By Parker McKenzie
The Monbulk RSL paused to reflect and commemorate Remembrance Day in a somber ceremony at the eleventh hour today.
The service at the RSL building on Main Street was opened by Private Stuart Coghill playing the bagpipes, followed by a two minute silence to remember those who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
The Last Post was played and the Ode of Remembrance by Laurence Binyon was read before wreaths were laid.
Monbulk RSL President Bill Ford led the service in his eighth year as President and after the ceremony said it was a bittersweet day.
“We are here to remember all of our fallen colleagues who fought,” Mr Ford said.
“I think back and we had 17 and 18 year old men, and they were called men back then, die on the battlefield in the belief of protecting this country and making it a better place.”
Private Coghill said he learned to play the bagpipes in 2013 when he was with his battalion in the army and it was an honour to play on Remembrance Day.
“I’ve played the solo bagpipes for prime ministers, premiers of state and the chief of the army,” he said.
“The chief of the army was my favourite person to play for.”
Mr Ford said it was important to continue delivering the service for the RSL members.
“Today you look at the comradeship out in our hall,” Mr Ford said.
“We tell a few funny stories, none of the nitty gritty stuff gets talked about at all, because you see horrors you don’t tell people about.”
He also took the time to rebuke Victorians who used war memorials as a rallying point for protests.
“Those guys died to have a good society and it is just madness what they did at the Shrine of Remembrance,” he said.
“That is sacred land and they are using it like a tipping ground, you should have seen the mess they left behind.”
