Speech
Libya
July 2002
Tobruk
Ladies and gentlemen,
Australian service personnel - from the army, navy and air force
- were heavily involved in campaigns in Libya between 1940 and 1945.
Tobruk is a household name in Australia.
The famous Siege of Tobruk lasted from 11 April to 7 December 1941. The dogged resistance of the Rats of Tobruk has an honoured place
in Australian military history. During the height of the siege, the
men of the Australian Imperial Force in Tobruk received a telegram
from home, which said:
"The Parliament of Australia has placed on record its appreciation
of your magnificently stubborn feat of arms. The Prime Minister and
the Minister for Army therefore convey to you this Parliament's congratulations
on your most effective, gallant and courageous resistance. When the
history of this war is written the epic of Tobruk will certainly be
one of its most glorious phases."
To this message, today I add my own homage. We remember the 14,817
Australians who, far from home, served at Tobruk during the eight
months of siege. We remember the more than 4,000 casualties, the
941 prisoners of war and most importantly, the 749 Australians who
gave their lives. This is one of the cemeteries where they are buried.
It is also the final resting place of Corporal Jack Edmondson - the first Australian to be awarded the Victoria Cross in World War
II.
The end of the siege of Tobruk was not the end of the war for many
of the service personnel who served here. They went on to serve with
distinction in places like Papua New Guinea and Borneo.
A German officer described the "Desert Rats" who fought so gallantly
here as "men with nerves and toughness".
Their nerves, their toughness, their sacrifice must never been forgotten.
We can enjoy our freedom, and our prosperity, because they were selfless
and strong.
May they always rest in peace.
Lest we forget.
(Delivered at the Australian Memorial, Commonwealth War Graves, Tobruk)
Corporal Jack Edmondson, VC
The Australian war correspondent, Chester Wilmot, has recorded an
account of Corporal Jack Edmondson's gallantry in this way:
Jack Edmondson had been seriously wounded by a burst from a machine
gun that had got him in the stomach, and he'd also been hit in the
neck. Still he ran on, and before the Germans could open up again
we were into them. They left their guns and scattered. In their panic
some actually ran slap into the barbed wire behind them and another
party that was coming through the gap turned and fled. We went for
them with the bayonet. In spite of his wounds Edmondson was magnificent.
By this time I was in difficulties wrestling with one German on the
ground while another was coming straight at me with a pistol. I called
out - 'Jack' - and from fifteen yards away Edmondson ran to help me
and bayoneted both Germans. He then went on and bayoneted at least
two more. [Mackell quoted in Barton Maughan, Tobruk and El Alamein,
Canberra, 1966, pp. 148-149]
Jack Edmondson was carried out of the line to a nearby medical aid
post where he died early on the morning of 14 April surrounded by
his mates. He was recommended for, and awarded, a Victoria Cross,
the first to an Australian in the Second World War.
(Delivered at the grave of Corporal Jack Edmondson, Tobruk)
Local Date:
Saturday, 22-Nov-2008 05:50:45 EST
