By GARRY HOWE
HOW proud Clair Whiteside would have been had he been at the Officer Recreation Reserve on Saturday for the re-opening of the Memorial Gates he had conceived more than six decades before.
Three of his six children – Betty Whiteside, Kathleen Clarke and Mary Whiteside – sat among the large crowd as La Trobe MP Jason Wood and Officer stalwart Rob Porter cut a ribbon to declare the restoration project complete.
“It’s amazing the work done by the community to have the gates restored,” Betty said afterwards. “Our father would have been so proud.”
Also looking on were descendants of two men honoured on the memorial gates – World War I casualties Corporal Percival Beadle and Private Clive Were – Rosemary Miles and Robert Were.
Clair Whiteside survived the bloody Battle of Fromelles in France in 1916 and was wounded several more times before returning from the Great War in 1918 and establishing himself as a pillar of the Officer community.
A Berwick Shire councillor, he instigated many community projects but the one closest to his heart was the memorial gates, dedicated on Armistice Day 1951 to recognise the 10 Officer men killed in World War I and the five who made the same sacrifice in World War II.
Current day Cardinia Shire councillor Brett Owen, who grew up just down the road, officiated at the opening ceremony.
He said that Officer was just a small rural community when the gates were built and the enormous effort the community undertook to build the gates showed just how deeply affected they were by those lives lost at war.
“Officer is a much bigger place now, but its community spirit has not waned,” Cr Owen said.
“With a new Officer town centre soon to be established, it became apparent in 2012 that the memorial gates would need to be relocated 30 metres from their original position to make way for a new traffic intersection.”
Cr Owen said it was a complicated process, due to the age and condition of the gates.
The stones had to be dismantled and re-placed one by one, the water-damaged stone piers repaired, the plaque given a polish and a forecourt built to enhance the area.
“The Officer and District Community Association mobilised to ensure this important piece of local history was preserved and treated with the care and respect it deserved,” Cr Owen said.
A community working group was formed of Rob and Carol Porter, Rob and Annette Aldersea and Gary Maker, who devoted many hours to the project.
Mr Porter acknowledged Clair Whiteside for his vision and passion to establish the memorial gates and see them completed.
He thanked Ms Aldersea for her “drive, passion and insistence to have everything correct”.
“I applaud the effort Officer people can put in when there is a need,” he said.
“I am proud to be part of this group and this wonderful community.”
Robert Were, who recited the poem In Flanders Fields at the Anzac service that followed, noted that it also marked the 100th anniversary of his Great Uncle’s death, given that he was killed on the first day of the Gallipoli landing in 1915.
Percival Thomas Beadle, the first name on the plaque, went to war on 8 May 1915 and died in the 6th General Hospital in France on 17 January 1917 from a gunshot wound.
His descendant, Rosemary Miles, gave a poetry reading We Shall Keep The Faith.
