Was a moment of realisation

This lady I had been researching, was a real person by Annabel Geater-Johnson

Being at Adelaide River War Cemetery was a significant and emotional moment for me.

Whilst we were at the Adelaide River War Cemetery, I sat at Emily Florence Young's grave to

thank her for her bravery and sacrifice. Being at the grave was a moment of realisation that

this lady I had been researching, was a real person and so where all the other people who

were killed. It made me emotional thinking how scared she must have been seeing and

hearing the 188 Japanese aircraft heading towards Darwin. I was terrified when watching

the virtual reality experience at the Royal Flying Doctors Museum and to think that was

reality for so many people was heart-breaking.

Walking around the graves was an eye-opening experience. Reading the ages and messages

on the plaques was incredibly sad. There were plaques for people as young as 16 which was

so surreal to me considering that is around my age. I couldn’t help but think how scared they

would have been when the bombings were taking place. Seeing the message “Our Daddy”

written on one of the graves made me stop and think how these people that were killed had

families who they may never had got to say goodbye too. Children were waiting for their

Mum or Dad to come home, and they never did.

Having Peter there to run a ceremony is something I will forever be grateful for. During the

minute of silence not only did I think about Emily Florence Young, I thought about all the

people whose stories have never been told, all the names that haven’t been commemorated

and all the families who lost their loved ones.

I am so grateful to have given the opportunity to go to the Adelaide River War Cemetery to

commemorate the service men and women that lost their lives in the Darwin Bombings.