Dimboola RSL

04/06/2026

Thousands of Victorians helped build the Shrine through public donations—and their original receipts remain preserved in the Crypt today.

14/05/2026

🇦🇺🕊️🌺LEST WE FORGET 🌺🕊️🇦🇺

Megan Pelly was twenty-two. It was her first day at sea. The ship was HMAS Westralia. The date was 5 May 1998.

She had grown up in Dalby, on the Darling Downs in Queensland. Her father Lyndon had served with the 2nd Field Engineers, Australian Army. Her aunt was Army. Her sister Kimberley was Army. The Pellys were green to the bone. Megan went Navy.

As a girl she followed her father onto his engineering jobs, asking endless questions and learning the name of every tool he handed her. She was fascinated by the mechanics of things. At Dalby State High she made the top five per cent and took the lunchtime tuition the school offered its brighter students. She graduated with High Achievement and Very High Achievement in chemistry and biological science, in the top ten per cent of Queensland graduates. She applied to the Australian Defence Force Academy as a Royal Australian Navy Engineer Midshipman. She was accepted.

In 1996, on leave from ADFA, she challenged her father to a tandem skydive. Lyndon Pelly was not so sure. They both survived. Megan told him life should be full of excitement and commitment.

In December 1997 she graduated. The Pellys came down from Dalby for the parade. The grin never left her face. The 'real' navy was about to begin.

Five months later she joined HMAS Westralia. On 5 May 1998 the ship sailed from Fleet Base West for a South East Asian deployment. At 10:35 that morning, a fuel hose burst in the main machinery space and the engine room caught fire. Megan Pelly helped lay out hoses to fight it. The smoke took her within five minutes.

Three others died with her. Able Seaman Phillip Carroll, Marine Technician, twenty-three, was closest to the exit when the fire erupted. He told the others to get out, then turned back into the smoke to look for missing colleagues. Petty Officer Shaun Smith, twenty-nine, the assistant engineer, went to the middle plates to fight the fire. He stayed behind to help others escape. Leading Seaman Bradley Meek, twenty-five, was working to evacuate his shipmates when the smoke took him. All three were posthumously awarded the Bravery Medal.

It was her first day at sea.

Lest we forget.

Rod Hutchings
Australian Peacekeeper and Peacemaker Veterans’ Association Ltd

28/04/2026

On this day, we honour the memory of the 21 Australian nurses who tragically lost their lives in the Bangka Island massacre of 1942. 🕊

Through the courage of soul survivor, Lieutenant Colonel Vivian Bullwinkel AO, the world came to know the truth of what happened and why these women must never be forgotten.

Today, we honour and pay tribute to their service, sacrifice and enduring legacy.

Learn more about their story ➡️ https://bit.ly/4r94ODs

📷: Australian War Memorial - group portrait of the nursing staff of 2/13th Australian General Hospital, 1941 - 1942

28/04/2026

27/04/2026

🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺

25/04/2026

I spoke about this tragedy at the Dimboola RSL ‘s ANZAC Service today

On this day, we honour the memory of the 21 Australian nurses who tragically lost their lives in the Bangka Island massacre of 1942. 🕊

Through the courage of soul survivor, Lieutenant Colonel Vivian Bullwinkel AO, the world came to know the truth of what happened and why these women must never be forgotten.

Today, we honour and pay tribute to their service, sacrifice and enduring legacy.

Learn more about their story ➡️ https://bit.ly/4r94ODs

📷: Australian War Memorial - group portrait of the nursing staff of 2/13th Australian General Hospital, 1941 - 1942