The Doyle Family of the Coburg RSL
Jillian Doyle is the matriarch of a family whose blood runs through the Coburg RSL Sub-Branch like the red sash runs through the Coburg football club Guernsey.
Some of her earliest memories are of being at Coburg RSL Sub-Branch with her father, Major Samuel Ralph, just after the Second World War when she was only a child of seven or eight. She is 86 years old now and has lived in Melbourne’s northern suburbs all her life.
Her home is a central point for the family, children and grandchildren who live nearby dropping in on a daily basis.
The family connection to the area goes back to the early 20th century, when Coburg was an outer suburb of Melbourne. Her father, Samuel, was born in 1906 and enlisted in the army cadets in 1920 at 14 years of age, before transferring to the Citizens Military Force (CMF) in 1924 and reaching the rank of Lieutenant in 1926.
Service in the militia was part-time; he held down work as a clerk for the Tramways as his day job, but the army was his career as much as Coburg was his town. He and his wife, Stella, married in June 1935 with Jillian born in 1939, shortly before Samuel was promoted to the rank of Major. He only had a brief time with the infant Jillian before the Second World War saw him sent overseas to New Guinea where he served with the 58th Battalion.
Like thousands of other Australian servicemen who served in New Guinea, Samuel’s health was affected by malaria. He left the army after the war and joined Coburg RSL Sub-Branch on his return, beginning a family association that continues to this day.
“My father was not the type to go drinking at the RSL,” Jillian said. “We would go down on a Friday night and on ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day. We would take part in the raffle; it felt like home to me.”
Having grown up with a father with a proud military record, Jillian followed in his footsteps and joined the CMF in 1957 when she was only 18 years old and became part of the Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps. It was in the CMF that she would meet her future husband, Glen Doyle. They knew each other briefly when he was with the 2nd Commando Company in the early 1960s, but Glen, then intent to be a professional soldier, departed Australia to join the Parachute Regiment of the British Army. It was only upon his return that they met again and fell in love, after which visits to the Coburg RSL became more frequent.
For Glen, Coburg RSL Sub-Branch became the family he never had. His parents had separated before the Second World War, and he had little contact with his father who had been a Prisoner of War in Changi. When he married Jillian in 1969, Samuel became more like a father than a father-in-law.
Glen and Samuel formed a close bond, sharing stories of overseas service which, for Glen, included tours of Borneo and Yemen in the 1960s with the British Army.
Despite deploying to dangerous places during his active service, Glen encountered a life-threatening incident before that, during his CMF service with 2 Commando back in 1960.
On 17 February of that year, 2 Commando took part in a simulated water attack at Portsea in small canoes and kayaks, known as Duks. There was a sudden change in the weather as they crossed the entrance to Port Phillip Bay.
“All hell broke loose,” Glen told Barry Higgins in his book Crossing the Rip. “Bloody great white topped waves and canoes spread all round the horizon.”
In the ensuing chaos, Glen was kept afloat by Captain Jack Fletcher, who grabbed a life buoy as their Duk sank. He and other Commandos clung to the buoy for three and a half hours waiting for rescue. Captain Fletcher would be awarded the George Medal for bravery, but sadly three soldiers (two commandos and one of the Duk drivers) drowned in the incident.
“At the time it was a major scandal,” Jillian said. “There was talk about no one joining after that but, in the end, they had a surge in recruits because of all the publicity.”
Glen and Samuel also shared the frustration of having their military careers end due to ill health. In Glen’s case, it was a diagnosis of diabetes that saw him medically discharged from military service. For Jill, her career ended when the couple married in 1969 as there was then a rule in place that women had to leave the CMF upon getting married.
Coburg RSL Sub-Branch was part of the young family’s life, attending ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day ceremonies every year, Samuel continuing to be involved until his death in 1976.
“We were always involved with the RSL, but with a young family it was not easy to get there outside of special ceremonies like ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day. As the kids got older, we had more time and got more closely involved.”
As the years passed, they became more deeply involved, joining the Sub-Branch Committee and Glen ultimately becoming Vice President. Glen and Jillian began selling poppies, manning stalls, sometimes for weeks at a time at local supermarkets. Most often you would find them at Barkly Square in Brunswick.
“The people are the best thing about selling poppies,” Jillian said. “A lot of the people who buy poppies have come from overseas and they buy poppies and tell the most amazing stories about their memories of the war in their country. Some people would buy a poppy every day just to stop and talk, other people would give us coffee and give us pies.”
But for all their hard work and dedication, by 2010 the future of Coburg RSL Sub-Branch was looking bleak with talk of possible mergers with surrounding clubs.
The Doyle family, like other members of the Sub-Branch, were not going to take it lying down. Kathy and her sister-in-law Marianne, who is a Navy veteran, both got more involved. Marianne would later move across to Hawthorn RSL where she now co-ordinates the poppy appeal.
“There was a real need to get younger people involved,” Kathy said. “And when we started getting younger people in the door, we started getting fresh ideas about events and how the club went about things.”
Kathy joined Glen and Jillian on the Coburg RSL Committee and in selling poppies and assisting with events. Along with a core of dedicated committee members and volunteers, they did everything they could think of to bring life, members, and much needed income into the traditional RSL club.
Over time, the Club has increased its engagement with local schools, giving presentations either on campus or at the RSL around Remembrance Day and ANZAC Day every year.
Kathy became the master of ceremonies at significant events in 2013 and helped co-ordinate services, the Club’s centenary celebrations in 2018 and schools’ involvement at commemorative services. Music events and direct community engagements have helped turn the fortunes of the club around. By the time of the Coburg RSL’s centenary in 1918, the club was thriving and both Jillian and Glen Doyle were made Life Members of RSL Australia, the National RSL.
Kathy still gets upset when she reflects on how close the Coburg RSL Sub-Branch was to being closed, and the history that would have been lost, not only for her family but the Coburg community. For her and the Doyle family, it is more than a place to remember the past; it is an active and vibrant part of the community.
“One thing I am very proud of is that it has been a place for people to gain skills and connection,” Kathy Doyle said. “I have learnt how to be a public speaker, lots of young people have learnt how to work the bar and help run events.”
The Doyle family are proud of the part they played in keeping the club alive but pay tribute to other members of the committee.
“The people at the Coburg RSL have always been there for us,” said Jillian. “Last year Kathy had a brain tumour which thankfully turned out to be benign, but the community at the RSL really banded together to get behind us, and it was thanks in part to her friends at the RSL that we all got through that time.”
But it is current Coburg RSL Sub-Branch President, Michael Pianta, that the Doyle family are the most grateful for. When Glen passed away in 2023, aged 83, the family held a small family funeral for him. Unbeknownst to them, Michael had also arranged for a special tribute to Glen at the Coburg RSL on the following Friday night.
“It was overwhelming,” Jillian said. “He did such a wonderful job, and everyone got a chance to say goodbye.”
Today Coburg RSL Sub-Branch has more than 1000 members, with a growing number of young members including current serving members joining the ranks.
“And young people coming in means we have a succession plan,” Kathy Doyle Said. “The club will keep going when the current generation pass on.”
The Coburg RSL Sub-Branch Committee has developed a master plan to modernise the club rooms while at the same time preserving its history. Funds have been raised for a disability access ramp, so that people with mobility issues can easily enter the venue.
With Jill now 86, her mobility is decreasing, making it more difficult to sell poppies, but she will still be involved this year, even if it’s just selling at the Club rather than the local shops.
The new access ramp will make it easier for Jill and other older members to keep attending the Sub-Branch. After decades of service to the RSL, it is fitting that when the ramp is dedicated to Glen and Jillian Doyle.
