ELTHAM LIBRARY DISPLAY

The Nillumbik Shire Council approached the MERSL with a suggestion of a small memorabilia display in a glass cabinet beneath the Roll of Honour which has been located on a wall in the library since June 2023 (see a photo and explanation on the Previous Activities page). The Council generously offered to purchased the cabinet and we will have a small number of items on display there, with changes to the collection occurring before Anzac Day and Remembrance Day.

The current display includes the following items (click each photo to see larger pic), each of which have a connection to a soldier in WW2:

1) Staff Sgt Howard Locke

Howard enlisted for service in Adelaide during 1940. In early 1941 he undertook further training in South Melbourne, Balcombe and Puckapunyal. Later that year he traveled overseas to serve in Singapore working as a motor mechanic. Unfortunately, he was there when Singapore was taken by the Japanese forces and he spent the next three and a half years as a Prisoner of War.

His grandson (a local Montmorency-Eltham resident) had many of Howard's wartime memorabilia for some time and eventually handed the collection to the Montmorency-Eltham RSL.

6) Small Photo Album

The pocket-sized photo album is thought to be a reminder of home that Sgt Locke had while he was overseas.