The remaining three members of the Eighth Battalion attended the group’s annual reunion at Table 48.

George Addlem, Jack Oliver and Stan Phillips each served in the Ballarat infantry from 1941. 

The trio arrived in Darwin on February 19, 1942. 

Mr Phillips was digging a trench on the day the Japanese bombed Darwin. 

“I was digging a supply trench when I heard a funny noise,” he said.

“Someone said, ‘Look up there’, and I thought it must have been the Yanks.”

Ballarat-born Mr Oliver said he wasn’t friends with either Mr Phillips or Mr Addlem when he first joined the army.

“I didn’t know who they were,” he said. 

Mr Addlem said they looked forward to the annual catch-up.

Each year, Lesley McQuinn organises a reunion for the group of about 26 people.

The group is made up of veterans, widows and family members of those who served in the Eighth Battalion. 

The annual reunion has been held almost every year since 1946.

Many guests travelled from Swan Hill, Kangaroo Flat, Geelong and St Arnaud to attend the lunch.

Ms McQuinn thanked Table 48 owner Gus Raschilla for opening his restaurant for the reunion.