It will be celebrating this milestone with a luncheon on Sunday February 24 with the guest of honour being the Governor of New South Wales, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Ret’d)  and Mrs Linda Hurley.  

Also in attendance will be Senator for NSW Jim Molan, AO DSC; Ray James, Vice President RSL NSW; Don Robertson, President of the RSL North Coast District Council and Rick Maunder from the Bellinger River RSL Sub Branch

Early meetings of the Returned Soldiers’ Association were held in the School of Arts building, while the important 24 April 1919 meeting was held at the Coffee Palace.  Subsequent monthly meetings were held in the Dorrigo Motor Company’s premises before moving to the newly erected Memorial Hall (now the site of the Dorrigo Historical Society).  

A common theme after both World Wars was for land settlement for returned servicemen.  Today, the farming communities at Hernani, Deervale and Paddys Plain have their origin in Crown Leases developed by returned servicemen from both wars.

The Sub Branch built and operated the Dorrigo Memorial RSL Club for 30 years from 1953. The Club was sold to a body corporate in 1982, but the Sub Branch retained certain rights for meetings and displays in the building.  The Sub Branch has no financial interest in the Club and receives no direct financial support from the Club. However, the Sub Branch is very grateful for the support and assistance that the Club gives the Sub Branch for its commemorative and social activities.  

Many visitors to our town remark on how wonderful it is to see an RSL Club operated with the focus on the importance of those who served our country during war. The photos of our ex-Servicemen and women, their memorabilia and souvenirs make the Club a tourist attraction in its own right.

Currently, the Sub Branch has 47 members representing World War 2, Korea, Malaya, Vietnam, Iraq, East Timor, Afghanistan and service in the Australian Defence Force.  The Sub Branch organizes the ANZAC Day, Vietnam Veteran’s Day and Remembrance Day commemorative services. It provides a pensions and welfare service to all ex-servicemen and women on the Plateau without regard to their being members of the RSL. The Welfare Officers provide support to all members of the ex-Service community. Four of the members of the Sub Branch are legatees providing support to the 23 war widows and three dependant children who live in Dorrigo.     

The Dorrigo RSL Sub Branch Women's Auxiliary is celebrating its 75th year of operation.  The Auxiliary supports the members of the Sub Branch by fundraising, caters for commemorative functions and holds the annual ANZAC Day and “Poppy Day” street stalls during the year .

The Sub Branch and its Women’s Auxiliary are proud to serve the Dorrigo community and we look forward to meeting the needs of its members in the future.   

Lest We Forget.