Western Sydney Historical Truck Club

The Putty Road Truck Drivers Memorial - 17 May 2014

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The third Saturday in May every year is earmarked by the families, friends and transport fraternity to remember those truck drivers who lost their lives along the infamous Putty Road while doing their job as professional drivers. This year marks the fifth year that the memorial service has been held at the Garry E Miller Park at Milbrodale, 27 kms south of Singleton. It is always a sombre occasion and tears are shed by those gathered as they remember their missing mates, husbands, fathers, brothers, sons.

The service kicked off with the usual introduction and welcome. This was followed with a couple of ballads, speeches and prayers.

The guest speaker was Kelly Dickson, storyteller, poet and song writer to Slim Dusty. Kelly gave a very passionate speech about the unfairness and thoughtlessness of regulations imposed on the transport industry, by the       bureaucrats in government.

John “The Ferret” Moran, patron of the Putty Road Memorial sent his apologies but had sent a special poem just for the day, which was read out in his absence. What was     supposed to be a short poem, told of John’s journey from Sydney to Brisbane in minute detail. It was wonderful story.

Today’s memorial service was the second one I have attended. It was similar to the previous and yet different. This time there were several vintage trucks parked silently side by side in a guard of honour. And at the end of the service, some of them raised their voices quite loudly in a chorus of horns blasting across the valley...a moving tribute to the truck drivers no longer with us.