Bungendore grazier Bruce Hyles is not a man who takes his existence for granted.
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The 85-year-old is the son of Walter Hyles, a World War I Digger and property owner, who was honoured at a special ceremony at the Headquarters Joint Operations Command on Thursday afternoon when the sports field at the General John Baker Complex was named after him.
Bruce Hyles, one of a number of members of the Hyles family who attended the ceremony, said it was remarkable his father, who once owned the land on which the centre stands, had survived the war.
''My father did not talk much about the war but I can recall three incidents he told us about,'' he said.
These included an occasion when a shell landed next to him but did not explode and another time when he had been hauling ammunition to the front lines.
''He was walking between the two horses for safety and a shell exploded and cut the back leg off one horse. What happened next? I don't know.''
Mr Hyles said while the two lucky escapes (to which he owes his own existence) had bordered on the miraculous, the third incident had been ''spooky''.
''His brother, Wallis, was also in France serving with a different unit. One night, as two columns of soldiers were marching past each other in the total dark, Wallis called out, 'Are you there, Roy?' Somehow he had sensed his brother's presence.''
Mr Hyles, a driver with the 3rd Battery, 1st Division, 1st Brigade, was 23 when he signed up and sailed for Europe in September 1915.
Bruce Hyles recalls that his father was a very keen sportsman and said he would have been ''chuffed'' to know the sportsground had been named after him. ''He not only built a tennis court at Woodlands [the family property], he also designed and built a nine-hole golf course and would travel to Sydney for shooting competitions.''
Mr Hyles has vivid memories of the land on which the sportsground stands.
''I grew and harvested grain in this field and I am forever grateful to my father for helping me to sew the hundreds of wheat bags.''
Asked why a picture of his father hard at work in the field showed him wearing a tie, Mr Hyles said they had always done that when they were out working. ''It was the way we were brought up.''
Commander Joint Operations Lieutenant-General Ash Power described the decision to name the sports field after Mr Hyles as fitting.
''Roy Hyles was a quiet man who was strongly connected to his community,'' he said. ''His service to his country, his involvement in sport and numerous sporting clubs, his devotion to his family and the building of a significant farming estate serves as a reminder to us all how humble people can leave a legacy that future generations will not regret.''
HQJOC is the nerve centre for the planning of Australian military operations around the world. It employs about 400 people who keep it open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.