ROSEMARY Cameron was one of the luckiest girls in Hamilton on February 26, 1954, when she experienced the privilege of a lifetime and met Her Majesty, The Queen, Elizabeth II, and His Royal Highness, The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip.

But in fact, it was Mrs Cameron’s father, the highly decorated ANZAC, Major Augustus J. Oates, DSO, MC, ED, MID, from Cavendish, who had been selected to welcome The Queen and The Duke upon their arrival at Kanawalla Airfield.

However, Major Oates deferred the great honour instead to his youngest daughter Rosemary, then aged eight, to present a bouquet to Her Majesty and perform a curtsey before The Royal couple.

“Dad chose me to represent him instead,” Mrs Cameron said.

“I was well aware of what a great honour it was.

“I can remember going up onto the dais and curtseying, and The Queen said, ‘thank you Rosemary’.

“It was just lovely - it was very formal, and quick.

“The Duke also smiled and said thank you.”

Mrs Cameron recalls the bouquet was mostly roses, with a lilium in the centre and tiny white flowers, possibly stephanotis, and almost certainly made by Hughan’s florist on Gray Street, Hamilton.

She said it was because of her father’s distinguished war service that he had been selected to be presented to The Queen at the airport.

“Dad joined the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and served with the Seventh Battalion in World War I and served at Gallipoli during its entire campaign from the historical landing to the great evacuation at the end,” Mrs Cameron said.

“He also served at Helles, Steele’s and Quinn’s Posts, and was part of the capture of Lone Pine.”

Captain Oates then joined the Battle of the Somme and saw action at Serapeum, Egypt - and Pozières in France, for which he received the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) at Buckingham Palace in 1916, from Queen Mary.

The recommendation for his DSO dated August 2, 1916, reads as follows; with revolver fire, Captain Oates held the enemy at bay in the trench while our assaulting party erected a barricade in rear across a traverse in the enemy trench. He was then under heavy bomb and rifle fire. Later on, during the same attack, Captain Oates on several occasions, held the enemy at bay with revolver fire enabling our wounded to be removed. Captain Oates, by his skill and bravery, not only held the enemy in check and by judiciously thinning out his men, saved many casualties, but also organised and led bombing assaults, drove the enemy back along the trench and built barricades. He was engaged in this dangerous duty from 3am on July 25, 2016, until 5am on July 26, 2016, during which period, until the arrival of Lieutenant Harris, (Oates) was the only officer in that portion of the trench - by his cheerfulness and skill he undoubtedly enabled the position to be maintained.

 In 1918 Captain Oates joined the Indian Army and was deployed to India, following which he was decorated with the Military Cross by the Prince of Wales for carrying out a fierce attack that lasted for 16 hours at the Khyber Pass, Afghanistan.

Mrs Cameron said her father returned to Australia in 1919 with six other Indian officers and was settled by the AIF at Englefield near Balmoral, by which time, he had been promoted to Major.

“Dad then bought Hyde Park, at Gatum, initially with his brother, before buying his brother out,” she said.

“Although he didn’t serve overseas in the Second World War, he was deployed to the Victorian Army Barracks as a Training officer and Mum had to run Hyde Park single-handedly.”

Mrs Cameron said there was great excitement throughout the district in 1954 when it was announced The Queen and Prince Philip were coming to Hamilton, and fondly recalls the anticipation building the closer the day drew near.

“I had to have a special dress made and I had to practise curtseying - my Mum taught me,” she said. 

“I think it was Miss Cleland that made my dress - she lived across the road from Hamilton College.”

Mrs Cameron said there was a lot of people at the Airfield that day.

She recalls the plane flying in from Mount Gambier with the Royals onboard and landing in Hamilton.

“There’s footage that shows me standing on the dais with The Queen and then me skipping back to Mum and Dad,” she said.

“They (The Queen and Prince Philip) then flew onto Melbourne; I think they went on to Flemington.

“What they crammed into a day - that poor girl (The Queen).”

Mrs Cameron said the Cavendish ladies had done a lot of work with the flowers for the day and there was a wall of flowers around the dais.

“The flowers were unbelievable,” she said.

“I remember there were a lot of delphiniums and ‘gladdies’ - it was absolutely beautiful.”

Hamilton was the first major regional centre in Victoria to be visited by The Queen and Prince Philip on their Royal tour of the Commonwealth.

Royal fever had indeed gripped Hamilton, with thousands of people descending upon the town, including at least 13,000 children who were all packed into Melville Oval to greet Her Majesty and Prince Philip.

The Royal visit also coincided with another event, the ‘Back to Hamilton’ celebrations, with thousands of former residents flocking to the city.

The Herald Sun ran a story at the time with the title ‘Excited Hamilton awaits Q-Day’ and reported that every building in Hamilton was adorned with decorations and flags.

The story had an accompanying photo of Mrs Cameron and another little girl – who was also bestowed with the honour of presenting The Queen with a bouquet at Melville Oval – Legacy ward, Jennifer Biggs.

Miss Biggs was the daughter of Mrs J.E. Biggs and the late Mr Biggs.

Shire of Dundas president, Harry Bull, greeted The Queen and Duke as they alighted the aircraft, and he accompanied them during their short visit to the town.

Mrs Cameron was fortunate to see Her Majesty again three years later when she travelled with her family to the United Kingdom in 1957.

“I had my eleventh birthday in London,” she said.

“Dad and I saw her at the Trooping the Colour – we saw her riding side saddle.

“Dad was able to secure great seats for us, and my Mum and my older sister got tickets to go to the garden party at Buckingham Palace and they got to meet The Queen.

“I recall that they (mother and sister) went shopping and bought beautiful new dresses, hats and gloves, and they also went and had their hair done. 

“My sister was 15 years older than me – Helen – and she is still with me and resides in a retirement home in Canterbury.”

Mrs Cameron is hopeful about the next chapter for the Royal family and recognises the big shoes that will need to be filled now that Her Majesty The Queen, Elizabeth II, has passed away.

“I think the younger Royals will do a good job,” she said.