Two Illawarra students were due to leave for Europe on Saturday morning as part of the Premier’s Anzac Memorial Scholarship program.
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Thomas Mittwollen, from Bulli High School, and Tahlia Jackson, from The Illawarra Grammar School, will join 10 other students and two teachers from across the state in an all-expenses-paid, two-week pilgrimage to the Western Front in France and Belgium, and England.
For Thomas, it was his ancestry, love of history and desire to join the army that prompted him to apply for the scholarship.
‘‘My grandad is German and he was living in Germany during the Second World War,’’ he said.
‘‘He doesn’t talk about it too much...he’s only been back once for his dad’s funeral.’’
The 17-year-old’s grandfather did not like his decision to join the army after high school but his parents were supportive, he said.
At school, Thomas has immersed himself in the past, taking ancient history, modern history and history extension courses for the HSC, which he will sit next year.
‘‘I also know a bit about weaponry, tanks and guns,’’ he said.
‘‘Just by reading books [at home] and the internet...the Australian War Memorial site has pretty good stuff,’’ he said.
‘‘I did work experience at the Australian War Memorial. That was a really good week.
‘‘I did a different thing each day, education, events, military heraldry, galleries and archives.’’
He was thrilled at the chance to travel to Europe for the scholarship and visit sites like Mont Saint Quentin, which was a battle site during World War I.
Thomas said he would sit the aptitude test to join the army when he returned.
‘‘I was in the army cadets for about a year and a half; it’s like a military scouts,’’ he said.
‘‘I just hope...I don’t find out I’m colour blind or something.’’
Manager of awards and recognition in the Department of Education and Communities, Dr Checka MacLaurin, said it was harder each year to select recipients but their devotion to commemorating Anzac tradition was stunning.
As for Thomas, she said: ‘‘We’ve come across very few scholars who have such a varied ancestry and who have the maturity to appreciate the opportunity...in terms of looking at the world beyond allies’’.
