The exhibition, A Century of Service, honoured the history of the past wars and educated the younger generation of Horsham in the lead up to Remembrance Day on Sunday.

Horsham RSL military, history and heritage convener Jim Amos said the exhibition was a new idea that has been 20 years in the making. 

“We have been collecting this memorabilia for about 20 years. When a person dies, the families go to the back shed and throw away all this memorabilia, but we want to encourage people to bring unwanted items to us,” he said. 

“It is important to preserve and display it because our children need a connection with the past because they are our future.”

Mr Amos said about 400 students would visit the exhibition this week. 

The exhibition’s main draw cards were a flight simulator, a World War II Harley Davidson motorcycle and a replica of a machine gun nest used in both world wars and the Vietnam War. 

“The flight simulator is of an Albatros single seater fighter. It’s a new innovation, but it is second nature for the children and they are really engaged,” he said.

“We also have a bicycle from World War I and a Harley Davidson motorcycle used in World War II. Having them side-by-side really shows a difference between the two wars.” 

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