Legion man on the other side of the world

Barry Fretwell, president of the Royal British Legion’s Mirfield branch, took part in an ANZAC Day parade while visiting relatives in Australia.

ANZAC Day, on April 25, is held to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I.

The date coincided with Mr Fretwell’s recent trip to visit his daughter Caroline Barrett in Port Kennedy, Perth.

He went to an ANZAC Day ceremony at the school of his granddaughter, Rebecca, Comet Bay College, and spoke to members of the local Port Kennedy Returned Services League Club.

He was invited to join the RSL, which is similar to the Royal British Legion, on the ANZAC Day parade in Rockingham.

He said: “We marched approximately half a mile and the streets at each side were absolutely covered with people.

“When you passed, everybody applauded you and it made you feel 10 feet tall.

“To be applauded every bit of the way, from where we set off to the cenotaph, you get an amazing feeling of pride.”

Mrs Barrett, who grew up in Mirfield and moved to Australia in 2005, used to go to the Mirfield RAFA club with her father before it closed.

She said: “He was absolutely over the moon.”