Perth Voice Interactive

THE ANZAC Cottage in Mt Hawthorn has celebrated its 99th birthday.

Originally built as a memorial to those who died at the landing at Gallipoli on April 25, 1915 it now serves as a salient reminder of soldiers who also died in subsequent conflicts.

In February 1916, 4000 turned out to witness 200 workers construct the Mt Hawthorn cottage in one day.

At the time, no soldier had been selected to live there: Private John Porter was the lucky one.

“He was wounded on the 25th of April, 1915 and he was in the 11th battalion, one of the first groups of soldiers to hit the beaches in the first wave,” says local historian Valerie Everett, a member of the Friends of ANZAC Cottage.

Twelve months later Porter was back in Perth, living in the small house.

Marjorie Williams, Porter’s daughter, was born in the cottage 99 years ago and is still going strong.

She came down to the cottage to join in the celebrations and cut the birthday cake.

The property was handed over to the Vietnam veterans in the early 1990s and, through voluntary work and fundraising, they have painstakingly restored it as a heritage gem.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK