Stroud Cenotaph Vandalised In Lead Up To Remembrance Day Myall Coast Myall Coast News by News Of The Area - Modern Media - November 10, 2021 Brickwork on the cenotaph along with sandstone graffitied. IN an act that has caused distress among locals the cenotaph at Stroud has been vandalised. Just days before Remembrance Day Services will be held around the world, members of the close knit community are outraged and disappointed to see their memorial defaced. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02) 4981 8882. Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au Stroud locals have shown their stoic nature with Dirk Moeller and Allan Walker working tirelessly to remove the graffiti and to restore the monument to the fallen. The vandalism has been reported to Port Stephens Hunter Police who the community are expecting to follow up on the matter. Stroud local Karen Hutchinson told News Of The Area, “We see now and again Cenotaphs elsewhere disrespected, I’m saddened, as I expect most of our town will be that our Cenotaph has been attacked! “To our families of the fallen and serving men and women we apologise for the disrespect,” she said. Meanwhile the world is readying to commemorate the lives lost in the Great War, the war to end all wars. For the fledgling nation of just five million people, more than 60,000 lives were lost in WWI and nearly every community across the nation lost some of its sons. 416,809 Australian men enlisted to fight, alongside those that paid the ultimate sacrifice a further 156,000 were wounded, gassed, or taken prisoner. Towns and cities around the nation turn out in force annually to pay respects to the fallen heroes of WWI. The acts of the Australians at Gallipoli, and in the trenches of Flanders will not be forgotten lightly. The charge of the 4th Australian Light Horse at Beersheba late in the afternoon of 31 October 1917, is remembered as the last great cavalry charge. The 4th and 12th Light Horse casualties were thirty-one killed and thirty-six wounded; they captured over 700 men. The Light Horsemen were not armed with swords, and attacked with bayonetts ready. This charge and our soldiers actions at Gallipoli show the true spirit and determination of the Australian soldiers at war. They should never be forgotten or disrespected. Lest we forget. By Marian Sampson. The graffiti which has been referred to the police. The cenotaph is part of Stroud’s proud history with the Showground being the major memorial to the fallen from WWI.
