Sub Branch Museum Feature Story

As we look forward to enjoying our beautiful beaches again this Summer, we pay special tribute to the Ballina Lighthouse & Lismore Surf Life Saving Club

It was recently reported in the Ballina Shire Advocate that The Ballina Lighthouse and Lismore Surf Life Saving Club’s memorial board honouring their fallen members is currently on loan to the Ballina RSL Sub-branch. The memorial board is now on display at the Ballina RSL Club Museum.

An appropriate temporary, safe location was required as the Lighthouse Beach Clubhouse was demolished earlier this year. The board will eventually be returned to the Ballina Lighthouse & Lismore SLSC to take precedent display in their new clubhouse.

The Ballina Lighthouse and Lismore Surf Life Saving Club has played a vitally important role in our community since its official formation under the name of “Ballina Lighthouse S.L.S.C.” on 13th September, 1933. Prior to this date, Lighthouse Beach, or Tomki Beach as it was known in earlier years, following the wreck of the “Tomki”, was considered unsafe. This belief arose because it was formed after the North Wall of the breakwater was completed and had been, in fact, the mouth of the Richmond River.

Prior to the formation of the Club, the main surfing beach for the residents of Ballina was South Beach. This was reached by beautifully maintained launches, operated by the Foster family. On weekends and holidays they ran a regular service from Cherry Street Wharf to a wharf in Mobbs Bay.

Excursion trains starting at Kyogle and calling at numerous small sidings on the way to Byron Bay became very popular. Byron Bay began to attract the bulk of the beach enthusiasts from Lismore as well. The local Ballina community eventually began to frequent Lighthouse Beach, more so than South Beach, as they came to realise that access to it was easier. Many young people, unemployed in the depression, began to visit Lighthouse Beach more often, together with the growing population of East Ballina.

Importantly, it became increasingly apparent that Lighthouse Beach was safe for surfing, but that without proper patrols a fatality could well occur. Discussion along these lines on the beach led to a suggestion that a Lifesaving Club be formed to provide patrols for Lighthouse Beach. The first clubhouse was officially opened on 17th December, 1933 before a large public audience and a very happy band of Club members.

The War Years 1940 - 1946
During the Second World War, every member of Ballina Lighthouse & Lismore SLSC who was eligible to join the armed forces did so. 139 members answered the call.

With most of the young active members involved in one or other of the services, the burden of patrolling the beach fell heavily on the junior members. Jack Trevan was one such member and he recalls that the Club offered much support to the families back home during this challenging period. He stresses that, in current times, it is a difficult task to be able convey the enormous strain and terrible impacts incurred by war to younger generations.

The Club also contributed to the war effort by depositing money into War Bonds. Of the 139 members, 18 did not return; weighing heavily on the hearts of those that had known these members in less troubling times. In 1946, prompted by the terrible loss of lives; the Club President A.G. “Pop” Denison moved that a larger Clubhouse be built as a memorial to the members who lost their lives in the 1939 – 1945 conflict. It would take another 15 years before the new Lighthouse Beach clubhouse was completed, and dedicated as a memorial to the fallen members …

IN MEMORY

Christie Balzer (R.A.A.F.)
Bill Boylson (R.A.A.F.)
Stewart Cruickshanks (A.I.F.)
Tuss Ellis (A.I.F.)
Hector Harrison (R.A.A.F.)
Eric Johnson (A.I.F.)
Norm. Kobelke (R.A.A.F.)
Arthur Nelson (R.A.A.F.)
Geoff. O’Hea (R.A.A.F.)
Jack Pye (R.A.A.F.)
Phil. Phillips (R.A.A.F.)
Allan Randall (R.A.A.F.)
Geoff. Ritchie (R.A.A.F.)
Doug. Robertson (A.I.F.)
Col. Trait (R.A.A.F.)
Arthur Torrens (R.A.A.F.)
Jack Ward (R.A.A.F.)
Keith Watson (R.A.A.F.)

“They shall not grow old,
As we that are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them
Nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun, and
In the morning,
We shall remember them.”

“LEST WE FORGET”

(The above summary has been compiled from a series of extracts gleaned from the ‘50 Seasons’ Ballina Lighthouse & Lismore Surf Life Saving Club booklet, written by K. Leonard. A full copy of this booklet, which also contains many fascinating photographs of the Club’s personalities and events over the years, has also been made available to the Ballina RSL Club Museum – our thanks are extended to Jack Trevan for providing this valuable material.)