Fair Treatment for Special Forces Soldiers

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A Remembrance Day of Sunshine and Reflection

---- We open most Fridays from 5 pm. Meals on the first Friday of the month however, The Hut access has been suspended until further notice due to construction works ---- 

Remembrance Day turned out to be warm and sunny - perfect for our outdoor commemorative service. It was also a great relief following weeks of intermittent rain.

Although the attendance was what I would call 'moderate', Friday of course is a workday, so many people who may have attended on a weekend weren't available at 10:30 am when our commemorative service commenced. A few people turned up shortly before 11 am.

Priest and currently serving Army chaplain, Mark Sexton again did an excellent job throwing in a couple of anecdotes based on military service. Our President, Trevor Klose was the Master of Ceremonies and similarly did a respectable job taking attendees through the order of service.

Several wreaths were laid and all of us who attended had time to reflect on those who served and made the ultimate sacrifice and thousands of others whose service we honour, including those now in the Australian Defence Force.

Preparing for ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day begins a few months ahead of the scheduled events and requires quite a lot of work from committee members. 

Close to the events, we're fortunate and most appreciative to have the help of Faith Lutheran College students to install our crosses. Each cross bears the name of one of our fellow Australians who died in service to our country and is placed in alphabetical order according to the theatre of war in which they served.

The photo above shows several students and their teacher supervised by our member Neville Jaeschke who volunteers to do this job twice per year. The teacher told us these year-eleven students are going to be college leaders in their final year at the college.

The finished job looks very impressive as you can see in this photograph.

In previous years we have invited people to have lunch at our Hut following the service but unfortunately, due to the construction work currently being undertaken in the Tanunda Recreation Park, it wasn't possible to do so this year.

By ANZAC Day 2023 we expect the construction work to have been completed and we'll be back to normal.

A Successful Remembrance Day Appeal

---- We open most Fridays from 5 pm. Meals on first Friday of month ---- Once again the generosity of our fellow Barossans and some visitors came to light during our Remembrance Day Appeal we held outside Foodland Tanunda.

Two lovely ladies agreed to pose

For those of us who volunteered at the memorabilia tables, it was a wintery experience as the front of Foodland is like a wind tunnel. But being the devoted and hardy souls we are, we beavered on and made a healthy amount for our sub-branch on behalf of those who serve and have served in the Australian Defence Force, their families, and our community.

We handed out 500 or more free poppies to young and old to wear on Friday, 11 November 22 or as often as they wish. I believe more will be available at the Tanunda Memorial Gardens where we hope we'll see you at 10:15 am for a 10:30 am commencement.

We were delighted to hear some parents telling their youngsters about the RSL and military and why we hold Remembrance Day.

As always, we are most grateful for the ongoing support we receive from our community.

As an afterthought, if you didn't get that badge, cap, mug or something from our memorabilia collection you really wanted, if you click on Military Shop link in the right hand column, you can visit their site to check out the vast array of militaria available.

Military Brotherhood Group Visits

---- We open most Fridays from 5 pm. Meals on first Friday of month ----

Our sub-branch was pleased to have a visit from a group of the Military Brotherhood Military Motorcycle Club (MBMMC) (Hills Murraylands Sub-Branch) members last Sunday.

Committee member, Marcus Beckett was approached by a member of the club and subsequently arranged this visit which included a barbecue and presentation from the group about its activities in helping veterans and their families with household chores. The club also has advocacy and counselling capacity.

The MBMMC is for serving and ex-serving members of the Australian Defence Force, Commonwealth and Allied forces, their families, friends and their supporter base. The MBMMC is open to both male and female members, whether service members or supporters and you don't have to own a motorcycle.

During the presentation, members, "Polly" and "Quey" told us that they are well equipped with resources including a log splitter and work tools they transport in a trailer so they can do helpful odd-jobs for people who need help with their home maintenance. This could include tree-trimming, gutter cleaning, wood stacking, and a variety of other jobs.

They work only on weekends and would attend Tanunda on maybe two occasions during the year as they travel to many other locations in South Australia where they provide similar support.

President Trevor suggested that before the team members attended Tanunda, we could canvass members to determine who needed help and what they required. 

You can read more about the MBMMC at the DVA site here or at the MBMMC site here.