Dianne Murphy picked up a useful skill during the first Covid lockdown and now her mastery is on show at every significant war time remembrance.
Dianne Murphy made four of the wreaths laid at both the Remembrance Sunday ceremony and on Armistice Day itself. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
She makes wreaths from the rosemary in her garden – wrapping the cuttings around cane frames and then adding poppies.
They held centre stage at the low-key Armistice Day service at 11am on November 11 itself and also the day before at the Remembrance Sunday ceremony and earlier in the month for the Le Quesnoy commemorations.
Lest we forget: Members of the Cambridge RSA at the Armistice Day ceremony, from left: Dave Reid, Joe Fraser, Pete Lang, Bob Elliston and Bill McMillan. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
Murphy, who describes herself as “half Australian” from her father’s side, uses rosemary because it has become a traditional symbol of remembrance in Australia.
It grows wild on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey and in the 1980s, cuttings of plants from Gallipoli were planted in nurseries throughout Australia to support Avenues of Honour.
RSA president Tony Hill and Cambridge Community Board chair Jo Davies-Colley laid one shortly after 11am on Monday while Christine Barbour and Heather Wellington lay a floral display on behalf of the Cambridge-Le Quesnoy Friendship Association.
Armistice Day commemorates the ending of World War 1 at 11am, on the 11th day of the 11th month.
Cambridge RSA president Tony Hill, left, with Community Board chair Jo Davies-Colley walk to the Cenotaph to lay the wreath with members of the RSA and supporters behind them. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
Cambridge RSA president Tony Hill, left, with Community Board chair Jo Davies-Colley and behind them members of the RSA and supporters. Photo: Mary Anne Gill.
