BLACKTOWN CITY HISTORY Blacktown and Armistice Day 2023
by John Horne
Armistice Day or Remembrance Day is commemorated every year at 11am on 11 November .
People stop what they are doing and remain silent for a short time to remember the Australians who have lost their lives in war . Ceremonies are held at cenotaphs and war memorials all around Australia . In Blacktown City these usually take place in schools and RSLs . The national ceremony at the War Memorial in Canberra is televised .
When the Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed on 1 January 1901 and celebrations were held all around our newly created nation , Australian soldiers were fighting in the Boer War in South Africa ( 1899-1902 ). As the twentieth and twenty-first centuries continued , Australian defence force personnel were involved in many wars and a number of peace-keeping operations after World War Two .
On Remembrance Day there are tens of thousands to commemorate . The sorrow and grief for loved ones hurt and killed in war has never gone away because each new conflict and its aftermath , brings new losses and injuries . Australian deaths in war - Boer War , 1899-1902 : 592 killed - World War One , 1914-1918 : 1,674 killed - World War Two , 1939-1945 : 39,656 killed - Korean War , 1950- 1954 : 340 killed - The Malayan Emergency , 1948-1963 :
39 killed - The Indonesian Confrontation , 1962-
1966 : 23 killed - Vietnam War , 1962-1973 : 521 killed - Afghanistan War , 2001-2021 : 46 killed - Iraq War , 2003-2013 : 4 killed - Numerous peace-keeping operations , such as Somalia , East Timor , Solomon Islands , 1945- 2023:108 killed
There are too many men and women from the past to be remembered in this short article , so its focus is five people from Blacktown City who gave up their lives in the service of our country .
‘ They gave their tomorrows for our todays .’
Captain William John Scott Rundle ( 1876- 1901 ) from Rooty Hill
William Rundle grew up in Rooty Hill and went to the Kings School , Parramatta . As a young man he volunteered for service with the New South Wales Lancers and when the Boer War started , he went to South Africa . While serving as an advanced scout with a British cavalry regiment he was badly wounded and died several days later . He is buried in a cemetery in Western Cape , South Africa and his name is inscribed on the Boer War Monument in Parramatta Park . Lest we forget .
Driver Harold Tuck ( 1895-1917 ) from Seven Hills
Harold was born in the family home ‘ The Retreat ’ on Powers Road , Seven Hills and attended the Meadows Public School . His was a horse-breaker and had a ‘ rag and bone ’ run in the district . When he first enlisted in an Australian Light Horse Regiment in Parramatta he was underage .
His mother walked all the way to the Lancer Barracks at Parramatta and brought him home again . Later , someone sent him a white feather in the mail , suggesting he was a coward . This time there was no stopping him and he joined the First Australian Light Horse Regiment in 1915 . Harold Tuck was killed after the Battle of Beersheba in November 1917 when a German aircraft dropped a bomb on his transport column .
He is buried in the Beersheba War Cemetery in Israel and his name is inscribed on the Blacktown Soldiers ’ Memorial outside the Blacktown RSL Club . Lest we forget .
Flying Officer Charles Jackson Cameron ( 1913- 1945 ) from Blacktown Charles Cameron was living in Blacktown with his wife Eileen when he enlisted in the Australian Army . From 1940 until 1943 he was an artilleryman serving in the Middle East . In 1943 he transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force and became an airgunner flying in Lancaster bombers over Germany
Captain William John Scott Rundle . until he was killed in 1945 . His wife , Eileen , was informed he was missing in March 1945 , but she heard nothing more about where he was , until after the war was over . An investigation revealed he and other members of his crew had been murdered by the SS and their bodies burned . Charles Jackson has no known grave and his name is inscribed on the Roll of Honour in Canberra as well as on the Runnymede Air Force Memorial in England . Lest
Driver , Harold Tuck . we forget . Private Patrick Green ( 1928-1954 ) from Riverstone
Although Patrick Green came from Victoria , he was married to Gwendoline Williams in Penrith in 1947 . In the 1950s , he , his wife and their two children came to live in Riverstone . He enlisted in the Australian Army in 1952 and in 1953 he served with the Second Royal Australian Regiment in the Korean War . He was killed in action at the age of 25 years during a battle near a place called ‘ The Hook ’ when the
Flying Office Charles Jackson with wife Eileen .
Chinese attacked his company ’ s positions .
Patrick Green was originally buried at the Tanggok Cemetery in South Korea , but now is interred in the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Busan , Korea . His name is recorded on the Riverstone War Memorial . Lest we forget . Private Beresford ( Bernie ) Paul Edwards ( 1946-1969 ) from Blacktown
Bernie Edwards grew up in Lock Street , Blacktown . He was conscripted as a National Serviceman in 1967 and served in Vietnam with the First Royal Australian Regiment in 1968 . After his national service , he re-enlisted in the regular army and returned to Vietnam in 1969 . He was killed in action near Courtney ’ s Plantation , north of Nui Dat in Phuc Tuy Province while he was a forward scout with a patrol from the Ninth Royal Australian Regiment .
Bernie Edwards is buried in the graveyard of St Mary Magdalene Church of England at St Marys . Lest we forget .
Private Patrick Green . Private Bernie Edwards .
Blacktown and District Historical Society Incorporated
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10 ISSUE 32 // NOVEMBER 2023 theindependentmagazine . com . au BLACKTOWN CITY INDEPENDENT