Ex-servicemen and women, descendants of those who lived and worked on the Kameruka Estate, parishioners, gathered at Holy Trinity Church, Kameruka, on Saturday, November 3, for a special service and the re-dedication of the war memorial and honour roll by Bishop Ian Lambert, Reverend Lou Oakes and Reverend Anthony Frost.
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Past owners of the estate Frank and Odile Foster, were special guests along with current owners Barry and Michelle Moffitt. Mr Foster is the grandson of Leonard Lucas-Tooth whose family owned the estate from 1857 to 2007.
Kamerukas parish priest from 2004 to 2010, Commander David Luck returned from Canberra, where he is based at HMAS Harman.
Bishop to the defence force, Ian Lambert said that we should never forget to count the cost of war.
We must be eternally grateful. Our national identity is one of service but we are not just a nation of battlers but of achievers, Bishop Lambert said.
The nations of the world knew that if you had the Australians on your left flank you only had to worry about the right, he said.
There were 35 men and one nurse from the Kameruka Estate who served in WWI; 10 men from Kameruka made the ultimate sacrifice, Mr Foster told the congregation.
The important thing is they will never be forgotten for their selfless deeds.
After the service the congregation went to the war memorial. As each of the names of the fallen from Kameruka Estate was read out, a bell tolled.
The Bega Brass Band played and two members Ray Barling and John Winson, sounded the Last Post before a minutes silence.
Everyone was invited to look at the renovated gardens attached to the homstead where Mr Moffitt and his family now live, on their way to the Memorial Hall where the honour roll was re-dedicated by Bishop Lambert.
Almost all descendants of the original 36 people who went to war from Kameruka were contacted with some travelling from as far afield as Mittagong and Sydney to take part in the service.
