A local historian, who has spent 30 years researching the history of Lilydale RSL, has compiled his findings in a book commemorating 100 years of the Lilydale sub-branch.
Mt Evelyn RSL Secretary and Historian Anthony McAleer was commissioned by late Lilydale RSL president Don Parsons to compile the book as a way to commemorate the centenary milestone.
“It all started in the lead up to the club’s centenary, which was happening in 2019, they wanted to produce a history of the club seeing as 100 years is a significant event,” Mr McAleer said.
“We got a grant from Yarra Ranges Council that helped cover the cost of researching, writing and designing the book, and the RSL have funded the printing,” he said.
Titled ‘A Century of Service’, the book tells the story of the club, formed in early 1919 by World War I veterans at a meeting at Lilydale’s Athenaeum Hall.
“The RSL was formed by a group of WWI vets soon after they returned home. Ralphe Goode was the first man to enlist in the AIF from Lilydale in 1914, and when he returned in late 1918, he got together with a number of other veterans and formed the RSL, with their very first meeting being in the Athenaeum building in Lilydale,” Mr McAleer explained.
“The history is certainly a rollercoaster ride of highs and lows, it is really only still around because over the years hundreds of members have dedicated themselves to the values of the RSL and serving and looking after their mates, that’s all that’s kept it going over the years,” he said.
The book was launched on Sunday 11 April at the Athenaeum Theatre, in the presence of special guest Jaime Twidale, CEO of RSL Victoria. Later that afternoon the branch also unveil the new marble soldier on the top of the Lilydale War Memorial.
Following is a short history of the RSL contributed to this special launch edition of the Lilydale Star Mail by Mr McAleer –
The Lilydale RSL sub-branch was formed on January 15, 1919 at a meeting at the Athenaeum Building in Castella Street by a group of ex-service men only recently returned from the horrors of the First World War. Their focus was to provide mateship for returned men, to strive to get a ’fair deal’ for veterans and to look after the welfare of the sick and injured amongst them.
Although their immediate attention was to welcome home local servicemen returning from the war and to help create local war memorials, there was also the strong need to perpetuate Anzac Day and Armistice Day with special ceremonies, to ensure that the sacrifices of those who didn’t return would not be forgotten by the generations to follow.
In their early years members met in a number of places around the town until the Melba Park Hall was opened in 1927 and for the next few decades they shared this space with other community groups. It wouldn’t be until 1954 that they would have their own clubrooms for the first time when they bought a large weatherboard house in Main Street, where the Subaru dealership is today next to McDonalds.
By this stage the sub-branch had survived the Great Depression and had come through the Second World War, when many of its members went back into uniform to serve with the local Volunteer Defence Corps unit. At the same time they kept a watchful eye on the Italian enemy aliens living up at Silvan, at one stage even guarding the Silvan Dam fearing fifth columnists amongst them would poison the water.
By the end of the war years, men having served overseas and then returned home were beginning to join the sub-branch and they injected a new energy into the club, increasing its membership numbers dramatically. Their fund raising activities helped to purchase and renovate the house in Main Street that became their clubrooms.
They only stayed here for 14 years, a drop in membership and the high cost of maintenance forced them to sell the property to the Yarra Valley Motor Group in 1968. A few years later they bought their current home at 52 Anderson Street and altered the interior to turn it into clubrooms. Nearly two decades of neglect followed as membership, finances and the club’s reputation waned.
In 1989 Harry Smith became president and this became the start of the resurgence of the Lilydale RSL. He had a massive task ahead of him, but he was determined to turn the club’s fortunes and reputation around and they did that, fixing up the clubrooms and increasing membership and attendance at the Anzac Day services.
Just as things were starting to improve at the club, it all threatened to derail when there was a massive blow up between the president and the women’s auxiliary that culminated with the president and all the members walking out. It was only resolved when Bruce Ruxton disbanded the women’s auxiliary.
Over the next few decades the sub-branch went from strength to strength making vast improvements to the clubrooms and establishing strong links with the community at Lilydale. Their Anzac Day Dawn service grew to become the largest single event each year in the Lilydale calendar.
This year a new team was elected under the leadership of Bill Dobson, who are dedicated to taking the club forward in a positive way but also mindful of the extraordinary legacy of one hundred years of hard work, from hundreds of past members, that they have now inherited.
If you would like to know more about Lilydale’s fascinating history let us know at editor@mailcommunity.com.au
