Townsville meets TI in Waiben celebrations for Battalion’s 80th

BY ALF WILSON

Emotions ran high as Olive-Rose Pearson turned 18 on the same day as the Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion (TSLIB)

80th anniversary celebrations on Waiben earlier this month.

Olive-Rose travelled to Waiben with her mum, Thesese Cowley, from Townsville especially for the huge TSLIB memorial and celebrations, which ran over two days.

Therese was also organising ongoing TSLIB meetings and celebrations in Townsville, which will climax on ANZAC Day in the north Queensland capital, with a march along the Strand.

A highlight for the mother and daughter team was meeting

Private Awati Mau, one of only two surviving members of the TSLIB.

Mr Mau was a special and VIP guest at the Waiben event, which was highly successful.

“We had planned to go to Waiben for the celebrations and it was special as well because Olive-Rose turned 18,” Therese said.

“Meeting Awati Mau was just wonderful.”

Therese and OliveRose also enjoyed catching up with family and visitors from other islands during the celebrations.

Therese said she had a lot of ideas from the Waiben event to take back to the Townsville committee.

“During the Waiben event there was lots of pull up banners and conflute signs which we hope to have in the Townsville events,” she said.

“We haven’t got any official funding and will have had to pay for some things from our own pockets.”

She said they hoped to have banners and corflutes displayed along the Townsville Strand in coming weeks.

Therese and Olive-Rose were sorry to miss the official Townsville launch for the celebrations, which they understood was well attended and held at the Jezzine Barracks Military Museum.