“My father’s cousin was a General who led the 2^nd Light Horse Brigade through Palestine and Egypt, so that was one of my interests in seeing the monument restored,” Mr Ryrie said. 

Armed with a quote for the cost he went to see Pat Jones and asked if she would like to make a donation in memory of her father who served in WWI. “And she said to me “I’ll pay for the whole thing,” he said. With the help of The Scots College in Sydney  and local artist Hape Kiddle with Laura Fitzpatrick and Phil Mune the rifle was cast in incredible detail and has returned to sit outside the club. Yenda RSL President Alan Wakely said the rifle was an important monument to those who had served in the war. “When someone was buried in the battlefield, they would stick their rifle in the ground above them, it’s pretty poignant,” he said. The  monument will be unveiled at 10.15 on Anzac Day outside the Yenda Diggers Club.