ADDRESS TO 2/2 COMMANDO ASSOCIATION CEREMONY by Amelia Crossing - 16 November 2025

[Edward Willis]

Many thanks to the Association for giving me the opportunity to speak to you this afternoon.

I’m told that an address like this one is intended to give one person the chance to speak about his or her personal circumstances, in a way that is relevant to the men of the 2/2, and the East Timorese.

I am a 25-year-old recently graduated teacher.  Compared to most of the men of the 2/2 and all the East Timorese who helped them, I come from a life of real privilege.  I have not served in the military.

I want to speak about my family’s history as it relates to two things:

• First: The idea of selflessly doing things for someone else’s benefit; and
• Second: Following a calling or profession that serves the greater good, without its main focus being the making of money.

Where do I fit into this?  As some of you will know, my dad, Rob Crossing is in the 2/2 Commando Association, because his dad, his uncle and his Legatee, Archie Campbell, were all in the unit.

However, an important historical aspect of all of this starts with my great grandfather, Walter Crossing.  Walter Crossing was an amazing Australian war hero.  World War I began when he was 18 and studying to become a teacher.  He immediately put his studies on hold and joined the army.

On the ship on the way to Gallipoli, Walter, being a fairly strong-willed young man, argued with a sergeant about the withholding of food.  He was promptly court-martialled and found guilty.  Whereas a guilty person would ordinarily have been put in the stocks, those in command simply decided that this young trouble-maker would instead be put ashore at Gallipoli with the others.

Walter Crossing

Walter did indeed fight at Gallipoli, and was wounded, and he was fortunate to have been evacuated to a British hospital ship, which took him to Malta and then to Britain.

Before long, he had recovered, and he was very keen to once again serve King and country.  An opportunity arose for him to fight in an armoured car unit that became known as The Czar’s British Squadron, which was actually part of the Royal Navy.  He fought in Persia before the unit was sent to Russia, to help the king’s old mate, the Czar, in the Russian Revolution.

Long story short, he was a very gallant soldier and several promotions, and many medals came his way.  By the time he returned to Australia, the young troublemaker had been promoted to the rank of Captain, and he had received a long list of medals from the Brits and the Russians.

Most of you will know that John Burridge deals in military antiques, including medals.  As I list Walter Crossing’s medals, you will probably hear John salivating.  Walter was awarded a very impressive list of military honours:

• Distinguished Service Order
• Distinguished Service Cross
• 1914/15 Star
• General Service Medal
• North Persian Metal
• Victory Medal
• Order of St George
• Order of St Vladimir
• Order of St Anne (2nd Class)
• Order of St Stanislas (2nd Class)
• Order of St Anne (3rd Class)
• Order of St Stanislas (3rd Class)
• Mentioned in Dispatches

He received his DSO and DSC from King George V at Buckingham Palace on 15 May 1919.

Map of the Czar’s British Squadron campaign

I’m told that the Russian medals are all pretty special, and to receive so many of them is very rare.  One of them apparently came with a hereditary honour, but the Russian revolution put an end to that.

So, my still-young great grandfather, the one who was court-martialled on the way there, returns from the war as an officer and a big-time decorated hero.  I’m told he was a very humble man who spoke little of his military achievements.  Although I suspect that he had the smarts and character to be a big-wig, like a captain of industry or some kind of VIP, he finished his teaching qualifications and became a schoolmaster in a variety of rural posts in WA.

Not long after returning to Australia, he married Mabel, a nurse, and they had five children.  Walter began his teaching career as the sole teacher in a string of country schools.  The growing family moved from Carnarvon to Nanga Brook to Northampton, before moving to Armadale, which was still a country town at that time.  Therefore, my grandfather, Warwick, and his brother, Dick, had a mostly rural upbringing in a family that was loving but was never flush with funds.

Warwick was raised in a home in which the importance of fighting for King and country was made clear.  He was never keen on school and, at the end of grade 7, was allowed to move to Darkan to work in a shop run by an aunt. 

From all reports, young Warwick lacked self-esteem.  When the opportunity arose to join the 2/2, he lied about his age when he was only 16 and took on the role of a sniper in a commando squadron at the age of 17.  This was a chance to prove himself.

Warwick Crossing

His older brother, Dick, had joined the Navy.  It probably sounds like I’m making this up, but when Dick’s submarine stopped at East Timor in 1942, Dick deserted from the navy to find his brother, Warwick, which he did.  Dick was allowed to unofficially fight with the 2/2, and he stayed with them until they left Timor.  At the end of the war, he received an honourable discharge from both the Australian Army and Navy, the first time that had ever been done.

I certainly don’t want to gloss over the efforts and the sacrifices of the men of the 2/2, or the East Timorese who helped them.  We are here to pay tribute to all that they did, and I honour and respect every one of them.  However, I’m limited by time, and by the fact that I’m focussing on my family.

Going back to Walter Crossing, father of Warwick and Dick, by the time World War II came along, he was the headmaster of Como Primary School.  He decided that it wasn’t enough to have fought for Australia in the army and the navy (you will remember that the armoured cars were part of the Royal Navy), getting court-martialled and wounded along the way, so he … joined the Royal Air Force.  Of course he did!

In June 1941, he signed up as a reserve officer, was sent to Malaya and appointed Adjutant of Air Force Squadron at Lashio in Burma, with the rank of Flight Lieutenant.  Towards the end of the Burma campaign in 1942, he was not well.  Having lost some 22 kg in weight, he wasn’t permitted to return to the front, and was appointed Command Welfare Officer for the South East Command and was based in Calcutta with a rank of Squadron Leader.

His work was administrative and aimed at maintaining the good morale of our force throughout India and Calcutta.  He set up canteens at bases, mobile canteens for bomber and fighter stations, leave and rest centres and cinemas, and he arranged concert tours and radio programs.  For this work, Squadron Leader Crossing was Mentioned in Dispatches in 1945.

His health continued to deteriorate, and he returned to Australia in late 1944 and was discharged.

Dick (L) and Warwick Crossing

Resuming his career with the Education Department, first back at Como Primary, and then at Cannington, Walter Crossing was an outstanding principal.  In those days every teacher (including principals) was annually assessed and given a teaching mark out of 90.  For the last ten years of his career until his retirement in 1958, Walter Crossing enjoyed a mark of 89, which was the highest one could receive.  It might not sound like much, but nobody ever received 90, and to receive such a mark over this lengthy period was virtually unheard of.

Walter Crossing died in 1961, a few months after my dad was born.  My great grandfather was clearly a very clever man, a brave man, and a very talented man, and he devoted so much of his life to doing selfless things.

Another very selfless man, who was very relevant to my family, was Lt Archie Campbell, of the 2/2.  An A-Grade cricketer and WAFL footballer before the war, he was the Lieutenant in charge of 7 Section, and was devastated that almost all of his section was wiped out in the war crime that we call “the ration truck massacre”.

Archie Campbell

Archie played a very important role in my family in that, after my grandfather Warwick Crossing committed suicide in 1964, leaving his widow and five children, Archie stepped up to provide vital support, through Legacy.

When Warwick’s wife, Rona, died of leukaemia a few years later, my dad and his siblings went to live in Legacy’s orphanage in South Perth, Craig House.  With the families of Dad’s parents somewhat fractured by Warwick’s suicide, Archie became a constant male figure in the lives of the little Crossing children.

When Craig House was closed when my dad was about to enter grade 7, Archie arranged for the Crossings to go to boarding schools, Christ Church and St Mary’s, so that the kids didn’t become wards of the state.  He arranged with the schools for them to reduce their fees by a third, the kids’ pensions would pay a third, and Archie would pay the remaining third.

My dad went to Christ Church as a boarder for six years.  Things could have been so much worse for him had it not been for Archie.

Archie worked in administration at Ampol and he continued his involvement in sport, by being a commentator at the Commonwealth Games in 1962.  He was the Legatee of several other families as well, providing vital support to the families of deceased service personnel, over many years.

Moving away now from specific people, I want to conclude with some more general thoughts about selflessness.

We, as a society, tend to value high-profile, wealthy or famous people rather a lot.

You don’t have to be a doctor, a lawyer, a politician, a rock star, or a billionaire to make an important contribution to this world.

I’m not saying that the higher-profile types are bad, but I say we should value military personnel, teachers, nurses, police officers, fire-fighters, charity workers, childcare workers etc. much more highly than we do.  That was not intended to be an exhaustive list - you get what I mean.

America has copped quite a lot of flak in recent times.  No, I’m not going down that path.  One thing that Americans do better than we do is the habit of thanking military personnel.  I would like Australians to adopt the habit of saying, “I thank you for your service”, not just on ANZAC Day, but whenever the opportunity arises.

Going back to nurses, I tip my hat to my mother, Chris Longwill.  In addition to putting up with my father all these years and being a wonderful mother, she recently retired from a 41-year career as a nurse.  Huge thanks.

I want to conclude with a quote that’s usually attributed to John Templeton: 

“It’s nice to be important … but it’s more important to be nice”.

Thank you.