Jilliby Cemetery World War One MemorialPrint Page

The War Memorial commemorates those from the Wyong District who served in World War One. Many of the soldiers who returned from World War One are buried in the cemetery. 

A Lone Pine tree has also been planted at the site. 

A new memorial commemorating the service and sacrifice of local men and women who served in World War 1 has been unveiled at Jilliby Cemetery. Wyong RSL Sub-Branch received funds for the memorial through the ANZAC Centenary Grants Program.

Sub-Branch Vice-President, Peter Niven, said Jilliby valley was one of 1701 recruitment centres in NSW and the staging point on the Coast for those leaving to defend the British Empire. “Of all the people that enlisted from the Wyong Districts many didn’t return from the hostilities and are buried in foreign lands, but many of those that did return are buried at Jilliby Cemetery,” Niven said. He said a special feature of the ceremony was the planting of a pine tree which was grown from a seedling taken from the pine tree that featured in the Battle of Lone Pine in Gallipoli during the Great War.
“It gave the Sub-Branch much gratitude to provide a fitting memorial for the volunteers who paid so dearly for the freedom that we enjoy today,” he said.

Among those attending the unveiling of the memorial were, Joanne Cullen, and her father, Bill Dafter. Bill Dafter’s parents are buried in Jilliby cemetery and his father, Norman, was a World War 1 veteran, one of the fortunate local men to return from the war. As a 21-year-old, Norman was deployed to Egypt and then to France, where he was shot and developed trench foot, ending up in a repatriation hospital in England. It was there he met his future wife, Margaret, of Gloucestershire.
After the war, Norman and Margaret settled in Australia, at The Entrance, and had 10 children. Norman was one of the many who returned from World War 1 that this new monument was intended to honour.

Sub-Branch President, Alan Stanford, and Federal Member for Dobell, Emma McBride, conducted the unveiling after addressing the crowd. Central Coast Mayor, Jane Smith, and Member for Wyong, David Harris, also spoke at the ceremony. After the unveiling, Wyong Lions Club provided a sausage sizzle.
Central Coast Newspapers (NSW), 22 May 2019. 

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