FOLLOWING THE TRAIL OF AN ANZAC CYCLIST/RUNNER

In early 2017, the Groves family will be travelling to France to retrace the harrowing journey of our Grandfather, Private George Groves - 3118, 1st AIF. Some of the travel will be on bicycles, as Private George "Teddy" Groves was a Cyclist/Battalion Runner.

Teddy was chronically gassed in late August 1918 (we know the exact spot) but grimly survived the injuries that effectively ended his active service. For the remainder of his rich productive life (he died at age 92) he carried the beetroot coloured burn marks on his ankles and underarms, and had an incessant barking cough.

I loved being with my grandfather and would often travel up to help him garden. One day I worked up the courage to ask him about the war - and for the next 90 minutes I seemed to have channelled a 20 year old soldier, who spoke with a youthful voice, and told stories of great misery, compassion, humour, and love for his mates. This session was conducted on a "mate to mate" basis, and the man talking in front of me was not the usual urbane, articulate, polite gentleman that my Grandfather usually was. There also was a sense of fragility about him that I never saw before but now think I understand much better.

After having "softened up" Teddy for questioning my Aunty, with a PhD in Oral History, recorded a further 90 minutes of interviews with my grandfather, and some of these can be found on my "Le Tour de Teddy" Facebook page.

The theme of the tour is not so much to remember the heroes and the fallen, but to concentrate more on the many hundreds of thousands of our men and women, that returned from the war, all damaged in some way, yet stood again a few short years later to help Australia battle the Great Depression, many of them still fighting the yet unknown afflictions of Depression and PTSD.

Le Tour de Teddy is not about fundraising (any approaches will be directly relayed to Soldier On, and there is a direct link on the Facebook page) but is all about creating awareness of our "damaged diggers" of 100 years ago. Le Tour de Teddy, using Facebook attempts to engage with the younger generations, and does not attempt to take itself too seriously. My Grandfather wouldn't want it any other way.

I cheekily wrote to the Queen a year or so ago, after I found a letter from King George to my Grandfather (Thousands were sent to all those injured). I sent Her Majesty a copy of the letter and belatedly thanked the Palace on behalf of the family for the kind words. I then hit the Queen up for the use of one of her Range Rovers for the trip, and even offered to show her some slides of the journey when I dropped the keys off at the end of the trip.

It seems that the Queen was amused, and I got a response back from the Palace within 10 days. The response is also on the Facebook Page. I have also recently written the President of France asking if he will honour the Divisional Pass that my Grandfather kept, allowing him (and us) to "move around the Divisional area by day and night"

I also wrote to Prince Harry, asking for a photo of him wearing a "Soldier On" shirt and wearing the official Le Tour de Teddy Brodie helmet. I got the classiest knockback I have ever received in my life. (The Prince receives many requests for photos and it would be difficult for the Prince to single out one great cause over another)

There are more future tricks up my sleeve to keep the campaign interesting, but accompanying us on our journey will be a Sherrin "Le Tour de Teddy" AFL match ball, that will be kicked a ever opportunity around France. The thought being that those Australians laid to rest 100 years ago will recognise the unmistakable sound of a perfectly executed drop punt, and perhaps smile at the thought that fellow Australians are nearby.

Hopefully recognition of the trauma suffered so many years ago, will translate into greater interest in the superb work your organisation does. Congratulations and thanks for looking after our very special people.