Federal Member for Burt Matt Keogh said this year’s Anzac Day had a special meaning to him and his family, 100 years on from the death of a relative on the battlefield.
Mr Keogh’s grandmother’s cousin was killed in action near Messines in France in 1917.
Private Victor James Mocatti was 20-years-old when killed in a bombardment on July 15, just hours before the beginning of the Battle of Passchendaele.
The battle began the following day and claimed nearly 500,000 lives in three months.
It was a battle in which 60 per cent of Mocatti’s battalion was also killed.
Mr Keogh attended the Armadale RSL march and dawn service as well as Gosnells and Kelmscott-Roleystone services.
He wore the General Service and Australian Defence Medals of his great aunt who had served as a nurse during the Malayan Emergency which ran from 1948 to 1960.
“As we continue to commemorate the Centenary of Anzac we do so remembering the original Anzacs and what they fought for,” he said.
“We remember all Australians who served and died in all conflicts, wars and operational service.”
“Every town in Australia has its own story and its own personal connection to the terrible conflicts of war, and today we honour and renew that personal connection across the communities for Burt.”
