War history to go on display

"There is too much history going out of our towns now through ebay and other collector sites," says Eltham chief fire officer, David Waite.

He and Geoff Campbell, president of the Eltham RSA branch, are hoping to stem this tide, at least when it comes to medals and other war memorabilia, with the introduction of display cabinets in the fire station for people to store their relative's military medals.

"We have been doing this with fire service medals for some time now, and we are happy to offer the RSA space in our rooms for their own cabinets to do the same."

David says the cabinets provide people with a secure place to keep memorabilia that might otherwise be left in a drawer or forgotten about, and keeps history alive by being on permanent display in the fire station.

"People can then come and collect the medals to wear on Anzac Day or other important occasions," says Geoff, who adds the medals remain the property of the families, not the RSA or the fire service.

"We are just offering a place to have them on display, so people can share their family history with the community."

With no club rooms of their own in Eltham the RSA is fortunate to have the use of the fire station says Geoff, who adds the RSA really appreciate the offer of a specific area in the station to have their own display cabinets, which have been purchased thanks to a "very generous" grant from the Taranaki Electricity Trust.

"We encourage family members to make use of these cabinets, to take advantage of the option of having their family history on display, to be proud of their relatives achievements and to share them with our town."