User:Jschnur/sandbox/Kapooka tragedy

On the 21st of May 1945, 26 recruits training at the Royal Australian Engineer Training Centre near Kapooka were killed when 50 kilograms of explosives was accidentally detonated. The explosion is regarded as the worst training accident in the history of the Australian Army.

Bare facts
On 21 May 1945 at Kapooka Base, a large squad of Royal Australian Engineers was training in demolition work. Somehow, the 50 kgs of explosives ignite, killing 26 of the 27 sappers in the dugout. The shock of the explosion was felt in Wagga Wagga's main street, eight kms away. The funeral cortege resembles a convoy: a truck covered in floral tributes led four more trucks bearing the coffins, and a line of cars stretching through the city from west to east. After short, graveside services the 26 coffins were lowered simultaneously in Wagga's war cemetery. It seems inconceivable that this event would be forgotten, but it is not recorded in any of the official war histories. Consigned to oblivion, the memory of it was carried on by family members, a few locals, and the men and women who were there that day. Sixty-five years later, a formal memorial was constructed near the site of the explosion and an annual, commemorative service was instituted. Each of the 26 left behind a uniquely shaped gap in families and communities across the nation. This book honours the memory of those men and acknowledges the grief of their families."--Back cover.

The forgotten rising sons : the true story behind the worst training accident in the history of the Australian Army, and how, for fifty years, an entire nation forgot it ever happened / Andrew Johnston.Johnston, Andrew, 1967-, (author.)

Bookmark: https://trove.nla.gov.au/version/209070643

Physical Description

xxxii, 432 pages, 30 pages of unnumbered plates : illustrations, portraits, photographs ; 24 cm.

Summary

The true story behind the worst training accident in the history of the Australian Army, and how for 50 years, an entire nation forgot it ever happened.

The Forgotten Rising Sons is an incredible true story based largely on the unknown tragic events which took place at the Royal Australian Engineer Training Centre (RAETC)—‘Kapooka Camp’, located nine miles from Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia on Monday the 21st of May 1945. On that fateful day, without warning, a single blinding flash of highly explosive gelignite violently detonated in an underground training bunker. In less than a second, 26 of Australia’s promising young soldiers were killed.

DEDICATION OF THE PERMANENT KAPOOKA TRAGEDY MEMORIAL

Where:

Permanent Kapooka Tragedy Memorial site, San Isadore Road, Wagga.

When:

21 May 2010

Time:

2.00pm 21 May 10

Background:

The dedication service for the permanent memorial to the Kapooka Tragedy will take place at

the new memorial site on San Isadore Road opposite the previous memorial site.

There will be a brief service commencing at 2.00pm on 21 May 2010. The commemorative

service will be similar in nature to those held on Anzac Day with a catafalque party, lowering

and raising of the flag, selected hymns and prayers and the recitation of the Roll of Honour

which lists the names of those who were killed.

The memorial was built in dedication to the accidental deaths of twenty-six army engineers,

or 'Sappers', in an explosion during a training exercise at the Royal Australian Engineers

Training Centre, Kapooka Camp, near Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, on 21 May 1945.

This memorial is the result of a joint project between the City of Wagga Wagga, The Royal

Australian Engineer Corps and the Kapooka Military Area. Earlier this month a group of

engineers from 21 Construction Squadron deployed from Sydney to Wagga to create the new

memorial site in an area that could be accessed by members of the public.

The event will be attended by a number of military dignitaries such as Major General Steve

Day (Senior Army Engineer), Major General Craig Williams (Commander 2nd Division),

Colonel Finney (COMDT ARTC), Group Captain Rogers (COMDT RAAF Base Wagga),

and  Lieutenant Commander Jolley (Senior Navy Representative).

The Federal Member for Riverina Mrs Kay Hull, MP, the Mayor of Wagga Councillor Kerry

Pascoe, Mr Phil Pinyon the General Manager of the Wagga Council will be joining the

families of those killed in the accident as well as a number of associations paying tribute to

those who lost their lives.

Media Contacts:

Please contact Major Mew on 0429 195 344 to arrange opportunities for interviews and

access to the memorial for live coverage