Peninsula Essence December 2020

Page 72

Above: The chapel in its heyday (Note the piano which was rolled across from the hall as the occasion demanded) Below: A service at the chapel during the 1950's

been youthful YMCA campers and later leaders; Cyril had been Chairman of the Camp Buxton Committee in 1938. Both were killed while serving in World War Two. Ivan, a member of the famous RAAF 450 squadron, was shot down flying his Kittyhawk at El Alamein in 1942; he was 21. Cyril, a captain in the army, died in 1945 as a POW in the infamous Sandakan camp in North Borneo; he was 27. In December, 1951, an International Older Boys’ Camp was held

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at Camp Buxton. Boys of diverse faiths and traditions from across the Asia/Pacific, including Japan, attended the camp and were present at the chapel dedication ceremony on 22 December, 1951. It was a very grand affair, attended by the Governor of Victoria, Sir Dallas Brookes, together with Harold Holt, then Minister of Immigration and Minister for Labour and National Service, and also the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Cr. O.J.Nilson. The Prime Minister, then Mr. R.G.Menzies, sent a warm message of greetings


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