Kellerberrin
The town site is some 46kms.East of Cunderdin on the main East/West Highway,the administrative area covers 1852sq.kms.with a population of 1443; main occupation is farming....grains and sheep. The memorial is located adjacent to the Hospital and by virtue of it's dimensions is quite imposing.The main plaque facing the road is inscribed "Erected by Kellerberrin Branch R.S.L.in memory of their comrades who died for the Empire 1914 to 1919,Kellerberrin District." Seventyfive names are shown together with the battlefield on which they fell,fourteen at Gallipoli,seven at Lone Pine,two in Belgium (location not given) and the rest in France. At the rear of the monument is a small plaque which contains eighteen names of those who fell in the 1939-45 War. After the end of WW1 a War Memorial Fund was set up and by majority choice of those who subscribed it was decided to build a Hospital to be called 'Eastern Districts Soldiers Memorial Hospital'. Separately the Kellerberrin RSL resolved to erect a Cenotaph in the Hospital grounds to record the names of all the soldiers of the District who had died in the War, the stone for this was quarried from Kellerberrin Hill. On June 29th.,1921 the Hon.H.P.Colebatch MLC (local Member and former Minister of Health) officially opened the Hospital whilst General Sir Talbot Hobbs unveiled the Cenotaph at the same time presenting the people of Kellerberrin with a German 77mm.Field Gun ( present whereabouts unknown)* captured by the 11th.Btn.AIF on the Hindenburg Line . After WW2,in addition to adding the names of the fallen to the existing Memorial it was resolved to build a Memorial Hall, this is located in Massingham Street and was opened by W.A.Premier David Brand in 1959.
Historical details courtesy R & M Hayes-Thompson
* 31/12/05, the following received by Email: "the Keller gun was removed and scrapped many years ago as it was considered dangerous due to rust. The barrel ended up at the Electweld Steel property just out of Keller and many years after they shut, a scrap dealer bought the rights to take away the scrap from the property and in amongst it was the barrel. Unfortunatley he cut it up and it went to Perth. The sad thing is, I was told about a barrel being there many years ago and when I asked the then owner, he denied it was there and refused to let me have a look. Another piece of history gone!! Rob Endersbee, Merredin Military Museum.
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