Community
8 August, 2025
Wall shines a light on the fallen
EIGHTY years on from the end of WW2, the names of many service men and women buried in the Warrnambool Cemetery now adorn a special ‘Memorial Wall’ inside the local RSL.
The names of the fallen now take pride of place at Warrnambool RSL thanks to the efforts of a group of local members.
The wall not only lists the names of the former service personnel, but also their year of death and exactly where they are buried in the cemetery.
“It’s certainly been quite an interesting journey of discovery,” Ron Sproston said.
“We had three large windows here (at the RSL) that looked into the pokies and although they were covered with curtains I thought that would be an ideal place for a memorial wall to be established.
“Our interactive memorial outside has approximately 8,000 names on it and we are constantly adding to it but here we had an opportunity to also commemorate all those who had served in WW2 and are now buried in Warrnambool.
“It is fitting that now, 80 years on since the surrender, we can officially open this wall and invite the community to take a look.”
Incredibly, it took less than eight weeks to finalise the new wall thanks to the efforts of a small band of volunteers.
“While this may have been my idea originally, I have certainly had a lot of help in bringing this to life,” Ron said.
“My wife Carlyn has also done a power of work, along other members of our group who are in charge of memorabilia; it was a great team effort.”
The official unveiling of the World War 2 Memorial Wall will take place at the Warrnambool RSL on Sunday, August 24.
“We hope to see a large crowd at our official unveiling; not just local residents but also those representing community groups, service organisations, schools and others,” Ron said.
The day will also mark a celebration of the recent completion of the World War 2 service stories of all personnel from across the region, now available on the interactive memorial.
Visitors to the RSL will also be able to view the latest changes and additions to the interior wall displays.
The official program will begin at 3pm in the function room.
For more information phone Carlyn on 0458 597 941.
