On Wednesday 18 July 1917 the Bunbury branch of the Returned Soldiers Association (the forerunner of the current RSL) was formed.
This followed discussions held on Wednesday 4 July 1917 by Returned men that a branch should be started as there was already a large contingent of men, primarily from 11 Battalion then later from other battalions returning to the extent that there were some 1,400 members in Western Australia.