Welcome to the Montmorency Eltham RSL!

Montmorency Eltham RSL

14 hours ago

We remember them. Over the past 38 days, we remembered the men of the Eltham district who gave their lives in service.

Across this project, we have reflected on the lives of 38 men connected to Eltham and its surrounding communities. Farmers, clerks, tradesmen, sportsmen, husbands and sons, who answered their country’s call and did not return.

They served in the trenches of France and Belgium, on the shores of Gallipoli, in the deserts of North Africa, and in the jungles of New Guinea and Borneo. Some have known graves; others are remembered only by name on distant memorials. All were once part of this district, walking its roads, attending its schools, playing on its sporting fields, building its homes and businesses.

Through this research, the names inscribed on the Eltham cenotaph have once again become people, with families, ambitions and futures that were never realised. Their sacrifice shaped this community, and their memory remains part of its story.
Remembrance does not end with them.

In more recent conflicts, Australians have continued to serve and to fall. Lieutenant Marcus Case, killed in Afghanistan on 30 May 2011 when the Chinook helicopter he was aboard crashed during operations in Zabul Province, and Lance Corporal Andrew Jones, killed on the very same day in the Chora Valley, are among those who made the same ultimate sacrifice in our own generation.

Their names, like those before them, deserve to be known, not simply inscribed.
As we close this chapter of remembering, may it lead us to continue researching, recording and honouring all those from this district who have given their lives in war.

For every name on a memorial, there is a story worth telling, and worth remembering.

Thank you for all your support in remembering those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in preserving the way of life we continue to enjoy. ... See MoreSee Less

Montmorency Eltham RSL

22 hours ago

✨BANDS PLAYING IN MARCH 🎶

🎶Who Said What Band Saturday 7th March 8pm
Playing all our favourite 80's hits with some newies.
This is a free band night!

🎸Gary Eastwood and Joel Quinn 15th March 1pm - 4pm
Playing their classic afternoon session with acoustic style music.
This is a free event.

🎤Livin' Pink and Bon Jovi Experience Tribute Saturday 21st March
Playing a set of the best of PINK and BON JOVI Tribute.
This show has some great hits from the 80's, 90's and early 00's.

Doors open 6.30pm, show starts at 8pm.
🎟General Admission Tickets
$45pp Guests
$40 Members Price

This is a ticketed event.
Book through Try Booking or call us on (03) 9434 2085!
www.trybooking.com/DJJXQ

Meals available to purchase during all events at set times.
We hope to see you there! ... See MoreSee Less

Montmorency Eltham RSL

2 days ago

Over 38 days, we will honour each of the 38 men whose names are inscribed on the cenotaph at the Eltham War Memorial.

This evening, we remember VX144763 Private Kevin Francis Field, who was killed in action on 28 June 1945 on Bougainville.

Kevin Francis Field was born on 5 September 1917 at Kew, the son of William and Mary Field of Mayona Road, Montmorency. He was well known locally as a footballer with Montmorency, winning the 1940 Best and Fairest award. Like so many young men of the district, his life was rooted in family, sport and community before war intervened.

He enlisted at Heidelberg on 27 August 1940 and served with the 57/60th Battalion. After garrison duties in Australia, the battalion deployed to New Guinea in 1943, serving in defensive and engineering roles before fighting through the Markham and Ramu Valleys and the Finisterre Range. By late 1944, his unit was committed to Bougainville, where Australian forces had taken over operations from the Americans.

In early 1945, the 57/60th advanced in the southern sector of Bougainville along the Buin Road, crossing swollen rivers and pushing through dense jungle against determined Japanese resistance. In late June, during the advance toward the Mivo River, the battalion encountered fierce opposition, including artillery and counter-attacks at close quarters. It was during this grinding jungle advance, only weeks before the end of the war, that Kevin was killed in action on 28 June 1945.

The battalion was relieved just days later. For Kevin and his family, the war’s end was near, but not near enough.

This evening, we honour Private Kevin Francis Field, a footballer of Montmorency, a son of this district, and an infantry soldier who fell in the final campaigns of the Pacific War, his name now forever recorded among those of Eltham and Montmorency who did not return.

Lest we forget ... See MoreSee Less

Montmorency Eltham RSL

3 days ago

Over 38 days, we will honour each of the 38 men whose names are inscribed on the cenotaph at the Eltham War Memorial.

This evening, we remember VX37645 Private Jack Herbert Butherway, who died as a prisoner of war in Borneo on 8 July 1945.

Born on 20 November 1918 at Clifton Hill, by the early 1930s his family had settled in Falkiner Street, Eltham. Educated at Eltham High School, Jack became well known locally as a talented sportsman. He excelled at cricket, taking six wickets for nine runs as a teenager. Playing cricket and football against Theo Feldbauer who we remembered last Thursday, both young men from this district would later share the same tragic fate in Borneo.

Jack enlisted at Royal Park on 16 July 1940 and was posted to the 2/4th Field Workshop, Australian Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. Following the fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942, he was captured and later transported to Sandakan in north Borneo as part of “B Force.”

Conditions in the Sandakan camps were inhumane, and by early 1945, as Japanese positions collapsed, surviving prisoners were forced on the infamous Sandakan Death Marches into the jungle interior. Jack died on 8 July 1945 at Ranau No. 1 Jungle Camp, aged just 26. He was buried in a makeshift jungle cemetery.

Even before the war had ended, the people of Eltham had begun planning how to honour those who would not return. When the names of the Second World War fallen were later added to the original First World War obelisk on Main Road, Jack Butherway’s name was among them, linking his sacrifice to those of the earlier generation.

This evening, we honour Private Jack Herbert Butherway, a sportsman of Eltham, a son and brother, whose life was taken in the final, terrible months of the war, and whose name now stands permanently engraved among this district’s honoured dead.

Lest we forget ... See MoreSee Less

Montmorency Eltham RSL

4 days ago

Over 38 days, we will honour each of the 38 men whose names are inscribed on the cenotaph at the Eltham War Memorial.

This evening, we remember VX10044 Sapper George Ernest Castledine, the first soldier from the Shire of Eltham to give his life in the Second World War.

George Ernest Castledine was born on 18 May 1914 in Northampton, England, the son of Arthur Frederick and Annie Castledine. The family later settled at “Abington”, now known as Araluen, on Old Eltham Road, Lower Plenty. A blacksmith by trade, George was engaged to Miss Jean Simonson of Montmorency

He enlisted on 23 January 1940 and was posted to the 2/2nd Field Company, Royal Australian Engineers. Deployed to North Africa in 1940, the engineers played a crucial role supporting infantry assaults during the successful attacks on Bardia and Tobruk in January 1941.

In early April 1941, German forces launched a massive invasion of Greece. Australian, British and New Zealand troops were rushed north to defensive positions around the Florina Valley. The Allied line was steadily forced back by overwhelming mechanised forces and relentless air attack. On 18 April 1941, amid the fighting withdrawal southward, Sapper George Castledine was killed in action. He was twenty-six years old.

Nine days later, as the Allies evacuated the Greek mainland, a telegram arrived in Lower Plenty. Annie Castledine became the first mother in the district since the Great War to receive such news. The loss was deeply felt across Eltham and Lower Plenty, where George had grown to manhood and planned his future.

He is buried in Phaleron War Cemetery, Athens, Greece.

This evening, we honour Sapper George Ernest Castledine, whose life was given in the defence of Greece and whose sacrifice marked the beginning of this district’s losses in the Second World War.

Lest we forget ... See MoreSee Less

Montmorency Eltham RSL

5 days ago

Over 38 days, we will honour each of the 38 men whose names are inscribed on the cenotaph at the Eltham War Memorial.

This evening, we remember VX23112 Corporal Alfred Charles Clerke, who was killed in action at Laha, Ambon Island, on or before 2 February 1942.

Alfred Charles Clerke was born in London on 22 July 1906. By the mid-1930s he had made his life in Australia, working as a printer and settling in the Bridgelands Estate at Eltham. He enlisted at Heidelberg on 25 May 1940, aged 33, and after initial training he was posted to the 2/21st Battalion.

In December 1941, following the outbreak of war in the Pacific, the 2/21st Battalion sailed from Darwin to Ambon in the Dutch East Indies, tasked with strengthening the island’s defences.

In the early hours of 31 January 1942, Japanese forces launched a major assault on Ambon, landing in strength on multiple fronts. Outnumbered, without adequate air or naval support, and facing overwhelming firepower, the Allied defenders were steadily forced back. Around Laha Airfield, fierce fighting took place as Australian troops attempted to hold their ground. Within days, organised resistance collapsed.

Following the surrender, approximately 300 Australian and Dutch prisoners were taken to Laha. In one of the most brutal atrocities committed against Australian troops in the Second World War, many of these men were systematically executed by Japanese forces on 2 February 1942. Corporal Clerke was reported missing at the time; after the war his fate was officially confirmed as killed in action on or before that date. He was thirty-five years old.

Alfred has no known grave and is commemorated on the Ambon Memorial at Ambon War Cemetery, Indonesia.

This evening, we honour Corporal Alfred Charles Clerke who stood his ground in the defence of Ambon and whose life was taken in one of the darkest episodes of the Pacific War. His name endures among those of Eltham who paid the ultimate price.

Lest we forget ... See MoreSee Less

Montmorency Eltham RSL

6 days ago

Over 38 days, we will honour each of the 38 men whose names are inscribed on the cenotaph at the Eltham War Memorial.

This evening, we remember VX51733 Sergeant Theodore Albert Feldbauer, known simply as “Curly,” a local sportsman and family man who died as a prisoner of war in Borneo.

Theodore Albert Feldbauer was born on 15 October 1909 in Melbourne, and before he was twenty, he was a well-known figure living and working in the Eltham district.

He enlisted on 14 June 1940 joining the 2/10th Ordnance Workshops. In February 1942, following the fall of Singapore, he was among the thousands of Australians captured by the Japanese. For months his family did not know his fate. Eventually word came that he was a prisoner of war.

In July 1942 he was transported from Changi to Sandakan in north Borneo as part of “B Force.” Conditions in the Sandakan camps were brutal, with disease, starvation, forced labour, and systematic neglect. By early 1945, as Allied forces advanced, the remaining prisoners were forced on what became known as the Sandakan Death Marches. Of the more than two thousand Australian prisoners held there, only six survived.

Sergeant Feldbauer died on 27 March 1945 at Sandakan No. 1 Camp. The Japanese recorded malaria as the cause of death. He was thirty-five years old. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Labuan Memorial in Malaysia.

On the very day of his death, a public meeting was held in Eltham to begin planning for what would become the Eltham War Memorial Baby Health Centre. Years later, his young son Albert turned the first sod for that building which stands to the rear of where the Eltham cenotaph is now located.

This evening, we honour the service and sacrifice of VX51733 Sergeant Theodore Albert Feldbauer, a man whose life was taken in one of the darkest chapters of the Pacific War.

Lest we forget ... See MoreSee Less

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