The Ration Shed and
Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council held a special Anzac Day commemoration on
ANZAC Day which included the unveiling of a new high-tech Digital App to
preserve the town’s military history.
The ceremony featured
traditional Anzac Day activities – a march, wreath-laying, flag raising and
ceremonial guard – as well as special Cherbourg traditions, including honouring
the “Boys From Barambah” with a smoking ceremony.
Anzac Day is always an
important day at Cherbourg with former service personnel returning to town for
family reunions, but this year was extra special with the official launch by
Mayor Murray of the new “Dilly Bag” iPad app for use by visitors to Memorial
Park.
The
Ration Shed’s App contentment designer, Mark Newman, explained how the app
works in conjunction with the Memory Poles which are erected in a series around
the Memorial.
The Poles detail the story
of the wars fought by Indigenous people from south-east Queensland – from the
frontier to World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam and the present day.
When visitors hold up the
iPad near a pole it triggers the app to provide more information, creating an
interactive experience.
Mark said the app was
especially designed for school visits.
“Students are able to save
information to the ‘dilly bag’ on the iPad and that is then sent back to the
school to create an educational experience both here and at the school,” Mark
said.
The Dilly Bag app is a
follow-up to the successful Boys From Barambah app which visitors use in
conjunction with displays in The Ration Shed.
Sadly,
illness prevented well-known Cherbourg artist and musician Robert ‘Rocko’
Langton, who decorated the Poles, from being present at the official ceremony
but the recording of his song, “The Boys From Barambah” was played at the end
of the ceremony.
Mark also thanked the
other people who had worked to make the Poles and app a reality … Robert
Langton Jnr, David Broome, Jonathan Barney, Wayne Farrell and the Cherbourg Men’s
Shed, SkillCentred, Adrian Anderson, Jeanette Brown, Peter Trail and The Ration
Shed.
Funding for the project
was through a Federal Government Armistice grant and the State Government’s
QAnzac100 program.
Anzac Day also marked the
official unveiling of four new flagpoles at the Memorial, with the Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander flags joining the Australian and Queensland flags
above the Memorial wall.
“I’m pleased to see our Memorial Park has developed into something that we can all be proud of,” Mayor Murray said.
