November 11 is not far away, and many Australians will pause at 11am for a minute to reflect on the end of the mass slaughter that was so much a part of “The Great War” that was to be “The War to End All Wars”.
Of course, WWII was just twenty years away and the sons of many AIF (Australian Imperial Force – the Australian Army) servicemen in turn (such as my uncle) served in the Second AIF when Australia was seriously threatened in the Pacific Campaign.
From the book on “Splendour Rock – A Bushwalkers War Memorial” by Michael Keats and I we know that 191 bushwalkers (young men and women) served in uniform with 13 bushwalkers now being remembered at Splendour Rock.
But perhaps another name should be considered as a victim of WWII although it was before 3 September 1939.
The guns fell silent at 11am on the 11 November 1918 but the war was not over until the Treaty of Versailles was signed in June 1919. While this Treaty tried to avoid a future war by limiting the size of armed forces worldwide it failed. Japan felt slighted from not being treated as an equal to the European nations and Adolf Hitler convinced the Germans that Germany had been stabbed in the back by the Allies (not correct).
In 1939 the drums of war were beating as Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of Great Britain tried to negotiate with Adolf Hitler to avoid war. Recently, Jeff Howard a past President of CMW mentioned a club member who died while training as a RAAF Flying Officer.
Maxwell Leonard Hickson joined RAAF on 17 January 1938 so would seem to have seen troubled times ahead. On 29 April 1939 he was one of two pilots, and two other aircrew killed near Riverstone when an Avro Anson bomber crashed. From what Jeff Howard can see in early CMW records Max would have been close to a foundation member of CMW.
So, Maxwell Leonard Hickson was prepared to serve in WWII and thus there is a strong case that he should be remembered as one of the fallen bushwalkers Bushwalking NSW recognises at Splendour Rock.
Keith Maxwell.
Honorary Historian BNSW.
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