Defence Widows GroupChristmas Newsletter

December 2018

DFWA – ACT BranchPatron: Her Excellency Lady Cosgrove

The past few months have been a busy period for many of us, due in part to the culmination of the four year period leading up to the celebration of Armistice.

Spring LunchIn September we held our Annual Spring Lunch.It was lovely to have so many of you join us at the Woden Southern Cross Club. It was a relaxed and enjoyable event and we were delighted to have Genevieve Jacobs, the well-known print and media journalist extraordinaire, as our Guest Speaker. The topic of her speech was ‘Being a woman in the male world of journalism’. It was especially pleasing to have representatives from the military and from other ex-service organisations join us.

L-R: Shirley Percival, Joy Easter and Genevieve Jacobs

Honouring Women United by Defence ServiceAlso in September, two special inaugural events were held honouring women united by defence service whether they had been widowed as a result of their partner’s service, were currently serving or ex-serving members or family members whose lives have been affected as a result of service.The Last Post Ceremony at the Australian War Memorial was attended by the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, Ministers for Defence and Veteran’s Affairs and many other dignitaries.

Christine Lamb laid a wreath on behalf of the Defence Widows Group, and Kel Ryan, National President of DFWA, and Alf Jaugietis, Executive Director of DFWA also attended.In the evening a dinner attended by 500 people was held at the Hotel Realm. Guest speakers at the dinner were The Hon. Darren Chester, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, His Excellency Mr Christophe Penot, Ambassador of France to Australia and a video presentation from The Hon Brendan Nelson, Director of the AWM. Musical entertainment provided by the RMC Duntroon Band, the RSL Youth Choir, and the popular musician Lee Kernaghan contributed in making this a most enjoyable evening. The events were organised by a committee headed by Rhondda Vanzella, President of the War Widows Guild of Australia, and representatives of other organisations such as Legacy, RSL NSW, TPI and the Women Veterans Network Australia. Planning is already underway to ensure the continued influence of advocacy of women into the future.

Poppies ProjectSome of our members assisted in planting and removing the magnificent poppy display at the AWM. 62,000 hand crafted poppies, representing the 62,000 who died during World War I were planted.Well done to those who participated in making this project such a success. Hopefully you were able to visit the Memorial and view the display, which was spectacular, especially at night.

Last Post CeremonyIn the four year period commemorating the Centenary of the First World War our Group has taken part in the Last Post Ceremony at the Australian War Memorial. This year in October twenty five members of our group met for afternoon tea at Poppies before proceeding to the Memorial. We were pleased to honour Lt Harry Hingst, uncle of Robin Mahood, a founding member of our Group, and members of Robin’s family travelled from interstate to share in the ceremony. Robin laid a wreath on behalf of the DWG and Annette Sadler and Joy Easter laid personal bouquets.Lt Hingst served in Malaya in World War II and was killed in action in 1942 at the age of 26. He is buried at Kranje War Cemetery in Singapore.During this period Judy Rule has been our liaison person between the Group, family members and staff at the Memorial and we are most appreciative of her diligence in ensuring the success of these ceremonies. Judy has already approached the Memorial and received confirmation that if the Last Post tradition continues in the future that 31 October has been reserved for us in 2019.

Robin Mahood, laying a wreath at the AWM.

Guided Autobiography GroupThis group has continued to meet during the year and will be providing some guidelines next year for those who feel they really should write about their life. We look forward to the guidance they will provide for those of us who know we should put in ‘black and white’ some of the interesting events of our lives!

New WidowsDuring the past year we have contacted 13 newly bereaved ladies, and 26 were sent information packages. We have had two coffee mornings for those interested in joining our group. This enables new widows to meet some of us informally rather than coming to a lunch and being confronted by a sea of unfamiliar faces. A big ‘thank you’ to those of our members who, for a two month period, keep an eye on the press for death notices of anyone who has had military service and whenever possible make contact with the newly bereaved. This is not an easy phone call to make as we do not wish to be intrusive, but to let families know they are not alone and there are avenues of support if needed. Those we are unable to contact are sent information about the Group together with some helpful advice for this very difficult time.

2019 Events CalendarOur calendar for next year will be sent with our February newsletter. Our first meeting will be on 11 February at the Weston Raiders Club, Cooleman Court at 10.30 a.m. We aim to finish by noon and most of us stay for lunch following the meeting. If you have not attended a meeting before please leave a message on our answering service and we will contact you with more details.

Contact Details for the Defence Widows Group:Telephone 6265 9496 and leave a message (this is an answering service only)Email: dwg-act@dfwa.org.au or Postal: GPO BOX 2272, CANBERRA ACT 2601

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year