I was one of a large crowd who attended the Dawn Service at Dubbo War Memorial in Victoria Park in Dubbo this morning, to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the landing of the Australia and New Zealand Army Corp troops at Gallipoli, and to remember and recognise the military service of servicemen and women who have served our country in all conflicts, wars and peacekeeping operations. Also remembered in this service was that today is the 100th anniversary of the official unveiling and dedication of the Dubbo War Memorial cenotaph.
I recently read with interest in the Dubbo Liberal that during this special service on Anzac Day in 1925, that ‘above the wreaths was placed the historic flag which had been carried by “The Coo-ees” in their march from Gilgandra to Sydney’.[1] Also reported was that the names of local fallen men were read from the Dubbo ‘Book of Remembrance’.[2] Local Coo-ee Wilfred Ernest McDonald, who joined the Coo-ee March at Wongarbon on 14th October 1915, was one of the fallen men whose name was recorded in the ‘Dubbo and District Book of Our Remembrance of Those Who Fell on Active Service in the Great War 1914-1918’.[3]
Gunner McDonald was one of 41 Coo-ees who died during active service during the First World War. Visit the Coo-ee March Roll of Honour web page https://cooeemarch1915.com/honour-roll to read about these men, and view the photographs that Stephen and I have taken of their graves, or war memorials where their name is remembered, for those who have no known grave.
[1] ‘Laying wreaths’, The Dubbo Liberal and Macquarie Advocate, 28 April 1925, p. 4, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article76099146, accessed 25 April 2025.
[2] ‘Laying wreaths’, The Dubbo Liberal and Macquarie Advocate, 28 April 1925, p. 4, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article76099146, accessed 25 April 2025.
[3] Macquarie Regional Library, ‘Dubbo and District Book of Our Remembrance of Those Who Fell on Active Service in the Great War 1914-1918’, https://www.mrl.nsw.gov.au/learn/historical-research/world-war-one/dubbo-book-of-remembrance, accessed 25 April 2025.
1915 Coo-ee March 