HENRY RICHARD RODDA 20-Feb-22 to 12-Jan-04 The early years: Henry was born almost 92 years ago in February 1922 … on Mungery Station (where the Tomingley Creek meets the Bogan River, about 30 kilometres to the northwest of Peak Hill) where his father Ted had drawn a settlement block and called it “Riverlea”. There Ted (a descendent of Cornish copper miners who had followed the Gold Rush from England to America and then to Australia) had married Annie Dow and together they ran a mixed farm. During the very tough post-WWI and subsequent depression years, they raised seven children of whom Henry was the sixth child. Henry was the last survivor of the seven Rodda children … his six brothers and sisters have all predeceased him. Those siblings were Dorothy (known to the Rodda family as “Floss”), Edward (known to the Rodda family as “Jack”), Linda (known to the Rodda family as “Nugget”), Lesley (known to the Rodda family as “Bill”), Roy (known to the Rodda family as “Snow”) and baby sister Edith (surprisingly, known only as “Edie or “Ede”). And why was Henry known as “Pom”? Apparently he was huddled around the wireless with his brothers and sisters one day listening to the cricket when he was caught accidentally cheering for the English team … he was immediately taunted and labelled as a “Pommie”, which was subsequently shortened to “Pom” and the name stuck with him for the rest of his life. There had always been a healthy rivalry between Henry and his brother “Snow”, and he would probably already have been letting “Snow” know in no uncertain terms that he had outlasted him. “Snow” had passed away in May 2010 at just over 90 years of age … Henry had almost made it to 92).By his mid teens, Henry had lost both his mother and father and had made his way into the workforce with “Bill” and “Snow” to allow for his oldest brother “Jack” to operate the farm and look after the three Rodda sisters. When not working, the Rodda brothers played sport and they all had reputations of being very good cricketers in their younger days. The war years /Army service: Official Army records show NX83506 Private Henry Richard Rodda`s date of birth as 20Feb20 ... in fact his true date of birth was 20Feb22. Like many others at the time, he had put his age up to enlist. When he enlisted on 13Jan42, he was therefore actually only 19 (six weeks short of his 20th birthday). When he was discharged as medically unfit (war injury) almost three years later on 24Nov44, he was aged 21 years and 9 months, had seen active front-line service in the Egyptian desert (at the Battle of El Alamien), returned to Australia for jungle warfare training near Cairns and had then seen active front-line service again in Papua New Guinea (including the beach landings at Finchaven and Lae). It was in PNG that he was wounded … he took a shell in the back of his leg above the knee. His “overseas travel” experiences made modern day “gap year backpacking trips” look fairly tame! Henry was a very proud WW2 Veteran. A poem by Larry Vaincourt called “Just a common soldier” and sub-titled “A soldier died today” ends with the apt words … “If we cannot do him honour, while he`s here to hear the praise, Then at least let`s give him homage , at the ending of his days. Perhaps just a simple headline, in a paper that would say, Our Country is in mourning, for a soldier died today”. As a footnote to that poem someone, had defined a “veteran” as “a person who wrote a cheque payable to his Country … for up to and including the value of his life”. In Henry’s case it was certainly a huge commitment to be made by an orphaned 19 year old boy from the bush. Henry once told me of the mammoth trip he undertook after being wounded at the front-line in the highlands of the then Papua New Guinea. It started out with being carried by PNG native stretcher-bearers (who were affectionately referred to as “Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels”), then being strapped to a jeep, then transported on a truck to meet up with a DC-9 aeroplane to be taken to Port Moresby to be put on a hospital ship to Cairns, where he was then taken by train to hospital in Sydney. Until recent years Henry proudly took up his position at the head of Peak Hill’s annual Anzac Day March. I remember that he had very sore feet at the end of one of the marches that took place not long before he was forced to use a wheelchair. When it was subsequently established that his shoes were on the wrong feet, it was Mum who was blamed as she had put his shoes on for him! Adult life: On a trip home to Peak Hill to visit family, a young lady named Betty Barnes caught his eye as she delivered wartime mail on her PMG push-bike. Very soon after, in Nov’44 they were married and after a short time residing in Sydney where dad had been seconded to the war effort as a “battery mixer”, they set up home out on Strahorn State Forrest (not far from his birthplace). Rex was born in Jan’46 and they had moved into town to reside in a house near the Catholic Church by the time Ted was born in Apr’48. Anne and I were born after the house at 100 Warrah Street had been built (in Mar’52 and Dec’53 respectively). He worked for the NSW Forestry Commission for 34 years before retiring (a record that was surpassed by my oldest brother Rex recently when he retired from the same employer after 40 years of service). He was always involved in community activities, for example he was a member of the vestry of this Church for 22 years, mowed the Church grounds for 11 years and performed many “extras”. He was also in charge of the marshalling yard at Peak Hill Trotting Club meetings for many years. When his own children had grown up and married, Henry became a much loved neighbour of new generations of children who affectionately referred to him as “the Mayor of Warrah Street”. After Henry’s retirement, he and Betty moved to Dubbo where they resided for many years in a self-contained unit in the Masonic Retirement Village until it became necessary around 4 years ago for him to be placed in a high-care facility at Holy Spirit Dubbo. Sporting life: Henry was a naturally gifted sportsman who Captained both cricket and football teams for Peak Hill and was also President of the Peak Hill Bowling Club. After retiring from playing Rugby League he had a well respected career as a Referee. Henry also saw himself as a handy coach and a good spotter of young football talent. He told me once of the time that he was asked to select the best young talent from a schoolboy football carnival that was played at Peak Hill and he selected an 8 year old Don Parish who later played for Australia! Two of the football photos that he was most proud of are here with Henry today … Peak Hill’s 1951 Group XI Premiership team and the 1952 Country Week’s Western Districts team. He had a reputation of being impossible to stop from 10 yards out with the ball under his arm. Comments had been made not that long ago to the effect that there was only Henry and the ball boy who had survived from the Group XI 1951 Premiership team photo … after last Sunday, the ball boy (Peter Tipping) is the sole survivor. Rex remembers well the time that he had had a few beers and phoned Dad late at night with a view to settling a bet that he was involved in. He told Dad that he had bet on what year Peak Hill had won the Group XI Premiership. When Dad said “what year did you say”, Rex replied “1952”. Dad, who was probably not impressed with being woken up and having to get out of bed to answer the phone, responded quite sharply with just three words … “pay the man” and then hung up! Henry was also proud to tell anyone who would listen that, in the Group XI Grand Final win over Wellington, he scored both tries and his brother-in-law (and good mate) Brian Barnes kicked the goals. Ted and Pam: My brother Ted and his wife Pam have been the mainstay of the family in providing day-to-day support to Dad and Mum for many years. Their efforts have been absolutely incredible and it is just so ironic that they are currently on an overseas trip of a lifetime with their daughter Marie and her family in Asia. We have specifically asked Ted not to cut his trip short to return to Australia for today’s funeral. Their son Mark has stepped up to the plate magnificently in Ted’s absence … he has represented Ted, Pam and Marie extremely well. He has been a tower of support to Rex, Anne and me over the last couple of weeks. Holy Spirit Dubbo: Di Thomas and her staff at Holy Spirit Dubbo have been absolutely wonderful in caring for Dad. Somehow they manage to balance professionalism and practicality with personal and loving care. When you thank them they say “that’s our job” … however their care goes far above what could be reasonably expected of anyone let alone an unrelated employee. The family is truly grateful for their support. Henry’s passing: Dad’s life gradually slipped away in the early hours of last Sunday morning. He was almost 92 years old, in no pain whatsoever and was prepared. He knew how much we all love him and respect him, he had lived a very full life that he and we can all be proud of and he knew that we will look after his beloved Betty for him to the best of our ability. Most of all he was ready for the ride. We thank Henry for being such a significant part of our lives. We love you dearly … and are all going to miss him! Kevin Rodda (Henry’s son) 17-Jan-14