Young cadets Lachlan Forward and Reece Smith are two local teens chosen to embark on a unique journey to spend ANZAC day at Hellfire Pass in Thailand, where many prisoners of war were held during World War Two.
They will join a group of 44, including 26 students from across Australia, for the 2017 Quiet Lion Tour, from April 17-28.
The tour was established in 1985 to honor Sir Edward ‘Weary’ Dunlop, and all other doctors and prisoners of war who worked on the Burma Thailand Railway.
“Each year we invite the three cadet units in the area, the Army, Navy and Air Force, we contact their commanding officers and invite them to nominate cadets to attend,” tour organiser Ian Holding said.
The two boys received the Mandurah RSL- and Peel Health Campus-supported positions on the Quiet Lion Tour by presenting a five-minute speech on the history of the railway line.
“I did mine about the actual railway and some of the stories about it… generally, it was about how many prisoners they had working on it, what kind of conditions they were in,” Lachlan said.
“I do enjoy listening about past wars and battles, and experiences of war… Me and my dad both look into those things, I find it interesting and my dad’s in the navy currently.”
He said he was looking forward to the ANZAC Day dawn service at Hellfire Pass for and laying a wreath at the Kanchanaburi Cemetary.
“I think it’s going to be very cool… not many people do it, and actually being somewhere where people from our country have struggled, will be very emotional, touching,” he said.
On return to Mandurah the two boys will give a presentation at the Peel Health Campus on their experience.