April• 2018 | 117On February 6 this year, on a hot,
dry Canberra morning, I arrived at
the Australian War Memorial ready to
hand over the cap to Ern. Frailer than
when we last met, he still has that
sparkle in his eyes and an easy laugh.
In the Commemorative Courtyard
before the Pool of Reflection, sur-
rounded by the Roll of Honour com-
memorating the more than 102,000
Australians who have died in war,
Sergeant Ernest James Brough of the
2nd/32nd Infantry Battalion pre-
sented the cap to Brendan Nelson, the
director of the Australian War Memo-
rial. “People will look at the cap and
realise that a Partisan risked his own
life and safety to help this Australian
escape,” Nelson says. “And at the end
he gave his cap to Ern. It will make
people ask, ‘Why did he do that?’
hanks to this simple gesture, the me-
morial now has an important artefact
that tells Ern’s inspirational story of
survival and mateship.”
Acrossthecourtyard,agroupof18
soldiersarepractisingadrill.Nelson
calls them over and introduces them
toErn,theformerPOWandRatof
Tobruk. Each one eagerly approaches
the old man to shake his hand. It is
a moving moment. Young soldiers