The below message is from the Queensland Chairman of SAMVOA after the 2011 ANZAC Day parade in Brisbane:
Anzac Day started off in Brisbane being cloudy with the potential for rain; however this cleared up to become a great sunny day.
We gathered at Newfarm Park and caught the CityCat (Ferry) into the city centre with our Kick Off point being the top of Charlotte Street. The new banner was unfurled with the old flag on the left and was greeted with a sense of pride by all. SAMVOA was represented by 14 veterans this year (an increase of 4 from last year) namely, Don Clark, our WWII Veteran, Gavin Murphy, Graham Leathem (who were the banner bearers for the day), Derek Austin, Steve Shaw, Mark Bell, Ludwig Englebrecht, Chris Pattison, Ernie Lomax, Justin Lipiatte, Dave Curry from NSW, myself Gordon Pugh as well as two heritage members, Carmin Pugh and Walter Lomax, representing family members who represented South Africa in conflicts past and who have passed on.
We moved into the parade at approximately 11h15 and were immediately met with applause from the crowd and numerous salutary calls from South Africans watching the parade. With a great feeling of pride and honour we marched past the dignitaries stand with the Governor General acknowledging our banner.
On completion of the parade we dispersed with most able to attend a Braai and get together for the afternoon.
Some photographs that were taken on the day are shown below.
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Queensland is growing at a steady pace and hopefully will continue to do so. I wish to take this opportunity to thank those Veterans who were able to attend and look forward to next year.
Gordon Pugh
SAMVOA Queensland