When Benalla’s Hans Bruitzman was working at the Victoria Barracks in Melbourne he was inspired by the story of Sir Edward ‘Weary’ Dunlop.
So much so, that he penned a song in Weary’s honour.
“I was part of a show called HMS Pinafore, and the musical director, Allan Zavod, heard it and said he’d love to put music to it,” Mr Bruitzman said.
“So he wrote some great music to go with it.”
Mr Bruitzman played the completed song to his boss, who said he loved it.
“He took it to the colonel in charge of the barracks, he liked it too,” he said.
“So he sent it to Colonel Silcock, who was in charge of the Army band in Canberra.”
Mr Bruitzman found out some time later that Colonel Silcock had taken the song to the officers who were planning the unveiling of the Weary Dunlop statue on St Kilda Rd, in Melbourne, in 1995.
It was hoped it would be played at the unveiling ceremony. Sadly, for various reasons, that never eventuated.
For Mr Bruitzman, that wasn’t too much of an issue. He said he wrote it for the community, not for recognition.
It then sat in a drawer for decades.
Recently he played the song for members of Benalla U3A, who said it would be a good song to add to the repertoire of their community singing group.
He also brought it to Benalla Library, where staff asked for a copy to use in the library’s learning centre.
Pleased with the recognition the song was finally getting, he thought he’d pop his head through the door of the Ensign to let the community know about it.
If you would like to hear the song, you can contact Mr Bruitzman on 0427 555 235.