South Australian soldier finally recognised at War Memorial
The state will pause at 11am today to honour the courage and sacrifice of generations of Australians who served the nation, one soldier finally finding a place on a prominent memorial and the National Trust sharing the picture of a unique flag in a Wallaroo collection.
At 11am, South Australians will gather across the state to pause for a minute of silence on Remembrance Day to mark the anniversary of the Armistice that ended the First World War in 1918.
More than 103,000 Australians have lost their lives in service to our nation, and Veterans’ Affairs Minister Chris Picton said the impact continued to be felt by veterans, their families and communities.
Picton said the state government would continue to progress plans to introduce nation-leading veterans’ legislation, strengthening recognition and support for the state’s 48,000 veterans and their families.
The proposed legislation recognises the unique nature of military service and the contribution of veterans’ families, while setting out clear responsibilities to ensure their needs are considered in government policy, programs and services.
It would be shaped through statewide consultation with veterans, their families and ex-service organisations, ensuring their voices and experiences are central to its development.
The 2026 Remembrance Day Service in Adelaide begins at 10.45am at the South Australian National War Memorial, on the corner of North Terrace and Kintore Avenue.
Premier Peter Malinauskas and Picton will join Australian Defence Force personnel, dignitaries and members of the community at the official State Service.
Following the service, a ceremony will be held at the National War Memorial to unveil a new South Australian name, Private Frederick Turner, who died in 1917 after contracting tuberculosis in England after answering his country’s call for service.
His omission on the memorial is being corrected after 100 years thanks to the work of the Virtual War Memorial Australia.
“Today we also honour Private Frederick Turner who answered his country’s call in World War I and was one of so many who sadly died because of disease linked to answering the call of service to his country – and has been absent from our War Memorial for over 100 years,” Picton said.
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“Today, we stand together in gratitude and remembrance and reaffirm our commitment to preserving their stories and honouring their legacy. Lest we forget.”
The SA National Trust made a social media statement remembering “the courage, sacrifice and service of those who answered the call during times of war”.
It also shared a picture of a “remarkable flag that tells a story of both local sacrifice and hope for peace”.
“This US flag, held in the collection at the Wallaroo Heritage and Nautical Museum, features the names of local soldiers and was brought home from France in 1918, making it a powerful connection between the people of the Copper Coast and the battlefields of Europe.”
The Environment and Water Department shared places for contemplation across the state from the Soldiers’ Memorial Gardens at Strathalbyn to two memorials in the regions.
The Burra monument is a tall granite column with a bronze statue of a digger holding a rifle and bayonet that dominates the town square.
Meanwhile, the Angaston War Memorial features a bronze figure depicting the Archangel Michael, mounted on pink Angaston marble, set in a garden that is a quiet place to reflect.
Other Australian soldiers killed on World War I battlegrounds more than a century ago have finally been identified.
Eleven families have been given closure on what happened to their relatives across battlegrounds more than a century ago.
The soldiers from World War I – long commemorated as missing in action Anzacs – have now been formally identified through extensive historical research, archaeological investigations, and DNA analysis.
Until now, they had been commemorated as unknown soldiers.
The newly identified Australian soldiers are:
- Private Roy Hawkins, 3rd Battalion AIF, of Armidale, New South Wales;
- Sergeant Charles Henry Nicholls, 46th Battalion AIF, of Ballarat, Victoria;
- Lieutenant Howard Victor Morey, 58th Battalion AIF, of Lilydale, Victoria;
- Lieutenant John Maher Lyons MC, MM, MSM, 17th Battalion AIF, of Randwick, New South Wales;
- Lieutenant Andrew Anderson, 7th Australian Machine Gun Company AIF, of Bundaberg, Queensland;
- Second Lieutenant James Albert McMichael, 37th Battalion AIF, of Melbourne, Victoria;
- Private Thomas Easton, 30th Battalion AIF, of Adamstown, New South Wales;
- Corporal Harry Maitland Whiteoak, 2nd Australian Field Ambulance AIF, of Preston, Victoria;
- Private George Laban Lupson, 2nd Australian Field Ambulance AIF, of Fremantle, Western Australia;
- Private James Campbell, 2nd Australian Field Ambulance AIF, of Queenstown, Tasmania; and
- Lance Corporal Alexander Joseph Jack, 2nd Australian Field Ambulance AIF, of Brunswick, Victoria
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Included among them is Defence Minister Richard Marles’ great-uncle, Lieutenant Andrew Anderson, who survived some of the biggest battles like Pozières, Mouquet Farm and Bullecourt, before he was killed during the Battle of Menin Road, near Ypres, in 1917. He was just 19 when he enlisted.
“I feel enormously proud of him, of his service, and the fact that we can remember him in this way,” Marles told ABC News Breakfast of his relative.
For many of today’s known soldiers, following in their family’s footsteps by joining the military was something they felt called to do despite the sacrifices they had witnessed.
That was the case for veteran Brad Copelin, who said he felt “programmed” to go after his father and grandfather.
Having served nearly 25 years in the Australian Army, including deployments to Afghanistan and the Solomon Islands, the 56-year-old believes the spirit of Remembrance Day should extend beyond an annual pause.
“Remembrance Day brings up a lot of memories,” Copelin said.
“As much as we have some really great memories from our service, and some really great people that we worked with … there’s also the negative memories of our service that we will carry with us all the time.”
Copelin had no intention of doing anything other than continuing the family legacy, and received his parents’ permission to enlist at age 17.
His father had been in the navy on HMAS Melbourne when it crashed with the USS Frank E Evans, cutting it in two.
It was not until after he joined that his grandfather, a Japanese prisoner of war on the Burma Railway, began telling his grandson of his experience.
“He never spoke about the war to anyone,” said the veteran, who has a tattoo of a red poppy on his arm.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paid tribute to Australia’s soldiers while in Singapore, using a stopover on his journey to the United Nations climate talks to mark the event.
He laid a wreath at the Changi Chapel and Museum early on Wednesday, joined by Australia’s Singapore High Commissioner Robyn Mudie.
The museum tells the stories of some of the 90,000 prisoners of war and civilians interned in Changi during the Japanese occupation of Singapore in World War II.
“The 15,000 Australians who were interned here in Changi represent the best of the Australian character – they showed courage, selflessness, sacrifice and mateship,” Albanese said.
Closer to home, Remembrance Day in 2026 coincides with the opening of the Australian War Memorial 85 years ago in the nation’s capital in 1941, where a major event will occur.
Governor-General Sam Mostyn will lay a scarlet poppy wreath, first laid in 1934 on the memorial’s construction site, to symbolise the continuity of tradition, and many military leaders will be in attendance.
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