General News
11 July, 2025
Commemorative Anzac Day crosses to return to local families next month
Over 800 names, over 800 crosses, representing more than a century of local veterans will be passed on to the community early next month.
After years in storage the Maryborough RSL sub branch will be welcoming the community on the first weekend of August to collect their relative’s traditional white cross for a donation.
The sub branch has maintained the solemn legacy of the 800-odd crosses for decades — a mainstay of local Anzac Day commemorations until recent years.
Around five years ago the local RSL sub branch made the difficult decision to stop putting the crosses out for Anzac Day, instead replacing them with woollen poppies.
The organisation’s president Roy ‘Shady’ Lane said early August would be a solemn occasion, allowing the community to collect their relatives’ cross for a donation, but one he hopes will bring locals closer to their ancestor’s legacy.
“The main thing is remembrance,” he said.
Vietnam Veterans Association president Lee Turton said not putting them out was a “common sense” decision due to the sub branch’s aging members and the tripping hazard they became.
“It hurt to remove them. To not do them any more, that really bloody hurt,” he said.
In the years since they’ve not only sat in storage but grown in number with Mr Turton estimating another 50 crosses have been made.
The Maryborough RSL’s own Danny McIver hoped giving locals ownership over their legacy would benefit the community and the unsteady future of the sub branch.
“If we can get something back, put it in our account, … we might be able to keep it rolling,” he said.
On the top of everyone’s mind was the ongoing challenges of RSL as a whole. Issues such as aging veterans, an absent new generation despite affiliate membership, and the need for more money for services like welfare weighs heavily on Mr McIver.
“We’re trying desperately to hold on here,” he said.
“RSL is in a bit of trouble.”
Among the first to get their family members cross was Liesbeth and Andrew Long.
Mr Long’s grandfather David Charles Chadwick, who served in WWII, lives on in his memory — the cross is one more reminder of that legacy.
“I only ever look at [the cross] once a year when it’s stuck in the ground at the post office. I’ve missed it the last couple of years,” he said.
Mrs Long, like the sub branch’s members, has seen the community frustration over the crosses absence — she hopes this will give them a new role in remembrance.
“They are missed, understandably why, but I think this is a really nice way of still giving people that connection,” she said.
“It gives people ownership of their own legacy. I wouldn’t be surprised if on Anzac Day you drive down the street and see them in people’s front yards. I think we need to keep that connection going.”
While Mr Lane and Mr McIver looked forward to seeing the crosses used across the community — in homes through to carried on Anzac Day — they emphasised they couldn’t be put back at the post office or they’d be removed.
In 2021, Maryborough RSL member Ben Holscher told The Advertiser the decision to remove the crosses the year before was due to limited space and the crosses becoming a safety issue.
“Each year we get more crosses, as it is we’ve got about 800-odd crosses which are very close together so we’re running out of room,” he said.
“It’s getting to that stage where some of the more elderly people with connections to those who have fallen walk through to see the name of their loved ones, and we’ve had a case where someone fell over and was injured.
“Luckily it wasn’t too serious, but if we keep doing it someone will fall and get a serious injury so that’s when we decided to stop doing the crosses and put something in its place which is when we came up with the poppies. They do look good set up there.”
Further information on the collection weekend will be available later this month.