Latest news with #JosephWest
SBS Australia
3 days ago
- General
- SBS Australia
'A call to remember': First Nations Veterans honoured at ceremony in Sydney
A warning this story contains the name of a First Nations person who has died. At the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park – a ceremony to remember First Nations veterans. Welcoming those in attendance, is Gadigal Elder, Allan Madden. 'Once again, on behalf of the land council and of the Gadigal mob, welcome, welcome, welcome.' A welcome dance is followed by a guard of honour, a smoking ceremony, and an opening prayer. The Ode, accompanied by a digeridoo. The service shining a light on veterans' stories. Squadron Leader Coen Henry, is a Royal Australian Air Force and Barkindji/Wiradjuri Man. 'The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who served in the First and Second World Wars varies greatly. As ethnicity was not noted on enlistment documents an accurate figure will never be known, it has been suggested that more than 3,500 Indigenous people served in these conflicts.' This year's key address was from Lieutenant Colonel Joseph West, an Australian Army and Murrawari Man, whose ancestors died in Kokoda. He joined the military when he was 18. Lieutenant West reflects on the meaning of 'lest we forget'. 'It is more than recalling names and dates, it is a call to remember truthfully, completely and with respect. But in the past we failed this promise with Indigenous soldiers." The heritage of many First Nations service personnel was previously not even recorded. "People from non-European descent were not permitted to join the defence force, in accordance of the Defence Act of 1903. This meant that even though Indigenous soldiers volunteered and fought, they did so without formal recognition." The story of Lieutenants West's great-Uncle, Private Harold West was also told in the 1942 poem 'The Coloured Digger', by H E 'Bert' Beros. Lieutenant Commander Robert Valler is with the Royal Australian Navy. At the service, he read an excerpt from The Coloured Digger. "He'd heard us talk Democracy – They preach it to his face – Yet knows that in our Federal House there's no one of his race. One day he'll leave the Army, Then join the League he shall, And he hopes we'll give a better deal to the Aboriginal." The service was also an opportunity to educate younger Australians about the contributions of First Nations veterans in Defence. Hundreds of school students lined the Pool of Remembrance in front of the Anzac Memorial, and at the end of the service laid wreaths. Attendees of all ages engaged in the event, including multiple local school groups; invited to listen, commemorate, combine tradition, and help right historical wrongs.
BBC News
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Actor Timothy West 'died peacefully' after hospital stay
Actor Timothy West died "peacefully with his family around him" at a care home where he was being looked after following a fall, an inquest has who was married to actress Prunella Scales for more than 60 years, appeared in TV sitcoms Not Going Out, dramas such as Bleak House and Gentleman Jack, and soaps Coronation Street and Coroner's Court heard the Bradford-born actor had had a fall on 11 August last year, which resulted in a "significant traumatic brain injury".Assistant coroner Ellie Oakley said he had been treated in hospital for about three months before being moved to Wandsworth Common Care Home where he was receiving palliative care before his death on 12 November. She said: "It is not possible to determine how the fall happened and there is no evidence of others being involved."Unfortunately he was not well enough to be discharged to his home despite receiving appropriate care in the care home."The care home's general manager, Thomas Holden, said in a statement read out at the inquest: "On 12 November his family were with him all day."They continued to stay with him in his room during the evening and he passed away peacefully with his family around him at 19:20."In a statement announcing his death last year, West's children Juliet, Samuel and Joseph said: "After a long and extraordinary life on and off the stage, our darling father Timothy West died peacefully in his sleep yesterday evening. He was 90 years old."He leaves his wife, Prunella Scales, to whom he was married for 61 years, a sister, a daughter, two sons, seven grandchildren and four greatgrandchildren. All of us will miss him terribly." West and Scales, 92, who played Sybil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers, appeared in the documentary series Great Canal Journeys between 2014 and 2021, which saw them travelling on couple married in 1963 and had two sons, Samuel and was also married to actor Jacqueline Boyer from 1956 to 1961, and they had a daughter, Juliet. Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
