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The Naval Association

of Australia

RUSHCUTTER NAVAL MEMORIAL

At the beginning of 2002, at the initiative of the then Anti-Submarine Officers (now Naval Warfare Officers) Association, representatives of the Naval Reserves, Fairmile, WRANS, Clearance Diving, RAN Experimental Laboratory and Naval Association combined with them to form a group known as the Rushcutter Group. The objective of the Group was to consider the desirability of commemorating the significant history of the former Naval Base at Rushcutters Bay, if agreed, to design a suitable structure.

On the 19th December 2005 Woollahra Council gave consent to the erection of a memorial on the site now known as the "Sir David Martin Reserve". The proposed memorial consists of a centre panel (1500mm X 1600mm) flanked by a wall (800mm X 1800mm) on each side. All parts would be encased in polished granite panels fronted with granite paving.

The central panel would bear the official badge of the Royal Australian Navy, the words "HMAS Rushcutter" and a replica of its official ships badge. The main memorial will consist of a series of brass plaques set out on the sloping top surface of the low flanking walls. These plaques will present an outline history of the naval activity on the site from the end of the Boxer uprising in 1901 through two World Wars and Korean and Vietnam campaigns to closure in 1984. Appropriate naval badges will be displayed on the faces of the flanking walls.

It is estimated that the project costs including insuring, licensing and constructing the memorial will be of the order of seventy thousand dollars ($70,000). A site between the cottage and the drill hall has been selected. Old hands may recall that the figurehead of HMS Nelson once stood there.

The public, particularly naval veterans who served there and their relatives, are urged to contribute to the commemoration of this unique establishment. Donations should be made out to

The Rushcutter Memorial Fund

Care of:

The Naval Association of Australia (NSW Section) Inc

Suite 6 Level 4

Anzac House

245 Castlereagh Street

SYDNEY NSW 2000

RUSHCUTTER NAVAL MEMORIAL PLAN:-

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