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Rathmines Catalina: About Us
The Rathmines Catalina Memorial Park Association Incorporated
The RCMPA was initially established as an unincorporated body by a deed on 30th April, 1998, establishing a charitable trust. The terms of that deed were amended by a supplementary deed of trust on 20th February 2008. This trust was then called “The Rathmines Catalina Memorial Park Trust”.
The Trust became an “Incorporated Association” in January, 2014, now known as “Rathmines Catalina Memorial Park Association Incorporated”. For simplicity, the Association is now also known as the ‘Rathmines Catalina Association’.
A seven member Committee, all of whom have experience valuable to the working of the Committee, have been elected to oversee the future of the Association.
ASSOCIATION COMMITTEE:
Office Bearers:
President: Bill Anderson president@rathmines-catalina.com phone 0418 770 400
Vice President: Terry Woolard vicepresident@rathmines-catalina.com
Secretary: Graham Streeter secretary@rathmines-catalina.com phone 0479 053 123
Treasurer: Graham Streeter treasurer@rathmines-catalina.com phone 0479 053 123
Ordinary Committee Members:
Terry Fahey terry@rathmines-catalina.com
Penny Furner penny@rathmines-catalina.com
Philip Aris philip@rathmines-catalina.com
Public Officer
Graham Streeter secretary@rathmines-catalina.com
RCMPA Constitution:
RCMPA Constitution Oct 2022 (FINAL).pdf
LOCATION
The Rathmines Memorial Park, the site of the WW2 Seaplane Base, is situated on the western shores of Lake Macquarie in New South Wales. It is approximately 15mins drive south of Toronto, which in turn is just to the south of Newcastle.
‘OUR GIRL’ – PBY-5A CATALINA
'Our Girl' was purchased in 2012 from Puerto Rico and shipped in 5 sections to Australia. On 17th Nov 2023 ‘Our Girl’ was gifted to Air Force History and Heritage (AF-HH). Restoration of the Catalina is progressing with the support of AF-HH and an enthusiastic RCA team of dedicated volunteers and will eventually be a static display at the Williamtown Heritage Centre - currently known as Fighter World -and will honour all those who served on the Base during WW2.
OUR MISSION
To create an educational display centre that will allow us to meet our objectives
OUR OBJECTIVES
- promote and celebrate with the Hunter community and our visitors, the Catalina Squadrons and personnel that were located at the site and associated with the defence of Australia during WW2.
- assist in the development of a cultural experience regarding RAAF Rathmines base
- facilitate the display of collected pre and post contact historic memorabilia
- provide a static display of a restored PBY-5A Catalina
- enhance community awareness of the events and life pertaining to Western Lake Macquarie, with emphasis on the maritime/flying boat history of the RAAF Rathmines base.
OUR VALUES
- We will meet our objectives by:
- Acting with respect and reverence
- Acting with integrity and dignity
- Endeavour to achieve historical accuracy
- Encouraging community involvement
THE FUTURE
Our experience with festivals, memorial services and other projects has readied the Association for the planning and implementation of our next steps:
- Completing the restoration of our PBY - 5A Catalina aircraft, purchased from San Juan airport in Puerto Rico..
- Working with RAAF History and Heritage to development an aviation/museum centre in which we plan to include an education area and screening room.
ABN: 38 215 922 527: Registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission