BUANGOR will come to a standstill on September 27 when the grave of one of its most famous sons is rededicated 75 years after his death.
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General Sir Cyril Bingham Brudenell White was a hero of Gallipoli and World War One. Born in St Arnaud, he grew up in Queensland where he was commissioned into the Queensland Regiment of the Royal Australian Artillery in 1899.
He was General Bridges’ chief of staff during the establishment of the first AIF in 1914 and landed at Gallipoli on April 25, 1914. He planned and supervised the successful evacuation, before going on to make his mark on the Western Front.
Knighted by King George V in 1919, he returned to Australia in 1920 as the chief of the general staff before retiring in 1923 to take up the position of chairman of the Public Service Board.
He purchased properties in Middle Creek and Buangor in the late 1920s and early 1930s and was again made chief of the general staff in 1939. The general was killed in a plane crash that rocked the Menzies’ government on August 13, 1940.
The crash claimed the lives of another nine men including four RAAF crew members, Army minister Brigadier Geoffrey Street, Air minister James Fairbairn, Science minister Henry Gullett,and two ministerial staff members. The plane, a Hudson bomber, burst into flames on impact. The fire was so severe only fragmentary human remains were recovered.
The general was honoured with a state funeral in Melbourne before being buried at Buangor cemetery.
The files of the Ararat Advertiser recalled 150 motor cars travelled from the late general’s home to the cemetery.
“A large body of returned soldiers from the Ararat and Beaufort areas preceded the hearse to the cemetery followed by leading Commonwealth military officers,” the Advertiser reported.
In 2013, concerns were raised that the general’s grave had fallen into disrepair.
It has now been restored under the Anzac Centenary Local Grants program.
Russell Rachinger has spent three years coordinating the re-dedication efforts and said more than 200 people had registered to attend the September 27 service, including eight of the general’s grandchildren.