Federal Member for Blaxland, Jason Clare MP has today announced plans for the Centenary of Gallipoli in Bankstown.
This will include a special event at Memorial Oval on Anzac Day, 25 April 2015 to watch the dawn service in Gallipoli.
“After the dawn services at local RSLs on Anzac Day 2015, we will gather at Memorial Oval. There the electronic scoreboard will become a big screen TV and we will watch as the sun rises on the other side of the world, at Anzac Cove in Gallipoli,” Mr Clare said.
“It will be a very important moment for Australia, for all Australians – and we should be part of this.
“We should be part of this because what happened on the beaches and the cliffs of Gallipoli has shaped the people we are today.”
Plans also include restoring the original World War One memorial at Memorial Oval, in honour of the young men from Bankstown who never came home.
“After WWI ended Bankstown Council bought some land called Fripp’s Paddock and they renamed it Memorial Oval,” Mr Clare said.
“It’s a memorial to the 31 young men from our local area who went off to fight on the other side of the world and never came home.
“These 31 men deserve to be remembered. And as we approach the 100th Anniversary of World War One I think we should return the old memorial to its original place at Memorial Oval. Mayor, Khal Asfour agrees and we are going to make it happen.”
The memorial, with the names of the 31 young men from Bankstown who fought and lost their lives during World War One is currently in storage at the Bransgrove Road Depot, Panania.
The restoration of the memorial will coincide with the 100th Anniversary of the landing at Gallipoli.
Mr Clare made this announcement at the Bankstown RSL’s Remembrance Day Service.
Media Contact: Jamie Wassef 02 9790 2466
