Memorial plaque returned to Honour

By Jessica Howard

A long-lost plaque honouring a fallen World War II soldier from Coimadai has been found.

Private Gordon Dawson first joined the 2/29th Infantry Battalion at the age of 19. He died as a prisoner of war on September 28 1943, aged 22.

His memorial plaque, which had been missing since the early 1990s, was recently discovered in a box of old memorabilia located in a shed of the Moorabool Shire Council Works Department.

George Rogers, Coimadai Memorial Park works supervisor, quickly recognised the plaque to be the one belonging to Gordon Dawson, which was erected inside the Coimadai Community Hall following his death.

When Merrimu Reservoir was constructed more than two-decades later, the hall, including the plaque, was purchased by the Bacchus Marsh Y’s Men’s Club and re-erected in Grant Street.

In the early 1990s, the hall was demolished to make way for the Turner Street Medical Clinic, and Gordon’s memorial plaque disappeared with it.

During an event held at the Coimadai Avenue of Honour on Monday (December 4), the plaque was officially unveiled in front of Gordon’s sister, Betty Bridgewood.

Mrs Bridgewood was just 12-years-old when her brother went off to war.

She said Gordon didn’t really like being a farmer and that the opportunity to enlist was a great way for him to escape the family farm and see the world.

On the day of the plaque unveiling, Mrs Bridgewood was joined by Coimadai Avenue of Honour Restoration Association chairman, Ken McDonald; President of the Bacchus Marsh RSL, Cherriston Lawton and Moorabool Shire Deputy Mayor John Keogh.

Mr McDonald said despite the long wait, the Dawson family and residents of Coimadai are “thankful that the plaque has been returned to its rightful home”.