Author Archive: philip

Sanananda 2017 Commemoration

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2017 the Commemoration of Sanananda Parade in Martin Place on the 75 Anniversary.


Please help us get it right

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Welcome to the 55|53 Battalion Association Website

Clearly there is a lot of data that has been assembled over time, by several people, and no doubt there is more to go. If you see something that is missing of wrong, please let us know. With the best will in the world there will always be some errors in copying this data, and bits that we have missed. There are many soldiers we we have vague ideas about a date of death and nothing specific. If you have an actual date of death that would help. The Honor Roll if perhaps the easiest place to check what basic information we have on a soldier.

Remember this site is a share community resource for all of us, so it is you site as much as anybody else's, so if you see something wrong please help us get is right. The easiest way to let us know will be from the contact form on the contact page.

This is our Story

This is our story, but our story is not one story, but many, and each soldiers story, and each soldiers sacrifice contributes to the whole story.

For the Fallen

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With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres.
There is a music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted:
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables at home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England’s foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end they remain.

Laurence Binyon

75 Years Anniversary of the Sananada Campaign

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The Commemorative Booklet

To Download the Booklet compiled for the 75th Anniversary of the Sanananda Campaign please click of the image of the banner.

By courage and by faith

We are pleased to welcome you and present to you this booklet at the 2017 anniversary luncheon of the 55th/53rd Battalion Association.

Today we celebrate all veterans of the 55th/53rd Australian Infantry Battalion and commemorate their
achievements at Sanananda on the 75th anniversary of the battle that commenced on 7 December 1942.

The soldiers that served in the Battalion volunteered for service from all over Australia, from varied walks of life, and from other nations. Together they reinforced that wonderful Aussie concept of mateship.

They have our eternal gratitude for their courage, spirit and dedication in serving Australia and keeping our country a safe and free nation - a legacy that we so gratefully continue to enjoy today.

There have been many commemorative re-unions over past years but we trust that this one today will be notable for you through its solemnity at the Cenotaph and the contribution of our special guests s. It is our great privilege to be in their company today.

The Battalion Association prepared this booklet for you as a souvenir and wherever possible you may be able to provide material for its electronic counterpart. The plan is to create a website where the information will be placed so that it will never be lost, but be available to our children and their children, and so on. Our hope is that they share the knowledge that we have today recorded and any that we gain in future.

Lest we forget.