Students join tribute to Leopold’s fallen veterans

School captains at Leopold Primary School (L-R) Lexie, Hudson, Matilda and Charlotte with the grave of second world war veterans E.J. "Ted" Price in Leopold Cemetery. Photo: James Taylor.

The Leopold War Memorial Committee and students from Leopold Primary School have joined forces to honour the town’s deceased veterans.

Members of the committee and the four school captains from Leopold Primary School met earlier today to place a small Australian flag on the graves of the returned soldiers buried at the Leopold Cemetery.

Leopold War Memorial Committee chair, Keith Pettigrew, said the committee had so far identified six veterans from the first world war and 45 from the second world war at the Leopold Cemetery, plus another “half dozen” or so from the Vietnam war.

“It’s just an extra tribute to our fallen soldiers – another part of the story of our Anzacs.”

The grave of Edsall Linnette. Photo: James Taylor.

Leopold Primary School acting principal Zane Moylan said his school was happy to be involved.

“It’s a rich part of Australia’s history. We want to make sure that all students learn as much as they can about the history of the Anzacs and Australia’s part in it. ”

The committee is deep into its preparations for tomorrow’s Anzac Day service, which will begin at the memorial at 8am and also feature the four captains from Leopold Primary School in an official capacity.

Pettigrew said a decent-sized crowd in the hundreds was expected

“If we get this nice weather like we’ve got today, I reckon we will.

The grave of veteran J.W. Pattison. Photo: James Taylor.

“Pre-COVID we were rocking along nicely, with upwards of 400 [each year]. We’ve printed 400 programs, which is a bit optimistic, perhaps, but we’ll see how we go.”

The committee’s future projects include the memorial arch originally located at the corner of Leopold Memorial Reserve, which has been removed and will eventually be reinstalled at the park’s new entrance.

Pettigrew said the arch was being treated with “something that will last forever, hopefully” and the plan was for it to be installed before the end of August so it could be part of the 100-year celebrations of the first part of land being allocated for a memorial in Leopold.

“It’ll definitely happen; we’ve got some good people on the job.”