FOR THE RESTORED WWI HOWITZER CANNON
BY HIS EXCELLENCY, THE TURKISH CONSUL GENERAL,
MR. HASAN ASAN
SATURDAY 2ND OCTOBER, 2004
On Saturday 2nd October, 2004, the Casterton and District Historical Society Inc. held the official unveiling Ceremony of their restored WWI Howitzer Cannon. What a great occasion it was!
The Society was very proud and privileged to have His Excellency, Mr. Hasan Asan, Turkish Consul General attend the opening to do the honor of unveiling the dedication plaque, which was donated by the Turkish Government for the occasion. Also present at the unveiling were a number of guest speakers...
Mr. David Hawker, Member for Wannon
His Excellency, Mr Hasan Asan, Turkish Consul General
Mr. Joe Helper, Member for Rippon, representative for the Premier of Victoria, Mr Steve Bracks
Mayor, Glenelg Shire Council, Mr. Bill Collett
Mr John Basarin, Guest Speaker for Celebratory Dinner, Co-Author "Gallipoli – The Turkish Story"
The President of the Historical Society, Mr Jim Kelly, was the official MC for the occasion, and gave the following outline of the history of the Cannon at the unveiling.
“The gun was manufactured by Krupp in Germany, given the number 495, it was manufactured in 1915. It saw service I believe in the Turkish Theatre and at the cessation of hostilities, 150 of these guns were bought to Australia and they were handed round to various shires throughout the country and the Shire of Glenelg, as it was then based in Casterton, and it won the gun behind us or behind me. It has had a few places of abode in the time that it has been here. It was at the War Memorial, it was at the park down here and then it was taken into the Drive in Theatre. Drive-In Theatres sadly went the way most Drive-In Theatres went and there was a clearing sale there and it was saved from the Scrap Metal Dealers by the Carmichael Family who bought it I think it was for a hundred dollars. Then it was taken out to their place, out at Deep Creek and it was there for quite a number of years and it looked as though it was going to go the way as it had nearly gone before to the scrap merchant and the Society bought it for a hundred dollars and we brought it in here and this would be in the mid to late 90’s, so I believe, and we thought we have got it here what are we going to do with it.
It was in a very, very sad state of repair and after the ceremony here is finished on the platform from around there you will see photos, before, during and after the restoration and I must thank two of our members and indeed congratulate them, namely Gil Sanders and Roly Cooper who remanufactured the wheels. All they had was the hubs and a few spokes. They had all the metalwork that went with it and they set about remanufacturing the wheels and I think they have done a marvelous job and they are to be congratulated for that.
The wheels were put in the gaol cell over here for safekeeping for a while and we didn’t know where we were going to get the money for the funding and we found out that we could possibly get a Dept. of Veterans Affairs Grant for the work on it and we applied and it took a fair while for the money to come through and we eventually got one thousand five hundred dollars for restoration work.
The gun was taken to Portland where it was sandblasted, primed and painted and brought back here and it was stored in Bob Mitchell’s Tractor Museum over the way and plans were made. We had a problem in the location of the gun because our building is heritage classified and it can only be to within a certain distance, 20 metres, so I got on to Heritage Victoria to tell them we had a problem and that we were going to pinch a metre or two of there ground so they said seeing as we had contacted them and it was for a worthy cause, we could go ahead with it. So we bought it over here one wet day a few weeks ago and that was quite interesting. We sat it up here and the building that you are looking at that was very kindly supplied by Rotary.
Rotary like all the service clubs do a tremendous amount of works in this town, I think a lot of it goes unnoticed, but this is very much noticed and very much appreciated”
The Turkish Consul General, His Excellency, Mr Hasan Asan, presented the Historical Society with a folder containing the words from famous poem “Gallipoli A Post War Epic” written in 1988 by a former Turkish Prime Minister and Turkish National Hero Mustafa Kemal who founded the modern Turkish Republic in 1923.
The Dedication Plaque has the following notation:
"Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives - You are now living in the soil of a friendly country, therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side, here in this country of ours. You, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land, they have become our sons as well."
Following the unveiling ceremony, an afternoon tea was provided on the platform of the Railway Station, which currently houses the Casterton Community Museum.
What a wonderful presentation John gave! Just staggering.
John provided a view of the Gallipoli Campaign from the Turkish perspective and provided us with a history which was thought provoking and very educational , providing guests with an overview of the Gallipoli Campaign, Cannons and building friendship between the Turkish and Australians.
Also adding to the night was a speaker, Mr Peter Green, from Echuca who has been in the pursuit of a cannon which is buried underground in Echuca. His account was both humorous and inspiring.
Mr Hasan Asan also delighted the crowd with an outline of his life as a Consul General, and the many places he has been around the world as a representative of the Turkish Government.
The evening concluded with gifts presented to members of the Historical Society by the Consul General and to top the evening off, a group photo was taken with members of the Historical Society, The Consul General and Mr John Basarin.
The Casterton and District Historical Society Inc. would like to thank all involved in the event both leading up with many members contributing to the process involved with the restoration of the gun, the successful unveiling and the Celebratory Dinner. Without their help, dedication and persistence the exhibition that now is part of the Casterton Community Museum would not be possible.