SAMVOA (South African Military Veterans Organisation of Australasia)

by Guest Author

SAMVOA (South African Military Veterans Organisation of Australasia) was formed in Melbourne, Victoria on 3rd of June 2004. Currently there are branches in all the Australian capital cities and two in New Zealand.

SAMVOA Perth was officially launched in April 2005, when for the first time, we marched as a proudly ex-South African contingent in that iconicly Australian event, ANZAC Day.

As an organisation we are eternally grateful and appreciative of the RSL of Australia, for allowing us to take part in ANZAC Day, so we too can honour the memory of our countrymen who made the supreme sacrifice on the battlefields of Africa, Europe, Asia on the sea and in the air.

Australian, New Zealand and South African servicemen were allies during World War 1, World War 2 and in the Korean War contributing enormously towards the Allied war effort and ultimate victory.

We also take part in the annual Remembrance Day Service and lay a wreath for all the Fallen in Kings Park. This is a very sombre and reflective time, when we commemorate the end of hostilities after World War 1 and take time to honour and remember the sacrifices made by so many, so that we may enjoy the freedoms that we currently do in Australia.

We shall always remember them.

There are many thousands of former South Africans who call Australia home and a large portion of them would have done National Service in South Africa from the 1950s to the mid 1990s. We appeal to them to become members of SAMVOA, a proudly ex-South African remembrance organisation. An application form can be downloaded from our website at www.samvoa.org and I can be contacted on 0411 105 757 or by email at Garth.Pienaar@dvg.com.au

We meet on the second Tuesday evening of every month at the RSL Club, 22 Leake Street, Belmont where we have a display cabinet of South African and international military memorabilia and look forward to having you join us.

South Africa has a long, proud and honourable military tradition and with the assistance of publications like yours we are fortunate to be able to ensure this heritage is passed on to future Australians with a South African heritage.

We also request donations of any surplus or unwanted South African military memorabilia for our display cabinet in the RSL Belmont.Just give us a call and we will collect.

For the full set of photographs, see

www.flickr.comphotos69369303@N04sets72157628451606839show

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