Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

on indulgence—Late last week, one of the last surviving Australians who served in the Battle of Crete, Les Cook, passed away at the age of 103. Les was a devoted husband and a tremendously proud father, grandfather and great-grandfather. He was, indeed, a great Australian and, characteristic of members of that greatest generation, a man of extraordinary humility. Les was only 16 when he first attempted to join up, in 1939. He succeeded at his second attempt, in 1940, enlisting side by side with his father, a veteran of the First World War. Both men had to lie about their age. As Les recalled, 'He put his age down four years, and I put mine up four.' Les was sent to North Africa before serving in Greece, Crete and Syria. He was then deployed in the Pacific, serving on the Kokoda Track in Borneo and then in Japan as a member of the occupying force until 1947.

Les would be familiar to many Canberrans and to many members of this place as a fixture of commemorations at the Australian War Memorial. I had the honour of meeting him at the dawn service in 2023, when he, of course, was 100 years of age, where he led the Anzac Day march here—at the spritely age of 100. He was just a delightful gentleman, and it was a great honour for me to meet him.

He often said he was embarrassed by all the attention, but he felt a sense of personal responsibility to be there to honour the memory of those who had already marched into history and to help young Australians remember the men and women who had served for who they were. In his words: 'We weren't soldiers; we were heavily armed civilians. We were just ordinary people.' He was anything but ordinary, and that is the powerful truth at the heart of the Anzac legend: ordinary people demonstrating extraordinary bravery, Australians who left behind their families, communities and jobs knowing the danger that awaited because, in Les's words, 'it was the thing to do'. In honouring Les Cook today, we remember all who served and all who serve our nation still. Lest we forget.

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