This year the King Island RSL sub-branch, on behalf of the community, is honoured to welcome seven serving members of the Royal Australian Navy and a retired Naval Chaplain to our Anzac Day Services.
One of the sailors along with his younger brother, who is an Army veteran, are descendants of a King Island Soldier Settler family. Regardless of the weather, both Services will be held at the Cenotaph with some seating available. These Services are for the community and visitors to the island you are most welcome to attend.
Live streaming is being arranged for our senior citizens in the Netherby Home. THE Dawn Service will commence at 6am and we will be honouring the many who made the ultimate sacrifice during World War I, through poetry.
Our first guest speaker will recall a World War II King Island soldier who had a dislike for authority, but always put his mates and country first. The RSL Clubrooms will open at 6.30am for the traditional ‘coffee’. With the generous support of Currie businesses and the King Island Club, the buffet breakfast will be available from 7am until 7.30am. Please note that you can stay in the King Island Club for as long as you want to, and will not be evicted at 7.30am.
The cost is a modest $10 per person but, to help families, the fee for two adults and two children under 10 is $25. Please pay by cash at the PO & Newsagency by Tuesday, April 23 as there will be no door sales at the club. The proceeds will be shared between the RSL and the King Island Hospital Auxiliary – both very good causes.
The major change for 2024 is that the morning parade will commence on Meech Street, alongside the Police Station at 10.20am. The reason for this change is due to dwindling numbers of veterans marching, coupled with a fewer number of members able to assist with the logistics in the set-up for the Anzac Day March.
As we do not have the use of the ex-Army Landrover, we are not able to transport young children. Children are still most welcome to bring their Anzac Bears to the service.
John Bennett, an Army veteran, has volunteered to marshal the parade and will issue our memorial banners to the seven students. Please assemble in the War Memorial Park at the rear of the Library from 10am onwards. We request that all vehicles be parked in Meech Street to keep the access way alongside the Police Station clear for the march.
The Order of March will be the drummers, combined RAN and student team, veterans, Soldier Settler Association members, Emergency Services and the Pony Club.
The parade will step off under the command of Leading Seaman Ryan Attwood, left turn into Meech Street and fall out adjacent to the Cenotaph. THE main service will commence at 10.30am, so please arrive 10 minutes earlier.
Our Master of Ceremonies is King Island District High School’s Student Representative Council president Rhys Esguerra. We will continue with our poetry theme with the story of the KI Guy, written by a King Island soldier in the dark days of 1942.
We will then welcome our guest speaker who will talk about an Islander who spent four years as a prisoner of war, survived and continued to serve his community.
Community organisations and individuals are most welcome to lay wreaths. Please let our Secretary, Margaret Stansfield, know the name of the wreath layer and organisation by April 22, so it can be coordinated.
Margaret can be contacted on 0429 646 211.
Since 1919 your RSL Sub branch remains resolute in our commitment to Service, Unity and Remembrance. We will always honour and assist those who have served their nation in operations and peace, and the families who supported them.
Light refreshments will be available in the RSL clubrooms after the service, so please come along and welcome the Navy team who have paid their own way to be with us.
If you are a teen interested in joining the Defence Force, this is your chance to talk to a serving member. There will be no glossy recruiting brochures, just real people.
The Anzac Day tradition of legal two-up is set to go in the King Island Club from 1.30pm until the start of the football match at 2.30pm.
Please support our RSL Sub branch stall on Wednesday 24 April, in the Post Office foyer between 10 am and 2 pm. This is the Sub-branch main fundraiser which allows us to do the work we do.
If you would like to donate a plate of food for the Dawn Service or main service, you are most welcome to do so. A CLOSING note. There appears to be some confusion about the location of the RSL Clubrooms and the King Island Club.
The RSL is located alongside the Library in Meech St and the King Island Club is in Netherby Rd, opposite the petrol station.