A number of Ballarat servicemen, with no known grave, will be remembered at a local ANZAC Day service tomorrow morning.
At the Arch of Victory service at 8am, residents will pay tribute to the 17 local men, including the first Ballarat serviceman to lose his life in World War One, Jack Messenger, and the first Australian airman to be killed, George Merz.
Jack is remembered on the Plymouth Naval Memorial in England and George is remembered on the Basra Memorial in Iraq.
In a statement, President of the Arch of Victory/Avenue of Honour Committee, Garry Snowden, said their service is about remembering all who have served, but they always try to give truth to the pledge ‘we will remember them’ at their Arch service, by actually calling the names of some of those commemorated in the Avenue.
The full list of men to be commemorated are Jack Messenger, Alfred Briant, Arthur Hughes, Ernek Jannsen, Charles Lucas, John McDonald, Albert Paulig, Alfred Possingham, George Merz, Harry Williams, Walter Waller, Albert King, William McCarey, James Galbally, Charles Richards, John Bryan Cuthbert and Lawrence Tait.
This year’s Ballarat services will coincide with an outdoor art installation of 3,000 poppies at Lucas Town Centre, aiming to bring education around ANZAC Day and soldiers commemorated by the Avenue of Honour.
The installation will continue the commemoration through wooden poppies in the Coltman Plaza garden.
The full list of Ballarat ANZAC Day services can be found here.
