OCCASIONAL DISPLAYS

From time to time, we set up a display of some of our memorabilia either within our Memorabilia Room or at an external location.

The Display at RSL page gives an idea of how our room is arranged for the in-house displays.

In addition, we sometimes arrange for an external exhibition. Currently, we plan to have a small display at the Eltham Library as a result of an arrangement between the MERSL and Nillumbik Shire Council. It is described on the Library display page.

Our current in-house display (see photos below) recalls the end of WW2 with a small display in the memorabilia room. This year (2025) marks the 80th anniversary of the surrender. The display shows some of the newspaper front-page articles which were published during the first days of August 1945. There is also a photo of the Surrender document signed by the Commander of the Japanese forces in SE Asia and accepted by the Commander of the Seventh Australian Division. Click on either photo to access a closer view of each , on a separate page.

The Japanese surrender was a moment of extraordinary and special relief, for the thousands of soldiers who had been kept Prisoners of War for three and a half years. One of those was Cpl Vin McColl who was stationed in Singapore with many others on that fateful day, now referred to as The Fall of Singapore.

After many years of silence and with much difficulty, one evening Vin recorded some of his experiences. His wife recorded them in the form of hastily written notes which have been transcribed below. Move the cursor over the document and click the small square at the top right of the document to open it in a new page for easier reading.