Tenterfield war hero fought back with music

Ray Tullipan was brought up amongst music. It all started with school bands until he eventually played violin, sax, clarinet and cornet in dance and brass bands.
When he enlisted with the A.I.F he joined the 2/18th’s concert band.
He was selected for the Eighth Division Concert Party in Malaysia, but after the capitulation suddenly found himself a Prisoner Of War.
Music became one of the most important activities in helping to keep up the morale of the thousands of Australian, British and Dutch POWs.
Ray joined forces with other musicians and in the various working parties that moved around, they performed many shows.
Eventually Ray ended up permanently in Changi and here the A.I.F Concert Party reformed and put on a new musical production every fortnight to a thousand POWs or more.
It took a lot of courage and energy to keep the music going, working in the few spare hours available.
There were many setbacks when sometimes their quarters and equipment were destroyed. Yet they knew how important their work was for their fellow prisoners.
Brig. F.G.Galleghan D.S.O, E.D who was the Commander of A.I.F Prisoners Of War in Singapore, stated: “No words of praise are sufficient to express my appreciation to all the members of the A.I.F Concert Party. I couple their work with that of the Australian Army Medical Corps. One performed yeoman service to keep men physically fit and the other, by its special service, kept men fit mentally. Ray Tullipan earned the respect of all the men confined as Prisoners of War.”
To commemorate the brave work of this long neglected local war hero, two Tenterfield music groups are combining their talents to perform seven of Ray Tullipan’s Changi songs, during the Anzac Day ceremonies in Tenterfield.
The well known choir “Pitching Tents” and the Celtic Trio “Welder’s Dog” will sing songs ranging from boredom, to love, to hope and memories of loved ones back home.
They were written and performed in the desperate conditions of Prisoner of War camps, and tell a moving story of how Ray Tullipan fought back with music to help lift the spirits of his fellow prisoners.