Andrew Nikolic (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Anzac Day is almost upon us and this year we commemorate the Centenary of the Western Front. Between March 1916 and November 1918 more than 295,000 Australians served in World War I, 132,000 of our service men and women were wounded or fell ill and 46,000 lost their lives.

This year my local remembrance of Anzac Day is focused on Tasmania's Alfred Gaby, who was born near Ringarooma and educated at Scottsdale. Alfred enlisted as a private soldier in January 1916 and joined the 26th Battalion on the Western Front in August 1916. Within a year he had been promoted to lieutenant. In August 1918 Lieutenant Gaby was involved in the Battle of Amiens, winning a Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration for valour in the face of the enemy. Three days after that heroic deed Lieutenant Gaby was killed by an enemy sniper. He was one of the 15,485 Tasmanians who served in the Great War.

As the husband of a career nurse I also wanted our remembrance of Anzac Day to focus on the contribution of our nurses on the Western Front. Tasmanian nurses worked in casualty clearing stations, makeshift hospitals and on ships and trains, seeing firsthand the horrors of war and providing expert nursing care. On Anzac Day 2016 I will honour the bravery of Lieutenant Alfred Gaby VC and our Australian nurses for their sacrifice on the Western Front.