ANZAC Day at Anjo Peninsula By John Collins My ANZAC Day at Anjo is a complex story that had its origins many years prior to my birth and more than 50 years before my extraordinary Dawn Service experience, which remains a significant meaningful memory for me almost three decades later.
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here are many reasons for sharing this story, including paying my respects to the now largely nameless and overlooked people who rallied to protect Australia during the dark days of World War Two. While this recollection is primarily related to the tragic events that occurred pre-dawn (20th May 1945) on a single day at a secret airbase that most have never heard about, I hasten to acknowledge the under-appreciated local heroes who “did their bit” to assist military personnel adjust to the hash, remote and unforgiving landscape. Another reason for sharing 112
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my remembrance is to help overlanding travellers to appreciate the beauty of the landscape and better connect with the local people as they travel the vastness of the Western Australian outback, while providing connections to other locations of interest whenever possible. I think the back-story began on 28th March 1943 when Keith “Bluey” Truscott, a distinguished RAAF fighter pilot who flew battle missions in Britain and as a Squadron Leader at Milne Bay in New Guinea, was killed in an Exmouth Gulf aviation accident. Bluey, in company with Flying Officer Ian Louden, were tasked with escorting a Catalina flying boat returning to base from a mission off the remote north west coast of Western Australia. Perhaps due to the boredom of such a tedious mission or simply to hone their attack skills, the fighter pilots began making mock attacks on the flying boat.
