GIVEN the privilege of laying a wreath from the Tea Gardens Family Research and Local History group on Anzac Day, I was reminded as I did so of a photograph I found via Trove of my aunt, Joyce Edmonds.
She was a bridesmaid in a bridal group laying their bouquets on the Martin Place Cenotaph on 3 May, 1942.
The wedding of Enid Veronica Deacon and Theodor Carl Schipplock was celebrated at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, North Sydney on the evening of 3 May.
The most likely scenario is that from there they boarded a tram for Wynyard, then walked up George Street to the Cenotaph. Cars were in short supply, due to petrol rationing, and buses were not allowed to cross the Harbour Bridge.
I would be interested to know if this was a relatively common occurrence.
Certainly the number of flowers already on the Cenotaph, as seen in The Sunday Sun photo, shows that this was a regular place for grieving families and friends to visit.
It was also only a week after Anzac Day.
The bouquets were laid in memory of George Wallace Ross Carrie, who died of wounds received at Bardia in Libya on 4 January 1941.
He is buried in the War Cemetery at Halfaya Sollum in Egypt, having passed aged just 21.
Unfortunately, Aunty Joyce died before I found this picture as I would have loved to have asked where the wedding reception was held – did they all catch the tram back across the bridge or did they stay in town?
There is no one left to ask.
Another interesting fact emerges from this photograph.
When Joyce married Don Gibbs in 1943, she wore the same wedding dress and veil.
Wartime shortages and coupons did not allow for elaborate new outfits and this dress was used by several brides in a very extended family – Joyce and Enid were cousins of cousins as well as best friends.
Thanks to the digitisation of World War II service records by the Australian Archives, we can learn more about Ross Carrie’s war service and death than his family probably ever knew.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission website gives access to information about burials and reburials in official cemeteries as well as providing photographs of graves never visited by relatives or friends.
Roma Deacon must have been his girlfriend/fiancée: she and her family placed In Memoriam notices in the papers and like so many bereaved girls, she did not marry until 1953, when she would have been almost thirty.
She also joined the RAAF in 1944 and served as an Aircraftwoman for two years.
Family history research can take us down so many fascinating side tracks.
By Shirley COX, Tea Gardens Family Research and Local History Inc
