22nd Battalion Association

Upon their return to Australia at the end of the Great War, the former soldiers of the 22^nd Battalion met and formed the 22nd Battalion Association to keep alive the Anzac spirit and legacy of mateship that was forged on the beaches and trenches of Gallipoli and which defined the Australian soldier through the tough fighting in France and Belgium, and beyond. As the years have progressed their legacy has now passed to the relatives of the men that fought within the battalion, today under the stewardship of Ian Russell, son of 524 Pte Fred Russell who held the position of Honorary Secretary of the Association from its inauguration in 1920 until his death in 1978.

Each year the Association remembers the men that served and marches on Anzac Day in Melbourne. In addition the Association produces an annual newsletter entitled the ‘22^nd Battalion Association Echo’, taking the name from the publication of the same title that the battalion produced on active service in 1918 until the end of the war. Following their return the newsletters began again in 1943 – 25 years after the end of the war – and the publications  covering the period from 1943 to 1978 have recently been scanned and are available below. To receive the current annual newsletter and for further details on the Association including if you would like to become a member please send a message to Ian Russell via the form found on the ‘Contact Us’ page on this ‘Following the Twenty-Second’ website.

Photographs taken at the 2022 ANZAC Day march

courtesy Angela Purdy

Photographs taken at the 2019 ANZAC day march

courtesy Ian Russell

Annual Newsletters

22nd ECHO No.81 – 2024

22nd ECHO No.80 – 2023

22nd ECHO No.79 – 2022

22nd ECHO No.78 – 2021

22nd ECHO No.77 – 2020

22nd ECHO No.76 – 2019

22nd ECHO No.75 – 2018

22nd ECHO No.74 – 2017

22nd ECHO No.73 – 2016

Below are the 1943 to 1978 22nd Battalion Association newsletters containing reunions, news of members, stories retold, and obituaries. Note: if there are any pages that you are particularly interested in but due to the quality of the copy are difficult to read please send a message via the Contact Us page and I will endeavour to send you the photographed copy of the requested page(s).

22nd ECHO – 1978

22nd ECHO – 1977

22nd ECHO – 1976

22nd ECHO – 1975

22nd ECHO – 1974

22nd ECHO – 1973

22nd ECHO – 1972

22nd ECHO – 1971

22nd ECHO – 1970

22nd ECHO – 1969

22nd ECHO – 1968

22nd ECHO – 1967

22nd ECHO – 1966

22nd ECHO – 1965

22nd ECHO – 1964

22nd ECHO – 1963

22nd ECHO – 1962

22nd ECHO – 1961

22nd ECHO – 1960

22nd ECHO – 1959

22nd ECHO – 1958

22nd ECHO – 1957

22nd ECHO – 1956

22nd ECHO – 1955

22nd ECHO – 1954

22nd ECHO – 1953

22nd ECHO – 1952

22nd ECHO – 1951

22nd ECHO – 1950

22nd ECHO – 1949

22nd ECHO -1948

22nd ECHO – 1946

22nd ECHO – 1945

Twenty-Five Years 1918 – 1943

Note: if there are any pages that you are particularly interested in but due to the quality of the copy are difficult to read please send a message via the Contact Us page and I will endeavour to send you the photographed copy of the requested page(s).

Events

Plaque unveiling for 1635 L-Cpl Norman Weston, DCM, Russia Cross of St.George (3rd class), 5th August 2023

Watch the well attended new plaque unveiling service for L-Cpl Norman Weston, 22nd Battalion, AIF, held at Havelock New Zealand, Norman’s final resting place. Thanks to Simon Ewing-Jarvie.

Anzac Day 25th April 2017 

Honorary Secretary Ian Russell and the seven other WW1 AIF Battalion Associations with their banners outside of the Shrine for yesterday’s Anzac Day march. As with the previous year, the battalion associations had been controversially removed from the main veterans march, necessitating the need for the relatives to hold their own march, as described in the following video and article published in The Age.

The Age: Anzac day 2017: shunned descendants to hold separate march

Anzac Day 2017 descendants march – click for video

Anzac Day 2016 descendants march – click for video

Newspaper Articles

Published as ‘news’ 100 years on to the day, follow the 22^nd Battalion on the project website and via Facebook and Twitter

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