Cobar community commemorates Queen Elizabeth II

A local commemorative service for Her
Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was held at
Drummond Park on Monday afternoon led
by local Greg Martin.
Mr Martin said he thought it only fitting that
the Cobar community have the opportunity to
be able to pay their respects to the Queen.
Addressing the crowd of more than 100, Mr
Martin, a royalist, said he had great admiration
for Her Majesty who had reigned as Australia’s
Head of State for 70 years.
“The Queen consulted with 16 Prime Ministers
and 16 Governors-General served in her
name. She was the patron of more than 20
Australian charities and associations,” he said.
“45 years ago I swore allegiance to serve Her
Majesty as a member of the Australian Army
Reserve and Ma’am, as our Commander in
Chief, I salute you and thank you for your
leadership.”
Mr Martin said he was proudly called upon
to protect the Queen when she visited Australia
on two occasions, at Bourke in 2000 and in
Sydney in 1988 when he was part of the Special
Operations Squad.
Local solicitor Geoffrey Langford, who recalls
listening to the radio broadcast of the
funeral of Queen Elizabeth II’s father, King
George VI in 1952 as a child, said he was honoured
to have been able to speak at Cobar’s
commemorative service for the Queen.
He recalls seeing the Royal couple with his
parents at Dubbo Showground in 1954 and said
it was “a most significant event for rural NSW
and people came from all over the west, including
a train load of children from Cobar”.
Mr Langford said he saw her on five occasions
during her numerous visits to Australia.
Also speaking as part of Monday’s service,
were Cobar RSL Sub-Branch president Kain
Neale (who had also sworn allegiance to Her
Majesty as a former serving member of the
Australian Army) and Cobar High School captains
Todd Polack and Joey Neale who all
acknowledged and thanked the Queen for her
leadership and service.
Music for the service was provided by Cobar
High teachers Laura Andrew and Cassandra
Best. Two minutes silence was also observed
as part of the service (as a double moment of
reflection), which was a gesture called for by
Buckingham Palace for all commemorative
services for the Queen.
Members of the public were then invited to
lay floral tributes to the Queen at the Cenotaph.
Among them were the Cobar Girl Guides,
who were there to farewell a fellow Girl Guide.