Local artist’s tribute to fallen heroes

North Brighton’s Sean Halfpenny never intended to be an artist.

Yet he’s spent many hours over many months painting a mural, on corrugated iron no less, which spans 4.5 metres in height and is 20 metres wide.

With a brush in one hand, his paint palette in the other, he quietly and single-handedly transformed the façade of the William Kibby VC Veterans’ Shed at Glenelg North into a stunning military mural.

It not only pays tribute to servicemen and women from all armed services, it also honours the memory of some local faces whose stories are intrinsic to Holdfast Bay’s wartime history.

On the mural is William Kibby himself, who is a Victoria Cross recipient, a navy ship, the likeness to a Vietnam veteran and a helicopter, which was inspired by an iconic Vietnam War photo.

Completing the mural is the representation of a RAAF aircraft and a portrait of Michael Herbert, who was lost in Vietnam for 39 years until the wreck of his aircraft was located and he was eventually returned home.

Sean, a war vet himself, says he hopes the mural will “do the people proud”.

“I also hope that people look at it and ask questions about the portraits painted on the Kibby shed, and in doing so, learn about the story of these people – and that way their stories can be remembered for a while longer,” Sean said.

“Since starting this project I have felt a connection to these people who served in the past, as they were locals to Holdfast Bay, just like I am.”

Sean was an infantry soldier in the Australian Army and was deployed to Afghanistan for 10 months in 2010.

After he discharged from the army in 2013, he sought therapy for PTSD through the Jamie Larcombe Centre, which is a purpose-built veterans’ mental health precinct located at the Glenside Health Service Campus.

That was also the first time he picked up a paintbrush.

“Art is therapy for me, and I discovered it through the trauma recovery program I attended,” Sean said.

“I did a painting called Gentle Soldier and I put it into a national art prize (Napier Waller Art Prize) and it went really well. It got exhibited at Parliament House and I’ve been doing art ever since.

“Jim, one of the fellas from the shed, who runs the Guitars for Vets program, then came to the art group and told me that they were looking at getting a mural done and that’s how it all evolved really. “And because I’m a vet myself and a local, it just felt right”.

The William Kibby VC Veterans Association successfully applied for $10,000 in grant funding from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to bring the mural to life.

“We identified a need to raise public awareness of the huge sacrifice of service personnel and that a mural opposite the Michael Herbert Memorial Garden would serve as a fitting reminder,” said Patricia Schlein, chairperson of the Millie Dorsch Sisterhood Group, which is a sub-group of the Vets’ Shed.

And Millie hasn’t been forgotten. She’ll be honoured with a portrait when the mural is extended to encompass the Millie Dorsch Wellness Centre, which was added to the Vets’ Shed last year.

William Kibby VC, 1903 – 1942
Sergeant William Henry Kibby was awarded the Victoria Cross medal for acts of bravery in WWII, a year after he died during the Second Battle of El Alamein in Egypt. He was living at Helmsdale, which is now known as Glenelg East.

Michael Herbert, 1946 – 1970
Flying Officer Michael Patrick John Herbert and his navigator, Pilot Officer Robert Carver, disappeared during a night bombing mission in Vietnam in 1970. They were presumed killed. In 2009, the wreckage of their aircraft was discovered, and they were repatriated to Australia.

Millie Dorsch, 1912 – 1942
Born in Brighton, Hulda Millicent Maria (Millie) was a Sister with the Australian Army Nursing Service. She and 64 other nurses and civilians were on board the SS Vyner Brooke when it was bombed in 1942. Millie was last seen floating on a piece of wood with a small child, presumed drowned at sea.