THE fruits of two years’ labour and the efforts of a team of dedicated volunteers were unveiled when Vietnam war hero Keith Payne VC opened the new Gallipoli Room at Maryborough Military and Colonial Museum. The museum is a non-profit heritage endowment created by John and Else Meyers, who worked with retired builder Darrell Blackley and a team of volunteers to build the new space at a cost of $40,000. Mr Blackley has spent the past two years building frames and cabinets at the museum, and considers the new room a crowning achievement. “I worked as a builder for a long time, but to finish off with something like this is wonderful,” he said. The new room houses 65 medals of soldiers decorated at Gallipoli and 40 medals from the 370 officers killed there. It includes a prominent display in memory of Sir Lancelot Clarke, the oldest and only commanding officer killed on the day of the landing, and a detailed diorama of the Gallipoli battlefield. The entrance to the room is marked by a bust of Maryborough-born Duncan Chapman, the first man ashore at the landing on April 25, 1915. Chapman, an officer of the 9th Battalion, was killed at Pozieres in 1916, aged 28. The Maryborough Military and Colonial Museum features 4000 items of military and colonial memorabilia, a testimony to the area’s pioneers as well as the soldiers who served in major conflicts. Other exhibits include three Victoria Crosses, a Cross of Valour, uniforms, period costumes, historic vehicles and scale models of ships and planes including Nelson’s flagship, Victory. For the art lover there is trench art, paintings, murals and wood sculpture. The 2000-book library has files containing photographs, original documents, maps and correspondence, and pianists entertain visitors with wartime favourites, jazz and popular music. The museum is open 9am-3pm daily or at other times by arrangement. Cost is $5 adults, $8 couples, $10 families and $3.30 children. Phone 4123-5900,
www.maryboroughmuseum.org
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