By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
PAM Mamouney says she doesn’t cry very often.
But when the 78-year-old travelled to Canberra last Saturday to lay a wreath for her great uncle Robert Bond Middleton, who died serving in World War I, she admits a tear was shed.
Almost a century to the day since the outbreak of the war, Pam’s family was one of many selected to take place in a special commemoration at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, as part of a program initiated by Australian War Memorial director Brendan Nelson over a year ago.
For the commemoration, families who have a relative who fought and died in WW1 can apply to visit the memorial for a special 15-minute service dedicated to their ancestor.
“I don’t cry very often but tears were rolling down my face and my daughter’s too, and the grandchildren were very nervous about it,” Pam said.
“It didn’t hit me until afterwards when I saw the WWI anniversary on the news that the timing was a miracle.”
Pam, a passionate member of the Casey Multifaith, laid a wreath for her great uncle with her daughter Susan and grandchildren Mia, 11, and Charlie, 8, in front of a crowd that gathered and watched in respectful silence.
Robert Middleton was one of the 400 Australians killed in the Battle of Pozieres in France, when serving with the 23rd Battalion.
He died on 28 July, 1916, aged in his mid-twenties.
“He was one of the first Australian troops to arrive on the Western Front in the quiet town of Armentieres,” Pam said.
“His remains have never been recovered; he is one of the 10,700 Australians killed in France that have no known grave.”
Pam has actively researched their family history, unearthing several relatives who served in war, but said Robert Middleton was the only one to have died in conflict.
“We knew he died somewhere in France but my daughter and her husband retraced his footsteps and they actually went to the township near where he fought,” Pam said.
“They were able to see the battlefield.”
With August acting as National Family History Month, Pam urged others look into their ancestry at the free history library at her church – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Narre Warren North.
For more information, contact Pam at pam.mamouney@gmail.com
