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Tom KrusePrint Page Print this page

16-October-2008 (Ian Doyle)
16-October-2008 (Ian Doyle)

Photographs supplied by Ian Doyle / Stephen Warren

The bust commemorates former resident Tom Kruse, the outback mailman who delivered mail on the Birdsville track. This was the first of three memorials with the other two to be placed at each end of the Birdsville Track at Marree and Birdsville.

Esmond Gerald (Tom) Kruse MBE (1914 – 2011) was a former mail carrier on the Birdsville Track in the border area between South Australia and Queensland. He became known as the result of John Heyer's 1954 film The Back of Beyond. The year after the film's release in the 1955 New Year Honours, Kruse was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for "services to the community in the outback".

The famous Badger mail truck which delivered more than 7000 letters from all over the world, is now restored and housed permanently at the National Motor Museum, has recently been bequeathed to the people of South Australia.

Inducted into the National Transport Hall of Fame in 2000 at Alice Springs, Kruse has now been officially recognized as an Outback Legend by Australian Geographic, while both he and the Badger were nominated South Australian icons by the National Trust.

Location

Address:Old Burra Road, Waterloo Hall, Waterloo, 5110
State:SA
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -33.991177
Long: 138.878442
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
View Google Map

Details

Monument Type:Sculpture
Monument Theme:People
Sub-Theme:Industry
Artist:Patricia Moseley
Link:http://www.tomkruse.com.au/

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:Thursday 16th October, 2008
Front Inscription

Birdsville Track Mailman
E. G. (Tom) Kruse MBE

Officially unveiled by 
E. G. (Tom) Kruse MBE and Valma Kruse
Roger Kruse and Brenton Kruse

16 November 2008

Plaque :

Sculpted by 
Patricia Moseley F.R.S.A.S.A.

Proudly supported by

CMV Foundation                   Nell & David Brook OAM
RFDS                                     Kym & Jo Fort
Waterloo Community             Brendan & Pat Eblen
Kruse Quarries                      Crawford family
Pilatus Australia                     Fraser & Cathy Bell
Corrugated Air Productions    Frank & Mary Bawden
Roger Clarke                          Rasheed family
Keith Webb                             Neil Weidenbach
Ian Doyle                                Burge family
Bell family Dulkaninna Stn     Dusty Miller
Laurie Kalms                          Doug Brockfield
John & June Parnell               Public donation

Source: MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au