Home > News and Events > 2018 > Exploring our Anzac history

26 April 2018

Exploring our Anzac history earned two students from the Archdiocese of Melbourne overseas study tours to take a deeper look at our wartime history.

Larissa Zanardo from Sacred Heart College, Geelong, recently returned from a trip to Darwin and Singapore as a recipient of this year’s Spirit of Anzac prize. Addressing the school’s Anzac assembly on Monday Larissa described her study tour as a ‘life changing experience’.  

‘Learning history is always intriguing, but when you are actually standing where men fought and looking at what they would have seen years ago, it’s a whole different experience’ Larissa said. ‘I can sincerely say that war never ends well for anyone, yet we must acknowledge and honour those who tried. Tried to and did make a difference for us all.’

Larissa also has a deeply personal connection to Australia’s war history, ‘My great-grandfather served for the whole duration of World War II and by being a part of this incredible tour I feel like I am honouring him and all the others who fought’.

As an overall state winner of the Simpson Prize, Sara Hinton from Ave Maria College, Aberfeldie, also won a trip to travel to Villeneuve in France where she will attend the Anzac Day Service and visit key World War I battlefields in France and Belgium.

In her winning essay, Sara quotes and refers to the Archbishop of Melbourne at the time of World War I, Dr Daniel Mannix – leader of the anti-conscription campaign. ‘Mannix honours the bravery of Australians in the campaign to win the war, however, believed the fighting needed to stop’.

Both prizes are open for entries:

The Spirit of Anzac Prize entries close 9 October 2018
The Simpson Prize entries close 9 November 2018.