General News
14 November, 2025
Warrnambool remembers
THE wind howled but the sun shone bright on the large crowd that gathered at the Warrnambool RSL on Tuesday to pay their respects as part of Remembrance Day services across the district.
Despite heavy rain and hailstones earlier in the day, the weather broke just in time for generations to stop, remember and reflect.
While Remembrance Day in Warrnambool doesn’t quite attract the large crowd of Anzac Day, it remains an important one for many.
“We certainly don’t get the numbers here that we do on Anzac Day but we still always have quite a few hundred gather to pay their respects,” Warrnambool RSL president Richard Ridgwell said.
“It’s always lovely to see so many schools involved with days like today because that’s the future of these services.
“We thank the schools and students for taking part; it’s nice to see it is still encouraged and that stories and history continues to be told in our schools.
“Warrnambool RSL has about 300 service members and a further 3,000 or so social members so we’re really going quite strong. This (Remembrance Day) is another good day and we’re always happy to welcome guests.”
RSL member Colin Davies addressed the crowd, giving an enlightening talk on Australia’s involvement in many battles throughout the world wars, also highlighting the impact of the Kokoda campaign, Korea, Vietnam, and in more recent time conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and East Timor.
“Along with so many other peace keeping actions, your service will not be forgotten,” he said.
“While this (today’s speech) was never intended to be a military history lesson, it is a snapshot of Australians at war.
“This identifies the character of the Australians who served. The indomitable belief in the spirit of mateship, courage, self-reliance and the unbreakable bond between those who served.”
He reminded all at the service that “the seed of the Australian spirit was born through adversity.”
