In our beautiful Upper Lansdowne Memorial Hall is a WWI Honour Roll. On this board is listed fourteen names. These men left the Upper Lansdowne to fight in the Great War but only thirteen returned home. Among these 14 men were 3 sons of Mary and Emanuel Cicolini. One son Raymond Horace Cicolini paid the ultimate sacrifice and is buried at Crouy in France.
The fourteen names listed are:
While in camp at Liverpool, the three Cicolini brothers were pioneers of the Catholic Soldiers’ Guild which established the following rules:
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That members pledge themselves to obey orders and the camp regulations and help towards their observance;
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To avoid and prevent a) drunkenness, b) impurity, c) swearing;
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Regularity in saying morning and evening prayers;
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Members shall assemble nightly at the Catholic recreation tent to say the Rosary;
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Members shall come at least once a month in a body on church parade to receive Holy Communion’.
(Freeman’s Journal 3 February 1916.) This guild is still in practice today.
After the war the Upper Lansdowne Public School put on a welcome home concert for the servicemen of the First World War performing the ‘Mikado’.
A big thank you to Margaret Clark for all the information she has supplied relating to our WW1 heroes. Margaret has undertaken researching all of the soldiers from the entire Manning Valley who fought in WW1 and is hoping her book will be ready for Anzac Day 2019.
If anyone has further information or photos relating to any of the soldiers listed on our WW1 Honour Roll, we would appreciate it if you could contact us.