The annual RSL Poppy Appeal raised $32,000 for the Warrnambool branch this year.

President John Miles said that he was overwhelmed by community’s generosity.

“Thank you to our members and the general public for their generosity,” he said.

“We always say Warrnambool is a great place to live, people are very generous.

“Every cent collected is to be spent in Warrnambool.”

The two RSL collectors who were robbed on the final day of the appeal have recovered from the incident, and two generous donors helped to make up some of the funds which were lost.

The opening of the new war memorial was another fabulous day for the RSL, Mr Miles said.

“There were more people there than expected,” he said.

“All day Wednesday there was a continuous stream of people trying the new memorial.

“And it continued on Thursday.”

A small technical issue has not been enough to turn people away.

“The RSL community is so proud of this new memorial,” Mr Miles said.