Gerringong RSL members and official guests gathered last Friday for an afternoon tea to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the official opening of their Soldiers’ Memorial Hall in Fern Street.

The RSL sub-branch had planned a bigger celebration to rival the original opening festivities on November 19, 1921, but COVID-19 foiled these plans.

“We were going to have a book launch as well on this anniversary,” says Wesley Hindmarsh, “but because of COVID we had to put those plans on hold for 12 months.”

The book, by noted Nowra historian Robyn Florance OAM, recalls in pictures and words stories from the Boer War right through to modern campaigns. It will now be launched next November.

“People say the Soldiers’ Memorial Hall is iconic, which is often an overused word,” says Kim Bailey, whose grandfather D.E. Bailey has his name on one of the foundation stones.

“But truly, this Hall is iconic.”

Kim Bailey, Wesley Hindmarsh and Michael O'Leary from the Gerringong RSL sub-branch

Built on land donated by the Noble family, the Hall was designed by Varney Parkes, son of Sir Henry Parkes, the Member for Kiama who was an early NSW Premier, and is often referred to as the ‘Father of Federation.’

Varney, who regularly holidayed in Gerringong, designed and oversaw construction of the building for free as he claimed it was “a privilege to design Memorials to the splendid men who had proved themselves the bone and sinew of our country.”

The Hall, which originally cost just over 1,000 pounds to build, was the result of great generosity from the Gerringong community and hard work by the Repatriation Committee of Gerringong which started in 1915.

Gerringong sent 64 volunteers to the Great War.

The simple yet ornate design of the building sees on the front left a marble tablet containing the names of 50 local men who enlisted and returned and on the right is another tablet bearing the name of the 14 men who “made the supreme sacrifice”.

After the Hall was built it was handed to Gerringong Council. The RSL formed a sub-branch in Gerringong in 1937, and the sub-branch bought the hall from Council in 1945.

While the Hall is a Memorial to the past, it remains an active community centre for the present and into the future.

“We have monthly RSL meetings, the Historical Society have used it for the past four years, the Gerringong Branch of the Australia Red Cross hold meetings here, the Gerringong Ballet and Dance use it a couple of nights a week, and another lady does Boogie Bounce. We are keen to see it used more, as the money goes towards defence services,” says Michael O’Leary, sub-branch President.