Berwick RSL

20/05/2026

Ben Vahland [Manager of Baw Baw Veterans and Family Centre] raises serious concerns as to the affects of the budget relating to the capping of certain treatments for Veterans.

Allied Health Cap For Veterans - As announced in the Budget.

Ben shares his concerns with Mary Aldred and others.

Open Letter to the Honourable Member for Monash

18 May 2026

Dear Mary,

I am writing to you not only as an injured veteran, but as someone who has spent years advocating for veterans and their families.

Through my leadership positions in an Ex-Service Organisation, advocacy work and my own lived experience, I have seen firsthand the consequences of inadequate support, delayed treatment, chronic pain, trauma, isolation, and systems that fail the very people they were meant to protect.

That is why I am deeply concerned by the Federal Government’s decision to introduce a $5,000 annual cap on allied health care for veterans.

For many Australians, allied health services may sound optional. For injured veterans, they are not. They are a necessity.

Physiotherapy helps manage lifelong physical injuries sustained during service. Psychology supports veterans living with trauma, depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Exercise physiology and occupational therapy assist veterans to remain employed, support their families, maintain independence, and retain some quality of life after service.

These services are not luxuries. They are essential.

What concerns me most is that this cap will force injured veterans to make impossible decisions about which aspects of their health they can afford to prioritise. No veteran should have to choose between managing physical pain or protecting their mental health simply because of an arbitrary funding limit.

That burden of decision-making is being placed on people who are already unwell, already vulnerable, and already carrying the long-term consequences of their service.

The reality is that many injured veterans will exceed this cap quickly. Service-related injuries do not disappear after a handful of appointments, nor do they neatly fit within a budget measure.

When the funding runs out, veterans are left with impossible choices: pay out of pocket, stop treatment, or watch their physical and mental health deteriorate further. Maybe even the decision of if their family is better off without them.

It is my strongly held belief that this policy will increase the rate of veteran su***de.

Not because veterans are weak, but because untreated trauma, chronic pain, financial stress, loss of support, and isolation are all recognised risk factors for su***de. Reducing access to care does not reduce need. It simply leaves vulnerable people with fewer supports during periods of crisis.

I also request that this letter is provided to the former Commissioners of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Su***de, particularly Mr Nick Kaldas, whom I spoke with personally during the Royal Commission process.

It is my strong belief that policies which restrict treatment and rehabilitation access for injured veterans are entirely contrary to the intent and spirit of the Royal Commission’s work and findings.

The Royal Commission heard countless stories from veterans and families who suffered after falling through gaps in care, support, and accountability. Its purpose was to prevent further harm — not create additional barriers to treatment for those already struggling.

Australia asked us to serve. We accepted the risks and responsibilities that came with that service. Many of us returned home carrying injuries that will last a lifetime.
To now place arbitrary financial limits on essential care sends a devastating message: that injured veterans are no longer viewed as people deserving support, but as costs to contain.

I also wish to express my profound disappointment with the manner in which this policy was presented publicly by the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Mr Matt Keogh. Assurances that veterans will not miss out on healthcare simply do not align with the lived reality of injured veterans who rely on ongoing treatment to function day to day.

I ask you to publicly oppose this cap and advocate for veterans to retain access to the treatment and rehabilitation they need.
Supporting veterans must not end once the uniform comes off.

Please also provide this letter to the Shadow Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, The Hon. Michael McCormack MP.
Copy also sent to the Honourable Member for Narracan, Mr Wayne Farnham.

Yours sincerely,

Ben Vahland

16/05/2026

16/05/2026

14/05/2026

FSB Coral (Fire Support Base Coral) is one of the most significant chapters in Australian military history, connected to the Vietnam War. Here’s a summary:
Background
The Battle of Coral–Balmoral took place from 12 May to 6 June 1968 during the Vietnam War, between the 1st Australian Task Force (1 ATF) and North Vietnamese (PAVN) and Viet Cong forces, about 40 kilometres north-east of Saigon. 
Following the Tet Offensive in January 1968, North Vietnamese forces suffered severe casualties and needed uninterrupted infiltration routes to replenish. In May, troops from 1RAR with Australian and New Zealand artillery were sent out to establish Fire Support Base Coral to cut off those routes. 
Establishment of FSB Coral
On 12 May 1968, Australian and New Zealand forces were airlifted into an area about 7 km north of the town of Tan Uyen. Helicopters delivered soldiers and equipment throughout the day, and by evening they had set up the area as FSB Coral. 
However, the fly-in was disrupted and described by participants as “shambolic” — caused by aircraft delays and reallocation of air assets diverted to support a major US firefight nearby. This confused the order of march and compromised the proper establishment of FSB Coral. Artillery elements arrived before their infantry protection, the defensive position was incomplete at dusk, and key infantry elements were too dispersed to provide coherent all-round defence. 
The First Attack — 13 May 1968
The enemy had been watching the activity and attacked FSB Coral in the early morning of 13 May. Australian artillerymen, mortarmen and machine gunners were directly in the line of attack. Nine Australian soldiers were killed and 28 wounded. 
A mortar platoon and two gun positions were partly overrun. The Australians drove off the enemy after fierce close-quarter actions lasting over two hours. One howitzer and two mortars were damaged. The attack on Coral was described as “the most sustained ground attack on an Australian field gun position since the Pacific War.” 
Subsequent Attacks
On 16 May, Coral came under attack again from a North Vietnamese force estimated at three battalions. The base was now defended by armoured personnel carriers and 1RAR’s rifle companies. Part of A Company’s position was occupied for a time, but the enemy was forced to withdraw after four hours of fighting, with five Australians killed and 19 wounded. 
On 22 May, Coral was subjected to yet another rocket and mortar barrage, but the NVA troops were dispersed by return fire. Although there were further bombardments on 26 and 28 May, Coral was not seriously threatened again. 
Legacy
The battles marked a watershed for the Australian Task Force — for the first time since Long Tan, Australians faced North Vietnamese Army forces in regimental strength. The actions demonstrated the changing nature of the war and the increasing intensity of the conflict. The honour title “Coral” was awarded to 102 Field Battery, and 34 decorations were awarded to individual soldiers. On the 50th anniversary, a Unit Citation for Gallantry was awarded to recognise all participants for extraordinary gallantry in action. 
FSB Coral remains one of the most intense and costly battles in Australian Vietnam War history, and is a proud but sobering part of Australian military heritage — something our RSL would no doubt recognise deeply.

14/05/2026

FSB Coral

On May 12th in ‘68, the choppers dropped them in
With 6 big guns, mortars and bags to fill with sand
There was no hint what would begin
Or what, next day, would fate demand

Of Aussie Diggers wearing jungle green.

A solitary small group of Diggers left alone,
Open on all sides, dug in, not deep
They’d have felt exposed in country quite unknown.
Then daylight was gone; time to try to sleep

Just Aussie Diggers wearing jungle green.

In their bones did they have some warning
A strange dread, an ominous sense
That a challenge would come early morning?
No real rest - nerves on edge, muscles tense

For Aussie Diggers wearing jungle green.

At about 3 am came the call
‘Contact in strength! - a thousand or more.
The diggers rose, prepared, one and all
For the Battle of Coral in the American Vietnam war

Young Aussie Diggers wearing jungle green

They stood together side by side
Loaded big guns with round after round
In that carnage - nowhere to hide
Courage and determination was somehow found:

Our Aussie Diggers wearing jungle green

Until daylight came they held their ground
Behind that flimsy wire
With mad destruction all around
Incredible fortitude - our Diggers under fire.

Aussie courage in their jungle green.

The sunrise saw the fighting cease
No joy, just a deadly shadow cast.
Their relief was mixed with grief
As eleven mates had breathed their last . . .

Aussie Diggers ripped and stained in jungle green.

01/05/2026

In April 1941, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel wrote a private letter from North Africa. He wasn’t praising a German officer or even a British one. He was writing about an Australian commander.
“The Australian troops are fighting magnificently,” he admitted, “and their training is far superior to ours.”

The man he referred to was Lieutenant General Leslie Morshead. At Tobruk, he commanded around 35,000 Commonwealth troops against an Axis force that stretched over 100,000 across the theatre. Yet for 231 days, he held the port—refusing to surrender, refusing to retreat.

Morshead’s tactics were precise and unconventional. When Axis tanks broke through defensive lines, his infantry didn’t panic or fire blindly. They stayed hidden. They let the armour roll past. Then, once the tanks were separated from their supporting infantry, his men struck. The exposed enemy soldiers were eliminated, and artillery units targeted the now-isolated tanks. It was a calculated dismantling of combined-arms warfare.

His resistance became so frustrating that German radio gave him a nickname: “Ming the Merciless.” But Morshead had already made his position clear to his officers:
“There will be no Dunkirk here… There is to be no surrender and no retreat.”

Recognition came from across the world. Poland awarded him the Virtuti Militari. France honored him with the Legion d'honneur. The United States later presented him the Medal of Freedom with Silver Palm. Yet, despite these honors, his name never reached the level of global recognition given to others of the war.

In 1942, during the Second Battle of El Alamein, Morshead’s 9th Australian Division played a decisive role. The division suffered heavy casualties but broke through key Axis defenses along the coast. British commander Bernard Montgomery later admitted the truth: the victory would not have been possible without them.

Even so, history didn’t fully credit him. The tactics proven at Tobruk were absorbed into broader military doctrine, often without his name attached. His contributions were recorded—but rarely highlighted.

After the war, Morshead returned quietly to civilian life. No campaigns for recognition. No public demands. Just a soldier who had done his duty.

Today, his legacy lives on in military academies, where the strategies he proved are still studied. But the name behind them remains less known than it should be—a reminder that some of history’s greatest figures fought not for fame, but because the moment demanded it.

25/04/2026

In the quiet, solemn hours of early Saturday morning, as the first light of dawn gently broke over the region and the sounds of Australia awakening filled the air, the community of Casey came together in a powerful moment of remembrance. Thousands of local residents gathered at Bunjil Place, standin...

20/04/2026

The RSL is often asked about the correct protocols for wearing Australian honours and awards - particularly by family members who would like to wear their relatives' medals in tribute

On our website, you'll find a guide to support those who have earned medals and honours, and those who are wearing them in memory, to wear them proudly this Anzac Day.

www.rslaustralia.org/wearing-medals