Keeping fathers in mind this Remembrance Day

THE 2024 Arch of Victory/Avenue of Honour Committee Remembrance Day service at the Arch on Monday 11 November will have a focus on recognising servicemen who were fathers.

Each of the committee’s services has a different focus, aiming to highlight different people recognised along Ballarat’s Avenue of Honour, and this short one at 9.30am will spotlight those who were dads with young families when they served in World War One.

“So often we focus on the very young men who were lost during the Great War but this year we thought it appropriate to remember those, perhaps a little older, who were torn between devotion to their young families and loyalty and service to their country,” said Arch of Victory/Avenue of Honour Committee president Garry Snowden.

“Among the Ballarat men to be remembered are William Haley who left behind five young children when he was killed in France, and William Werner whose second daughter, Doris, was born three months after he was killed at Gallipoli.”

Twenty men’s names will be read during the service beside the Memorial Wall next to the Arch of Victory.

“We are hoping for a good attendance, and anyone is welcome to leave a tribute at the wall during the wreath-laying portion of the service,” said Mr Snowden.