By DAVID NAGEL
WHETHER at the crack of dawn or just moments before the first bounce of a top-of-the-table football clash… it’s that minute’s silence during an ANZAC Day ceremony that tugs at the heart strings and makes us all reflect.
For some, it might be the thought of a generation gone by, but for others, like Berwick RSL President Ray Heathcote, and Berwick Football Club President Bruce Andrews, it becomes a little more personal.
Both have served their country with pride, Heathcote’s service including time with the Royal Australian Army in Vietnam, in 1967-68, while Andrews spent 20 years of in-active service with the Royal Australian Air-Force.
Both will be at Edwin Flack Reserve on Saturday as the Berwick Football Club and the RSL pay their respects to the ANZAC’s with a service just prior to the big game between the Wickers and Narre Warren.
“We need to be very careful about drawing too many parallels between football and service but there is a special relationship between the footy club and the RSL,” Heathcote said.
“In both cases you have a team, working together and everyone has a job. In the army, not everyone’s running around with rifles shooting people, there are people in the backroom, behind the scenes, with particular skills that they have to apply to get the job done.”
And just like a Saturday at the footy, everything doesn’t always go according to plan.
“My work was in transport and I remember crashing my truck and the Army took my licence off me for two weeks… I was made to work in the cookhouse during that time.”
Heathcote describes himself as “a pretty scratchy half-back-flanker” who captained the Lucknow seconds in his day and also won a premiership with the Burwood Teacher’s College in 1964. He said the connection between football and the services had always been strong.
“Carl Ditterich, he trained with me in the army, and there were plenty of others who had their VFL careers put on hold,” Heathcote said.
“We played footy in Vietnam, every second Sunday against different units. We were in the middle of a match one day and six helicopters landed on the ground and we had to stop the match. Depending on what state you came from there was always a game of soccer, rugby or football going on.”
Andrews was part of the rugby scene, he coached the National Air-Force Rugby Union team in the ’70s and remembers flying around the country, being treated as heroes. Brought up on the Central Coast of New South Wales, he joined the Air-Force straight out of year-12 and spent most of his time at Amberlee with the F 111s. He said this week’s ANZAC Day clash was very important to the club for a number of reasons.
“Rhys (coach Rhys Nisbet) made a special point at the start of the year that footy clubs need to engage the community more and he’s got some great ideas moving forward,” Andrews said.
“The success of the ANZAC Day game has really increased interest, a lot of younger people who probably wouldn’t have taken the time, now have the ANZAC spirit and there’s a new generation coming through who have more of an understanding.
Andrews added; “Berwick RSL members are welcome to come to the footy for free and we’ll host them for afternoon tea.
“Hopefully we’ll get a few along who will enjoy the day and run into some old mates from days gone by.”
Berwick RSL President Ray Heathcote will conduct the pre-game service which will include the requiem, the ode and then a minute’s silence.
