First memorial to mariners installed in Merrylands park

An anchor from the HMAS Kanimbla II has been installed in Sydney’s west as a memorial to current and returned navy serviceman.

HMAS Kanimbla II has become a part of Merrylands, with the anchor installed at Memorial Park.

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The first memorial to mariners in Cumberland will be officially unveiled in Merrylands’ Memorial Park.

Painting of HMAS Kanimbla in World War II.

The giant 3m, 9000kg anchor has been installed after a lifetime of duty on HMAS Kanimbla II.

The ship the anchor was taken from was named for HMAS Kanimbla — a people mover used during World War II to bring Australian soldiers home.

Merrylands RSL sub-Branch president Robin Grimley spent 17 years in the navy.

The anchor was power cleaned and painted before being transported. Picture: Frank Vella

Installation of the 9000kg anchor in Memorial Park. Picture: Frank Vella

He retired as a lieutenant and said the installation was momentous for veterans.

“This is very important for returned servicemen and seafarers,” Mr Grimley said.

“There’s not much like this around and to be honoured with such a gift is tremendous.”

For Mr Grimley and the team at the club, the final installation and unveiling has been an almost two-year process.

The memorial is now permanently placed in the park. Picture: Frank Vella

RSL secretary Frank Vella said: “It’s like we’ve had a baby, except this baby took 18 months.

“We were not expecting this, I thought we would get a small clock or a small piece of navy memorabilia; this is nine tonnes.”

RSL secretary Frank Vella said: “It’s like we’ve had a baby, except this baby took 18 months.

“We were not expecting this, I thought we would get a small clock or a small piece of navy memorabilia; this is nine tonnes.”

The club applied for a piece of memorabilia in 2015, but was not notified of the giant gift until 2017, when the anchor was dropped off by the 101 Transport 5th Regiment engineers’ squad.

From there it was delivered to Moorebank, on to Wetherill Park for a special coat of paint and then installed on a concrete base last October.