100 years ago
30 April 1925
ANZAC DAY
To commemorate Anzac Day, a combined church service was held in the Dandenong Town Hall. The public officers and banks were closed all day, and some business places were also closed, while other allowed their employees off to attend the service, but many carried on as usual. There was a good attendance at the service, the gathering including a number of returned men in uniform and mufti, also relatives of the fallen and returned soldiers. The Rev. E. G. Veal unveiled the honor board in the hall, and the Hymn ”O God, Our Help” was sung. After Rev Veal gave an address, the congregation faced the honor board and stood in silence for two minutes. The National Anthem was then sung, and the service ended.
50 years ago
30 April 1975
ONE-WAY ‘READY SOON …’
Dandenong’s one-way traffic plan for Thomas St. will be operating within three months. For sometime Dandenong Council workmen and subcontractors have been working on a centre median dividing Thomas St as part of the one-way traffic project. The Deputy City Engineer, Mr Noel Bailey told the Journal: “Traffic in Thomas St, will proceed up one way from the intersection of Foster St. to Walker St. And Foster St from the highway to the roundabout will also be one way, as well as the section of Thomas St. behind the squash courts.”
20 years ago
2 May 2005
G-G unveils Vietnam War Memorial
The Governor-General. Major General Michael Jeffery, unveiled the Vietnam War Memorial outside the Dandenong RSL in front of hundreds of people last Saturday. The memorial is the inspiration of Footscray businessman and former South Vietnamese Army soldier Andy Huu Nguyen, who teamed up with former Vietnam veteran and Dandenong RSL secretary John Wells to raise $126,000 to build the memorial. Thirty years to the day after the end of the Vietnam conflict the memorial was dedicated to the Australians who served with their South Vietnamese allies. The memorial comprises an Iroquois helicopter, perched on top of a pole, over life-sized bronze statues of a digger and a South Vietnamese infantryman.
5 years ago
28 April 2020
Together in dark time
Drum Theatre was lit a sombre blue, while flags fluttered at half-mast at Dandenong police station in tribute to four police officers killed on Eastern Freeway on April 22nd. Police allege that Leading Senior Constable Lynette Taylor, Senior Constable Kevin King, Constable Josh Prestney and Constable Glen Humphris were fatally struck by a refrigerated truck after a Porsche was intercepted near Chandler Highway, Kew. A 47-year-old truck driver from Cranbourne was charged with four counts of culpable driving.
Compiled by Dandenong & District Historical Society
