry & Cliff dressed for parade (Photograph: Margaret Peck) Reg and Vera turned
up and we organised the best way for all of us to get to the muster point.
George had arranged for us to march with the Pommy mob (B.E.S.A.) and because
we did not and would not sport the red and white hackles with which B.E.S.A
adorn their badges, we Brats were to be tail-end Charlies amongst the
Veterans. Our objection to the red and white "feather duster" that
B.E.S.A. place behind their cap badges is that it is identical to the
Fusilier "Hackle", which is a battle honour from the Napoleonic
wars and therefore, to our mind, sacrosanct and not to be mimicked. George
and Reg were to be dropped at the muster point by Reg's wife Vera, while I took Margaret and Pauline as close
as I could get to the Cenotaph and from where we parked, Cliff and I would
walk to the muster point. We duly set off and made our way past the whole
length of the route that would be followed by the parade. Many others, in
various forms of attire appropriate to the occasion, were also wending their
way along
At the assembly area – Greg Peck, Cliff Charlesworth, George Millie, Reg
Harper (Photograph: Vera Harper) Note 1:
The “Commemorative Medals” being worn with due entitlement on the left breast
should not be confused with Honours, Awards, Campaign and Service
Medals. Note 2:
Protocol dictates that medals awarded to members of one’s family be worn on
the right breast. In due
course we arrived at the assembly area and I immediately spotted Reg, who was chatting away to a matelot. I scolded him
for doing a "Hullo sailor" the minute he was left to his own
devices. He and his new friend had a good chuckle at that. There were a
surprising number of former matelots amongst the B.E.S.A. contingent and I
have to say that they made us very welcome indeed. We chummed up with a bloke
who had served with both the British and Aussie SAS, although fully entitled
to march with the huge Aussie contingent he opted to march with us at the
rear of the parade. He too had no "hackle" and said that as his SAS
badge was a cloth one, he would have had a job to do so anyway. He was
also of the opinion that it was pretentious and not appropriate to the SAS. We
were finally organised into a marching squad immediately prior to the
commencement of the parade. Promptly at 10.00 hrs, the bands at the head of
the huge column of well over 2,000 participants struck up the march and we
were off. A few obvious civilians (marching for deceased parents) made a bit
of a mess up of the marching to start with but by the time we had
covered the first two hundred metres, they had fallen into a semblance of
step and had recognised the cadence from the band to our immediate rear.
Behind us stretched a huge column of youngsters from various organizations,
especially cadets from the various branches of the Australian Defence Force.
The Regular Forces and the Reservists were also strongly represented.
F.E.O.F.A. - rearguard to the B.E.S.A. “Hat ‘n Hackle
Brigade” (Photograph: Vera Harper) Note 1: FEOFA’s
allotted position at the rear of the parade was intended as a slight, but it
is well known that any field commander worth his salt always uses his elite
troops as the rearguard. Ergo, a slight honour was unintentionally
bestowed upon us. Note 2: Has anyone ever seen a sailor, or
an airman, or an artilleryman, or a woman, or anyone else not in the Fusiliers presume to be entitled
to wear the hackle? The
Veterans were resoundingly applauded by the considerable crowds that lined
the pavements along the entire route. I do not consider myself immodest when
I say that as we of the rearguard of former Servicemen marched past, the
clapping grew louder. We ex-Brats had decided to lay
on "bags of swank" and the crowds loved it! Reg
was holding out very well and with an artificial leg to contend with, his
enthusiasm fired us all up. Indeed, it was at Reg's
suggestion - nay, his insistence - we actually march in the parade.
Bringing up the rear - Gerry Peck, Cliff Charlesworth, George Millie Note: Reg
Harper, out of frame to the left, is marching in front of George (Photograph: Vera Harper) Vera,
his better half and an excellent photographer, kept popping up throughout the
march to take photographs and her smiling face was a highlight as we pounded
along with our tongues hanging out like little red socks. I don't know where
she gets the energy from but she surely has a good turn of speed! The
cloudless autumn day had turned quite hot (24
degrees Celsius), even though it was only mid-morning and everyone felt
the effects of the heat as we made our way along the route to the Cenotaph
opposite Queen’s Park. Before some wag asks, we did not see any
Rangers. Fortunately, the organisers had foreseen the problems that can
arise with unseasonably warm weather and as we formed up before the Cenotaph
a group of "Gunga Dins" moved amongst us
with bottled water donated by a local firm.
The
ceremonies scheduled took almost an hour to elapse and were very moving. As regards
the comfort level for those of us standing in the hollow-square around three
sides of the Cenotaph, this was harder on us than the march itself.
Instructions that we all recalled from our misspent youth served us well and
although several young soldiers passed out, none of the old soldiers did.
Youth was given a prominent part to play in the rites as observed and it
augurs well for the future that so many of them proudly attended and
participated. For
all of us, it was an emotion-charged experience and I for
After the parade - Reg Harper,
George Millie, Greg Peck, Cliff Charlesworth (Photograph: Vera Harper) At the
conclusion of the ceremonies we were joined by the ladies and spent some time
taking pictures.
In Queen’s Park - Cliff, Margaret, Pauline, Gerry, Vera, Reg, George, (Photograph: Vera Harper) We
then returned to George and 1 We took the
opportunity of this break in proceedings to present Cliff with a special
commemorative pin and what has now become a FEOFA tradition, an “Old Fart”
mug. (George MILLIE)
We had
been joined for this by George and Marion’s very special friends Robin and
Jeanette Lamont. Robin is another Scotsman who has made
At the Mothers’ Memorial Greg Peck, Cliff Charlesworth,
Robin Lamont, George Millie, Reg Harper (Photograph: Vera Harper) At the
restaurant Maggie and I ordered beer battered
“fish of the day” for our meal and so did many of the others. It turned
out to be "sweet lip", a very tasty delicacy and we received a
huge serving, accompanied by chips and a substantial side salad, all for a
mere $14.95. We had all chipped in $25 a head so that we could also enjoy the
excellent house wines with our meal. After
an excellent meal and a most convivial gathering, we Brats made our way back
to George and Published: May 2005
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