Tamborine District Cenotaph Dedication Ceremony and Commemoration Service

Member for Scenic Rim Mr John Krause MP; Deputy Mayor Councillor O’Carroll; Australian Army Combat Training Centre Commander, Colonel John Simeoni CSC; Archdeacon of the Gold Coast, the Venerable Valerie Hoare; President of the Tamborine Village Lions Club, Mr Paul Krahnen; Leaders of the Returned Services Leagues, Distinguished guests,

I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land upon which we are gathered and expressing my respect for elders, past and present.

Almost 100 years ago, the Brisbane Courier published a Casualty List  containing the names of 288 Queenslanders killed or wounded in battle.

At the very bottom was a Lieutenant Corporal from Tamborine Mountain.

In fine print, it noted that this was the fourth time he had been wounded.

A timber cutter from Tamborine Mountain, the soon-to-be promoted Corporal Jack Bartle served with distinction.

He earned both the Military Medal and the Distinguished Conduct Medal, the latter for action in the Somme which nearly cost him his life.  

Jack returned home to his beloved Tamborine Mountain where he married and started a family. 

Remarkably, he joined the Volunteer Defence Corps in the Second World War.

When Jack Bartle enlisted in 1915, Tamborine Mountain was just a small rural settlement.

Yet men from Tamborine Mountain, and Canungra, and all the towns of the Scenic Rim answered their country’s call.

Through two world wars, through conflicts from Malaya to Vietnam to Afghanistan, men and women from this region have worn our country’s uniform and served in our name.

Many made the ultimate sacrifice; others returned home wounded in body and mind.

As the historian Les Carlyon once said, “if we remember them, if we remember what they did, they are still alive in our hearts.” 

I’m extremely proud today to be with a community who have kept men like Corporal Jack Bartle alive in their hearts, and who honour their service with this fine Cenotaph.

It is my privilege, as Governor of Queensland, to unveil it, and to acknowledge the fidelity of this community to the memory of all the men and women of the Tamborine District who answered their country’s call in times of conflict.

We will remember them.