MC For the Meeting: Bob Glindemann
Reflection: Robert Fisher – Robert’s thoughtful reflection is attached later in this Bulletin.
Announcements: President Philip Opened the meeting highlighting that this was a significant day in the Club’s Calendar with the award of the Monash Medal, and welcomed the 2025 recipient, Dr Robert Webster OAM, who would be introduced formally by Stephen Lake, Chair of the Club’s 0808 Committee.
He welcomed back previous Monash Medal recipient, Major General Jim Barry AM MBE RFD ED (RETD), present as a Club guest, hosted by the Rotary Melbourne 0808 committee.
Philip expressed delight to have present good representation from the Spirit of Australia Foundation and welcomed Michael Bennett, great grandson of Sir John Monash and Directors: David Polonsky, Jerry Andrews, General Manager of the Victoria Division at Engineers Australia and Michael Meszaros, Sculptor.
The full list of guests is included later in this bulletin.
President Philip led the congratulation of Philip Endersbee who celebrated his birthday on this day, and congratulated Ross Scholes Robertson (39) and Colin Honey (22) on their respective anniversaries as Club membership on this day. He noted the opportunity for Club members to attend the 0808 commemoration of the Battle of Amiens at the Shrine of Remembrance on Friday 8th August at 8 AM, and the 2025 Monash Commemorative Service at The Legislative Assembly Chamber, Parliament House, Spring Street, Melbourne on Friday 8th August 2025. Phil noted that planning is underway with the Spirit of Australia on a school student’s leadership forum to be conducted in early 2026. Past President Kevin Sheehan will provide details at a future club meeting.
President Phil then invited 0808 committee chair, Stephen Lake, and Michael Bennett to join him on the podium for the presentation of the Monash Medal and framed Citation to Dr Robert Webster, OAM, who recently retired as RSL Victoria President. The Citation is provided in the preceding article in this Bulletin.
Noting that the Rotary Club of Melbourne annually presents this Award to a distinguished individual, this year’s award to Dr. Robert Webster OAM, recognises his leadership, integrity, and service to the Australian community, whose contributions as an educator, soldier, and community leader reflect the values of Sir John Monash.
The ceremony concluded with Dr Webster’s address in reply, in which he gave learned insights into Monash’s brilliance in planning and delivering the logistics of repatriation and demobilization of the 1st AIF.
Monash organized a system to categorize and repatriate soldiers based on their time in theatre, job prospects, and family responsibilities, forming groups of around 1,000 men per ship. The Canadian military established educational programs for troops during the winter of 1917, which inspired the Australian military to create similar training initiatives led by Brigadier George Long. These programs focused on agriculture, commerce, and technical skills, though challenges with resources and textbook availability were encountered. Monash continued to manage major camps, such as the Australian barracks on Salisbury Plain, which hosted 70,000 men by the end of May 1919, while some soldiers were deployed to France for rehabilitation work.
In closing the meeting members were reminded of the For a Meal food packaging initiative to be conducted at the University of Melbourne this coming Tuesday 12 August at 5:30pm, followed by a convivial dinner for those involved.
Regrettably a technical issue prevented recording of Dr Webster’s outstanding address. Dr Webster has kindly provided us with a copy of his notes for his address and these can be viewed [here]
