My Gallipoli: Centenary Time Capsule & Crowd Sourced Documentary Film.

Visit My Gallipoli and contribute to the online time capsule created to showcase videos from anyone who would like to share their current ideas, thoughts and feelings about Gallipoli.

You are invited to make your own video, up to 100 seconds long, using any technology available to you – a smartphone, web cam or perhaps a digital camera. You can then upload your video to the website where it will be shared.

Download the producers pack for more information.

The aim is to incorporate these videos into a feature length documentary. Keep an eye on the site as it grows to discover what Gallipoli means to people in the 21^stcentury.

Marks Bridge, located in Hallston, South Gippsland, has been officially named after WWI veteran Cecil Solomon Marks, as part of the ANZAC Commemorative Naming Project.

Cecil and Ivy Marks’ grandchildren and great-grandchildren came to support the official naming – (L to R) Graham Marks, Brigette Marks, David Labedski, Imogen Wilkinson, Sue Webster and Brian Marks.

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ACYPI Melbourne warmly invites friends and colleagues to the first mixer event for 2015, which will be a very special occasion to be hosted at the Chinese Museum later this month.

Members will have the chance to meet other like-minded, China-focussed young professionals, with a special addition this time around to also view the temporary Chinese ANZACs exhibition on display at the Chinese Museum, which has been especially curated to mark the centenary of the ANZAC landings at Gallipoli.

When: Wednesday 27 May, 6pm – 8pm
Where: Chinese Museum, 22 Cohen Place, Melbourne (in Chinatown)
Cost: $10 per guest
Register: http://acypi-melbourne-chinese-museum.eventbrite.com.au/

Victorians commemorated ANZAC Day in many ways. Visit the image gallery to see some of the local services that took place around the state.

ANZAC Day 2015 – Image Gallery

The 98-strong Victorian contingent of the 2015 Gallipoli Dawn Service tour has arrived back in Melbourne, exhausted from their whirlwind tour, but excited to share their stories. A special thank you to Anaconda, supplier of our participant’s outdoor apparel, for keeping everyone warm whilst away.

Learn more about their journey

An estimated 6,700 students from around Victoria attended Legacy’s 84th ANZAC Commemoration Ceremony for Students on 23 April at the Shrine of Remembrance.

The Governor of Victoria, the Hon Alex Chernov AC, QC addressed the students:

“You, the students here today, are the nation’s bright future and soon it will be your role to keep the torch of remembrance burning so that those who died in the Service of Australia are not forgotten.”

‘Bells of Peace’ was presented in Mt Evelyn and Belgrave on the 18th and 20th April by the Dandenong Ranges Music Council. Over 600 local residents and schoolchildren gathered to dedicate to the men and women of World War One a musical and theatrical event that encapsulated their desire and service. A song for the event was composed by Brian Hogg; Jodie Debono sang the part of Dame Nellie Melba; Turkish singer Ozmel Ilgin played and sang Cannakale; while Moya Simpson narrated and sang the story of those in the Yarra Ranges who contributed to the war effort. Representatives of the Lilydale Football Club reminded everyone that of the 25 members who volunteered to go to war, only 5 returned.’

FORGOTTEN VOICES, HIDDEN HISTORIES

Visit the website where you can discover the University of Melbourne’s Anzac heritage, including in-depth articles on various topics relating to World War One and photos from the era.

Visit the website

John Williamson shares the story of his uncle Murvyn Henry Sturgess.

Murvyn was one of seven children of a Chinchilla (Queensland) father and his wife. As a child, Murvyn developed a keen interest in photography.

At the age of 16 years, someone in the Chinchilla community gave Murvyn a white feather! His older brother Jack Sturgess had already enlisted, as had a number of young men in the Chinchilla district. As soon as he turned 17, Murvyn put his age up to 18 years, and, with is father’s permission, enlisted on 16 August, 1915.

3634 Private Murvyn Henry Sturgess joined the 25th Battalion (“Darling Downs”). He left Australia for Egypt on 3 January, 1916, in the company of his older brother, 3642 Private Cecil John (Jack) Sturgess (pictured sitting).

Murvyn transferred with Jack to the 2nd Pioneer Battalion. He was wounded in the thigh on 2 July, 1916. He was originally hospitalised in France, and then in Northamptonshire War Hospital, Dunston, England. Murvyn returned to the 25th Battalion on 6 March, 1917. He developed a “PUO” (pyrexia of unknown origin) on 27 July, 1917, and was transferred via Etretat General Hospital, France to Richmond Military Hospital, England with a diagnosis of “trench fever” and “myalgia” on 6 August, 1917.

After training in Havre, Australian Infantry Base Depot, France, he re-joined his 25th Battalion on 24 February, 1918.

On 29 April, 1918, between Albert and Amiens, Murvyn was killed in action, buried alive in a collapsing trench from an exploding artillery shell. He was originally interred in Albert Road cemetery, Buire-sur-Ancre by Reverend J NcGregor (attached to the 25th Battalion), then re-interred in a Commonwealth War Grave in the Dernancourt Communal Cemetery Extension, near Albert, Picardy, France. He lies there today, with his age recorded on the gravestone as “21 years”; he was in fact 20 years old.

On the battlefield, a few days before the battle in which Murvyn was killed, he met with his brother Jack. Although they had both seen action in the trenches for almost three years by then, Murvyn told Jack that he felt uneasy about the next battle he was facing.

Jack urged his younger brother to banish such thoughts, as they had a bad reputation for any soldier facing danger! Sadly, this premonition proved accurate. The grief-stricken father (my grandfather) tried to enlist immediately as word of Murvyn’s death reached the family, but of course his application was refused.

John says his surviving father and Uncle Jack Sturgess  (both WWI veterans) described Murvyn as a very likeable young man with a sunny disposition and positive personality. John’s mother never fully recovered from his loss, and grieved for him all her life.

Speaking of his uncle Murvyn, John says he is ‘one of the many, many thousands of gallant young Aussies and Kiwis for whom we pay homage and remembrance, for the freedom we have enjoyed in Australia and New Zealand, during all our lives to date. They gave their all and “We will remember them” with humility and deep gratitude.’

Lilydale’s first Anzac, stretcher bearer Ralph Goode, has been honoured with a mural created by Lilydale High School students.

Students from Years 7-12 created a mural in the shape of the rising sun, covering Mr Goode’s journey from Egypt to Gallipoli and the Western Front.

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