Kurri Kurri Public School played host to a moving ceremony on Monday, to mark the return of the medals of World War I soldier Private William Kelly.
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Staff and students were joined by representatives from the Australian Defence Force, Member for Paterson Meryl Swanson and Cessnock Mayor Bob Pynsent, as well as local historians John Gillam and Yvonne Fletcher for the repatriation.
Mr Gillam and Ms Fletcher have been working tirelessly to get the medals returned to Kurri Kurri.
Mr Gillam said that events such as this were important to serve as a reminder to those untouched by war, the sacrifices that were made for this country.
“I think it provides children with that understanding of what community service and sacrifice actually mean and, in terms of the men concerned, it gives them that surety that they will be remembered,” Mr Gillam said.
“We have definitely been sheltered – in Europe the remains of war are everywhere so I think symbolically this is what we have to do here to make sure those lessons are never forgotten.”
In a moving speech, Mr Gillam officially welcomed Private Kelly home to Kurri, saying that his legacy will now live on at the school.
“Today is his symbolic welcome home,” he said.
“From now on his memory will live in this school, handed on from year to year, from ANZAC Day to ANZAC Day as his story is told and retold.
“He will be revered here and never forgotten.”
In what is a huge coup for the school and the Kurri community, the repatriation marks the first time in Australian history that a school has been granted the privilege of being the caretaker of war medals.
“That is something you can be justifiably proud of,” Mr Gillam said.
William Kelly was a miner from Glasgow, Scotland who lived in Kurri prior to enlisting in the AIF on April 20, 1916.
Tragically, the bugler for the 54th Battalion was killed in action in France on May 15, 1917.
Thought to have no known relatives and no one to mourn his passing, Private Kelly’s medals were placed in storage and marked as untraceable.
That was until Mr Gillam and Ms Fletcher uncovered a slew of “lost” medals while conducting research for a book.
The pair worked with Ms Swanson to bring Private Kelly’s medals home.
The medal ceremony forms part of a wider calendar of events to mark the Centenary of Armistice in the region.
Other events include the launch of Mr Gillam and Ms Fletcher’s new book No Shirkers From Kurri, the painting of a mural honouring local WWI heroine Maud Butler, and a visit next month by the Governor of NSW David Hurley.
The school will also host an open day on October 26 that will feature displays from WWI re-enactors, a street parade and flypast.
A time capsule will also be dedicated on November 11 which will mark the end of the Centenary of ANZAC.
A total of 432 Kurri men enlisted to fight in WWI. Eighty of them were killed, another 212 were wounded and 145 were medically discharged.