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.

Remembrance Day Memorabilia Special - Order Now

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

The Military Shop has a range of new and exciting memorabilia of all sorts, badges, key chains, pens, bucket hats, umbrellas ... you name it, they have it.

You can get yours mailed to you today by clicking here or you can visit one of our kiosks outside Foodland Tanunda on Wednesday, 2 Nov 22 (the day after the Melbourne Cup) and Thursday, 3 November 33.

We'll have a wide variety of memorabilia available at our kiosk, but you'll find much more at the Military Shop.

The writer has just ordered three of the "Family of Veteran" badges for his son, daughter, and grandson to wear on 11 November every year.

Yes, they last forever. Buy once, you never have to buy again but there are always new and attractive additions to the Military Shop's collection.

For example, look at the product below. It's an example of a new range of poppy badges that has the campaign medal colours for all wars in which our heroes have fought. This one is the Vietnam War poppy.

Anything you buy from the Military Shop benefits our sub-branch as we earn a commission.

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.

ANZAC Day 2022 Went Well

 ANZAC Day at Tanunda went well.

Given that Monday was a public holiday during school holidays, we had an enormous turn-up at both the Dawn Service and the late morning Service after our march from the Tanunda Post Office to the Soldiers' Memorial Hall.

The highlight of the Dawn Service was perhaps an address delivered by a senior school student (image at left) from the local Faith Lutheran College. Given the age of the young man, his presentation was flawless, the content emotive and inspiring, and he didn't appear to be the slightest nervous.

After the Dawn Service, we held a Gunfire Breakfast that many people attended. Our bar volunteers served beer including large amounts of Coopers stout, a beverage that doesn't usually sell well during the rest of the year. 

Small amounts of Beenleigh rum made its way into coffee, a tradition on this special day.

The Gunfire Breakfast was also attended by a contingent of RAAF serving members who had participated as a catafalque party (you can see several in the image above) or supported them. 

Here they are outside our Hut. Those with weapons are obviously part of the catafalque party.

We appreciate and thank them for their service and hope that they will never be called upon to sacrifice their lives for their fellow Australians as many others have throughout the short history of our country.

We are so fortunate to live in a relatively free democracy with a decent standard of living and sound governance.

However, as the motto of the RSL states, "The Price of Freedom is Eternal Vigilance" which includes having a combat-ready defence force if we need it.

Lest We Forget

 "They shall grow not old,

as we that are left grow old;

Age shall not weary them,

nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun

and in the morning

We will remember them."

The Ode of Remembrance has been recited to commemorate wartime service and sacrifice since 1921.

The Ode is the 4th stanza of the poem For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon. The poem was first published in the British newspaper The Times on 21 September 1914. The poem later appeared in many anthologies of war verse.

In 1919, Binyon’s poem was selected to accompany the unveiling of the London Cenotaph and was adopted as a memorial tradition by many Commonwealth nations. The poem was read at the laying of the Inauguration Stone at the Australian War Memorial in 1929.

Acknowledgement: The Department of Veterans Affairs.