A CHANCE visit to a second-hand store in Brisbane has led to treasured military memorabilia being returned to Rockhampton.

Lyn Clark, secretary-treasurer of the Capricornia RSL sub-branch, is excited that two honour boards from the Rockhampton RSL and the Anzac Club have been returned after what could be more than 10 years.

"We are so happy to have them back," she said yesterday.

"It was just so lucky ... such a chance thing."

When the Rockhampton RSL closed in 2002, some of the memorabilia was donated to the Central Queensland Military Museum and the remainder was believed to have been placed in storage.

So it is a mystery how the two honour boards ended up in the Brisbane store.

And it is something of a miracle that they have found their way home.

A work colleague of David Bell, from the region's 9th Battalion AIF Living History Unit, contacted him last month to say he had stumbled across the boards in Brisbane.

David contacted Lyn who in turn contacted the store owner.

The son of an ex-serviceman, he appreciated the significance of the boards and said he was happy to see them returned to the city.

"We're so grateful to him," Lyn said.

"I don't know what he paid for them originally but it is wonderful he was willing to forgo the money to give them back to us. He didn't have to do that.

"How they ended up in a second-hand shop, God only knows - but I know that we are really glad to have them back. It was also wonderful that David's friend thought to question why there were in Brisbane and not in Rockhampton."

Lyn said the boards carried the name of more than 20 men, including the late Bill Devonshire, Cec Marler and Col Jarvis.