Emma Pritchard

On a hill in Doust Park overlooking the farmland surrounding Lower Southgate, is a memorial engraved with the names of several local men who took the memories of their rural homeland with them as they headed overseas to proudly serve their country when war broke out.

Many of them never returned.

As the sun sank lower towards the western skyline, a crowd of close to 40 gathered around the cenotaph during the 2023 Anzac Day Lower Southgate Commemoration Service on the afternoon of April 25 to pay their respects.

“On this day, we remember the sacrifice of such men,” said Robert McFarlane, a proud patron of the Ulmarra RSL Sub-branch, as he read the Prologue.

“Let us take strength in the knowledge and hope that our sons and daughters will never forget the examples set by their forefathers.”

As The Last Post and Reveille rang loudly across the paddocks where Australian soldiers once worked their land as farmers and pastoralists, before riding off into the sunset to heed the call of their nation, attendees peacefully bowed their heads and said, “lest we forget”.