‘Thank you for your service’

Those five simple words mean so much, Will Lee, vice-president of Austinmer Thirroul RSL Sub Branch, tells Iris Huizinga

Heather and Will Lee, long time Thirroul locals, sit down with me to talk about their volunteering work for the RSL and the history of the well-known Thirroul war memorial. But first Will has to be interviewed by the ABC, and a cameraman sends a drone up. The stone digger overseeing the park stares ahead as the drone circles his slouch hat.

We are all here today because the obelisk at Austinmer was unveiled 100 years ago and the Thirroul Memorial quietly passed this milestone in 2020.

Heather and Will have been married for over 50 years. When I take their picture, they automatically hold hands. A smiling Heather (67) is the honorary secretary of the local RSL sub-branch, a “thankless” job according to Will (71), who is the vice president.

Birth of the stone soldier

Will: This memorial was raised by members of the public. The lady that collected the majority money, “Grannie” Riach, knocked on doors around the town. Keep in mind that money was really tight, the coal mines and railways used to go on strikes, during the war a lot of men were serving. But Grannie got the shillings together and gradually ended up collecting 183 pounds from all of her efforts. Without her, that memorial wouldn’t be there. Now, you would call her an entrepreneur. I don’t know what 183 pounds in 1916 would equate to in real money now. [roughly $21,000]

Austinmer Thirroul RSL sub branch

Heather: We run a monthly meeting with all the members: our mission is to make sure the veterans and their families are looked after.

If they need anything, then we can organise that through RSL Lifecare or DVA [Department of Veterans’ Affairs]. We keep an eye on them and check on them on a regular basis. My job is to make sure that they get all the information that comes out from RSL NSW. Other volunteers help sell badges to fundraise for Anzac Day and Remembrance Day.

Memorial upkeep

Heather: If you have a look at the bottom section [of the memorial], some of the mortar is leeching out. So all that has to be repaired and we’ve applied for a grant to get that done. Someone had climbed up the memorial once. They hung onto the gun to pull themselves up and broke the gun. It was all broken and there was blood on the ground. We have security cameras here now.

Will: Five years ago, we replaced all of the plaques on the Memorial wall with stainless steel ones, the old ones were all bronze. They were all falling off. The glues that they had in those days weren’t like the glues and the cements that you have in this day and age.

Anzac Day and Dawn Service

Will: There could be around 2000 people at the Austinmer memorial, about 250 at the Thirroul memorial. Austinmer has always been the big attraction, because you’re right on the beach and the beach is about the same size as Anzac Cove.

The sound system for Anzac Dawn service cost us $2000. We didn’t know where we were going to get that money from, but we were going to do it. Then Club Thirroul said: we can help you. So they are providing us with the sound system.

Heather: We all have our Austinmer Thirroul blazers and [the veterans] all have their medals on. They are not only wearing their medals on the left, they also wear their descendants’ medals on the right. So you might see quite a lot of people with medals on both sides of their jacket.

Why people should come to this memorial

Heather: Not only to remember what those people who died did for them, but also to remember the people who are serving now, to thank them for what they’re doing.

Will: Look in Ukraine, at what’s happening now. You come here any day of the week and it’s amazing the amount of people that just come and stare at the Memorial and at the wall.

I don’t know if they have relatives there, or they’re just looking at it and saying, thank you very much. If you see someone dressed in a uniform, walk up and say: thank you for your service. It means so much to them, it’s not funny. Just those five words.

Heather: [The stone digger] looks fabulous, he really does. He is just so distinctive ... he has been there all my life.