A RARITY in Portland’s Anzac Day history, a local war hero will be honoured in two special tributes.
Lieutenant Keith Stirling Anderson CBE, MC was awarded the Military Cross in 1918 for conspicuous courage and devotion to duty on the Western Front.
His war heroism and later achievements as “father of the Port of Portland” will be detailed in the Anzac Day addresses by Portland RSL president Geoff White, at the dawn and main services.
The Military Cross will also be the centrepiece of Portland’s outstanding floral display at Memorial Park.
Mr White worked with “KS”, as Anderson was widely known, at the Portland Harbour Trust from 1955 until KS retired in 1961.
“KS was an absolute gentleman and a delight to work with,” Mr White said.
“He was a marvellous leader, running the project with military precision. His dedication was far beyond what was expected.
“He was also a man of extremely high moral principles. I feel privileged to honour him on Anzac Day and to finally shine a light on a local hero. It’s only the second time for us, as far as I’m aware.”
KS enlisted in 1915 and served at Gallipoli with the 22nd Australian Infantry Battalion. He was part of the secret evacuation of troops from the peninsula, the only successful Allied operation of the disastrous Gallipoli campaign.
In the following three years, he was gassed, wounded by machinegun, and almost died on the muddy battlefields of the Western Front.
His bravery knew no limits, his actions saving lives of fellow soldiers in France and Belgium. He was twice mentioned in dispatches and awarded the Military Cross in 1918, as the “war to end wars” was in its denouement, after four hellish years.
KS was not only a hero on the battlefield but a fighter in civilian life: for his beloved town and Western District. Against formidable odds that would have defeated most, he saw his lifelong dream realised: development of Portland’s all-weather, deepwater port which opened in 1960.
KS is rightly honoured as the “father of the Port”. Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, who greatly admired KS, said it was doubtful the development of the port would have happened without him.
In 1961, KS was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), the honour bestowed by the Queen at Buckingham Palace. As founding chairman of the Portland Harbour Trust from 1950 until 1961, KS worked up to 20 hours a day, seven days a week.
“Western Victoria and Portland owe a great deal to Keith Anderson,” Mr Fraser wrote in the foreword of Anderson’s book, A Port is Built. “His integrity is total, his commitment absolute.”
Named Portland’s citizen of the year in 1962, KS wore many hats throughout his long, energetic and eventful life: as a councillor in 1931, member of Glenelg Regional Planning Committee, chairman and managing director of the Portland butter factory, Rotarian, Mason, Portland RSL secretary, and deeply religious Presbyterian.
Never married, he lived in the family home Blainslie on Bentinck Street (site of the Richmond Henty Hotel). From his eyrie, he could see his beloved port.
KS died in Portland hospital on May 12, 1986, just four days after his 94th birthday, the last of the Gallipoli Anzacs from Portland to go. He said the effects of war wounds had finally beaten him. A long interview with him was published in the Portland Observer on Anzac Day, 1986 – 17 days before his death.
Before his funeral at the overflowing Scots Presbyterian church, the hearse carrying his coffin stopped briefly to overlook the harbour.
Keith Stirling Anderson was given a final glance of his masterwork, a legacy that changed Portland forever.
In honour of KS, this year’s main floral tribute on Anzac Day will be the Military Cross.
