𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘂𝗿 𝗔𝗻𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 – 𝗠𝗲𝗹𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲

Melbourne commemorations for the 83rd anniversary were held at the Last Post Service at the Shrine of Remembrance on Sunday 10 May 2026.

It was a beautiful autumnal day as the sun set on a near cloudless sky. The ceremony was conducted by Shrine Governor Lieutenant Colonel David Blackwell OAM RFD (Retd), with the bagpiper, Shrine guards, Ode of Remembrance, and the Last Post and Reveille bugle calls providing a poignant and moving ceremony. The Centaur story was read out and then wreaths laid at the Eternal Flame.

In attendance were the members of the O’Brien clan (Patricia, daughter of L/Cpl Michael O’Brien, 2/12th FA, granddaughter Caroline van Oosterom, great granddaughter Frederique, and myself). Also in attendance were members of the Australian Nurses Memorial Centre (ANMC): President Elizabeth Lavender, Board member Barbara Green (niece of Sister Evelyn King, AANS) and Center Manager Elizabeth Allwood.

We stayed afterward for a lovely long conversation that culminated in Mary Archibald (a senior, sessional Health Practitioner Member at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) introducing herself and sharing that her nursing career started in 1968 with a Centaur scholarship for nursing.

Tom Evans, President

2/3 AHS Centaur Association