By Eleanor Wilson
Living in Berwick for 36 and a half years, war veteran Pam Phillips is familiar with the annual ANZAC services held at Narre Warren’s Bunjil Place and the Berwick Cenotaph.
But this year Mrs Phillips had a different view of the services, representing the Berwick RSL as newly appointed president of the sub-branch.
Mrs Phillips is the first ever female president of Berwick RSL in its 104 year history, an honour she doesn’t take lightly.
“I’m one of about eight female RSL presidents throughout Victoria at the moment,” she said.
“The army has been such a big part of our lives for so many years… it really is like another family,” she said.
Originally from the small Victorian town of Goroke, halfway between Horsham and the South Australian border, Mrs Phillips joined the Women’s Royal Australian Army Corp (WRAAC) in January 1971.
“Being from a small country town, I came to the city to work for a bit and I hated it,” Mrs Phillips recalled.
“Then one day I walked past an Army recruitment poster and I thought ‘I’ll do that’.”
Newly married and having just completed army training, a 17-year-old Mrs Phillips was posted to Singapore to work in signal communications.
“We had a strange set up because it was a mix of Australian, New Zealand and UK soldiers all working on the ship together,” she said.
She served in Singapore until June 1974, before welcoming two sons in 1976 and 1979.
Her late husband continued to serve in the Army for a total of 21 years, after which the family moved to Toowoomba, before finally settling in Berwick.
Mrs Phillips said the best part about being in the army was the friendly connections she made.
“Just the mate ship was the best part, I still have friends from those days over 50 years later,” she said.
Mrs Phillips lost her husband two and a half years ago due to Agent Orange exposure from his time in the Vietnam War.
She said a large part of her Anzac Day commemorations, which she attended with her children and grandchildren, are dedicated to her late husband and her father who fought at Gallipoli.
“I wasn’t as emotional on the day of the services because I was so busy concentrating on what I had to do, but I was more emotional when I went to the cemetery the other day,” she said.
Mrs Phillips gave speeches at both the Bunjil Place dawn service and late morning service at the Berwick memorial, which were both attended by many hundreds of locals wishing to pay their respects.
“Everyone supported me being my first service as president, and I think everyone was really happy with the turn out so I was very pleased,” she said.
