Military History and Heritage Victoria Inc. president Colonel Marcus Fielding, has announced new events in Military History and Heritage Week (21-28 April 2012) for Ballarat.
Ballarat Ranger Military Museum. By special arrangement the Ballarat Ranger Museum will open its doors for one off tours of the museum on Tuesday 24th April from 11 AM (only) and Saturday 28th April from 11 am (only). Admission is gold coin donation. Following the tour, lunch can be had next door at the new Ballarat Golf Club.
The museum, named after the Ballarat Volunteer Rangers, a citizen volunteer unit formed in 1858, houses military artefacts and memorabilia from Ballarat and districts, dating from the 19th Century to the present 8th/7th Battalion. This is a real treat for anyone interested in both the development of the Volunteers and early Militia as well as the history of the citizen soldiers from the Ballarat district through to the current unit.
Tour guide will be Major Neil Leckie, RFD, (Ret’d) who has had over 34 years with the Infantry Corps. Neil is an avid military historian with publications to his credit including The Bushmen’s Rifles, a History of 22 RVR (1999) and Country Victoria’s Own: the history of the 8th/7th Battalion, The Royal Victoria Regiment (2008).
Ballarat Military History and Heritage Trail. A new Military History and Heritage Trail for Ballarat has been prepared for Military History and Heritage Week. The trail, can be followed on a ‘drive and walk’ basis with an annotated map obtained from Major Leckie at the Museum. So following the Museum tour visitors can visit the important military sites in Ballarat such as:
- Avenue of Honour
- Arch of Victory
- Victoria Park (used in WW2)
- National PoW Memorial in Lake Wendouree Gardens
- Legacy House
- Former R&SL Building (not now used by R&SL, but not yet sold)
- WW1 Cenotaph
- WW2 Memorial
- SE Asia Memorial
- NSAA Memorial
- Sir Albert Coates Statue
- Pompey Elliott Statue
- Dunstan VC Memorial
- Boer War Memorial
Colonel Fielding said: “It’s great to see this opportunity to see more of our regional military history and heritage in Victoria. We expect to announce other regional events shortly to add to the choices of events and activities available to mix during the Military History and Heritage Week, which starts with the MHHV Conference In the Shadow of War: Australia 1942 over 21-22 April.”
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