Community
30 April, 2026
Touching tribute for prisoners of war
THE names of three prisoners of war were permanently memorialised in front of family members at the Panmure Anzac Day service on Saturday.
As Western District Newspapers reported earlier this month, the service this year honoured three prisoners of war from the district who had not been discovered when nine were memorialised during the 2025 service.
Murray Jobling from Grassmere, Dave Brown from Warrnambool and Vincent Mathieson from Nullawarre each had their names added to a plaque at the Panmure War Memorial.
The service included a comprehensive retelling of their history from Vietnam veteran Ken Cumming, after around eight months of diligent research from Panmure Action Group president Ian Wallace.
The service included a speech from Moyne Shire Council mayor councillor Jordan Lockett and the reading of a poem titled ‘The Spirit of The Ode’ from Jack Kenna.
Mr Wallace said he was thrilled with the success of the service, which drew in a large crowd of attendees.
“I think today went well,” he said.
“The stories were very genuine.
“We went in depth this year with our stories because we only had three instead of nine.
“Consequently, we could get a bit more content in.
“I think it really served the purpose today.”
Mr Wallace said the service had been made all the more moving as family members from the Jobling and Mathieson families were in attendance.
“We were thrilled,” Mr Wallace said.
“When you can get four generations to come to any function, and have two different families do the same, I think it’s a pretty good effort.”
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