Two talented Gundagai students from St Patrick’s Primary School and Gundagai Public School Maeve Ryan (left) and Molly Moy (right) will have their work printed in the 36-page annual ANZAC commemorative booklet for the Riverina after their entries were successful in the 16th annual NSW Riverina ANZAC Writing Competition.
Organised by Federal Member for Riverina, Michael McCormack, the students were tasked to follow the theme of “ANZAC Day: Our Past, Present and Future”.
More than 600 entries from nearly 40 primary and secondary schools were submitted from across the Riverina electorate and 11-year-old’s Maeve Ryan and Molly Moy were successful.
The competition was divided into primary and secondary before being split into a winner from north, south, east and west.
Miss Maeve Ryan from Year 6 at St Patrick’s Primary School won the Primary Schools’ Winning Book Prize for the West and will receive a certificate and a book prize from the Australian War Memorial.
Miss Molly Moy from Year 6 at Gundagai Public School won the Highly Commended Book Prize for the West and will similarly receive a certificate and book prize from the Australian War Memorial.
Both winning entries are as follows:
A DAY TO REMEMBER – Maeve Ryan, 11, Year 6, St Patrick’s Primary School
In the mud where the iron rain descends,
I feel your flank against my knee,
The only soul who ever pretends,
The only one who stays for me.
“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the Sun and in the morning, We will remember them.”
No bugle calls, no banner waves,
I could teach you while we march to die,
Yet through the smoke, I am brave,
With a steady heart and liquid eye.
“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the Sun and in the morning, We will remember them.”
I carry the weight of a weary man,
Across the wire and broken clay,
Doing what a partner can,
Bearing the darkness to find the day.
“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the Sun and in the morning, We will remember them.”
If the shell should find us in the deep,
And my head begins to fall,
Know it’s a dept I can never keep,
For you gave your life, though you never asked at all.
“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the Sun and in the morning, We will remember them.”
WE WILL STILL REMEMBER – Molly Moy, 11, Year 6, Gundagai Public School
Ten-year-old Riley watches over a photo of John Clyde, her uncle. He wasn’t much older than a child when he left for a beach he’d never heard of. He sent home letters about the dusty and the thirst but mostly about his mates. He promised to be home for Christmas but he never cam home. I looked at the black and white photo in his hand, a young man with a lopsided smile and slouched hat. I felt sad for someone I’ve never even met present.
Around them the town fell silent, hundreds of people shoulder to shoulder when the notes of the Last Post started to sound. The song of sorry reminds us of the sacrifice made. Its haunting melody cuts through the stillness. Signifying the end of a solder’s duty as the notes echo phases in silence. We stand united in a shared promise to never forget the cost of freedom we share today.
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