ANZAC Day in Logan 2025
ANZAC Day services will be held across the City of Logan on Friday, April 25, 2025. Logan City Council encourages the community to observe ANZAC Day, with dawn and morning services scheduled at many venues. Find all the locations and times here ANZAC Day services – Logan City Council.
From Loganlea labourer Herbert Pidd, to Cedar Creek brothers Dave and Bob Wilkie, and Beenleigh dairyman John Downs … there are so many stories to tell about those who served their country, past and present.
An extensive list of Logan locals including those mentioned above, who fought in World War I, along with their photographs and personal records, are listed on a great resource at Logan ANZACs on the Historypin website.
Another exceptional resource is the Black Diggers of Logan project, which commemorates the Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Australian South Sea Islander diggers who fought in World War I alongside their comrades, despite not being officially counted as people of their own nation.
In Black Diggers of Logan, you can explore the stories of 4 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander serviceman: Valentine Hare, Jack Pollard and the Watego brothers, George and Murray, through stories told by their descendants who live in Logan.
You can discover local stories about the Black Diggers of Logan on the Historypin website also. These 2 projects were made possible with funding by the Queensland ANZAC Centenary Grants Program. Find information about them here Black Diggers of Logan and Logan ANZACs – Logan City Council.
Present day Logan citizens forging their own stories into the future include couple Sergeant James O’Neill, who attended Marsden State High School, and Leading Aircraftwoman Jeanny O’Neill, who attended Loganlea State High School.
Both moved to Penang with their 2 daughters in tow for a three-year posting.
ABOVE: Royal Australian Air Force Leading Aircraft Woman Jeanny O’Neill, from No. 19 Squadron, and Sergeant James O’Neill, from Headquarters Integrated Area Defence System, at Royal Malaysian Air Force Base Butterworth in Penang, Malaysia. Photograph: CPL Jacob Joseph. Supplied by the Australian Department of Defence.
The husband and wife were high school sweethearts and, fortunately, were both posted to Malaysia at the same time with different units. Both units are based at Royal Malaysian Air Force Base Butterworth in Penang.
Sergeant O’Neill handles training and doctrine at Headquarters Integrated Area Defence System and Leading Aircraftwoman O’Neill is a personnel capability specialist at 19 Squadron.
The prospect of living and working in a different country was something Sergeant O’Neill aimed for his whole career. Now it’s an aspiration he has been able to share with his wife and children since they arrived in Penang 5 months ago.
‘This has been such an amazing experience so far and we’re very grateful,’ Leading Aircraftwoman O’Neill says.
Their day-to-day roles keep them on different sides of the sprawling air base, with Beef Rendang and Roti Canai on the menu when they can get away for lunch, and the chance to explore the country with their children on days off.
Headquarters Integrated Area Defence System is a multinational unit established in 1971 to coordinate air defence for Malaysia and Singapore.
About a dozen Australians work in combined headquarters, planning and supporting multinational exercises, such as Bersama Shield and Bersama Lima.
Across the runway, 19 Squadron supports exercises and deployments throughout Southeast Asia and ADF personnel at Butterworth.
In April 2025, a contingent of approximately 300 Australian Defence Force personnel, including HMAS Sydney and a RAAF C-27J Spartan aircraft deployed to Malaysia to conduct Exercise BERSAMA SHIELD 2025 (BS25).
BS25 is an annual training exercise conducted by nations of the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) – Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom.