WWI History Gifted Back To Mackay On Remembrance Day

On the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month, a minutes’ silence is observed and dedicated to those soldiers who died fighting to protect our nation.

104 years ago, the guns on the Western Front finally fell silent, after a conflict which claimed the lives of more than 11 million soldiers and 13 million civilians. The flu which then spread following the outbreak killed another 20 million people around the world when soldiers returned home over the following four years.

During Mackay’s Remembrance Day ceremony, Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson reminded the attendees that it’s an important gathering to mark the end of the modern world’s first conflict, and that the past can contain warning signs that shouldn’t be forgotten in our future.

“When the war started in August 1914, the people of Europe were jubilant. It inspired great waves of patriotism and celebration fanned by autocratic rulers who used the sanctity of their treaties to protect their economic and imperial power.

“Nobody could have imagined that when this day came, four years later in 1918, the world would have been changed completely; politically, economically and demographically.

“This Remembrance Day, we should be pleading with the current world leaders to remember.

“The great sacrifices we are gathered here to remember, seem perilously close to being forgotten.

“Today’s autocratic leaders are exercising their military muscle to change the economic and power bases of the world we live in, a scenario very similar to 1914.

“We need to remember.”

At the service held at Jubilee Park last week, special guests from the 102 Field Workshops from Townsville’s Lavarack Barracks were led by Warrant Officer Ben Weston in gifting a special piece of World War I memorabilia to Mackay’s RSL.

The leichter minenwerfer, roughly translating to ‘light mine launcher’ is a piece of artillery used to launch mortars by German and Austrian troops during World War I. They were built around 1911.

RSL Mackay Sub Branch President Ken Higgins OAM said it was an honour to receive a beautifully restored piece of memorabilia.

“It was spotted in a field here in Mackay by one of our officers, and 102 Field Workshops was tasked with its restoration,” Mr Higgins said.

“It was in the trenches during WWI and was in pretty rough condition when the men and women of Lavarack Barracks were given it to restore.

“It’s a magnificent piece of machinery. Yes, it’s German, but the German soldiers were fighting for their country just like our Australians were fighting for theirs, let’s leave it at that,” Mr Higgins said.

“We’re trying to track down the origins of this iconic piece of battle equipment to find out how it came back to a Mackay farm.”

Mr Higgins said the RSL will look after the artillery piece until the RSL finds its permanent place of operation, where a suitable place will be chosen for the mortar launcher to be displayed to the public.

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L-R: Warrant Officer Ben Weston with Ken Higgins OAM beside the German leichter minenwerfer. Photo: Amanda Wright

RSL Mackay Sub Branch President Ken Higgins OAM holding a gift the RSL presented to Warrant Officer Ben Weston from the 102 Field Workshops at Townsville’s Lavarack Barracks. Photo: Mackay Regional Council

Members from 102 Field Workshops, Townsville Lavarack Barracks with the German leichter minenwerfer Photo: Amanda Wright