Frances Atkins, bugler Jenny Geldart and Yass Mayor Allan McGrath. Remembrance Day wreaths at Bowning. Photographs courtesy of Allan McGrath and Yass Valley Men’s Shed.

When heads and hands and hearts combine with a lot of initiative, it’s amazing what can be achieved.

Remembrance Day commemorations at Bowning this year had special significance when two beautifully finished Honour Boards commemorating Bowning servicemen of the First World War and the Second World War were unveiled. Chief organiser Frances Atkins explained each name of a serviceman and servicewoman had been carefully researched through the Red Cross, Department of Defence, Australian War Memorial and National Archives.

Remembrance Day wreaths at Bowning

Whilst there had been original Honour Boards, one had been stolen and the other in bad repair and needed updating, so the Bowning Hall Committee, in consultation with the people of Bowning, decided to do something about it.

Trevor Cox and Alf Atkin in front of the Honour Board  

A Department of Veteran Affairs grant was successfully sourced. Local resident Cecile Felderhoff and her husband Karl supplied the beautiful Mount Isa mahogany timber planks they had been storing for forty years. Yass Valley Men’s Shed took on the task of turning these planks into Honour Boards thanks to the skilled craftsmanship of member Trevor Cox who planed, thicknessed, glued and clamped, and then shaped.

Honour Board and photograph display in Bowning Memorial Hall

Once the Boards were complete, they went to Dave Griffith at Yass Valley Smash Repairs for a durable coating of Marine varnish, which apparently cost the Committee a case of beer! Then over to the lettering expert Chris Broers of Yass Signs to meticulously add the beautiful gold leaf lettering.

Wayne Stuart of the Yass Valley Men’s Shed explained, “Christian names were included for each serviceman and servicewoman, not just initials as is usually done. So people can now specifically identify family members without any confusion over who belongs to the initials. ”The final step – installation-presented its own problems. Stuart Atkins, assisted by Trevor Cox of the Yass Valley Men’s Shed and Alf Atkin, secured these very heavy pieces to the wall of the Bowning Hall where they will hang proudly for many generations to come. Yass Valley Mayor Allan McGrath praised “the outstanding result” of this combined community effort when he viewed the Boards in Bowning Hall after attending the Remembrance Day ceremony.

Project initiator Frances Atkins explained, “The criteria for inclusion on the boards were servicemen and women born in Bowning or those who enlisted with a Bowning address.

After the meticulous research was complete, local Barry O’Mara assisted with verifying the list of 66 First World War veterans, 102 Second World War veterans, plus 24 Volunteer Defence Corp personnel whose names appear on the boards. Yass and District Historical Society were able to supply photographs of some of the servicemen to supplement a display in the Hall.

Judith Davidson