Victoria at War: 1914–1918 9781742247045, 9781742233802

Citation preview

victoria at war

1914 _ 1918



VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 1

5/05/14 1:56 PM

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 2

5/05/14 1:56 PM

victoria at war

1914 _ 1918

M

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 3

i

c

h

a

e

l

M

c

K

e

r

n

a

n

5/05/14 1:56 PM

A NewSouth book Published by NewSouth Publishing University of New South Wales Press Ltd University of New South Wales Sydney NSW 2052 AUSTRALIA newsouthpublishing.com Published in association with the State Library of Victoria 328 Swanston Street Melbourne Victoria 3000 Australia slv.vic.gov.au © Michael McKernan 2014 First published 2014 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Inquiries should be addressed to the publisher. National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Author: McKernan, Michael, 1945– author. Title: Victoria at war: 1914–1918/Michael McKernan. ISBN: 9781742233802 (hardback) Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index. Subjects: World War, 1914–1918 – Victoria. World War, 1914–1918 – Victoria – Biography. Victoria – History – 1901–1922. Victoria – Social life and customs. Dewey Number: 994.5 Design Di Quick Cover Australian War Memorial J00331 Front endpaper Australian War Memorial J00346 Back endpaper Australian War Memorial E02964 Printer Everbest, China This book is printed on paper using fibre supplied from plantation or sustainably managed forests.

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 4

This book has been supported by the Victorian Government to mark the centenary of World War I.

5/05/14 1:56 PM

Contents Maps

vi

Foreword

ix

Prologue

1

1 War comes to Melbourne 2 War comes to Victoria 3 Victorians go to war

50 76

5 Counting the cost

105

6 On the Western Front

8 Holding on 9 Victory Epilogue

172

188 212

Acknowledgements Index

132

153

A note on sources

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 5

29

4 War in the schools

7 Conscription

6

222 225

226

5/05/14 1:56 PM

n e w

Mi ldu ra

s o u t h w a l e s S w an Hi ll

r i v

m u r r a

e

Bi rc hi p Boort Wa r r a c kn abeal

r

Yarrawonga Shepparton

Wedderbur n

l Co

e

ra

e in

Ararat

Ballarat Sm

Ham i lt o n

e

e

Po

oi

nt

Lo

w

nc

b a s s

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 6

or

le

P

vi

M

La Lak ke e T y s En ers tr a

da

nd

g

Ba ns

Geelon

Wi n c helsea C o lac

on kst an r F Langwa r r in Morn ingt on

Orbost Br i M ago af fr Sa a le

ir

ool

Point Cook

th Sou im r e Ne Tr a r a l g o n

ng

mb

melbourne

ll

tla

ar W

a rn

yth

esdale

Combienbar

ville Creek ales a h o n ’s He McM

lo

P

or

od

oa Eur bogie Strath

v i c t o r i a

Kyneton D aylesford

ns Ne dale p Port ean sea

a

st

on

Benalla

Seymour

aine

Wangaratta

int

C

Mar yborou gh

t er

Rushworth Longwo

Bendigo Castlem

Wodonga

Echuca

C har lton

Ho r s h am

y

s t r a i t

0

50

km

Pla c es ment io ned in t he t ex t a re in bla c k .

5/05/14 1:57 PM

Hill 971

Ch

n a g e a e a e s

Plugge’s Plateau

Pope’s Hill

Quinn’s Post Scrubby Knoll

Cour tney ’s P Steel ost e ’s P ost

e dg Ri s ’ an ag ully cL nel G a M ap r Sh

t u

ge

Th

ird

Ri

Pi

dg

ne

id

k

y

e

’s ton

Bol

R

r

e

Leg

e

Ri

dg

ge V alley

Lone Pine

Original planned landing area

ir

sT op

ll’

sse anzac cove

Ru

ari burnu

Ba

Baby 7 0 0

The Nek Walker’s Ridge

u

k nu

A n d e r s o n ’s Knoll

0

1

km

gaba tepe

Anzac line, Co n t 26 e nApril t s 1915

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 7

vii

5/05/14 1:57 PM

b e l g i u Po

pe

rin

ge W

Yp r

yt

sch

M

Pl

oe

Hazebrouck

ae

ess

gst

es

te

ine

eer

Merris

Passche n d a e le Z Broo on dse ind ne e be ke

m

Menen s

Comines

t armentières

Fleurbaix

Bois-Grenier Fromelles

c e n r a

f

arras

le Bul

cou

rt

uil Nore rt icou Lagn

Hébuter ne Colincamps va

l

b a pa u m e

ie Th rm et Fa èr Mouqu zi Po

i ver S omme

Vi g n a c o u

p

Gueudecourt Flers

es

R

rt

Der nancourt Chi amiens

Vi

viii 0

Ha

10

km

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 8

lle

rs-

pil

me

Br

Moriancourt

Mo n t b re h a i n Mont Saint-Quentin pér

ly

onne

l saint-quentin

eto

nn

eux

Lihons

5/05/14 1:57 PM

Foreword

L

ess than eight years after the conclusion of the First

Spring Street, Melbourne. The Governor-General lived in

World War, an article in one of Victoria’s major

Melbourne, as did successive prime ministers, despite their

newspapers claimed that ‘Victoria was thrilled to the

seats being interstate.

core on that fateful day early in August 1914 when

Victorians rose to the extraordinary challenges the

the message was received that Britain … had declared war on

war presented. Sir John Monash, an unquestionably great

the Central Powers.’ (Argus, Supplement, 9 September 1926)

Victorian, contributed to changing the course of the war on

Such was the mood that Victorians began to enlist

the Western Front. Others, such as Harold Elliott, Albert

within days of the matching declaration by the Australian

Jacka and Keith Murdoch, also became household names.

Government on 5 August 1914. The first Victorian convoy left Port Melbourne in mid-October. The original offer of 20 000 troops from across Australia

Victoria was also instrumental in other ways. The first shot of the war was fired from Fort Nepean on Port Phillip Bay in Victoria. Victorian regiments had key roles on the

was quickly exceeded by Victorian enlistments alone. Over

Gallipoli peninsula, in the Middle East and on the Western

the course of the war approximately 114 000 Victorians of a

Front. Victorian horses and men were an important part of

population of around 740 000 men ‘heard the call’. Some

the Light Horse.

91 000 servicemen and women were sent overseas. The first Anzacs came from all states of Australia and

It turned out that there was nothing glamorous about the war. The great adventure, so anticipated by wide-eyed

New Zealand. In Victoria, they came from every part of the

volunteers, became the great tragedy. So many of the

state: from farms, small towns, cities and the suburbs. They

‘thrilling events’ reported by the Argus were, in reality,

were locals and new arrivals, from Indigenous communities

disasters.

and from families big and small. In their absence, and faced with the choice ‘to wait

Tragically, 19 000 Victorians made the ultimate sacrifice, while a further 42 000 were wounded,

and weep, or to work’, Victorians gave their support to the

representing a staggering 65 per cent combined casualty

war effort. They established Red Cross branches in every

rate. Many survivors carried mental scarring for the rest of

community, supplied the troops, raised funds and watched

their lives.

progress as best they could from the other side of the globe. For Victorians, the declaration followed a period of prosperity and optimism. Federal parliament was based in

A generation of Victoria’s finest young men, women and future leaders, were killed, wounded or impacted forever.

ix

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 9

5/05/14 1:57 PM

In the end there was triumph, but Victoria would feel this loss for generations. Some families would

Australian collections, including local public libraries,

never recover. As the world marks the centenary of the

historical societies and institutional archives.

First World War, Michael McKernan’s book explores

As part of the Anzac Centenary commemorations,

openly and intimately the war years from a Victorian

Victoria at War provides a reason and an opportunity

perspective.

for Victorian families to better understand the war, to

The State Library of Victoria, where McKernan

honour the service and sacrifice and, most importantly,

carried out much of the research for this book, holds

to reconnect to the families of those who served and to

extensive collections of First World War–related material,

acknowledge the wider role of all Victorians.

including diaries, correspondence, posters, pamphlets,

The Hon. Ted Baillieu, MLA Chair, Victorian Anzac Centenary Committee

newspapers and ephemera. There is also a wealth of

x

material in many other public and private Victorian and

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 10

5/05/14 1:57 PM

Prologue

T

here are 27 names on the war memorial at

who was 1.83 metres tall, joined the 6th Battalion and

Briagolong, a small Victorian country town in

briefly served on Gallipoli. He was wounded in May 1915,

Gippsland about 30 kilometres from Sale. The

fell ill, and was returned to Australia in March 1917. It

names are carved in stone and, above them, is

seems that he died in September 1933.

inscribed ‘Killed in Action: our lives were given that you

Robert Angus Whitelaw enlisted in January 1915. He

might be free’. Sometimes on these small memorials a

was 29 years of age and also unmarried. He joined the 21st

family name is repeated, sometimes more than twice. They

Battalion and served on Gallipoli from late August 1915

might be the names of brothers; rather, you would hope,

until sent away with a hernia on 12 November 1915. He

they were cousins or not even related. On Briagolong’s

rejoined his battalion in March 1916 and was sent to France

memorial no names are repeated until the bottom of the

in September 1916. He was killed in action on 3 May 1917.

second column on which the same name occurs three times:

The second of Annie Whitelaw’s sons to be killed in the

Whitelaw A, Whitelaw C, Whitelaw R. ‘Don’t let them be

war.

brothers’, you plead to whomever is your personal god. But they are. Six Whitelaw brothers were among the

Angus McSween Whitelaw was 18 years of age when he enlisted on 15 February 1915. So young, and with

total of 36 men born in Briagolong who went to fight

two brothers already in the army, did he have trouble, I

in the First World War. Three were killed at the front

wonder, in convincing his parents that he should go to

and another died of his wounds shortly after he returned

war? Angus reached Gallipoli at the end of August 1915

home. It is hard to go past the experience of the Whitelaws

but was evacuated sick just seven days later. Had he met up

and Briagolong as a stark image of the cost of war to one

with Bob on the peninsula during the few days they served

Victorian family and one Victorian village. ‘The poor

together? We will never know. Angus must have been really

parents’, you immediately think. Mrs Annie Whitelaw died,

sick on evacuation because he did not rejoin his battalion

aged 64, on 5 April 1927, having lived with her grief for

in France until May 1916. He was killed in action on

more than a decade.

25 August 1916.

Lionel Whitelaw was the first of her sons to enlist, in

Ivan Cecil Whitelaw enlisted on 26 October 1915; aged

November 1914. Lionel was 24 years of age, unmarried and

21 at the time of his joining up, he, too, was unmarried. He

a labourer at the time of his enlistment. His brothers also

was placed in the 12th Battalion. Ivan had a hard time on

described themselves as labourers on enlistment. Lionel,

the Western Front; he was gassed in August 1916, wounded

1

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 1

5/05/14 1:57 PM

in April and May 1917 and sick in July 1917. The award

Melbourne in July 1919 and died of his wounds in October

of a Military Medal reveals him as a gallant soldier and the

1922. The family always spoke of the four brothers killed in

only one of his brothers to be decorated. Ivan rejoined his

war.

battalion in February 1918 and was killed in action on 23 April 1918.

each wound, illness or, of course, death would generate a

Donald John Whitelaw was 27, nearly 28, years of age

telegram to Briagolong, there was plenty to worry about

when he enlisted on 27 January 1916. He was the tallest of

each time the telegram boy or the Presbyterian minister

the boys at 1.86 metres and was married. Don joined the

was sighted making his way to the house. There would

37th Battalion and reached France in November 1916. He

be the agony of opening the envelope to see what news it

was evacuated sick in April 1917 and was wounded in June

disclosed: ‘regret reported son private Ivan C Whitelaw

1917. He went to France a second time on 27 December

wounded will promptly advise if anything further received

1917 and was evacuated with severe gastritis in June

Base records 7/9/16’. By my reckoning the parents of these

1918. He embarked for home in October 1918 and was

six young men may have received 12 such telegrams, in

discharged unfit.

addition to the three telegrams informing them of the death

Kenneth Whitelaw was the last of the brothers to

2

This is a terrible record of one family’s suffering. As

of their sons. How they must have worried for their boys.

enlist. At 32 years and three months old when he joined up

As other Victorian parents, and parents around Australia,

on 10 November 1916, Ken was the oldest of his brothers

worried for their sons.

and a married man. Was the pressure to join his brothers

In the long years after the war few Australians could

at war too great to resist? Ken left Melbourne just before

travel overseas to see where their sons had fought and died.

Christmas 1916 but did not reach France until March

The establishment of great and small war cemeteries all

1918. He was a member of the 2nd Australian Pioneer

over northern France and Belgium in the 1920s saw the

Battalion, a special battalion raised in each division and

arrival of travellers from Britain, wandering among the

trained to support engineers and infantry. Ken may have

headstones, looking for the final resting places of loved

worked extensively in the Australian camps on Salisbury

ones. Only very wealthy Australians could afford this

Plain. On 5 October 1918, at Mont Brehain, the last place

consolation. The greater tragedy for the Whitelaw family,

at which the Australians fought in the war, Ken received a

though, and for the mother in particular, was that neither

severe gunshot wound to the chest. He was discharged in

Robert, Angus or Ivan have a known grave in any cemetery.

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 2

5/05/14 1:57 PM

Each is, instead, listed among the Unknown on the

for, when the door was opened and the perhaps unfamiliar

Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux. The

presence of the clergyman was revealed, all hope was gone

remains of these boys from Briagolong were never given a

and the envelope he offered could mean only one thing.

burial, or had prayers read over them by the Presbyterian

The priest or minister, trying to put the sacrifice in noble

chaplain, or were farewelled by their mates; their remains

terms to uplift those in their new and instant grief, would

were never found. Another Victorian mother, grieving for

offer sympathy and suggest that the parents and siblings

her son killed on Gallipoli, wrote ‘if only I could see your

of the deceased might benefit from a prayerful moment

grave I would die happy’. Annie and Robert Whitelaw were

together.

never to know that peace of mind. I do not tell this small part of the story of the Whitelaw

Similarly society, from the moment the news of the first casualties came through from Gallipoli, regarded the

family at war to give them a special prominence above other

nation’s losses as noble sacrifice. A new language came

suffering families. That is not it at all. Of those Australians

to be used to speak of those killed at war. Of course,

who served in the Great War, as they called it, almost

there was plenty of King and Country rhetoric, but there

114 000 were Victorians. And, of these men and women,

was also a sense that those killed had left their families

around 19 000 did not return to their homes and loved

and communities with a new responsibility and a new

ones. The Whitelaw boys were just three of that staggering

obligation. Look again at the words on the Briagolong

number. We cannot know how many others came home

memorial: ‘our lives were given that you might be free’. It

from war, like Ken Whitelaw, so badly wounded that

is those who have died who are talking to us, telling us of

life itself would be a struggle and death would come in

the cause for which they died. Did Annie Whitelaw and the

the first years after the war. But we do know of the great

other Victorian mothers who lost a son in war find comfort

repatriation hospital at Caulfield and of the dozens of

and consolation in the thought of the nobility of their sons’

Anzac hostels that were dotted around Victoria and where

sacrifice? We can never know.

severely sick returned soldiers lived for months, years and, in some cases, for the rest of their lives. Ministers of religion delivered 19 000 ‘casualty’ (that

This narrative inevitably holds some excitement; when news of war came to Melbourne there was, remarkable though it is to record it, overwhelming excitement, even

is, death) telegrams to Victorian homes during the war

jubilation. There are, equally, moments of deep pride and

years. We know that clergymen came to detest this work

celebration, such as when the news broke that a Victorian

prologue

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 3

3

5/05/14 1:57 PM

country boy, ‘Bert’ Jacka, was the first Australian to

the future. Death would stalk this contingent and it would

be awarded the Victoria Cross. In response, the entire

not be many days when, because of illness, there would

Victorian community swelled with pride and admiration.

be the first burials at sea. War was an adventure and who

One of their own had demonstrated the greatest courage

could say on that October afternoon in spring whether this

and resourcefulness. Jacka was celebrated everywhere

contingent of soldiers at Port Melbourne would even be

throughout the state; and rightly so.

in time to fight in the war? It might all be over before they

Any account of the Australian response to the war, or any part of it, must highlight the generosity of that

‘sweethearts’ knew an anxiety that would only grow when it

response, the nobility of sacrifice freely embraced and

was learned that our contingents were deep in the thick of

the determination to endure to the end. This Victorian

the fighting.

narrative will look at all classes and conditions of people to

And, then, grief also entered the equation. Shortly

see that generous, noble, determined response of soldiers

after the announcement that the Australians had landed

at the front, in men and women at home, and among

at Gallipoli came the first casualty lists. The Melbourne

children too. It is an inspiring story.

newspapers, and the country papers too, at first tried to

The story of the Whitelaws, however, reminds us

4

could race to the battlefront. Even so mothers, wives and

give a photo and a pen-portrait of each soldier killed at

that it is impossible to write about the war of 1914–18

Anzac, as it came to be called. Within weeks this attempt

except through the prism of anxiety and grief. Underlining

had to abandoned and, for the most part, death was posted

it all, at all stages of the war, is a deep anxiety for the

with a name and battalion only. The newspapers, and their

fate of those who have gone to the war and a profound

readers, were overwhelmed by the extent of the casualties.

hopefulness that each one will come home unscathed

The people did not give themselves over to lamentations

and unbowed. Even as the first troopships departed Port

and misery in the face of these appalling casualty lists;

Melbourne in October 1914, decked with streamers and

Australian communities, like the peoples of other nations,

serenaded by bands and celebrating crowds, there were

I imagine, are not like that. There was a deep pride in

those on the wharf praying and hoping for the safe return

what the troops were achieving at Anzac, as the people

of those departing. As the streamers snapped, loosening

understood it, and an early awareness that the cause was

the last physical bond that would tie each boy to his

just, the sacrifice justified. And, yet, we must leave the

loved ones, there were those who looked tearfully into

people to their grief.

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 4

5/05/14 1:57 PM

Sadly, we must also turn to the contemplation of a

Phelan continued by reminding the congregation that,

community riven with anger and division. When news of

while Australian Catholic soldiers went to their deaths

the armistice arrived in Melbourne late on 11 November

with a sincere and genuine expectation of eternal life with

1918, there was universal rejoicing. Dancing in the streets,

God, Australian soldiers outside the church had no such

lots of tin whistles and banging of drums. That kind of

consolation. The war had shown, he said, ‘what little use

thing. The city’s main churches rushed to offer major

[was] the Bible-reading clergyman who had no power to

services of thanksgiving. On Wednesday 13 November

forgive sins’. Moreover, he continued, the Catholic mother

services were held in both cathedrals and the Collins Street

could follow her son beyond the grave with her prayers,

Independent and Baptist churches. The Presbyterians

but this comfort was denied the Protestant mother who was

even took over the Melbourne Town Hall for their service

told such prayers were useless. To tell those in grief that

of thanksgiving. At St Paul’s Cathedral, so great was the

there might be a distinction after the grave was heartless,

crowd of worshippers, hundreds of people were unable to

divisive and tactless, but such community divisions were a

gain admittance. At St Patrick’s Cathedral, on the following

direct outcome of the war. We can only hope that Annie

Sunday, there were two grand occasions: solemn Pontifical

Whitelaw, and thousands like her, heard nothing of the

High Mass in the morning and Pontifical Vespers in the

bishop’s sermon.

evening. Bishop Patrick Phelan of Sale, who preached

When war broke out there was no sense in Victoria that

at vespers, paid tribute to the sacrifices of the Australian

things would never be the same again. The people were

troops and their families. But the bishop could not avoid

confident in the might of the Empire and in the quality

mention of the divisions and sectarianism that were a

of the troops that would be sent to defend it. Yet Victoria

marked outcome of the war. He spoke of the heroic deeds

changed dramatically and permanently under the impact

of the Australian troops, more praiseworthy, he said,

of war, as this book hopes to show. The war also, however,

because the men had enlisted freely without the need for

gave Victorians, in the words of the official war historian,

conscription: ‘their gift of sacrifice and life was a free gift;

Charles Bean, ‘a possession forever’. It is that inheritance

no cruel law dragged them from their parents and friends’.

that this book also seeks to celebrate.

prologue

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 5

5

5/05/14 1:57 PM

c h a p t e r

o n e

Wa r c o m e s t o M e l b o u r n e

M

e l b o u r n e in 1914 was one of the great cities of the Empire, despite its youth, being more than half a century younger than Sydney. n Moreover, from 1901, Melbourne was the federal capital of Australia and would remain so until the parliament moved to Canberra in 1927. n

As such, Melbourne was home to regal pomp,

with the King’s second son, the Duke of Cornwall and York, and his wife, travelling to Melbourne in 1901 to open the first sitting of the federal parliament of Australia on 9 May. n

It was a grand

occasion, made even more grand by the greatness and wealth of the city in which the parliament sat for close to the next three decades. n

Residing at Government House on St Kilda Road, now the

Needing to house a great crowd for the formal opening of

official home of the Governor-General of Australia, the

parliament it was appropriate that the Exhibition Building

Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York processed through

was used, but thereafter the Senate and the House of

the streets of Melbourne on their way to open parliament

Representatives met in the grand parliament buildings at

in the cavernous Exhibition Building in Carlton Gardens.

the top of Bourke Street, which until then had been the

6

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 6

5/05/14 1:57 PM

home of the state parliament. On this day, with a crushing

young daughter Vera, my aunt, witnessing the procession

crowd of dignitaries in the building, a cannon boomed in

from the vantage of his shoulders. She well remembered

the grounds of Government House to tell all those who

the occasion throughout her long life, realising even then

were lining the streets or sitting in the temporary stands

its importance and solemnity. She saw the royal couple in

that the royal couple were on their way.

an open carriage drawn by decorated horses. For Vera, who

The route to and from the Exhibition Building took

would have seen many horses in her young life, these stood

the Duke and Duchess up St Kilda Road from Government

out – dressed with plumes, just what a young girl might

House, across Princes Bridge and into the city. They

remember. She recalled the length of the procession, the

travelled along Melbourne’s grandest streets, each of them

size of the crowd, the noise and excitement, all of which

magnificent boulevards, and were saluted by huge crowds

were somewhat frightening to a little girl. Melbourne was

on each journey. If the royal couple had seen through the

to be the home to the federal government, parliament

crowds to the sights on offer, they must surely have been

and public service, and it was only right, as the largest and

impressed by a standard of building equal to, at least, the

grandest city in Australia. Melburnians were proud of their

offices and shops of London or Paris. Melbourne was a

city and its position as the federal capital of Australia.

city built by gold and happy to show off its wealth. Office

Since that momentous day Melburnians became

buildings of six to ten storeys in height, great government

accustomed to the comings and goings of federal

edifices, monumental buildings, such as the Supreme Court

parliamentarians. Almost all members and senators stayed

and the Melbourne Public (later State) Library, the like of

in town throughout the parliamentary sessions, except

which no other Australian city could boast. Grand banks in

for the Victorian members who could return to their

every style of architecture: Gothic, Victorian and utilitarian;

electorates more readily.

with chambers that still awe those who enter them. Shops

Sitting patterns were not as they would become when

and arcades of excellent taste, packed with goods from

air travel made access to the parliament in Canberra much

throughout the world. Melbourne in 1901 was certainly

easier. In 1913, for example, the parliament did not meet

one of the greatest cities of the Empire; indeed, one of the

at all until 9 July as there had been a federal election on

greatest cities of the world. Rich, proud, solid.

31 May. But, from 9 July, the House of Representatives

My grandfather, Thomas James McKernan, stood at the top of Bourke Street, opposite Parliament House, with his

was in almost permanent session until 18 December. At most there was a break of four to five days once each

war comes to melbourne

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 7

7

5/05/14 1:57 PM

month, when members from Tasmania, New South Wales and South Australia could make a quick dash for home. Members from Queensland and Western Australia had to sit it out. Prime minister since 1913, Joseph Cook maintained his home in Lithgow, but lived almost permanently in Melbourne. Opposition leader, Andrew Fisher, who was elected prime minister, for the third time, on 5 September 1914, bought an elegant mansion in St Kilda where he lived with his wife and six children. He made occasional visits to his electorate of Wide Bay in Queensland. Melbourne was also home to the federal bureaucracy with the Defence Department, for example, housed in the impressive if darkly threatening Victoria Barracks on St Kilda Road. The Fathers of Federation had worked

The Duke and Duchess of York drove along this section of Swanston Street on 9 May 1901

hard to convince Australians that the federal public service

– cleared of trams and

would remain small in comparison to the state bureaucracy,

vehicles – but filled with

but the war would see a growth in the size and importance of the federal public service. With Melbourne as the home

cheering crowds. Perhaps

of many of these public servants, and as the responsibilities

they glimpsed some of

of government increased, the city itself grew in significance

Melbourne’s impressive

to become the centre of the life of the nation. Cook and Fisher were absent from Melbourne for much of July 1914. Australia, coming to be aware of increasing tensions in Europe, was going to the polls again,

buildings through the crowds.

just 18 months after the last election, for its first federal double dissolution election. Cook won a one-seat majority in the House of Representatives at the 1913 election, but he lacked the numbers in the Senate. Only a double dissolution, at which all senators would retire, would allow Cook any prospect of effective governing. He required the governor-general to dissolve parliament on 8 June, before the disastrous situation in Europe had become apparent. No government would wish to go to war in the middle of an election campaign, but such was Australia’s fate. The election was set down for 5 September and, for all of

8

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 8

5/05/14 1:57 PM

Foreword

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 9

9

5/05/14 1:57 PM

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 2009.95/42

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 91.40/395

10

Bourke Street, Melbourne, with the federal parliament building in the distance.

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 10

The Myer Emporium, which opened in July 1914, dominates on the left.

5/05/14 1:57 PM

July and August, members were bunkered down in their

contact. Munro Ferguson sent Cook a telegram, in cipher

electorates while their leaders toured the country hoping to

code, suggesting that Cabinet should be summoned to a

rouse voters to their cause.

meeting in Melbourne as soon as possible. Cook, who was

Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson (later Lord Novar), Governor-General of Australia since May 1914, was in

could not decipher the message and more time was lost.

Sydney in late July, as was the minister for defence,

Only on 1 August did the prime minister understand what

Edward Millen. The prime minister was in country

was happening in Europe and order a Cabinet meeting for

Victoria, as also was the leader of the Opposition.

Monday 3 August in Melbourne. War would break out in

Communications from the British Government to the

Europe on 4 August. Australia’s earliest response to the

Australian Government went through the office of the

emergency was as near to farce as could be imagined.

governor-general as a matter of course so, at 3 pm on

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 91.40/395

on the road and did not have his cipher book with him,

Despite this belated comprehension of the crisis, only

30 July 1914, Munro Ferguson was given a deciphered

half of the ten-member Cabinet could reach Melbourne in

message which read: ‘See preface defence scheme. Adopt

time for this most urgent meeting. With hindsight we know

precautionary stage. Names of powers will be

that the crisis was upon Australia, but at the time there

communicated later if necessary’. The governor-general’s

was little sense of urgency or drama. Would a responsible

office passed the message to Senator Millen and,

government, in full knowledge of the likely turn of events,

remarkably, posted a copy of the telegram to the prime

have allowed ministers to range far and wide from their

minister, who would have received it at least a day or two

offices and their advisers? Yet the Melbourne Argus, a

later. There seemed a strange lack of urgency in response to

newspaper of excellence and deliberation, told its readers

what was, in fact, the preliminary warning that war might

on 3 August that ‘the greatest point of interest for us …

break out soon. Neither the governor-general nor the

will naturally be the course that Great Britain adopts in

defence minister seemed to understand this. The clerk who

the dark days that are upon us’. Point of interest? Wasn’t

deciphered the message had rendered ‘adopt’ as ‘adoption’,

that a bit mild? There was no certainty, the paper believed,

though it is hard to see how that excused Millen

that Britain would be drawn into a European war, even if

misunderstanding the cable and taking no action. The

Germany attacked France, having already declared war on

Australian Government failed to understand Britain’s

Russia. War for the Empire, the Argus thought, was still

warning that the European powder keg was about to blow

an open question: ‘should Great Britain be called upon to

and to step up to the highest level of preparedness for war:

fight’. Little wonder that people in the streets had been

to adopt a war footing.

going about their business with almost no expectation of

It was not until the next day that Millen was awoken to a sense of his responsibilities. A senior soldier travelled

the turmoil that would soon be created. Then, it all burst upon them, and the involvement

from Melbourne to Sydney to explain to the minister

and enthusiasm of the people, waking up to the reality

that the telegram was a pre-arranged signal from the War

of what was happening in Europe, was intense. The

Department in London informing the dominions that war

Argus office was in central Melbourne, in Collins Street,

was probable. Even so, Millen was unwilling to act without

around the corner from the intersection with Swanston

authorisation from the prime minister, who was out of

Street. Crowds were soon milling, reading the news

war comes to melbourne

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 11

11

5/05/14 1:57 PM

The corner of Collins and Elizabeth streets, Melbourne

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 99.100/27

– a solid area of commerce

12

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 12

5/05/14 1:57 PM

Argus 5 A u g u s t 1914, S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , N e w s pa p e r s C o ll e c t i o n

Victorians begin to learn about the war.

war comes to melbourne

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 13

13

5/05/14 1:57 PM

that was posted on boards outside the office, clamouring for special editions as they rolled off the presses. Melbourne’s other great morning newspaper, The Age, was also housed in Collins Street, which swelled the crowd numbers even further. When the British Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey, gave a speech in the House of Commons on the European situation, the Argus had it out on the streets in double quick time. Other ‘specials’ told of Germany on the march. Cabinet, which met for most of the afternoon of 3 August, instructed that the Australian navy would be placed under the orders of the Admiralty ‘in the event of war’ and an expeditionary

German-Australian citizens paid to erect

force of 20 000 men would be offered to Britain, again

this arch in Collins

‘in the event of war’. There was no question but that

Street in May 1901

Australia would stand with Britain. Paperboys rushed through the suburbs with the special editions that the crowds were reading in the city. Vera, now a university student, with her parents away from home and conscious of her mixed Irish and German background, rushed her younger siblings into the house in South

in celebration of the presence of the Duke and Duchess of York in Melbourne.

Melbourne and locked up, just in case of trouble. ‘As the day wore on,’ the Argus reported, excitement grew. Each batch [of the special edition] as it came from the presses, melted like snow and the boys ran through the city crying the news. There had never been such excitement about a special edition of any Melbourne paper.

Trains rushed the news all around the state. At Bendigo, for example, a crowd thronged the railway station waiting for a train carrying the papers. When it arrived the papers were snatched from the hands of the paperboys who were vainly trying to sell them. Then, on 5 August at 12.30 pm, a cable was sent to Munro Ferguson advising that Britain had declared war on Germany, coming to the assistance of Belgium, which Germany had invaded on its way to France. Couched in

14

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 14

5/05/14 1:57 PM

Foreword

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 15 S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 2012.93/7

15

5/05/14 1:57 PM

Victorians fired the first shot in the world war.

alliance terms as the honourable and noble thing to do for ‘poor little Belgium’, Britain had immediately stolen the higher moral ground from the Germans. The news reached the governor-general just after midday on 5 August and he promptly conveyed it to the prime minister. Outside the Argus office the crowd swelled and waited impatiently: elderly gentlemen and professional men were as eager to be up near the door as were the newspaper runners … there was no rowdyism – only an intense desire to learn the latest news … the minutes dragged by, and the excitement of the crowd grew almost feverish. ‘What’s the news’, ‘Tell us the news’ shouted an impatient man at the back of the crowd and a hundred other voices took up the call.

The police allowed small groups into the office to buy the first copies of the most recent special edition. [E]veryone in the street seemed to have heard the news Herald 5 A u g u s t 1914, S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , N e w s pa p e r s C o l l e c t i o n

of the declaration of war. Some were enthusiastic; some

16

evidently gratified; some seemed overweighted by the import of the news; some were openly pessimistic. But the general feeling was one of relief that the terrible waiting and uncertainty of the last few days was over and that, whatever the issue might be, Great Britain had made her voice known in the quarrel of the nations.

While this was happening in Melbourne there was drama at sea, which if known, would have added intensely to the crowds’ excitement. A German cargo vessel, the Pfalz, a relatively new ship, had been unloading cargo from Bremen at the Melbourne wharves since 30 July. The ship might have departed on the night of 4 August, but at the last minute the captain decided to take on more coal to permit sailing to South America, rather than to Sydney as had been intended. As the war news became bleaker, making untenable the presence of a German ship in Australian waters, the coaling proceeded frantically and, early in

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 16

5/05/14 1:57 PM

the morning of 5 August, Pfalz left Victoria Dock, her

One aspect of this episode gives some insight into the

papers, apparently, in order. As was standard procedure

sources that tell the story of a people at war. Historians use

the ship carried a Victorian pilot, Captain Robinson, and,

a variety of sources to tell a story, newspapers included,

to conserve fuel, it steamed down Port Phillip Bay at slow

as for example, my use of the Melbourne Argus. A fine

speed. When the ship left the dock there had been no

newspaper, it was Melbourne’s oldest paper to still be

declaration of war and there was rejoicing aboard that a

published in 1914, its first issue coming out in 1848 and

difficult situation had been avoided. As would come to

modelled on the great newspapers of Britain, such as The

be known, the Pfalz was carrying a number of German

Times or the Morning Post. The Argus told the story of the

consular officials.

Pfalz on 6 August 1914, the day after the events occurred.

By 10 am, when the ship was off Portsea, an examining

Many of the most important details in the Argus story are,

officer boarded, received the papers, deemed them to be

however, wrong. The Argus reported that the Pfalz, after

in good order and authorised Pfalz to proceed. At this

frantically unloading its cargo, sprinted down Port Phillip

point there was still no advice of the outbreak of war and,

Bay at full speed, that the examining officer boarded from

therefore, no reason to detain the ship. Again, there was

Queenscliff, on the western side of the bay, and that the

jubilation when Pfalz was authorised to depart, including

shot was fired from Fort Queenscliff. Officials at what

among the consular officials who had come up onto the

would become the Australian War Memorial interviewed

bridge. As the pilot was manoeuvring the ship into The

Captain Robinson after the war and used his evidence

Rip, the notorious stretch of water between Point Nepean

to put together a more accurate narrative. The Argus

and Point Lonsdale, he failed to notice a signal from Fort

story concluded with a list of other furphies (as rumours

Nepean calling on the vessel to stop. The declaration

would come to be known during the war) that swirled

of war had just been telegraphed to the fort and action

around Melbourne in relation to the incident including,

immediately followed. Imagine the surprise and concern

for example, that a torpedo vessel had followed the Pfalz

of the pilot, on hearing the boom of one of Fort Nepean’s

outside the heads, had captured her and towed her back

guns, and the splash of the shell, which entered the water

to her berth. While making light of these rumours the

some distance from Pfalz’s starboard side. The pilot now

Argus was, apparently, unaware of the serious errors in its

saw the signal to stop and turned Pfalz back into the bay.

own account. This example is a warning to historians and

There was a struggle on the bridge between captain and

readers that wartime produces many rumours, furphies and

pilot for control of the ship, but when Captain Robinson

exaggerations, and that we need to be wary of what we read.

explained that the next shot might hit the ship, the German

With the benefit of hindsight, the contemporary historian

captain gave way. Pfalz turned to the Portsea jetty where

has access to multiple sources to compare the veracity of

both the ship and the crew were taken under arrest. The

individual accounts of events; for the people of Australia

shot from Fort Nepean was almost certainly the first fired

at the outbreak of war, the newspaper was their primary

by the Empire in the First World War. Britain had declared

source of information, the accuracy of which they had no

war only an hour or two earlier. The unfortunate Germans

choice but to take on trust.

were detained for the duration of the war and later repatriated to Germany.

The narrative now enters difficult territory. Victoria is genuinely excited, even enthralled, by the news that

war comes to melbourne

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 17

17

5/05/14 1:57 PM

At a meeting at the Melbourne Town Hall on 6 August

politicians, anyone with a platform, embrace the war

people jostled for seats once the doors opened, many

enthusiastically, romantically, excitedly. Men rush to enlist,

waving tiny Union Jacks to show their allegiance. ‘Soon

women wish them good luck, prayers are offered that ‘our’

the hall was packed, and the corridors and passages were

troops get into the front line before the Empire brings

choked with men and women struggling for admission.’

the war to a surging victory (presumably within weeks or

Most of the people wore little strips of red, white and blue

months). People, who should have known better, abandon

in their lapels or pinned to their dresses. Two huge banners

sobriety and restraint; they speak of nothing but war and

hung from the balconies: ‘For God and Country’ and ‘Fear

the certainty of victory.

God Honour the King’. During the course of the speeches

A Souvenir: The First Australian Imperial Expeditionary Force to Europe , M e l b o u r n e, 1914, S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a, S 940.304 EU745 (v.147)

the nation is at war. Community leaders, churchmen,

SS Pfalz, the German steamer that brought about the firing of the first shot of the war at

P u b l i c R e c o r d O f f i c e V i c to r i a , 08357-p 0005 000026

the heads between Point Nepean and Point Lonsdale, 5 August 1914

18

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 18

5/05/14 1:57 PM

A Souvenir: The First Australian Imperial Expeditionary Force to Europe , M e l b o u r n e, 1914, S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a, S 940.304 EU745 (v.147)

Recruits enjoying a morning wash at the Broadmeadows Military Camp

‘the enthusiasm became more and more intense,’ there

all Australians: ‘now all Australians are speaking with one

were ‘wild hurrahs, boo-os, cheers, shouts and whistling’.

voice … they had to hang together and if needs be they

Lord Mayor Hennessy said that ‘for over 100 years

would die together,’ said Sir Alexander. There was ‘wild and

Australia had slept in peace while England had watched and

continuous cheering’ when John Gavan Duffy, speaking as

cared for us. We were going to show that our loyalty was

an Irish Catholic nationalist, took to the stage. His people,

something more than words.’ Speakers, who included the

he said, ‘forgot all the grievances of the past … they were

premier, Sir Alexander Peacock, and the leader of the state

ready, eager and willing to stand shoulder by shoulder, knee

Opposition, Mr George Elmslie, emphasised the unity of

by knee … with every class, with every creed, and with

war comes to melbourne

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 19

19

5/05/14 1:57 PM

every nationality within the Empire … [we had] a stern

his mother is not so sure. War is not a game, she might

sense of the duty that had to be done.’ Meetings such as

counsel, and the victory, while expected, might be bloody.

this, where the enthusiasm was just as intense, were also

Lives will be lost, she might have said; why only today the

held in suburban and country halls across the state.

Argus is claiming that the Germans had already lost 8000 listened to such sober words. Did anyone think to look

patriotic songs, for want of anything better to do. The

at modern warfare? Look beyond the South African War,

staid cafes of the Block Arcade, and the other elegant

dreadful though that had been. Look to the last days of

arcades, required their musicians to pump out patriotic airs.

the American Civil War with trench lines snaking across

Churchmen summoned their congregations to prayers for

the land and the rattle of machine guns heard everywhere.

the Empire and for a swift victory for the cause of right.

Look at the dead bodies piled one upon another in the

Without hesitation, or too much thought, they intended to

trenches, if you wanted to understand the nature of modern

follow the lead from London to proclaim that ‘God is on

warfare. Half a million dead in the trenches. Look and

our side’ in this conflict of the nations.

worry for these excited young men of Victoria. But few

The two political leaders, both of whom were in

were thinking that way; war was a romance and a game. Yet

country Victoria, quickly nailed their colours to the

a mother should worry; if I allow you to go to war will I

mast. At Horsham on 30 July the prime minister made it

ever see you again?

clear that if the Empire was at war so, too, was Australia:

The first recruits camped in tents in a courtyard

‘whatever happens, Australia is part of the Empire right

of Victoria Barracks, or slept in the stands at the

to the full’. Fisher was addressing a crowd at Colac in the

Melbourne Cricket Ground or the Caulfield or

Western District on the same night. As a better speaker

Flemington racecourses. Victoria was to provide 7000

than Cook, Fisher engaged his audience emotionally. What

of the Australian offer of 20 000 men and recruiters

he said at Colac was, no doubt, meant for effect, but the

acknowledged that twice that number might be raised.

words would come back to haunt him and endanger his

Reporters spoke of a ‘heterogeneous collection of

party: ‘Australia will stand beside our own [the mother

trainees: South African veterans, University students,

country] to help and defend her to our last man and our last

bushmen and city clerks welded into a compact mass

shilling.’

of fighting men’. Or so they would be once training

Most of all, young men flocked to the colours, or at

commenced. On 12 August the military authorities

least tried to do so. They rushed down St Kilda Road to the

announced that, after an inspection of several sites, it

Victoria Barracks, as if they could sign up straight away. As

had been decided that the ‘concentration camp’ for the

only 20 000 were to be sent from all over Australia, they

Victorian quota of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF)

saw a real danger of missing out unless they hopped in right

– ‘as it is to be officially known in the future’ – would be

at the start. It would be foolish, however, not to think that

at Broadmeadows on the edge of Campbellfield, north

some were less swept up with the emotion of the moment.

of Melbourne. There were several reasons for the choice

A young working lad rushes home to tell his parents that he will enlist as soon as the books are opened. Yet

20

lives in their dash into France. Young men might have

of Broadmeadows; a railway station was located about 20 minutes walk from the camp site, which was in fact a large

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 86.98/216

Outside the town hall and well into the night people marched up and down the streets of the city, singing

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 20

5/05/14 1:57 PM

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 86.98/216

Horse lines at Broadmeadows Military Camp

Foreword

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 21

21

5/05/14 1:57 PM

Thousands of visitors poured into the Broadmeadows Military Camp each Sunday,

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , wa r pa m phl e t s s e r i e s

which was a free day for the recruits.

plain particularly well suited for military manoeuvring;

Park in 1912, offered it to the government for the military

services, including water, could be quickly provided, and

camp. It comprised a homestead and 143 acres of land,

the camp was not so far from Melbourne as to make it

surely enough for a force of 7000 men. Wilson eventually

difficult to supply it with the necessities.

sold the property to the government a year later for the tidy

The main advantage of Broadmeadows, however, was that access to it came free of charge. A patriotic landowner, RG Wilson, who had bought his property Mornington

22

sum of £4450. Within two weeks and one day of the announcement of war, 2500 men left central Melbourne for Broadmeadows.

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 22

5/05/14 1:57 PM

Crowds lined the streets as these men in mufti, some

were neatly arranged in rows … and everything was in

clutching Gladstone bags, others carrying neat parcels,

apple-pie order. The soldiers held levees all afternoon’; that

walked from Victoria Barracks to the camp. While they

is, they pleasantly received their visitors. The next Sunday

might have looked distinctly unmilitary, for these men had

it was estimated that 60 000 visitors made their way to

not yet been taught to march, they were cheered by the

the camp, so great was the enthusiasm for Victoria’s first

crowds. The recruits stopped at Princes Park, home of the

soldiers and the war. Reports began to swirl that the men

Carlton Australian Rules football team, where they ate a

were disgruntled; the food was terrible, tents too primitive

picnic lunch and went on their way. Leaving the barracks at

and the training too demanding. ‘What rot,’ a soldier from

9.30 am they reached the camp at 5 pm, where they found

the 7th Battalion wrote in the Essendon Gazette and …

‘a green plain, rather high and windswept, with rows of

Broadmeadows Reporter. ‘I am in a tent with 8 others,’ he

pine trees and an old homestead’. ‘A hard road made [for]

wrote, ‘as far as [we] are concerned everything is alright …

many sore feet,’ a marcher reported. Achieving some sort

Of course this camp is no Sunday School picnic, but we are

of order, officers directed nine men to each of the tents that

looking forward to war … and everyone in our Company is

had been erected in rows. Water had been secured within

satisfied and not one has deserted.’

five days of the government acquiring the property, which

So the people of Victoria went to war. Some, a small

involved laying 7 kilometres of pipes. Conditions were

number as yet, had marched into camp at Broadmeadows,

primitive in the extreme with men taking their meals in the

the majority of their fellow citizens warmly approving of

open air and using ablution blocks of the most rudimentary

their pluck and patriotism and hopeful for the outcome. A

nature. Even so, recruits continued to pour in and rumours

new federal government in Parliament House at the top of

of an early departure for the battlefields were rife.

Bourke Street would prosecute the war and do all things

Knowing that the recruits were confined to the camp

necessary to involve the citizens and mobilise an army. The

and imagining that their families might want to visit the

state parliament, somewhat out of the way in the Exhibition

men on the first available Sunday, when no training took

Building, would loyally follow the federal government’s

place, the railway authorities laid on two special trains,

lead, but there was not much role for state politics in a

which was nowhere near enough. Some 20 000 visitors

war of the nations. The people, in their homes and at

poured out of Melbourne for the camp and eventually

work, in their schools, or on their farms, would attempt

11 special trains ran. Wily entrepreneurs, with access to

to get on with life. But the war would intrude into every

bus, van or dray, ran a shuttle service from the station to

aspect of Victorian life. For the young men under canvas at

the camp but most visitors chose to walk. And the dust

Broadmeadows, war was almost all that they would know

on that dry plain! ‘Our reporter was much struck with

until peace, serious injury or death intervened. For the

the enthusiasm displayed,’ the Essendon Gazette and …

majority of other Victorians, the war would become the

Broadmeadows Reporter explained on 27 August. ‘The tents

great reality of their lives.

war comes to melbourne

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 23

23

5/05/14 1:57 PM

Marvellous Melbourne

M

elbourne is a cit y built by gold. The

Limited at 388 Collins Street (now an ANZ bank branch).

enormous wealth from the Ballarat,

The banking chamber, still in its original configuration,

Bendigo and other goldfields created a city

is remarkable for its columns, ceiling and woodwork.

of such size, and in such a short time, as

Building started in 1883 and the branch, including a

to be recognised around the world as a marvel. Many of

palatial residence for the bank’s general manager, opened

Melbourne’s city buildings that were built on gold wealth

in 1887. Built for £77 389, a small fortune then and well

still stand today: the town hall, the two city cathedrals

over budget, the bank has long been loved by Victorians;

(though the spires of each were not completed until the

indeed, the people voted it Victoria’s favourite building

1930s), hotels such as the Windsor (although sadly other

in 1987 on the 100th anniversary of its opening. The

prominent hotels were pulled down), the Public (now State)

keen student of Marvellous Melbourne can find such

Library, opulent banks, insurance buildings and other

delights along the main streets and thoroughfares of the

offices. Capping it all, perhaps, was the elegant, capacious

contemporary city.

Exhibition Building in the Carlton Gardens, built for the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1880, but which is now a permanent feature of ‘Marvellous Melbourne’. Later

of Melbourne people, if on a slightly smaller scale. The

buildings, such as the Flinders Street railway station, also

grandeur of St Mary’s Catholic Church, West Melbourne

became identifiable Melbourne icons. Wide city streets and

(1900), for example, or the neo-Gothic gem of St Mary’s,

intersecting laneways added to a feeling of both grandeur

East St Kilda (1871). St Ignatius’s (1888) is a proud

and surprise, as did the great tree-lined boulevard of

and grand statement of the strength of Melbourne

St Kilda Road. The parliament building, the grandest of

Catholicism. St John’s at Toorak (1862) and St Andrew’s

any Australian state, at the top of the city, spoke of dignity,

at Brighton (1886) might have a quieter and more refined

respectability and authority.

street presence, but both are Anglican gems in their own

Marvellous Melbourne still reveals itself to those

24

The magnificence of the buildings beyond the city centre is additional evidence of the spirit and confidence

right. More substantial, and older, among the Anglican

interested to discover the wealth and richness of the

churches is the gracious and airy Christ Church, South

nineteenth-century city. Countless buildings show the spirit

Yarra (1857). Suburban town halls, though not as grand as

and style of the period, such as, for example, the ‘Gothic

Melbourne’s, were, nevertheless, built on a truly generous

bank’, once the English Scottish and Australian Bank

scale. The halls of South Melbourne, North Melbourne,

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 24

5/05/14 1:58 PM

Fitzroy and Malvern still stand proud in their communities,

perhaps with better amenities than in any other Australian

though now some are serving different purposes.

city. Melbourne people, however, tended to overlook the

When the gold bubble burst in the 1890s Melbourne

poorer, inner-city suburbs: the Collingwood flats, Richmond

lost some of its brazen self-confidence and bustle. There

and Fitzroy, where housing was cramped, inadequate and

was suffering in the city and, particularly, in the working-

noisome.

class suburbs. But the new century saw some of the old

Ignoring these blights, no other Australian city could

spirit return and, as the federal capital of the newly formed

show off suburbs and housing of such high standards.

Commonwealth of Australia, Melbourne recovered and saw

Citizens rejoiced in creating gardens and vegetable patches

itself as the pre-eminent city of the new nation. Melbourne

in their front and back yards. Councils lined middle-class

had the highest population of any Australian capital (losing

streets with trees and shrubs and each municipality in

that title to Sydney in 1902), it had the grandeur and

the ‘nicer’ suburbs prided itself on a large public park or

dignity required of a national capital, and it had great pride.

botanical garden. Victoria would later delight to call itself

Melbourne led Australia into the new century with a natural

the ‘garden state’; by 1900 Melbourne was the garden city.

assumption of primacy. Citizens congratulated themselves that so much had

Nor could any other Australian city point with such confidence to mighty department stores, shops, and

been achieved in such comparatively short time. No other

shopping arcades and such a high sense of fashion. Like the

Australian city boasted such an impressive transport system

citizens of Paris, Melbourne people strolled along their city

of trains and trams. Indeed with such an efficient and

streets, liking to see and to be seen. They patronised richly

extensive cable tram network, electrified services arrived

decorated cafes and restaurants, in which it was not unusual

later in Melbourne than elsewhere. Melbourne loved its

for a band to be playing. The people crowded into myriad

cable trams, which moved the people around the city and its

theatres and grand picture theatres as the new century

suburbs quietly and comfortably. The extensive suburban

progressed. They flocked to sport: football, cricket and

train network complemented the cable trams, although

horseracing at superior and substantial venues. By the 1870s

covering greater distances, and it began to be electrified

Flemington racecourse already had its stands, rose gardens

towards the end of the war. The size and frequency of

and lawns, and mounting yard enclosure, and fashionable

the transport system allowed for the rapid growth of

people delighted to be seen there. The Melbourne Cricket

Melbourne’s suburbs, which were more extensive and

Ground was the standout arena for football and cricket, but

war comes to melbourne

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 25

25

5/05/14 1:58 PM

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 26 S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 2007.130/45

26

5/05/14 1:58 PM

The last days of peace, Henley-on-Yarra regatta, October 1913, giving elegant and comfortable Melburnians an opportunity to take their leisure. The regatta was held in 1914, after much debate, but then discontinued until 1919.

Foreword

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 27

27

5/05/14 1:58 PM

some of the suburban grounds, South Melbourne, for

friends, at peace with all the world. Some 200 000 people

example, were also highly favoured.

might be in attendance, to watch the races, to extol the

The Myer Emporium in Bourke Street, one of the world’s great department stores, opened new and

itself in rowing boats, the men at the oars, the women

opulent premises of eight storeys in July 1914, though

under elegant parasols protecting themselves from the

Myer had first opened in Bourke Street in 1911.

sun.

Alongside the emporium was the equally graceful

There is some poignancy in close examination of

Buckley and Nunn and, further down towards the

the faces in the crowd at Henley-on-Yarra; we cannot

station on Flinders Street, was Ball and Welch and

know what befell these people. Those promenading

the first major department store to have opened in

look as though they do not have a care in the world. Yet

Melbourne, the Mutual Store dating from the early

many of the young men will soon be in uniform, some of

1870s. Many of these fine stores offered art galleries and

them soon to die in the trenches. For the young women,

restaurants to discerning shoppers.

holding lightly onto the arms of their menfolk, there will

The elegant garments that shoppers bought in these

28

specially decorated boats, or take their place on the river

soon be worry and grief. There were 1200 oarsmen from

various stores were found on their wearers at balls and

Henley-on-Yarra who enlisted, 227 were killed in battle

parties, at Flemington for the horseracing and, pre-

or died of wounds. And how many of the young men on

eminently, at the Henley-on-Yarra regatta, since 1904

the riverbank enlisted? After much debate Henley-on-

one of Melbourne’s grandest social occasions. Few came

Yarra did take place in October 1914, with some of the

exclusively for the rowing and sculling. Instead, elegantly

proceeds earmarked for the patriotic funds. The social

garbed Melburnians strolled the banks of the river in

gala was not held again until 1919. The Edwardian age

the fine weather of early spring, taking refreshments or

died with the arrival of the war. Marvellous Melbourne

bringing their own picnics, catching up with family and

would never be the same again.

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 28

5/05/14 1:58 PM

c h a p t e r

t w o

Wa r c o m e s t o Vi c t o r i a

T

he colony of Victoria, to its first white settlers, seemed particularly blessed. n Those who first saw it through British eyes marvelled at the beauty and fertility of the land. n

Each district of the colony,

the Mallee possibly excepted, gave promise of significant wealth. n But no place had greater promise than Victoria’s Western District, the first

part of the colony to attract white settlers. n Rich soils, well watered with plentiful rivers and streams, gentle hills and wide plains, might be expected to guarantee wealth and good fortune for landowners. n

Casterton is one of the more pleasant towns in

this affluent part of Victoria. n

Situated 350 kilometres from Melbourne and therefore

(Presbyterian, 1867) and Sacred Heart on the hill (Catholic,

remote in Victorian terms, Casterton was a town of more

1886). There were also several hotels, three of them, the

than 1000 inhabitants in 1914. At that time, the visitor

Albion, the Casterton and the Glenelg, being grand and

would have noticed the railway, three fine and substantial

stately places of comfort and leisure. There was a football

churches, Christchurch (Anglican, 1865), the Scots Church

team, a racecourse and a cricket ground. Casterton boasted

29

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 29

5/05/14 1:58 PM

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 32492/2822

Henty Street, Casterton

30

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 30 5/05/14 1:58 PM

31

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 31

5/05/14 1:58 PM

a loyal and stable population; it was not a place from which its citizens would yearn for release. The Casterton News and the Merino and Sandford Record of 24 August 1914 reported at length on a gathering held on 20 August to farewell nine of its young men. To farewell them to war, that is. Only 15 days after the governorgeneral read the telegram alerting him to the outbreak of war in Europe, Casterton was saying goodbye to some of its own. But Casterton was not special or unique in doing so. In these first days of the European war hundreds of small towns, the length and breadth of Victoria, did the same thing. At each of these gatherings there were speeches from representative men, mumbled thanks from the men departing, and high hopes all round. Typically each departing hero would be given a wallet with several pound notes stuffed inside, or a box brownie camera, maybe a small Bible or some other token of respect deemed useful to the life of a soldier. Already women of the town were united in providing a handsome supper following the farewell and had come together for days of work to make Already a common word with a new meaning had entered the vocabulary: ‘comforts’, meaning all kinds of goods and small luxuries that would please a soldier on his way to war or at the front: a tin of tobacco, a fruitcake, warm knitted woollen socks, writing paper and pencils. The community swung behind the war effort, itself a new concept, with will and relish. At Casterton the 20 August meeting took place in the Oddfellows Hall, a substantial wooden building in the centre of town. Councillor Ross, the shire president, was in the chair and announced the purpose of the meeting as being to say farewell, ‘God speed and safe return’. After a few words of welcome Ross gave the toast to the King which ‘was honoured with considerable loyalty’ and then all sang ‘God save the King’. The next speaker

32

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 32492/2765

goods for the soldiers, or to raise money for their welfare.

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 32

5/05/14 1:58 PM

S o u r c e R o s e S t e r e o g r a ph C o, S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 32492/2783

Scots Church, Casterton

33

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 33 5/05/14 1:58 PM

was the Anglican rector, Rev. F Stillwell. He spoke of the

before, and the happy men waved goodbye. Two of them

contingent as ‘small in number but strong in patriotism

would never see Casterton again and another two would die

and good will to fight for the dear old flag.’ ‘This was a

in the early 1920s as a direct result of their war service.

righteous war’ he was quoted as saying, and wished those departing ‘success in the day of battle.’ The Catholic priest,

Broadmeadows plain they were immediately part of a

Father JP Lowham joined in these remarks. ‘They were

much bigger enterprise. They were now sharing a life with

fighting in a just war,’ he said, ‘and it behoved every man

men from the city, with men from the bigger towns, such

to play his part for the Empire.’ In proposing ‘three cheers

as Ballarat or Bendigo, and with men from small country

for those we leave behind’, newly enlisted Arthur Roper

towns just like their own. Nearly all of these new recruits

said that even if ‘they were to leave their bones in a foreign

would have shared the recent Casterton experience or

land’ nevertheless they counted it an honour to serve their

something very like it: appearances before the recruiting

King and country. The night ended happily and the next

officer, who had no need to appeal for men, but just to

morning there was a large crowd at the railway station to

enrol them, and before a doctor for a medical examination

say a last goodbye. For these nine men the next stop would

and time to be thankful to have been passed fit. They had

be Melbourne, then Broadmeadows, and then, who knew

watched other men break down in tears when the doctor

where? Roper would serve briefly on the Dardanelles in

had rejected them: often for what seemed trivial reasons,

June and July 1915 before being hospitalised with a double

bad teeth perhaps, or insufficient chest width, or some

hernia and discharged in Melbourne in December 1915.

other inadequacy.

A 28-year-old unmarried man when he enlisted, after his

Each of the recruits told stories of the local farewell;

discharge, like so many other soldiers, Arthur Roper is lost

of what the priest or parson had said, how the local bigwig,

to history.

mayor or shire president, had blown hard trying to make

We do not know the names of the other eight men

34

When these ten men found their tents on the

out that they were heroes. How they had laughed at that.

at this inaugural farewell. The Casterton News was better

‘Us blokes heroes?’ How funny that seemed. None of the

informed about the second farewell of departing soldiers

Casterton boys were married, and few in the tents would

held on 17 September, listing the name of each of the

have been married either. Senator Millen, the defence

ten men. A recruiting officer must have visited Casterton

minister, at first said that married men were not needed,

because all the men enlisted on either 10 or 11 September

and though he quickly changed his mind, it was single

and were given just a few days to finalise their affairs

men to the fore. But they also amused themselves telling

before they left the town for Broadmeadows on Friday

of promises they had made on that last night. Of the girl

18 September. Several of them were placed in the 14th

who would write and the girl who would wait. Would there

Battalion. Perhaps they had asked if they could serve in the

be other girls before these boys got home? Two of these

same unit, the Casterton boys all together. Ross, having just

ten Casterton men in the ‘second contingent’ would be

been re-elected to his post, presided at the second farewell

hospitalised for a venereal disease contracted abroad. And

where the ladies served supper as before, but asked for a

so they yarned in their time off, proud to be with other

contribution at the door ‘for the comforts fund’. A crowd

Victorians, united in a cause, recognising what similar

assembled at the railway station the next morning, just as

paths each had travelled to reach this point and place in

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 34

5/05/14 1:58 PM

time, eagerly looking to a future of surely some excitement

in the Pozières British Cemetery in France, not far from

overseas, and a happy, glamorous welcome home when the

where he fell. Norman saw none of the fighting. He became

job was done. The majority of the Casterton men were

sick in Egypt, was hospitalised exactly a month before the

farmhands or labourers, although one was a wheelwright

landing at Gallipoli and was discharged as medically unfit

and another a saddler. They talked about their farms and

on 28 July 1915 in Melbourne.

their bosses, and some might have wondered how the farms

Walter William Williams might have felt a bit out

and stations could keep going with so many men off the

of things at Casterton’s second farewell. He was only 20

land waiting for war.

years of age and described himself as a farmhand. But he

The first of the ten to die was Charles Gustus ‘Gus’

was born in London and presumably had no relatives in

Greenham from Dartmoor, about 50 kilometres from

Casterton. Possibly he saw his enlistment as a way of going

Casterton. Presumably Gus had travelled to Casterton

home. Walter was also placed in the 14th Battalion and, like

specially to enlist. He was 26 years of age when he joined

Gus Greenham, was in the landing on that first Anzac Day.

up, a farmer and a Presbyterian who was superintendent

Walter survived on Gallipoli until 8 August 1915 when he

at his local Sunday school. Gus landed at Gallipoli with

took a gunshot wound in his chest. Badly wounded, he was

the 14th Battalion, but he did not last long. With a severe

captured by the Turks and became a prisoner of war. He

gunshot wound to the abdomen he was placed on the

was incorrectly reported to have died in captivity, where

hospital ship Galeka, but died soon after and was buried

he was made to work hard at what he described as ‘heavy

at sea on 1 May 1915, just six days after the landing. Later

labour’. Walter contracted malaria in captivity and returned

his mother, who had been granted a pension of £52 a year,

to Australia in May 1919. He died on 26 June 1920 while

wrote to the Defence Department asking if her son’s wallet

studying for a trade qualification at the Working Men’s

could be found among his effects. It had been a gift from

College of Melbourne. His name is not recorded on the

the Sunday school children and had sentimental value.

war memorial at Casterton, but it might have been. Surely

The second of the ten to die was William Edward Vickery, who was a month short of 22 years of age when

he was a casualty of war? Howard Mill was also 20 years of age when he enlisted

he enlisted. There was another Vickery, Norman, who also

and described himself as a farm labourer. He was also

fronted the recruiting officer on that day; he was 19 years

placed in the 14th Battalion, although strangely, he did

of age. They were not brothers, but they may have been

serve for one month in the 65th Battalion in France. He

cousins. Both classified themselves as labourers on the

was on Gallipoli from 4 May to 8 August 1915, when he

enlistment form. Bill was placed in the 5th Battalion and

was evacuated sick. Howard served in England throughout

Norman in the 14th. Bill was wounded at Anzac in August

1916 and 1917, which was unusual, and then was sent to

1915, probably at Lone Pine, when a hand grenade (they

France. He was discharged as medically unfit in July 1918

called them ‘bombs’ on Gallipoli) exploded near him and a

after returning to Australia. He died on 3 April 1921 from

piece of metal lodged deep in his thigh. He was lucky not

tuberculosis, the illness for which he was discharged, which

to have died. Recovering from that wound, Bill reached

explains Howard’s long absence from the front line. And

France at the end of March 1916, but would be killed in

yet, Howard’s name is not on the war memorial either; he

the fighting around Pozières on 25 July 1916. He is buried

was 26 years of age when he died.

War comes to Victoria

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 35

35

5/05/14 1:58 PM

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 32492/2783

36

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 36 5/05/14 1:58 PM

View of the rich farmland near Casterton in Victoria’s Western District

37

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 37

5/05/14 1:58 PM

September 1914 died as a result of the war. We cannot

served on Gallipoli for five months and in France from

know how many of the remaining six men came back home

March 1916, he had a lucky war. He returned to Australia

damaged in mind or body. One man did not even return

in May 1919 and returned to life in Casterton. His name is

to Australia. William Henry Brunt, 22 years of age when

found on the Casterton electoral roll into the 1930s.

he enlisted and a clerk, was born in England, like Walter

It was luck that they should have been talking about at

Williams, and served in the 6th Battalion on Gallipoli from

the farewell in the Oddfellows Hall. Though few realised

late May to 19 September 1915, when he was evacuated

it as they yarned in their tents on the Broadmeadows plain

sick. Bill did not serve in France but worked in London

in September 1914, for each Victorian soldier who enlisted

for the AIF as a bookkeeper. He married an English

early, it was luck, good fortune, mere chance that would

girl in August 1919, while still in uniform, and pleaded

see him through, if he were to survive. Casterton’s war

with the AIF not to be sent back to Australia as he had

memorial records the names of 108 men from the district

arranged a good job in London. His new wife supported

who were killed in the war. They, and their families, were

Bill’s application saying that she had started singing classes

the unlucky ones. Particularly the Hurley family, from

in London, which would be interrupted by a return to

which three boys enlisted, including twins. Their father was

Australia. The AIF agreed and Bill was discharged in

a farmer on a property at Wurt Wurt Koort, near Henty,

London.

about 15 kilometres from Casterton. When the Henty

James Kelso Waters was a 23-year-old farmer at Nareen

family decided to subdivide the famous Merino Downs

when he enlisted. He joined the 4th Light Horse Regiment

station in 1908, Wurt Wurt Koort was one of three new

and served on Gallipoli, being severely wounded in the

properties to emerge. It was further subdivided for share

knee in late November. A year and a month later, almost

farming engaged, largely, in dairying.

to the day, James took his discharge from the AIF, his duty

The Hurleys had a large family: there were three

done. He almost certainly returned to the Casterton region

others, at least, at the local school and a son, Kevin, was

because, in April 1967, he wrote from Coleraine, just

still at school in 1923. Tom Hurley was the first of the

30 kilometres to the east, asking to be awarded the Anzac

brothers to enlist, in December 1914. He was 23 years of

Medallion, which the government had introduced to mark

age, unmarried and, like both his brothers who served, a

the 50th anniversary of the campaign. Whether James had

farm labourer, possibly on the family farm. Tom served on

been able to resume his working life as a farmer cannot be

Gallipoli at the end of the campaign, having landed on the

known, but he was placed on a war pension of 45 shillings a

peninsula on 3 November 1915. At that time he was in the

week on his discharge, later reduced to 30 shillings a week.

Light Horse, but he soon transferred to the 2nd Australian

Something must have gone wrong when Henry Beasy

38

He was 27 years of age when he joined up and, though he

Pioneer Battalion. His twin brother Denis enlisted in July

and Alf Howells first tried to enlist because they made

1915 and was placed in the 46th Battalion. He arrived in

second, and successful, attempts in September and October

France in June 1916 and was killed in action in August.

1915 respectively. Henry, a saddler, joined the 3rd Light

Tom would have known of his twin brother’s death well

Horse Field Ambulance, and Alf was in the Field Artillery.

before he died of wounds received in Belgium in October

Both survived the war. Peter Peskett rounds out our ten.

1917. The third brother, Jeremiah, nearly 25 years of age

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 32492/2604

So, four of the ten men enlisting from Casterton in

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 38

5/05/14 1:58 PM

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 32492/2604

View over convent and Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Casterton

War comes to Victoria

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 39

39

5/05/14 1:58 PM

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 32492/2611

The soldiers’ memorial, Casterton

40

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 40

5/05/14 1:58 PM

at enlistment, had joined up before Denis in May 1915.

the sudden and dramatic withdrawal of an extraordinary

He was first placed in the 5th Battalion but transferred

amount of farm labour. Older men and boys were suddenly

to the 46th Battalion, presumably to be with his younger

working harder and, as a consequence, production was cut

brother. On 13 July 1918 Jeremiah copped a shell fragment

back. The war hit rural Victoria first and hardest.

in the stomach and he died of his wounds on the same day.

Not all of the first recruits were boys. There was a solid

Father Lowham was still the Catholic priest at Casterton

sprinkling of older men, though many of these, too, were

and he bore the responsibility for delivering three casualty

unmarried. John Matthew McGlade was born in 1883 in

telegrams to the Hurley farm.

Belfast, Northern Ireland, but was certainly a Victorian

Of course the family, and particularly the parents

by adoption, having lived in Gippsland for 34 years by the

Denis and Mary Jane, must have been overwhelmed by

time of his death. On his enlistment form Jack described

grief. But there are other issues too. Think of the work

himself as a Roman Catholic and an architect, but ‘farm

to be done on the farm at Wurt Wurt Koort. Rural work

worker’ is a more apt description. When Jack enlisted again

was then labour intensive: there was ploughing, sowing

in the militia for the Second World War at the remarkable

and reaping, all with horses; stock to manage, muster,

age of 56, he described himself as a ‘forestry worker’

move, treat and grow; shearing, dipping and drenching;

employed by Victoria’s Forests Commission. Jack enlisted

general maintenance, keeping the fences in good order,

at Orbost in the far east of the state on 24 September 1914.

making sure the water was plentiful and clean, keeping the

He was then 30 years and seven months of age and he had

weeds and, most importantly, the rabbits down; and, then,

a girl or, at least, a female pen pal. Shela Stagg, then 18

there were the myriad odd jobs of taking stock to market,

years of age, was living on her father’s property Glenshira

getting in supplies and making sure the bookkeeping was

at Combienbar, over 80 kilometres north-east of Orbost,

up-to-date. Most of all, on a dairy farm, there was the

one of the most remote parts of the state, surrounded by

constant drudgery of milking by hand, every day, twice a

heavy forests. Despite the difference in age Jack and Shela

day; the heavy lifting of the milk cans; the cleaning of all

married in 1925 and had two children before Jack died, a

the equipment; and, the management of the milking herd.

soldier, in 1943 aged 59 years.

Perhaps the three Hurley men worked with their dad at

Jack’s letters to Shela from Broadmeadows Military

Wurt Wurt Koort. If so, their enlistments and absence

Camp give a detailed picture of life there and provide a

from the farm must have been painful emotionally and

keen insight into the life of these first Victorian recruits.

practically. Even if all three weren’t needed on the property

‘Excuse this scrawl,’ he wrote in his first letter on 3 October

all the time, they would almost certainly have been working

1914, ‘but being in a hurry and having a rotten table to

in the district for, it seems, that these three sons lived at

write on I can not settle to write much.’ Jack had been at

home. Their wages would have gone to their mother for

Broadmeadows for a week when he first wrote and ‘up to

board and, though they might have allotted their mother

the present can’t growl at much’ though ‘things are a bit

a part of their AIF pay, cash must have been scarce after

ROUGH in the tucker line but we can’t expect hotel fare

their departure. There were younger brothers and sisters to

out here.’ Drill was the order of the day in the first week

take their places, but the fact remains that one of the first

and plenty of it, but at least they were marched off for a

and greatest consequences of the war for rural Victoria was

swim on Saturday afternoon.

War comes to Victoria

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 41

41

5/05/14 1:58 PM

In his second letter, dated 17 October, Jack reported

I think it is a sort of final test as to what we can do. I

that ‘as far as the work is concerned we are having a real easy

expect we will not have too sweet a time as we have to

time’. If he had been working for Shela’s dad at Glenshira it

go without blankets, only our great coats to sleep in …

is likely that the work would have been a good deal tougher. At Broadmeadows they were not long days, ‘about 8 hours a day work but as it’s cut up into three parades it comes easy. We have not been given our uniforms yet.’ The preceding week had been spent on rifle drill, which was pretty rough on his clothes: we are given the command to advance 100 yards in open order, at the double. That means running 100 yards then

Lately we have been called out twice for night marches and both times it was raining in torrents … WET to the skin, who wouldn’t be a soldier for 5/– a day … However all in the game … we’ve been told there will be no more leave as we sail on the 18th.

And that was that. Shela next heard from Jack on 4 September 1915 from No. 1 Australian General Hospital (AGH), Heliopolis, Egypt, where he was recuperating

lying down and try to make ourselves look as small as

from a gunshot wound to his left arm that he received at

possible. If you happen to be just at a nice little hole of

Gallipoli on 10 August 1915. He reported that though the

mud down you go into it, anything to get cover.

wound had healed he had no power in his wrist, but the doctor had said it would come good in time. Jack would

The food remained ‘rough’ too. ‘Bread and jam for tea. We

not return to Anzac but would serve in the desert and on

get ditto repeated for breakfast and stew for dinner [lunch].

the Western Front. He left for Australia on 22 December

It seems alright the first day or two but now after two

1918 and was discharged in April 1919, so he must have had

weeks of it Oh Lord.’

continuing health issues. He had received another gunshot

Jack might have had some leave, back to Combienbar, because his next letter, 14 December 1914, reports ‘since

discharged from the army, Jack remained in No. 16 AGH,

I came back here I have been going full speed from five in

Macleod, near Melbourne: ‘I am trying to get a pension

the morning till ten at night’. The problem was that Jack

out of them.’ History is never tidy but it remains a mystery

was in the 8th Light Horse and had finally been given a

why Jack and Shela did not marry until 1925. Soon enough

horse, with the attendant feeding, watering and grooming.

they would run into the Great Depression, as if life had not

‘I managed to get hold of a fairly good sort of horse,’ but

been tough enough already, and by 1935 Jack was working

even so he complained ‘I am just about full of this place.

in a forestry camp at Cann River, probably glad for any type

Nothing but dust dust all day long.’ They paraded before

of job. When he enlisted all those years ago, he and all his

the state governor, Sir Arthur Stanley, but because the water

mates at Broadmeadows had been promised the world. It

supply had failed the entire troop was covered in dust for the

was just that the world became a damn sight tougher from

parade and couldn’t get a wash when they came home. Then

1914 onwards.

it started to rain and it kept up: ‘can’t move outside the tent

42

wound, this time to the left leg, in April 1917. Though

Men from rural Victoria poured into Broadmeadows

without getting mud up to the eyes … she’s a rotten game in

in 1914 and throughout 1915, though city men always

wet weather.’

outnumbered them. Men from the Western District, like

The fourth letter, 4 January 1915, was the last written

the men from Casterton, men from Gippsland like Jack

from Broadmeadows. Soon there was to be a four-day march,

McGlade from furthest Orbost, and men from all parts

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 42

5/05/14 1:58 PM

Recruits quickly found their way to the YMCA recreation tent in camp, or one of the tents provided

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , A u s t r a l i a n M a n u s c r i p t s C o ll e c t i o n, G e o r g e N ay l o r Pa p e r s, M S 10024

by the churches, where they could write home in reasonable privacy and comfort.

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 43

43

5/05/14 1:58 PM

A group of Australian Army Nurses

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l C 05290

in Heliopolis, Egypt, c. 1915

44

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 44

5/05/14 1:58 PM

in between. The loss of their labour and their youth hit

sick. In time, though, the nurses would form an important

rural Victoria very hard, much more so than the loss

part of Australia’s war effort, enduring the hazards and

of city labour and youth, where so many still remained

dangers and miseries of war, just like the soldiers they

to keep the economy moving, social life going, and the

served.

suburbs somewhat like they had once been. In the towns

We must not underestimate the capacity of individual

and villages of the bush the absence of young men was as

moments in the war to subject an entire rural community

noticeable as the absence of almost all men in rural France.

to grief. Jack McGlade, a bushman with bush skills who

Older men and women now had to try to fill the gap and

had been working around and with horses for years, was

life was hard. Yet, even so, they cheered those who enlisted

assigned to the 8th Light Horse, a Victorian regiment

and worked for their welfare. When the casualty telegrams

drawn from the small communities that Jack knew so well.

began to arrive, they tried to accept the sacrifices with a

The 8th would have a terrible time of it at the Nek on

calm and determined demeanour. To ‘do their bit’.

Gallipoli and would suffer an awful rate of casualties. Jack

Women were also keen to serve as nurses, but it would

was one of the lucky ones, wounded but not fatally. Shela,

be some time before their service was properly organised

who was not then Jack’s next-of-kin, would only slowly

and regulated. Of the fledgling Australian Army Nursing

come to learn of his fate. The newspapers and casualty lists

Service, a reserve force before war broke out, 25 members

would have told her of the heavy losses suffered by the 8th,

offered to accompany the troops to the front. While their

and she would have worried for Jack until she had definite

patriotism and concern for the troops did them credit, the

news. Similarly did hundreds of other wives and girlfriends

lack of organisation rendered their work more difficult than

worry throughout rural Victoria. War, all these people were

it might have been. When the first troopships sailed from

coming to realise, was a cruel business and much too sad.

Australian ports these few nurses were randomly distributed

And yet, remorselessly, the hard work of keeping the farm

aboard them and their main task seems to have been

or property viable continued. It was hard out there in the

instructing the ships’ orderlies in what to do as soldiers fell

bush; very hard.

War comes to Victoria

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 45

45

5/05/14 1:58 PM

Pa r l i am e n t t a l ks wa r

T

he Sixth Parliament of the Commonwealth of

government’s legislative agenda and focusing, naturally, on

Australia assembled in Melbourne on 8 October

the war. The governor-general then departed for his grand

1914, just two months after the declaration of war.

home on St Kilda Road and the parliament got down to real

There were 43 Labor members in a 75-seat House

business.

of Representatives and 30 Labor senators in a 36-seat Senate.

Grampians, a Victorian electorate, rose to give the first

on 5 September, keeping the governor-general waiting as

parliamentary speech in relation to the war. Edward Francis

Caucus dithered over the election of the ministry.

Jolley, 40 years of age, had only recently been elected to

The parliament met in the buildings in which Victorian

parliament for the first time and would die in office in 1915.

parliamentarians had first sat in 1856. The Victorians had

Born in Maryborough in central Victoria and educated at

built on a grand scale and the noble and grand Parliament

Xavier College and the University of Melbourne, Jolley

House at the intersection of Bourke and Spring streets was

was a lawyer in Maryborough before becoming a member

highly visible to citizens. Colonial observers dubbed it, ‘the

of parliament. This was, in effect, his first speech, though

most significant building in Australia’. The two chambers,

the formality of that tradition had not yet been established.

though made more grand since 1856, now being used as

Nevertheless the member for the Grampians might have felt

the House of Representatives and the Senate were, at once,

nervous and self-conscious as he rose in his place.

intimate and imposing. Adopting the traditional lower and

‘There came one day, from what was apparently a clear

upper house colours of green and red in carpets and fittings,

sky, a tremendous bolt,’ he said. ‘[It] has not only plunged

the chambers also boasted elaborate wood panelling, high

into deadly warfare two nations that were formerly friendly

ceilings, grand chandeliers, and comfortable seating. The

to each other, but has involved in deadly strife practically the

acoustics were excellent.

whole continent of Europe.’ The new man had quickly made

The formal opening of the sixth parliament involved

46

At 8.23 pm that evening the Labor member for the

Andrew Fisher was sworn in as prime minister, late at night

up his mind about the war, as had, indeed, the majority of his

processions, mounted troops, a band and much gaiety.

constituents and the entire people of his state: ‘the call which

The governor-general was the focus of the early part of

Great Britain answered was the call of honour … she has

the proceedings, summoning members of the House to

never engaged in a more just war … in respect of the present

the Senate chamber, through the Usher of the Black Rod.

war there is no room for doubt, no room for hesitancy.’

He delivered a ‘speech from the throne’ setting out the

And then he sat down, to the congratulations of his fellow

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 46

5/05/14 1:59 PM

Andrew Fisher, a wartime

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 18146

prime minister of Australia

members. Edward Jolley had spoken for the parliament.

across Belgian borders, its army moving swiftly to France.

The governor-general had announced, in the speech

It was to uphold its treaty with Belgium, and to respect its

from the throne, that the government proposed a ‘free gift’

integrity, that Britain had declared war on Germany. The

to the government and people of Belgium of £100 000.

Belgians resisted their invaders, in so far as they could, and

There was a great deal of sentiment in this gesture. In the

they certainly impeded the smooth passage of the Germans

early days of the war much had been made of the plight

on their way to France. This resistance, so the world had

of ‘poor, little Belgium’. Brutally breaking its own pledge

come to believe, gave France sufficient time to mobilise

for the neutrality of Belgium, Germany brazenly marched

and Paris was saved. Propaganda, still an inexact art, told

war comes to victoria

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 47

47

5/05/14 1:59 PM

Oakleigh Hall, East St Kilda, home of Andrew Fisher and his family. Although S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a H 84.276/3/27A

Fisher was the member for the electorate of Wide Bay in Queensland, he lived in Melbourne.

the world that gallant Belgium had saved the day, but at a

London in 1865, Anstey never knew his father, who was

terrible cost to its cities and its citizens.

killed five months before his birth. At the age of 11 Anstey

The Fisher government wished to recognise this and to further enthuse the Australian people in the cause of the war.

ships around the Pacific for the next ten years. Aged 22

Speaking in the Senate, George Pearce, minister for defence

he married and settled in Melbourne, first employed as a

in the new government, said that ‘the Belgians are a nation

cleaner at the Working Men’s College. A member of the

of heroes’. ‘When we view the spectacle of that little nation

Victorian Parliament from 1902, Anstey, in 1910, became

to see their country ravaged, their homes pillaged, their

member for Bourke in the federal parliament, a seat he was

women and children outraged, and, in some cases, murdered

to hold until 1934 when he retired. Anstey’s experiences gave

… it must excite the admiration of every man who has any

him a mighty sympathy for the plight of the poor and the

spirit in him at all’. Senator Millen, now in Opposition,

underclass in Australian society.

agreed: ‘German civilisation is, after all, a very thin and

‘The fight for the possession of Australia is now taking

hollow veneer … this war is being prosecuted with a ruthless

place on the battlefields [of Europe]’ he told the House on

barbarity and a wanton cruelty.’ Only ten senators spoke to

14 October. We were fighting to know ‘which flag and under

the motion on the Belgian gift and it passed easily.

what King’ Australia was to serve. So the issues were central

As it did in the House of Representatives, though five

48

stowed away on a ship bound for Australia and worked on

to the continued existence of the Australia that Anstey

members dissented. Frank Anstey had had a knockabout

had adopted. But, he said, ‘in Melbourne and throughout

life before he entered the federal parliament. Born in

Australia, there is a vast amount of unemployment [as a

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 48

5/05/14 1:59 PM

result of the war] and it is constantly increasing … Swift

Australia, who were astonished by the bravery and resilience

death upon the battlefield is not more awful than hunger and

of the people of Belgium. Fisher thought Australia ‘perhaps

misery’, and he believed that the government should not be

the most prosperous country in the world today’ and he

sending money to Belgium ‘until we have devised a scheme

clearly believed that the massive increase in unemployment

for relieving the misery, destitution and hunger within our

was a temporary response to the news of the outbreak of war.

own borders.’

He thought it was ‘a privilege and an honour for a young

The incoming attorney-general, William Morris

Dominion like this’ to be able to offer a free gift to the

Hughes, ‘that fiery particle’ as he became known, entered

Belgians and the motion passed easily, 47 votes to five, and

the fray. ‘The Belgian people,’ he declared, ‘have reared

the House moved on to other business.

themselves a monument more enduring than the Pyramids,

The first days of the sixth parliament showed a passion

and their fame will last as long as human memory lasts, and

for the war and surprising agreement that the future of

as long as the love of bravery and honour is implanted in the

Australia was at stake in the European conflict. Parliament

spirit of man.’ It was high and heady stuff and, before long,

showed absolute support for the actions of Britain in

an Australian professor of classics declared Hughes a greater

declaring war and a certainty that this was a just war that

orator than Demosthenes.

Britain must win to restrain the barbarity and ruthlessness of

Even so, the attorney-general failed to sway the member

the Germans. Atrocities were spoken of in the first speeches

for Ballarat, David McGrath, who won the seat in 1913

of the parliamentarians, and the chambers in Melbourne

and would die in office in 1934. ‘In the city I represent,’

would hear much more in that vein as the war unfolded.

he announced, ‘there are 5000 men begging for work, and

But there were also voices not prepared to blindly accept

during the present week many women have told me that

the government’s line. Two Labor members, one from

they and their children are starving … our own people

Melbourne and the other from rural Victoria, were joined by

should have the first call on our finances.’

two members from New South Wales and one from South

Prime Minister Andrew Fisher rounded off the debate

Australia to seek to put the interests of Australian working

in the House of Representatives. It was not a question

men and their families above sentiment for Belgium. It

of loyalty or disloyalty, he declared, in these days of near

would be wrong to say that there was division in parliament

unanimity about the war. It was more a question of how

about the war, but there were some members, at least, with

the parliament might interpret the views of the people of

an independent voice.

War comes to Victoria

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 49

49

5/05/14 1:59 PM

c h a p t e r

t h r e e

Vi c t o r i a n s g o t o w a r

T

h e A u s t r a l i a n G o v e r n m e n t initially offered a force of 20 000 men to Britain when the ‘War Cabinet’ met for the first time on 3 August 1914. n But so many men had rushed to enlist in the heady first days of the war that the government soon decided that more men could be accommodated. n So, on 3 September 1914, Senator Millen announced that a 4th Brigade would be raised to accompany the three brigades that comprised the 1st Australian

Division, that is, the 20 000 men of the initial offer. n Command of the 4th Brigade was given to Victorian John Monash. n The brigade

would be made up of four battalions, the 13th (New South Wales), 14th (Victoria), 15th (Queensland and Tasmania), and 16th (South Australia and Western Australia). n

Though eventually Victoria provided 19 battalions of infantry,

from Victoria alone. This is not to denigrate the service,

four light horse regiments, and six other specialist units,

sacrifice and achievement of the other Victorian battalions

it was the 14th Battalion that was most strongly Victorian

and units.

throughout the war. Reinforcements for the other Victorian

Monash took pride in the 14th Battalion, writing that

battalions might come from across the entire nation, but

it ‘numbered originally a thousand of the very flower of

reinforcements for the 14th were most likely to have come

the youth of the City of Melbourne. It counted in its ranks

50

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 50

5/05/14 1:59 PM

many public school men of fine morale and physique.’

responsibilities have been so quick to enlist? We might

The new recruits reported to Broadmeadows on

wonder why the authorities allowed him to enlist and the

1 October 1914, a date that the battalion always celebrated

fact that he survived through a long war is testament to his

as its birthday. ‘Little bodies of men clad in blue suits of

toughness and good luck.

dungarees and white linen hats were busy learning squad

Were all nine children there, pressed up against the

and company drill’, the battalion historian wrote, explaining

barricades, proudly looking out for their dad, when the

that it was not easy to turn all these men into efficient

4th Brigade marched through Melbourne on 17 December

soldiers, although some had previous militia training. The

1914? Ada, the oldest, was 18 years of age and Ruby, the

new recruits were also learning ‘marching, field training,

youngest, was aged just three. Of the boys, three were

skirmishing, signalling, first aid, physical drill and rifle

too young to serve throughout the war, but the second

practices.’ The boy recruits, fresh from school, may have

oldest child, Richard, might have served after 1916 as he

taken to the training more readily than the older men, for

was of age. We have no idea why he did not enlist. Surely,

whom the going is likely to have been tougher.

the children would have been excited by their father’s

One of the first to enlist in the 14th Battalion, on

departure? Four battalions, marching in battle order,

15 September 1914, was John Alexander Brotchie of

through the centre of the city, with the governor-general

Fitzroy who described himself as an ‘agent’ (whatever that

taking the salute on the steps of the federal Parliament

might have meant). He was a tallish man, fair complexioned

House. There was a huge crowd; ‘everyone knew that the

and well built at 82.5 kilograms. What is staggering about

Brigade was on the eve of embarkation, and the public

Jack’s enlistment is that he was well into his 45th year and

turned out in thousands to give it a farewell … the men

the father of nine children. Jack was quickly known around

marched magnificently and their bearing was that of

the 14th as ‘Dad’ Brotchie. He served on Gallipoli and in

veterans’. The 1st Australian Division had already left

France, received a bad wound in 1917, and returned home

Australia and there were men in the 4th Brigade wondering

in late December 1918 on ‘Anzac leave’ (a special treat for

if they would get to the battlefields before it was all over. In

those who enlisted in 1914 and were still at the war). Jack

the excitement of the time and in the certainty of victory,

or ‘Dad’ may not have been a typical soldier of the 14th

perhaps everyone thought it was a bit of a lark.

Battalion, but he must surely have been one of the keenest. Why else would a man of such age and with such family

The children might also have been at the St Kilda Cricket Ground a few days earlier, on 13 December, when

Victorians go to war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 51

51

5/05/14 1:59 PM

Chaplain Andrew Gillison on board

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l P 02615.004

his troopship, 1915

52

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 52

5/05/14 1:59 PM

the governor-general presented the regimental colours

Warburton in the ranges. Gillison hoped that the change

to Victoria’s 14th Battalion. As well as learning drill out

of scene would lessen their sense of loss. Despite his views,

on the bleak Broadmeadows plains, the new soldiers had

there was a crowd at Port Melbourne to farewell the

to learn something of the army’s traditional ways if they

brigade and the 14th Battalion particularly. It was a happy

were to become bonded to each other and their unit. The

scene with the band, streamers, and much good humour.

battalion’s chaplain, Andrew Gillison, blessed the colours

Were these men going to war or were they off on some

and told the battalion of their significance. Gillison, two

jaunt?

years older than ‘Dad’ Brotchie, was born in Scotland, but in 1903 had accepted the call to a Presbyterian church in

martial music and families, wives and girlfriends held

Brisbane before becoming minister at St George’s Church,

tightly to the streamers linking the folk on the shore to the

East St Kilda, one of the most prestigious Presbyterian

soldiers on the ship. Gradually the streamers stretched to

churches in Melbourne. Gillison was chaplain to a Scottish

breaking point, finally snapped and the men were away.

regiment before migrating to Australia and had much of

The ships formed into a convoy and were joined by ships

that long Scottish military tradition to teach these eager

of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) on escort duty. Of

new recruits. He spoke to the men ‘about the responsibility

course there were Victorian sailors on the naval ships who

of having colours, and what these meant’. Fellow Scot,

saw duty in very many waters. It is difficult to know the

Governor-General Munro Ferguson, a decade older than

story of these individual sailors for their records were not as

‘Dad’ Brotchie, hoped that ‘your colours [may] be carried

well kept as the records of the soldiers. There were perhaps

victoriously to Berlin. I wish you a glorious record in the

1000 Victorian sailors and officers in action during the

field,’ he continued, ‘a triumphal peace, and a safe return,

war – a small number indeed, swamped by the men in the

bringing your colours with you.’ One of those who would

battalions.

not return was Gillison, dying of wounds on 22 August

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l P 02615.004

The ships pulled away from the pier as bands played

The federal government had handed the British

1915, at Gallipoli. But on that sunny St Kilda afternoon,

Admiralty command and control of the RAN as soon as war

with the waters of Port Phillip Bay sparkling as the troops

was declared, as had been agreed when the RAN came into

marched along Fitzroy Street, back to their trains and

existence in 1911. By 1914 the fleet consisted of a battle

Broadmeadows, who could have thought of a remote

cruiser, HMAS Australia, the light cruisers Melbourne and

battlefield with death and suffering everywhere?

Sydney and the destroyers Parramatta, Warrego and Yarra.

Gillison would not allow his wife, Isobel, or his three

About one-fifth of the RAN’s strength during the war were

sons and daughter to watch the departure of his troopship

officers and men on loan from the Royal Navy, who would

from Railway Pier, Port Melbourne. ‘Some of the officers’

help to establish enduring traditions in the new force.

wives were foolish enough to come down,’ he wrote. ‘It

Serving and fighting in New Guinea, the RAN spent time

was hard enough for them without adding to the pain

in the Pacific and on escort duty, but most of its wartime

by witnessing the actual departure. The band played

service was as a part of the Grand Fleet based in northern

stirring tunes – “Tipperary”, “Australia will be there” and

Scotland. Patrolling and training for action made up most

[other] patriotic airs.’ Gillison’s family instead packed for

of the days of the men of the Grand Fleet. ‘Men worked

their annual holiday to McMahons Creek, east beyond

in watches, always busy, always training’, writes Peter

Victorians go to war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 53

53

5/05/14 1:59 PM

54

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 54

5/05/14 1:59 PM

Departure of troops from Railway Pier,

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l P B 1290

Port Melbourne

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 55

55

5/05/14 1:59 PM

Stanley, military historian. Albert Smith, from Neerim

Some men from the 14th Battalion landed on the afternoon

South in Gippsland, worked on a gun turret on Australia

of 25 April, but the main body of the force landed on

and recalled the constant drill as a gunlayer: ‘our gunnery

26 April. They quickly found themselves positioned inland

officer had us at it all day, it was the whole of our work.’

in Shrapnel Gully and they soon knew what war was

Not much glory there. Men slept in hammocks, messed

about. All up 33 men from the 14th were killed on 26 and

below decks, feeding on a monotonous diet of beef and

27 April, but that was a small number compared to other

bread. The RAN attracted little attention in the Victorian

battalions.

newspapers as its ships and their crews saw so little action.

The first of their number to be killed was Sergeant

All the focus went instead to the men of the AIF, now

WP Murphy from Warracknabeal. William Patrick Murphy

steaming to war escorted by the RAN.

must have been a good soldier as he was promoted from

The Victorian battalions were in the thick of the fighting from the first moments of the landing at Gallipoli.

corporal to sergeant on 1 February 1915. Having enlisted at Warracknabeal on 28 September 1914, at 37 and a half

Charles Bean’s photograph of the Australians heading for the high ground beyond

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l G 00907

Plugge’s Plateau, Gallipoli, about midday on 25 April 1915

56

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 56

5/05/14 1:59 PM

years of age, he was a baker whose employer described him as ‘a steady, energetic young man’ and would be quite ready to give him further employment should he return home safely. Bill wrote on his enlistment form that he was unmarried, but after his death a pension would be paid to his wife and daughter who were then living in Norwich, England. A piece of shrapnel pierced his heart soon after Bill and his mates had landed on 26 April and, though evacuated to a hospital ship, Bill did not survive long and was buried at sea. There was no casualty telegram to deliver in Warracknabeal as there were no next-of-kin there, but Bill had put himself down as a Roman Catholic and no doubt there were prayers for him at St Mary’s, the local parish church, soon after the casualty list was published. It is important to acknowledge the difficulty of the task faced by the Anzacs: to attack, from the sea, a welldefended position, and attempt to drive the defenders away. This has rarely been tried, in all the annals of military history, and here were relatively inexperienced troops being thrown to it. The Victorians were not the first into the fight. Operational plans specified that the 2nd Brigade would come in after the 3rd at about 7 am. It was intended that the Victorian 5th Battalion and the

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l G 00907

brigade staff would land first, to be followed by the 6th

bloodied, shattered first casualties of this appalling day. In the chaos that surrounded them, they had to wait for officers to give them the word to make for the boats, to make for the shore where the fire was now intense. The 6th Battalion was aboard Galeka and, when it was discovered that the boats that had taken the first to land were now fully engaged in returning the wounded to the ships, it was decided that the 6th would row themselves to war in Galeka’s own lifeboats. The men clambered over the side of the ship, taking up their positions at the oars for the slow and incredibly dangerous journey to the shore. One of these was Jack Fothergill, originally from Euroa in central Victoria, more recently working on Melbourne’s cable trams. He had enlisted in August 1914, was 25 years of age and unmarried. His mother and father still lived in Euroa where Robert, his dad, worked for the railways. The official Australian correspondent, later the official war historian, Charles Bean tells us how the 6th Battalion landed: the boats of the 6th found the shells of the battery bursting overhead during the last 200 yards to the shore. The soldiers were rowing; the officers were in bows or stern. ‘Now then – all together’ shouted Lieutenant Prisk to his boatload, as if coaching an

and 7th battalions, but, in fact, it was the 6th that reached

awkward crew for a boat race. The oars dipped three

land first. Who could say which party of men had the

or four times in fair rhythm. Then – crack overhead

worst of it? Of course those who went in just as dawn

– a scatter of shrapnel; sometimes a man hit; and the

was breaking would have been extremely anxious. Would they land undiscovered? Could they make cover before the enemy became aware of their presence? But what of those in the second wave, watching, straining to see in the half-light, from destroyers standing off the coast? They could hear the incessant roar of the battle, soon they

coaching had to begin over again. Nearing the beach, one boat was hit on the nose and began to sink. Two navy steamboats came alongside; some of the men were by then in the water, but they did not throw off their equipment. Under such difficulties did the 6th Battalion land.

could watch as the tows that had carried the first men to

Before 7 am, half of the 6th Battalion was ashore. Was

war began to return to the destroyers, loaded with the

Jack Fothergill among them? We do not know.

Victorians go to war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 57

57

5/05/14 1:59 PM

the full story of what happened to them there will never

assessment and preliminary treatment. The more serious

be known, Bean wrote: ‘many of the brave band upon Pine

cases were then sent to Egypt or Malta for the necessary

Ridge were never heard of again’. Probably Jack Fothergill

operations and, hopefully, recovery. The nurses working

was one of these because his body was never recovered.

on Lemnos lived and worked under canvas, in all weathers,

When the Australian Historical Mission visited Pine

and routinely complained of the awful conditions that the

Ridge in 1919, the first Australians to stand on the ridge

wounded endured.

since 25 April 1915, they found clusters of skeletons, still

The creation of the Australian Army Nursing Service

clad in ragged uniforms, bearing the purple and red colour

(AANS) was haphazard, to say the least, and the nurses

patch of the 6th Battalion. ‘They needed no epitaph’, Bean

more or less forced their way onto the hospital ships and

wrote, ‘it was enough that they lay on Pine Ridge’.

into the hospitals, and served in difficult circumstances

Jack Fothergill has no grave on Gallipoli. He is

with extreme tenacity. After a long delay an appointment

remembered only on the tablets at the Lone Pine

was made with the responsibility to organise the service

Memorial. He died, we do know, on 25 April 1915.

and place the nurses where they were needed. Miss Jane

By noon on 30 April 1915, when the first returns were

Bell, Lady Superintendent of the Melbourne Hospital

presented to the commanders, it would show that the 6th

since 1910, was selected as matron-in-charge of No. 1

Battalion had lost four officers, 30 men killed, 212 men

Australian General Hospital (AGH) in Heliopolis. Bell

missing, and a further ten officers and 155 men wounded.

recruited 161 Victorian nurses and they sailed on the

After just four days’ conflict, 14 officers and 397 men

Kyarra from Melbourne in December 1914. Bell was

remained out of a strength of 31 officers and 942 men.

born in Scotland in 1873 and her early life there was

Nearly half their men were lost to the fighting in the

tragic, losing both her parents and four of her siblings

first four days and soon the casualty telegrams would be

to tuberculosis. With a brother and two sisters, and the

pouring into homes in the suburbs and towns of Victoria.

help of the Presbyterian Church, she migrated to Sydney

The Presbyterian minister at Euroa, Rev. Garde, would

in 1886, aged 13. She later trained as a nurse and worked

tell Robert and Isabella Fothergill that Jack had been

in several colonial hospitals before returning to England

listed among the missing. Though they continued to hope

for further training and work. She returned to Australia

for long months that he might be a prisoner, or might be

in 1910 to take up her appointment in Melbourne. Bell

lying in a hospital in Egypt or England unable to identify

imposed the strictest standards on her nurses in Egypt

himself, eventually they would have to accept that Jack had

and, despite the unsuitable location of her hospital – a

died on the first morning of the landing. Out of the fight

luxury hotel and Cairo’s Luna Park – and the influx of

in just a matter of hours. Just one of hundreds of Victorian

patients from Gallipoli, the standard of care was high.

soldiers in those first confused and tragic days. The Anzacs were camped on the island of Lemnos for

58

many of the wounded were returned to Lemnos for

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 2000.212/17

The 6th advanced to Pine Ridge, as ordered. While

The facilities on Lemnos were rudimentary and, in the first days, appalling. Evelyn Davies, known as Tevie,

weeks, waiting for their shot at the Turks on Gallipoli. It

was 31 years of age and single when she enlisted in the

was a barren inhospitable place, but close to the Turkish

AANS in May 1915. She grew up on the outskirts of

coast and therefore convenient. Once the fighting started,

Healesville, where her mother still lived when Tevie

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 58

5/05/14 1:59 PM

Soon recruiting was in full swing with Anzac featuring prominently in recruitment

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 2000.212/17

posters.

Victorians go to war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 59

59

5/05/14 1:59 PM

went overseas, and trained as a nurse in Geelong. Tevie wrote of the primitive conditions on Lemnos: nursing in tents that blew over as the weather worsened, awful food (biscuits like ‘plaster of Paris’) and dreadful uniforms (‘don’t we look tragic’). The work, though tiring, was ‘full of interest’. By the end of July 1915 No. 1 AGH had admitted more than 10 000 patients and, as men grew more unwell as the campaign dragged on, the nurses were working longer and longer hours. Though small in numbers, the AANS was an essential part of the Gallipoli campaign. The nurses were too few in number, the chain of command was too confused, and the facilities and equipment were inadequate and hastily thrown together – as if there had been no plan making provision for the care of large numbers of badly wounded and very sick men. It was, if you like, just part of the muddle that Gallipoli represented. The campaign was mismanaged from the beginning and the landings should never have been attempted. Wise heads in London knew that. What had been, initially, a naval action to force a way into the Dardanelles became, after the failure of the navy, a military action, the tumultuous and tragic nature of which obscured the original role of the navy. The landing at Anzac Cove was poorly planned and without clear objectives. Indeed, it was so badly misconceived that confronted late at night on 25 April by his subordinate commanders, including the Australian General William Bridges, formally asked the overall commander of the Allied forces at Gallipoli, General Sir Ian Hamilton, if it might not be best if the Anzacs were withdrawn. To describe the situation as a farce is too strong; but the planning was a shambles. Saying this, however, does not detract from the bravery, generosity, self-sacrifice and nobility of the troops.

60

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l A 04118

the commander at Anzac, General William Birdwood,

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 60

5/05/14 1:59 PM

Australian army nurses marching into their camp on Lemnos on 9 August 1915. All reported what a bleak place the island was.

Victorians go to war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 61

61

5/05/14 1:59 PM

If it was bad at Anzac, the situation at Krithia two weeks later was diabolical. The opportunity to take the small village, which had been found deserted and undefended on the morning of the landings, was missed by the British command. Perhaps they did not then recognise its importance, but they would soon know that the village led to the high ground of Achi Baba, an important point in controlling the plains below. The resulting attack by the British 29th Division, undertaken once the importance of the village became evident, was brutally repulsed. Another assault on Krithia and Achi Baba was ordered to start on 6 May and, because Hamilton needed as many men as possible for the attack, he removed the 2nd Australian Infantry Brigade from Anzac and sent it to Cape Helles so as to be in place to attack the village about 4 kilometres inland. Was there no end to this, the wearied troops might have asked, no end at all? The Victorian 2nd Brigade, including the 6th and 7th battalions, which had been so terribly knocked about at the landing, was to go into battle again. The troops faced a wide, open, level plain, across which they were to move towards defenders entrenched on higher ground, and with well-sited machine guns and artillery. What was asked of these troops simply could not be done. Not in this fashion, anyway. Colonel James Whiteside McCay commanded the 2nd Australian Infantry Brigade. Born in Ireland in 1864, Jim McCay grew up in Castlemaine, Victoria, the son of a Presbyterian minister. A schoolmaster, a lawyer, and a politician in both colonial and federal parliaments, McCay it might be thought, had enough experience to make a success of commanding men in battle. But he was something of a martinet and, though brave, was never well liked. He landed at Ari Burnu on 25 April just after 6 am and, in the first hours, was shot twice through his cap and once through his sleeve. A commander in war

62

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 62

5/05/14 1:59 PM

must have good luck to bring his men safely through their tribulations and it might be just at about this point that McCay’s luck deserted him, forever. His brigade lost half its strength in the first two or three days at Ari Burnu and was then relieved, making it available for duty at Cape Helles and that was its bad luck. McCay was given just half an hour’s notice that his soldiers were required for an attack on 8 May. He might have protested, but he did not. At 50 years of age, McCay

Sister Evelyn (‘Tevie’) Davies

was a relatively old man as he led his Australians to the starting point for their attack. His men jumped into the line with British soldiers who had already tried to do what the

in winter gear,

Australians would now attempt. When the whistle sounded

Lemnos, 1915

for the attack McCay jumped up on a parapet with his telescope in his hand and shouted ‘Now then Australians – which of you men are Australians? Come on Australians’. And they went. Writing home, McCay said that he had called to them, in effect, ‘Come and die’. And they did. In all, about 1800 Anzacs became casualties at Krithia, for no discernible gain. The planning for this attack was minimal, almost nonexistent: soldiers cannot be expected to succeed with half an hour’s preparation for attack. Nor can they be expected to succeed if they are unaware of their objective and their place in the larger conflict. The generals wasted these thousands of men at Krithia. Having lost about one-third

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l A 05374

of its strength at Krithia, the 2nd Brigade was given a little time to regroup and fought again at Lone Pine in August. Bean’s footnotes relating to this battle give some idea of the loss of life: RC Keiran, 6th Battalion, grain salesman, Fitzroy, died of wounds; PG Wale, 7th Battalion, bank clerk, Euroa, died of wounds; T Carmichael, 7th Battalion, school teacher, Yarrawonga, died of wounds; JAK Johnston, 7th Battalion, engineer, Williamstown, died of wounds; HA Biggsley, 6th Battalion, law clerk, Albert Park, killed in action. After Krithia, the lists went on and on.

Victorians go to war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 63

63

5/05/14 2:00 PM

By early May, the position at Anzac had stabilised

man’s-land and waiting for officer’s whistle to launch the

into the Gallipoli version of trench warfare. Trench lines

battle, knew that Lone Pine was a feint. Then, in the late

stretched along the second ridge line from Lone Pine to

afternoon light of 6 August 1915, there was a mad scramble

Chunuk Bair, dipping and making diversions to account for

from the tunnels and the Anzac trenches as men hurled

the terrain and the early success or failure of the opposing

themselves into the opposing Turkish trenches. Lone Pine

forces. The hottest spot along this line was at Quinn’s Post,

became a name as well known to Victorians as the Nek,

where only a few metres separated the opposing armies.

both places sadly famous because of the awful loss of life

Just down the line from it was Courtney’s Post, soon to be

and the high rate of casualties incurred there.

a name known to all Victorians for it was here, on the night

Fighting at Lone Pine was largely conducted

of 19–20 May 1915, that Albert Jacka fought with such

underground, hand-to-hand in places, and was the most

tenacity, determination and bravery that he was awarded

furious fighting in which the Anzacs had yet been involved. The dead were piled up in

awarded to an Australian in this

reserve trenches and were

war, it was presented to a shy

even lying on the floor of the

boy from Wedderburn, near

trenches over which the two

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 28109

the Victoria Cross. The first

Bendigo in central Victoria. Despite that glory, the stalemate continued. As everyone knew, the high ground was the key to control of the campaign and, after some prompting and in what would amount to the last throw of the dice from the Allied side, Hamilton developed a bold scheme to take the heights. First the Australians would create a diversion at Lone Pine, then the

Victoria Crosses bestowed for fighting at Lone Pine, four were awarded to Victorians. It should be noted, though, that the first men into the fight, the 1st Brigade, were largely from New South Wales, and that these men were not rewarded as those who came after them were because few officers survived to make recommendations for recognition. The four

New Zealanders and the British

Victorians, Alexander Burton,

would scale the heights from

William Dunstan, Frederick

behind Chunuk Bair and push

Tubb and William Symons,

the Turks off there and at Baby

Food on Gallipoli was atrocious and water

700. Only then might victory be

scarce. Soldiers grated biscuits, such as this

within the grasp of the Allies. Too few of the troops, hidden in tunnels well out into no-

64

sides fought. Of the seven

one, and added a little water to make a type of porridge.

were members of the 7th Battalion. Alex Burton may have known Jack Fothergill, though they were in different battalions, because both came from Euroa

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 64

5/05/14 2:00 PM

The time for games was over, according to the recruiters who also promoted the image of Albert Jacka, the first Australian to be awarded the Victoria

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 2001.34/1

Cross in the war.

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 65

Victorians go to war

65

5/05/14 2:00 PM

Members of the 4th Brigade attending a church service in Reserve Gully, Gallipoli, conducted by Chaplain Andrew Gillison of the 14th Battalion

and Burton was in the choir of the Presbyterian church there. Whether either of them knew Frederick Tubb, may be doubted because he was considerably older than either, though he did come from Longwood, not far from Euroa. Two Victoria Crosses from the Euroa region; it was remarkable. Burton was killed in the battle for Lone Pine and Tubb was killed in France in 1917. Dunstan and Symons both survived the war. Dunstan was invalided out of the AIF in 1916 and received his Victoria Cross from the governor-general in a public ceremony on the 1916. After the brief ceremony Dunstan was mobbed by the large and excited crowd, men wishing to hoist him on their shoulders, women wishing to kiss him. The newspaper account concluded that if he had been asked for his opinion he might well have expressed a preference for the trenches, which he would never see again because of the seriousness of his wounds. The noisy, enthusiastic crowd was too much for a reserved and private man of Dunstan’s quality.

66

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l A 03808

steps of federal Parliament House, Melbourne, on 9 June

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 66

5/05/14 2:00 PM

Victorians go to war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 67

67

5/05/14 2:00 PM

‘I escaped so far.’ The last words in the diary of Alfred Herbert Love,

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , A u s t r a l i a n M a n u s c r i p t s C o ll e c t i o n, M S 9603

who was killed in action on 27 April 1915.

68

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 68

5/05/14 2:00 PM

Victorians go to war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 69

69

5/05/14 2:00 PM

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , A u s t r a l i a n M a n u s c r i p t s C o ll e c t i o n, M S 9603

Meanwhile, to load further pressure onto the Turks, the ‘heads’, as the troops referred to their superior

ten yards from the start of the attack. Those in the second

officers, had decided that there would be an attack, as if

wave, to leap out of the trenches three minutes after their

on the high ground at Baby 700, starting at a tiny outpost

mates, in the expectation that they would consolidate

called the Nek. Two or three tennis courts in size, this

gains made by the first wave, had of course heard the

patch of land in front of Walker’s Ridge crashed steeply

terrible roar of the rifles and machine guns. At the second

from there down to the beach. Facing the Australians at

whistle, they too rose out of the trenches to face what

the Nek were massed Turks in their trenches, Turkish

they now knew to be almost instant death. The 8th Light

machine guns behind and, above, more Turkish soldiers.

Horse was no more.

Machine guns turned the Nek into an exquisite killing

Jack McGlade, whom we last saw embarking for

field. Enfilading fire, they call it, in effect a wall of lead

war at Port Melbourne, was in the 8th Light Horse but

into which the attackers must run, against which they

possibly not in the charge at the Nek. Three days later,

could never prevail. To weight the odds even further

on 10 August, he received a gunshot wound to his left

against the Australians, the artillery fire that was supposed

arm and was evacuated to hospital. He wrote to Shela on

to keep the Turks cowering in their trenches finished a full

4 September 1915 from the AGH at Heliopolis, Egypt. ‘I

seven minutes before the attack was due to begin. No-one

am afraid the poor old 8th LH will never seem the same,’

could say precisely why the artillery stopped early, perhaps

he reported.

they had failed to synchronise their watches, but it was time enough for the Turks to dust themselves down and to take their places in the firing steps and at their machine guns. Ready. Precisely at 4.30 am on 7 August, 150 men of the 8th Light Horse, mostly Victorians, leapt from their trenches at the sound of the officer’s whistle. They ran

70

Australian of this first 150 lay dead, not more than about

We have lost nearly all our old officers and men. After the “charge [at the Nek]” they had a “roll call” and 3 officers and 120 men answered their names out of a strength of about 500 … but what is the good of thinking of it all … We have got to learn to put up with these losses.

fast, but they had no chance. There grew, wrote Bean,

At home in Victoria, putting up with the losses was

‘a torrent of rifle fire, growing quickly to a continuous

what people tried to do. News from Gallipoli stimulated

roar, as no soldier can seldom have faced’. An observer

extraordinary activity back home, with a leap in

likened what happened next to some kind of puppetry

enlistments the most obvious and discernible effect.

in which the strings of all the puppets on the stage had

Little of this excitement was manufactured and most

been cut simultaneously and they all fell down lifeless. A

of it was a spontaneous response from the community.

few of the light horsemen were hit as they climbed out

Of course the newspapers described the campaign in

of the Australian trenches and they fell back, either dead

heroic terms, although Bean’s reporting was always

or wounded. If wounded, and not too badly, they would

sober and straightforward. An event like the public

survive. Others, a very few of them, falling close to the

presentation of Dunstan’s Victoria Cross was arranged

Australians lines managed to crawl back to stretcher-

as much for publicity and focus on the war as it was for

bearers in the trenches and thus to safety. Every other

the recipient’s sense of pride and achievement. But war

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 70

5/05/14 2:00 PM

Women were assumed to have a special

fervour in Victoria needed little stimulus. Outstripping

responsibility for talking their men into

the government’s original offer of a force of 20 000

enlisting in the AIF.

Australians, by the end of December 1914, 52 000 men had enlisted from Australia. In the early months of 1915 enlistment in Victoria was steady and satisfactory. From the beginning of January to the end of May 1915, 9460 Victorians enlisted in the AIF. The news of the landing at Anzac was received in mid-May. In June, 3381 men enlisted and then, presumably with their affairs in order and their goodbyes said, in July, 21 698 Victorians enlisted. Broadmeadows was bursting at the seams. By the end of 1915, after the Allies had withdrawn from the peninsula, in what those at home thought of as a glorious engagement, 45 112 Victorians had enlisted: verging

Hamilton Spectator 8 M a r c h 1917, S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , N e w spa p e r s C o ll e c t i o n

on the total number of Australian enlistments from the previous year. Those enlisting after May knew that they would certainly be in the fight. Nobody continued to entertain the delusion that the war would be over by Christmas, or that the Australians would not necessarily be involved. From May 1915 onwards casualty lists were a daily feature of the newspapers and, with them prominently displayed in offices, churches, and public places like railway stations, anyone enlisting in 1915 knew that you simply had to take your chances. Gillison, as chaplain to the Victorian 14th Battalion, now coming to be known as ‘Jacka’s mob’, had harboured romantic notions of war. That sunny scene in St Kilda, presided over by governor-general and coloured by a mood of eager anticipation of the coming fight, contrasted sharply with the reality of war at Gallipoli. Gillison supported the 14th Battalion in a stoush with the Turks on the night of 21 August. In the full light of morning, Gillison was still in the front-line trenches with a stretcher-bearer, Robert Pittendrigh, who was a Methodist minister before he enlisted. They heard a

Victorians go to war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 71

71

5/05/14 2:00 PM

wounded man in no-man’s-land calling for help; a call they could not resist. The battalion medical officer warned them: ‘don’t go out there, the Turks have it covered with rifles and machine-guns’. Nevertheless, the chaplain and the stretcher-bearer crept out in front of the Anzac lines. Both were shot before they could reach the wounded man, Gillison’s bullet passing between his shoulders and through his chest near his heart. His last words, as remembered by the front-line soldiers – for Gillison knew he was dying – were of his loved ones in Melbourne. Pittendrigh was evacuated from the Peninsula but died of his wounds and was buried at sea. Another Presbyterian chaplain, Andrew Merrington, conducted the funeral service for Gillison, supported by three other chaplains. Gillison’s remains were draped in a flag, but as the body was being placed in the grave the chaplains noticed Gillison’s wedding ring and gently removed it to be sent back to his widow in East St Kilda. ‘He died for an unknown wounded man,’ Merrington wrote, ‘what decoration, posthumous or in the time of life, can surpass the glory of his death in pure, unselfish heroism.’ Gillison was placed in a known, marked grave in what became known as Embarkation Pier Cemetery, but the turmoil of life on the peninsula meant that the exact location of his grave was lost. In a peaceful and, now, well-tended cemetery, around the corner from Anzac Cove and on the way to Suvla, there is a headstone: ‘Andrew Gillison Believed to be buried in this cemetery’. Gillison was just one of 8000 Australians to die in the Gallipoli campaign.

72

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 72

5/05/14 2:00 PM

The news from Gallipoli stimulated a big jump in recruits from Victoria – 21 698 new soldiers

Victorians go to war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 73

73

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 91.40/388

in July 1915 alone. Most of them marched through Melbourne at least once before embarkation.

5/05/14 2:00 PM

A l b e r t J acka V C

‘S

hy’ is the word that most have used to describe

that Bert had been awarded the Victoria Cross. It was a

Bert Jacka. Born at Layard near Winchelsea

patriotic family. The other brother, David, known as Sam,

in the south-west of Victoria and living later

was 28 when war broke out, married with four children. As

at Wedderburn north-west of Bendigo, Bert

the two younger boys were straining at the bit to enlist when

was the fourth of seven children, four boys and three girls.

Bert came home briefly before going into camp, Sam may

Two of his brothers, Sydney and William, also served in the

well have thought that the family had done enough. And that

AIF. After elementary schooling to the sixth grade, from 13

someone should stay at home to look after the parents as they

years of age Bert worked with his father who was ‘a farmer,

aged.

road contractor and carter’. At the age of 18 Bert joined the Victorian State Forests Department and worked as a fencer,

Richard Courtney, gave his name to the post on Gallipoli.

tree planter, and general hand. Bert liked the outdoors life

The 14th Battalion’s war diarist, Captain Charles Moreland

and he was fit. He enjoyed sport and excelled at boxing,

Montague Dare, was an architect in civilian life, which

cycling and Australian football. People would have liked

may account for the neat and legible writing in the diary.

him more if he had not been so shy. He just did not give

On 1 May he records the first organised Turkish attack on

them, particularly girls, a chance. Was his shyness the reason

Courtney’s Post: about 500 Turks rushed the Australian lines

Charles Bean never warmed to him? Shy people can appear

but were ‘repulsed and retired in great disorder losing many

pompous through anxiety and ineptitude, and Bean detested

casualties’. Dare continued: ‘our fire was so directed and

‘big-noters’.

controlled that the enemy were unable to reply with the result

What was Bert doing signing on for war? Adventure?

that only one officer and three men were wounded in our

Duty? Wanting to see the world? Bert kept a diary in the first

trenches. All remained quiet for the rest of the night except

months of his soldier’s life in which he records, briefly, what

for snipers.’

happened, but not why it happened. We will never know

74

Bert was in the 14th Battalion whose initial commander,

Dare writes on 19 May that the battalion received

precisely why he enlisted. He was the first in his family to do

information that the Turks had sent reinforcements to Anzac

so, on 18 September 1914, so he did not spend a great deal of

and that an attack might be imminent. Everyone was to

time thinking about it. Bert’s 18-year-old brother, William,

‘stand to arms’ at 3 am; shrapnel damage to the trenches had

joined up in March 1915 and his 20-year-old brother Sydney

been repaired, there were extra rifles and ammunition in the

would enlist in July 1915, just days before it was announced

trenches. Enter Bert Jacka. The Turks charged Courtney’s

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 74

5/05/14 2:00 PM

Corporal Albert Jacka outside a tent on Lemnos, during the last days of the Gallipoli campaign

Post at about 3.30 am and a party of them, throwing bombs as they came, jumped into a section of the trench that Jacka was defending. Jacka was standing in the fire step that was cut into the front of the trench and was not wounded by the Turkish bombing, though most of his mates in the trench were; three Australians were killed immediately. Jacka stood at his post firing to stop the Turks from coming on. It was A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l P 02141.003

potentially of extreme danger to the Australians for the enemy to be in possession of a portion of the Australian line. A quarter of an hour passed during which time Jacka alone held up the Turkish advance. Then, jumping out into noman’s-land and thereby back into the trench the Turks now occupied, Jacka shot five Turks and bayoneted two; another two were shot as they tried to return to their own lines. The remainder became prisoners. Jacka then waited for dawn, holding the trench line entirely on his own. Jacka’s own account of this in his diary is matter-of-fact: ‘I led a section of men and recaptured the trench. I bayoneted two Turks, shot five, took three prisoners and cleared the whole trench. I held

war myth. Jacka, single-handedly, put courage, initiative and

the trench alone for fifteen minutes against a heavy attack.’

determination front and centre in the Anzac story. Bean told

This was one of the most remarkable actions of the

Jacka’s story in the official history and added a footnote: ‘for

entire campaign at Anzac and demonstrates that hand-to-

this action Jacka received the Victoria Cross’, the first such

hand combat still had a place in this fight. Jacka’s story is

honour to be awarded to an Australian in the war. ‘Australian

pure nineteenth-century warfare; the stuff of boys’ adventure

Hero’ was the headline in the Argus. Prime Minister Fisher

yarns. In no way does this diminish the gallantry and

telegraphed his congratulations to General Sir Ian Hamilton

determination of what Jacka did. As a way of connecting

and asked that the general pass on the government’s best

the people at home to the troops, there could be no better

wishes to Jacka, now the most famous Victorian of them all.

Victorians go to war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 75

75

5/05/14 2:00 PM

c h a p t e r

f o u r

Wa r i n t h e s c h o o l s

K

e i t h Ha n c o ck , who would become one of Australia’s finest historians, turned 18 in June 1916, when he was in the final year at Melbourne Grammar School. n

A few

weeks after Keith’s birthday his father, an Anglican clergyman, received a telegram to say that one of his sons at war, Jim, was missing in action. n

In fact, Jim

had been obliterated by a shell at Pozières and had died instantly. n

But his death was not confirmed for the

family until January 1918, an agony of waiting that nearly drove Jim’s mother mad. n

But Keith, as a schoolboy, already knew about war. n

The previous year Kenneth Henderson, an Anglican clergyman and Keith’s English teacher, was in full flight in the classroom when a messenger entered with a telegram. n

Henderson read it, turned deathly pale,

and rushed from the room. n The telegram informed him that his two brothers had been

Grammar School, 1325 went to the war; one-sixth of them

killed on Gallipoli. Every boy in the room, all of whom were

were killed.

aged 16 or 17, knew that he would have to think of going to

The war placed a heavy burden on the children of

the war to avenge the Anzacs who had already died and were

Victoria. Older children, who could understand more clearly

even at that moment, dying. Of the ‘old boys’ of Melbourne

the news from Gallipoli and the Western Front, would

76

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 76

5/05/14 2:00 PM

have been worried and concerned; the boys, particularly,

however, that these children were not profoundly affected

faced their responsibility to enlist when the time came. All

by the war. There were 63 586 Victorian children between

children with older brothers at war would have lived with

the ages of 10 and 14 in 1911, some of whom would go to

the constant anxiety of their parents, particularly their

war. There were 67 804 persons aged 15–19 in 1911. Every

mothers, trawling through the casualty lists, anxiously

single male in this cohort would have to make a decision

scanning for names of relatives and the sons of friends.

about their role in the war, whether to stay or to go, as

Children, who are quick to pick up on moods and feelings

would the 48 476 aged 21–24 and the 51 955 aged 25–29

at home, sensed how difficult a time it was for their parents

in 1911. Potentially, then, the census tells us that there

and how anxious they seemed. Other children would know

were 168 235 men and women in Victoria in an age group

of boys from their street, old boys of their schools, boys

for war of whom, we might assume, 85 000 or thereabouts

from the church, sporting teams, and boys who had served

were men in the relevant age groups. The figure of 112 399

them in the shops and on the trams, who were now at war.

Victorian enlistments in the AIF is confusing until we

Keith Hancock passionately wanted to enlist, but with a

consider that census figures were not necessarily accurate at

brother missing in action, and the only other brother in the

the time of release, and that there must have been recruits

AIF, Keith’s parents were able to withhold their permission.

outside the 21–29 age group. The numbers of Victorians

He was ashamed to be at university when his place, in his

serving overseas gives a clear understanding of the depth of

mind anyway, was clearly on the Western Front. It was a

commitment to the war that was expressed by those in the

lifelong shame. Asked even into his middle years for his age

relevant age groups.

he would automatically ‘take a few years off’ lest someone

Whether to go or to stay was a decision that an

say to him: ‘born in 1898, eh? I dare say you were at

individual came to in his own way. Those who enlisted

Pozières or at Bullecourt?’

were congratulated, celebrated and warmly commended.

The Commonwealth census of 1911 is our last

In many quarters there was less sympathy for those who

opportunity to understand the statistical make-up of

saw it as their duty to stay at home. Take, for example, the

Victorian society before war broke out in 1914. It tells us

case of Robert Menzies, who became Australia’s longest

that there were 138 676 children under the age of nine in

serving prime minister. Born in 1894, he was 20 years of age

Victoria in 1911. These children would not reach military

in 1914, old enough to enlist. He had two older brothers,

age before the war ended in 1918. That is not to say,

Frank and James (known as Les), who enlisted in 1915 and

War in the schools

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 77

77

5/05/14 2:00 PM

served in France. At a family conference they made young

which, for the boys, were called the Public Schools. State

Bob promise that he would never join up. Two out of three

high schools in 1914 were educating only 3895 students.

boys from one family is not a bad offering, they reasoned,

Tate deeply regretted the state’s unbalanced approach to

and Bob would be needed at home to look after their

senior students and worked hard to overcome a prejudice

ageing parents. Not every family reached the same decision

against state high schools; that was one of his passions. The

as Menzies’s family, but it was a mature and responsible

other great passion, in the war years, was the war itself. Tate

position. Whether his failure to enlist worried and hurt

was an ardent imperial loyalist and believed his department

Bob Menzies, as Keith Hancock’s similar circumstances

and his teachers had an absolute obligation to create the

aggrieved him, is unknowable, but it would not be surprising

strongest possible support for Australia at war.

if it did. Men had myriad reasons for stepping forward to the recruiting sergeant’s table. Some enlisted because their

inspiring reading and statewide curriculum uniformity, the

mates did; some thought deeply about the cause and

monthly journal ‘went to most homes in the state’ and was

Australia’s best interests; some sensed that their fathers

‘often aimed at adults’, so intense was Tate’s passion for right

and brothers, mothers and sisters, even, believed that they

thinking. Certainly he wanted Victoria’s schools to turn out

needed to uphold the family’s name by enlisting; others

morally clear and civically minded pupils, but he also wanted

felt pressure from their school to do the right, or ‘manly’,

the School Paper to reinforce his messages in the homes.

thing. A combination of all these influences and many others

War came to dominate its pages. The first mention of the

would often have been involved in the final decision. It is

war, however, is in October 1914, a delay that might have

unquestionable, however, that a boy’s schooling must have

been caused by Tate and his advisers giving consideration

influenced his decision.

to the way in which they would present the war to children.

The Victorian Director of Education, Frank Tate, was

78

The School Paper, published by the Education Department, was a Victorian institution. Intended to provide

Thereafter there was no restraint. For the duration

an evangelist in a secular system, though not an evangelist

of the war, the School Paper for grades seven and eight

for religion. Born near Castlemaine in 1864 Tate’s passion

devoted 75 per cent of all its articles to the conflict, and an

was for education. He displayed this first as a pupil, then as a

extraordinary 80 per cent of all articles in 1918. There was

teacher and inspector and finally as the director of education,

no respite from the war in Victoria’s schools.

the most senior figure in Victorian teaching, beneath the

An implied doctrine quickly emerged stating that

minister. Tate devoted his whole life to education, but the

all children had a responsibility to the war. They should

empire over which he presided was unbalanced. In June

follow its progress closely and understand in detail what the

1914 there were 2174 elementary schools in Victoria, 34 per

Australians were doing in battle, whether on Gallipoli, in the

cent of which had an average enrolment of only 20 pupils.

desert or in the trenches of the Western Front. They should

These schools would take most of their students through to

know the story of Australia in the war and take great pride

grade eight and then, for the vast majority, schooling was

in it. They should work for the war effort: girls should knit

finished. In 1914 there were only 24 district high schools in

socks for the soldiers as practical assistance and a gesture of

the state and secondary education was largely in the hands

their love; girls and boys should raise money for the soldiers

of the independent or private schools, the most elite of

to provide them with ‘comforts’, such as chocolates, chewing

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 78

5/05/14 2:00 PM

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l 18418 VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 79

A state school parade passing the Melbourne Town Hall. Note the large numbers of spectators, doubtless extremely proud of the efforts of the children. War in the schools

79

5/05/14 2:00 PM

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l J 00352

Troops marching through the centre of Melbourne, 25 September 1914. Throughout the war years, children would be taken to many similar parades and the presence of soldiers became a permanent factor in their lives. 80

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 80

5/05/14 2:00 PM

gum, toffee, fruitcakes, writing paper, and cigarettes. They might write to soldiers who had attended their school, or whom they knew in other ways, wishing them well and telling them that they were proud of them. They should live good and upright lives to be worthy of the sacrifices that the soldiers were making for them and they should help their parents in their anxiety and stress and by working around the house or on the farm. In early 1917 the department published a booklet illustrating how magnificently Victorian schoolchildren had performed in the war effort. The title says it all: How We Raised the First Hundred Thousand: An Account of Two Years War Work (1915–1916) for the Education Department’s War Relief Fund (£100 000, that is). The up-to-date figure at 31 December 1916, which is noted at the back of the booklet, was £149 000 and 350 000 ‘comfort items’ sent to soldiers abroad. How did the children raise so much money? The booklet goes into the detail of it all: country children ‘gathered bones, fat, bottles, wool from the fences and scrub, iron and kerosene tins; they have snared and skinned rabbits, trapped foxes, caught fish, dug gardens, cleared tracks …’ City children ‘have sewn and knitted, made paper and leather flowers, fashioned things of wool and wire, grown wonderful beans on pocket-handkerchief allotments, planned concerts and bazaars.’ Across the war years Victorian children amassed an astonishing £422 470; truly patriotic efforts had become a part of the Victorian school curriculum. ‘Everywhere the click of knitting needles, the clink of pennies in the collection box … even the “tiny tots” of the First Grade take a share of the work, while their grandmothers knit and sew for us at home.’ Tate was realist enough to know that war was an evil and a disaster that caused suffering, maiming and death. It is likely that teachers throughout the world wrestled

War in the schools

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 81

81

5/05/14 2:00 PM

82

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 82 S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , R a r e B o o k s C o ll e c t i o n, RARE J LT 428.6 V 66S 5

The School Paper,

Melbourne,

1 September 1914

5/05/14 2:00 PM

The School Paper, 1 March 1916, shows a large crowd at Melbourne’s recruiting depot. Were children being encouraged to remind their older brothers of their S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , R a r e B o o k s C o ll e c t i o n, RARE J LT 428.6 V 66S 5

responsibilities?

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 83

83

5/05/14 2:00 PM

with the best way to represent this reality to children. Tate was certain he had the answer: ‘the war was a great opportunity for training our girls and boys in habits of unselfishness and devotion to a common cause, in zeal for community service.’ Tate could also see that the children currently in his schools would have to shoulder a considerable burden in the postwar world: for years and years yet, the sorrows caused by the war will be with us – the sight of maimed and disfigured men … you boys and girls will have to shoulder the debt we have incurred to our brave men; you will have to pay for it in kindness and true charity.

Even in 1916, maimed and disfigured men were returning to the Victorian community, eloquent witness to the horrors of war, of the awful power of shrapnel, of shells, of machine-gun bullets. The Defence Department acquired an impressive Melbourne mansion, Glen Eira,

‘Tired of Giving?’ asks the passing float. Most of the children in the crowd – and there are many of them – had already given so much.

as a hospital, the Caulfield Military Hospital, for these men, but, while nurses lived in the mansion, the soldiers built in the 25 acres of grounds surrounding the house. The department immediately built 22 wards for the soldiers, 14 of which were paid for by the State Schools Patriotic League with a £10 000 direct gift to Defence. On Wednesday afternoons about 25 pupils from each of three or four city schools gave a concert for the wounded soldiers. There would be musical items, recitations, maybe even part of a play. The soldiers much appreciated the efforts of the children and when once, through a misunderstanding, the concert party failed to appear, the men were thoroughly put out. Think, though, of the strain on the children performing in a hospital for men, some of whom had lost limbs and were seriously maimed, or suffered from dreadful nervous twitches. Or were the worst cases kept out of the sight of the children?

84

R oya l H i s to r i c a l S o c i e t y o f V i c to r i a A-594.012-Ht n e g 498

were cared for in wooden and corrugated iron wards

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 84

5/05/14 2:01 PM

War in the schools

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 85

85

5/05/14 2:01 PM

JD Burns

J

ames Drummond Burns, named after his

trained at Broadmeadows, completed his training in Egypt,

grandfather who was a Presbyterian minister at

‘a happy time’, he wrote, and then landed at Anzac in late

Hampstead, London, entered Scotch College,

August 1915. The 21st Battalion therefore missed the

Melbourne in 1911. His father, Hugh McLeod

battles of early August, the ‘last throw of the dice’ for the

Burns, born in 1863, was also a Presbyterian minister.

Anzacs. There were no safe billets at Gallipoli, but now no

James, born in 1896, was the oldest child and one of two

prospects of massed battles either. For the men of the 21st

sons; there were six daughters. James enlisted in the 21st

it was a waiting game, though their troopship Southland

Battalion on 2 February 1915; he was 19 years and one

was torpedoed on the way to Lemnos, before they reached

month old at the time and his father signed his consent to

Anzac. JD spent time in the water and men had drowned.

the enlistment. On the enlistment form, under ‘trade or

of the line being defended by men of the 21st and JD, now

left school at the end of 1914, heaped with honours.

a corporal and seeking to rally his men, exposed himself to

Jimmy Burns or ‘JD’, as he was known, was a prefect

get a good shot at the attackers. He was shot in the head

at Scotch in 1913, school vice-captain in 1914, editor of

and died instantly. He had been on the peninsula for three

the Scotch Collegian, and a member of the first rowing

weeks and was still 19 years of age.

crew. He had won first place in the Shakespeare Society’s

AR (Rowan) Macneil wrote an account of JD’s burial,

examination, gained first class honours in history and Latin

which was published in the Scotch Collegian in December

at the 1914 examinations, and won a residential scholarship

1915:

to Melbourne University’s Ormond College. He appeared to be a young man with a fine future; possibly as a journalist, for JD impressed his teachers and fellow students as a writer and editor. In December 1914 JD announced in the Scotch Collegian that over 70 old boys had already volunteered: ‘we should like to say how proud the School is of them … they have

86

On 18 September the Turks made a charge at the part

calling’, he wrote ‘student (Scotch College)’. In fact he had

At about 9 o’clock I was relieved from duty to attend his funeral, which was of the saddest and most impressive character. The cemetery is about two miles from here, almost right down to the beach [it is now known as Shrapnel Valley cemetery] and when I arrived there, I found that the battalion pioneers had the grave almost dug. A few minutes later, the Chaplain arrived and soon after that, the Red

set such a high example of patriotism.’ An example that he

Cross men, bearing the body on a stretcher. The moon

was unable to resist. Enlisting in February 1915 JD first

was very bright and the stars were shining bravely when

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 86

5/05/14 2:01 PM

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 39357/235

Scotch College, East Melbourne

all that remained of poor Jimmy was committed to the soil.

Rowan Macneil MC and Bar, later became a Presbyterian

The burial service was short and very simple – no ‘last post’

minister and, as a chaplain in the Second AIF, was a

or volley, or anything of that kind (if there had been, I think

prisoner of war after the fall of Singapore.

the battalion pioneers would have been very busy the next morning). The Chaplain [Rev. Donald Macrae Stewart] read the service with the aid of a pocket electric torch and [James] was buried as he had died – in his uniform – ‘with his martial cloak around him’ with only a blanket between his face and Mother earth. He lies snugly entrenched among his peers, with his head toward the sea, whose surf can be distinctly

JD wrote in the Scotch Collegian in August 1914: ‘if the time for action comes, we trust that our response will show that the lessons learned in the class rooms and on the playing fields have not gone for naught.’ Those who wrote about him after his death emphasised two aspects of his personality – his determination and his kindness. He gained

heard, his face to the stars and his feet to the trenches, so that

selection to the first crew through rigorous training and

if he were to stand up straight, he would still be facing the

pushing himself to the limit. He was equally as determined

enemy. This, I think, is as he’d long to be.

to make the athletics team and trained hard for two months,

War in the schools

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 87

87

5/05/14 2:01 PM

just missing selection. Every boy should push himself, he wrote, for the benefit of the whole team. In May 1915 the Scotch Collegian published a 12-line poem, ‘For England’ submitted by ‘Serio’, in fact JD Burns, then on his way to Egypt. It captured perfectly the sentiments of many of the pupils, teachers and parents associated with schools like Scotch. It expressed the patriotism that was taught by the schools and expected of their students: The bugles of England were blowing o’er the sea, As they had called a thousand years, calling now to me; They woke me from dreaming in the dawning of the day, The bugles of England – and how could I stay? The banners of England, unfurled across the sea, Floating out upon the wind, were beckoning to me: The banners of England – and how could I stay? O, England, I heard the cry of those who died for thee, Sounding like an organ voice across the winter sea: They lived and died for England and gladly went their way, England, O, England – how could I stay?

88

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l G 01293

Storm-rent and battle-torn, smoke-stained and grey,

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 88

5/05/14 2:01 PM

Shrapnel Gully cemetery, Gallipoli, where JD Burns is buried. This photograph was taken by Charles Bean, November 1915.

War in the schools

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 89

89

5/05/14 2:01 PM

their experiences in letters to be read out at assembly;

working on school grounds, learning to grow vegetables

Sharman pasted each of these letters into an impressive

and fruits, as part of the Young Gardeners’ League,

leather-bound book, thus preserving a permanent record

following instructions and advice that was regularly

of the school’s pupils at war. In turn, the old boys took a

published in the School Paper. Or to be working for the

keen interest in the life of the school, reading its regular

Young Workers’ Patriotic Guild, perhaps in a normal job

newsletter, which the headmaster sent them, looking out

like a paper round, but handing over all the earnings to

for other old boys who might have reached France behind

the teacher at school. But, as reported by the Education

them, and doing their bit to contribute material to the

Department, ‘the best thing the youngsters have done is

museum (too often, however, these objects were seized in

to send a steady stream of letters to men at the front …

the post).

addressed to men they had never seen amid surroundings they could not imagine.’ By the end of 1916 the soldiers had learned the truth about war; ‘some of our men have not seen a home or the inside of a decent house since November 1914.’ The value of an innocent, loving letter from home can only be imagined. In 1915 one of Tate’s disciples, Mathew Stanton Sharman, was appointed the second headmaster of University High School – the school was then only a decade

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l H 11581

It was more healthy, surely, for the children to be

Sharman never let up, writing to Private EC Hancock in October 1917: Dear Eric I am sorry that I did not know that you had enlisted … I immediately communicated with your mother and received some information of your doings since you left … I am hoping that you will send me an account … so that the future pupils of the School may have some evidence of the work you have been doing in this big fight.

old. One of a mere handful of Melbourne state secondary schools, Uni High accepted boys and girls from the ages of

The headmaster wrote again in March 1918, ‘Last night

12 to 18, across six grades of schooling. Though young, the

… we said farewell to four of the Old Boys who had just

school had a strong ethos and had already gained intense

enlisted … the girls are glad to know that you got the pair

loyalty from its pupils. Sharman knew from the outset of

of sox that was sent to you with our School colours.’ Eric

his appointment that the war could only strengthen and

Hancock was shot in the head on 23 August 1918, having

develop that spirit. On hearing of an old boy’s enlistment,

enlisted in July 1915 and having fought a strenuous war.

Sharman wrote to each one, asking for a photograph of the

He died that day at a casualty clearing station at Daours

new soldier in uniform and encouraging him to keep the

near Corbie. Uni High had formed the habit of giving each

school up-to-date with his experiences. Sharman planned

departing soldier a school badge, which many wore on the

to establish a mini war museum at the school and he asked

inside of their rough AIF tunic. The letter describing Eric’s

the newly enlisted to provide objects of interest from the

few surviving possessions after his death lists ‘one enamel

battlefield for the growing collection.

badge’, which was possibly his school badge. Eric was 19

The old boys responded warmly to their headmaster’s initiative. Though they were relatively few in number,

90

years of age when he enlisted; 22 years of age when he died. Another Uni High old boy to be killed was CA (Alec)

several of those who enlisted came back to the school

Duff, who was killed in action in June 1917. He enlisted

for a farewell assembly. They then wrote regularly of

in May 1915, at 20 years of age and wrote from Larkhill

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 90

5/05/14 2:01 PM

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l H 11581

Who can say how many socks Victorian children knitted? Note the pile of socks in the centre of the picture.

Camp in October 1916 ‘any letters from home will always

Old School”’. ‘It was a terrible shock … Alec was well liked

be acceptable to me over here’; he took particular delight

and respected by his men’. Tom Hunt, another old boy,

‘that the School excelled itself in playing the Twelfth

wrote in October 1917 that he was ‘exceedingly intimate’

Night’. Sharman wrote to Alec Duff’s mother: ‘we were

with two of the old boys to have been killed, including

all very grieved to hear that Alec had been killed in action

‘Duffy’. ‘[I] knew them to be men of unimpeachable

and I wish to convey to you and your family the deepest

character. I think the loss of such men will, in time, prove a

sympathy of the whole of the staff and the school.’ Other

stumbling block to the progress of the nation’. There was

soldier old boys wrote to the headmaster about Alec’s death:

a badge among Alec’s possessions, possibly also the school

‘he was one of the finest lads that ever went to the School’;

badge.

‘Alec and I were together the night before the charge at Messines and among many other things we talked of “The

Many of the old boys were particularly chuffed to receive a pair of knitted socks in the school colours: ‘its

War in the schools

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 91

91

5/05/14 2:01 PM

good to see the old colours again and I have many happy

F Company, 5th Battalion, but informally, the Public

recollections of when I used to wear them on the football

School Company. More than two dozen Old Wesleyan

field.’ Another soldier wrote in June 1917 ‘you cannot

Collegians were quick to enlist in it and there were also

imagine how valuable sox are to a soldier, especially when

many old boys from Melbourne Grammar and Scotch

he comes in from a long day’s march, because one of the

College. When F Company sailed on the Orvieto from

best things to soothe the feet is a clean pair of sox.’ The

Port Melbourne on 21 October 1914 there were 119

girls made other things for the soldiers too, including

members on board, a high proportion of which were

wallets. ‘Around Christmas time I received the wallet

public school old boys.

made and sent by one of the girls of the Remove as a remembrance of the old School.’ This old boy, SC Bird,

strong, and encouraged by some headmasters. Most of

wrote in February 1917, recollecting that he had studied

the boys in Victoria’s secondary schools attended church

Latin at school, ‘am now sorry I did not touch French

and independent schools at which the prevailing ethos

which would have come in useful now’. He reported that

centred on service, loyalty and patriotism. When boys

he had been ‘knocked’ in late June 1918 and was ‘lucky

ran out onto the football field or put on their pads for

to be alive’. A former teacher at Uni High, now a soldier,

cricket they would be reminded by sports masters and

Norm Heathcote, had apparently been asked by his old

headmasters that they were not just playing a game,

boss what it was like under fire: ‘well, in a stunt there is so

but preparing themselves for life. Sport gave them the

much to do and so much row that one hasn’t time to think

opportunity to learn about being part of and loyal to a

of “feelings” – we simply get on with the job in hand.’

team, of sacrificing themselves for the team and putting

In March 1918 WL Orchard, a Uni High old boy,

92

The impulse to enlist straight from school was

the interests of the school, or another greater good,

wrote that in 1915 ‘it was an understood thing’ that the

before their own interests. War would test this doctrine,

fifth form, the equivalent of today’s year ten, ‘would form

which was enshrined in the very being of Victoria’s private

a contingent of our own in 1918 and I believe that it is

schools. In their lessons and at school assembly these

going to come true’. The boys must have talked at length

themes were repeated over and over. The boys at these

about this in the classroom and around the school. ‘We’ll

schools were seen as an elite, being formed and trained

finish school in 1917’, they would have been saying,

to take leadership positions in society. They were told of

‘and then we’ll be old enough. We’ll go to the recruiting

their duty to their country and their empire and of their

sergeant together’. It is possible that they believed they

responsibility to those less fortunate in society. Religion,

would be able to stick together, and fight together. It

community service, academic excellence, sport and duty

was what boys then dreamed of; had done from the first

were mixed together in these boys’ minds, and fanned

moments of the war. Indeed at the outset in August 1914,

by an unremitting doctrine common to almost all the

when Victoria was raising its first battalions, someone

schools. The message was not very different from what

decided that there should be a ‘Public School Company’

Sharman was preaching at Uni High, minus the religion

as part of which old boys from Victoria’s six elite schools

of course, but because the numbers involved were so much

could mess and work together in what they expected

greater, the private school message had a more profound

would be congenial surroundings. Officially it was

effect on Victorian boys.

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 92

5/05/14 2:01 PM

Alec Duff, killed in France in June 1917, an old boy of University High, was one of many past students to tell the headmaster, of his experiences.

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , A u s t r a l i a n M a n u s c r i p t s C o ll e c t i o n, M S 11240

the school, through

War in the schools

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 93

93

5/05/14 2:01 PM

W h a t t o d o i n wa r t i m e ? closed until this war was won? With no place to while away

whether more so than other Australians it would

the hours in frivolity and idleness, might not more young

be hard to say. Certain it was, though, that

men give appropriate consideration to enlistment?

Victorian sporting facilities were the envy of all

Australia. Nearly 60 000 people packed into the mighty

throughout the community as people began to wonder if

Melbourne Cricket Ground for the Victorian Football

they should still make a fetish of sport when there was a war

League’s (VFL) 1913 grand final; a crowd that could not

on. Attendance at the VFL grand final in 1914 was almost

have been accommodated at any other sporting venue

exactly half of what it had been in 1913 and, for the first time

in Australia. Flemington was one of the world’s great

in memory, there were rows of empty seats at the ground.

racecourses and the Melbourne Cup was already rightly

A soldier about to land at Gallipoli in April 1915 mused, in

famous in the racing world.

a letter to his parents, that it was interesting that the VFL

War, though, threw a different light on sport. With

would be commencing the 1915 football campaign on the

men in the trenches and dying at the front, was it proper,

very day that the soldiers would begin theirs. (Bad weather

some wondered, that other men should idle behind the

spoiled the neatness of this, with the soldiers landing

goals cheering on a suburban side? Those very idlers might

on Sunday 25 April and not the day before, as had been

have been training at Broadmeadows, preparing to take the

expected.)

places of the soldiers on the casualty lists. Was sport, in all

94

There was a degree of thoughtful self-sacrifice

That soldier could not have known how desperately the

its forms, the ‘patriotic classes’ asked, in fact delaying the

continuance of football was being debated in Melbourne,

enlistment of those who were so desperately needed at the

even as he was about to go into action. In July the Victorian

front? War was far too serious a business to allow sport to

Football Association (VFA), the senior body to the VFL,

intervene; every activity should reflect the reality of war.

although surpassed by the league in crowds and interest,

And what of the many idlers in the pubs throughout

vowed to discontinue its competition. The VFA expected

the suburbs and in any country town of any size? Throwing

that the VFL would follow suit, but the league could not

down their beers until late in the night, yarning and laughing

gain the three-quarters majority required for such a radical

with their mates, and taking too little interest in the mighty

move and four clubs, Collingwood, Richmond, Fitzroy and

issues confronting the Empire and the world. Shouldn’t the

Carlton, determined to play on, and so the 1915 VFL season

pubs be regulated, the ‘patriotic classes’ asked, possibly even

continued.

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l H 02386

V

ictorians are famous for their love of sport, but

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 94

5/05/14 2:01 PM

Volunteer war workers marching on Red Cross Day under the banner ‘All for Empire’. It is unlikely that these women had much time

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l H 02386

for drinkers and sports fans.

War in the schools

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 95

95

5/05/14 2:01 PM

The year 1916 was a bad one for sport. Most sporting associations had by now cancelled or curtailed their offerings

at 6 pm each night. So Melbourne’s notorious ‘six o’clock

and hugely popular contests, such as interstate cricket, were

swill’ became a fact of life. The practice of knocking off at

abandoned, as were athletics, tennis, sculling and a myriad of

5 pm and making a dash for the pub to down as many beers

less well- known sporting activities. Five of the VFL clubs,

as possible in the hour available became commonplace.

Melbourne, Geelong, Essendon, St Kilda and South

Though introduced as a war measure to increase workers’

Melbourne, unilaterally withdrew from the 1916 VFL

productivity, and possibly to encourage enlistment,

competition, leaving four clubs to stage the matches. Not

Victorians endured these conditions until 1966.

surprisingly, the finals series featured all four playing clubs.

With a severely reduced diet of football and with other

Whether the VFL’s dilemma assisted or hindered recruitment

sport, apart from horseracing, all but abandoned, and the

cannot be known, but, by early 1916, many footballers had

local being almost off-limits, life in Melbourne and rural

become soldiers. Twelve regular South Melbourne

Victoria took on a dreary and depressing hue. True, live

footballers, for example, had joined the AIF by early 1916,

theatre flourished in the city and new cinemas were opening,

joining eight former players, just about enough for a full

but there was little of the more usual male recreations.

team.

Women continued to enjoy shopping and, indeed, the new

It was also a bad year for Victorian drinkers. Although

96

and made a further reduction, closing all Victorian pubs

Myer Emporium in Bourke Street, opened in July 1914,

there had been a vigorous temperance movement in Victoria

was a wonder to behold. In reality, however, life for most

since about the early 1880s, nevertheless public houses across

men and women was duller than it had been before the war.

the state were allowed to be open between 6 am and 11.30

Overlay this dullness with the anxiety and grief that was

pm, every day except Sunday. A Temporary Restriction Bill

endured by large sections of the population, and it is fair to

debated in the Victorian parliament in early 1916 proposed

say that there was not much fun to be had in Victoria during

restricting pub hours from 9 am to 9 pm, and this became

the years of war. ‘Good’, the ‘patriotic classes’ might have

law. It was one of the few wartime measures enacted by the

said. But did this level of dullness and anxiety produce a

state’s politicians, so dominant and controlling of every aspect

better and more united society? Or was it responsible for an

of normal Australian life was the federal War Precautions Act.

increased sense of resentment that the burdens of war fell

Perhaps the Victorian parliament might have rested there,

more heavily on the labouring classes than on the self-styled

but later in 1916, the politicians revisited hotel opening hours

‘patriotic classes’?

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 96

5/05/14 2:01 PM

William Augustus Kendall served in the Australian Army Veterinary Service, reaching the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Away from home for more than four

s tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 99.166/302

years, he delighted to keep in touch with his daughters.

With a claim, perhaps, to be Victoria’s most famous

headmastership of the Methodist Wesley College, one of

headmaster, Lawrence Adamson, of Wesley College, made

Victoria’s six ‘associated public schools’. He placed great

a huge impact in promulgating this doctrine of sacrifice

emphasis in regular school assemblies on good manners,

and service. He was also a keen and committed sportsman

community service, music and sport. He stressed the

and did more than most to bring sport to the forefront

beneficial effects on a boy’s character of training in the

of Victorian private school life. Born on the Isle of Man

school cadets.

in 1860, Adamson came from a wealthy background and

Adamson preached the war at his school in a way that

was educated at Rugby School and at Oxford. He came to

left little alternative for most boys, as they finished their

Victoria for his health in 1886 and threw himself into the

schooling, but to enlist. The school historian explains that

life of the colony. Though a devout Anglican all his life

by the end of the war in 1918 a total of 5275 had attended

and an office-bearer in the church, in 1902 he accepted the

Wesley since its inception in 1866; of these 500 were still at

War in the schools

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 97

97

5/05/14 2:02 PM

the school in 1918, so 4725 could be classified as ‘old boys’. There are more than 1000 names on the Wesley College

In 1915 Caulfield Grammar’s football team of the

Honour Roll of those who served in the war. Of these 148

previous year, all 18 of them, presented for enlistment as a

were killed, including three duxes of the school, Owen

group. Of them, 14 were accepted and four were rejected

Lewis, William Buckland and Frank McCutchan; 1907

for medical reasons. Of that 14, four were killed. At Scotch

senior prefect Jack Newham and two other football captains,

College, from the class groups from 1904 to 1916, every

Duncan Carter and Stanley Martin; four of the Head of

captain of the school, every dux, every captain of cricket and

the River winning crew of 1911; and, four of the champion

football either enlisted or was rejected. From the ranks of

cricket team of 1910, including two brothers. Surely in his

the prefects, for the same period, 165 enlisted; how many

quieter moments Adamson must have been appalled by this

were rejected is not known. Never fewer than ten from the

carnage, though rejoicing in the generosity of spirit that it

First XVIII from the period enlisted; the peak year classes

represented. How sympathetic was he, though, to the plight

from 1909 to 1915 saw almost all of every senior football

of ‘old boys’ like Bob Menzies who, seemingly fit, appeared

team in the AIF. All up, 1207 former Scotch Collegians

oblivious of the need to uphold Wesley’s reputation on the

served the Empire during the war. These are astonishing

battlefield? Did Adamson understand the private anguish

statistics.

of these men who could not be allowed to enlist, even as he preached the demands of empire loyalty? Wesley’s record was impressive, but so were the records

But statistics hide the real people. Brian Lewis was about eight years of age and the youngest in his family when war broke out. His oldest brother, Keith, was born in 1891;

of many other schools. At Geelong Grammar School three

Brian was born in 1906. There were seven boys and one girl

boys left the school immediately war was declared and went

in this prosperous, well-regarded and happy family. Brian’s

straight into camp. In December 1915 the school magazine,

father was a mining consultant who had worked in Tasmania

the Corian, published a photograph of 11 boys leaving the

and Victoria, but after August 1914 the mining industry

school to enlist. The headmaster, FE Brown, regretted

went into a severe decline and Brian’s father did not work

this, saying ‘though strong some are too young, and want

at all during the war years. Like his brothers, Brian went to

a year or more before they are sufficiently set to endure a

Wesley for his schooling, though he was in the preparatory

hard campaign’. Were these boys able to concentrate on

school during the war. Nevertheless, even the little boys

their schoolwork, knowing that as soon as they turned 18,

attended school assembly, listened to Adamson’s patriotic

and had their parents’ permission, they would be off to the

preaching and sang the patriotic songs. Keith enlisted in

war? One Geelong Grammarian to serve was Eoin Lindsay

January 1915 and the three next boys enlisted in January

Smith, a 23-year-old station overseer when he enlisted in

1916. Owen, at 19 years and six months, was the youngest to

January 1915. A few days later, writing from Broadmeadows

enlist. Brian’s mother wore a badge with four bars attached,

Military Camp, he told his parents that ‘I hope to get into

showing that she had given four sons to the AIF.

the thick of things before long’ and that ‘I am very glad to

98

Burnu cemetery, where the first Anzacs landed.

Boys like Brian Lewis are not counted in any official

have Barney Briggs [school friend] for a mate’. Eoin joined

statistics relating to the impact of the war on Victorian

the 8th Light Horse and was killed on Gallipoli on 27 June

society. Most accounts of the war give the barest attention to

1915, struck by shrapnel from a shell. He is buried in Ari

the children who worked so hard and gave so much. Few of

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 98

5/05/14 2:02 PM

the boys and girls who ‘raised the first hundred thousand’ and

Brian Lewis grew up with the war and he wondered

the several hundred thousands after that are named or known

what would take the place of war, at school and in life,

individuals. But their work, love and loyalty mattered a great

should it ever end. Children throughout Victoria must have

deal, within their families and to the broader community.

been wondering the same thing. The war dominated their

What we cannot now know, is how the experience of these

schooling and a great deal of their activities. The School Paper

boys and girls altered the way they looked at life thereafter.

relentlessly devoted most of its space to the war, encouraging

The headmasters had said that the war would teach them

all the knitting, gardening, working that Victorian children

valuable life lessons; and it may have. But is it not also possible

devoted to it. And, as Tate explained to them, the children,

that the long, dark years of suffering and anxiety taught the

as they grew, would shoulder the cost and burden of the war

children lessons that did not necessarily produce hopeful,

in the years of peace. Victorian children paid a high price for

adventurous and well-balanced citizens?

the war.

Children raised money in a variety of ways.

B ay s i d e L i b r a r y S e r v i c e 3f e s t 1 ID 20033

Here they are demonstrating maypole dancing at a Red Cross festival at Brighton.

War in the schools

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 99

99

5/05/14 2:02 PM

Did every child wear some sort of military uniform at one stage during the war? Very possibly, as these members of the Prahran Children’s Patriotic League show.

100

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 100

5/05/14 2:02 PM

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 101 S to n n i n g to n L i b r a r y a n d I n f o r m at i o n S e r v i c e ID 13276

101

5/05/14 2:02 PM

W o m e n a n d wa r

S

ociety tends to minimise the contribution of those who work outside the paid workforce. The

Local people passed what they had made up the line,

Australian honours system, for example, gives

swelling coffers at a regional level, before the goods came

medals to volunteers in all types of jobs. But the

together at the state level for dispatch overseas. Each

system reserves the top honours, not the lowliest medals, to

hardworking woman in the Red Cross, the Comforts Fund,

the nation’s senior judges, who are well paid for doing their

or a myriad of other associations, could rest more easily in

jobs, or to the nation’s top professors and researchers, or to

her bed at night knowing that in the month just passed she

leading businessmen. It is a way of saying that, while we like

had knitted and sent off six pairs of warm woollen socks that

volunteers, we don’t rate them.

a soldier boy in a muddy French trench would be pulling

It was always thus. Victorian women, like women

on just when he needed them. She would know that she

elsewhere in Australia, created a massive new industry, from

had made a difference, contributing as best she could to the

scratch, during the First World War. It involved thinking

war effort in the most practical way possible. If we trivialise

about what the soldiers needed at the front, in the broadest

this work, or consider the work done by the soldiers as the

possible way, organising the making of these goods on a

only real war work, then we fail – by a wide margin – to

massive scale, the collection and collation of them, their

understand the true nature of the community’s response to

dispatch overseas by arranging a substantial amount of

the war.

shipping, and their successful delivery at the other end, to soldiers in the front-line trenches. The key to the success of the work of the Red Cross

102

the children had been put to bed and the day’s chores done.

Unlike in the Second World War when Australian women took up men’s jobs in their absence at the war, they did not enter the paid workforce in big numbers during the

in Australia or the Australian Comforts Fund was the

First World War, despite the desperate shortage of labour

application of the principle, upheld already by women in

in many industries. It is likely that the only circumstances

their peacetime charity work, to pursue local, community-

in which women stepped into the male domain was in

based work among friends and neighbours. The local

agriculture, where their contribution was largely unseen and

cell flourished as members competed with each other for

the need for help was so great. Society still believed that a

the greatest output or the evidence of productivity. Fun

woman’s place was in the home and not even the challenge

and enjoyment could be found working together in one

of war would defeat that prejudice. It is little wonder,

another’s homes, or alone in their own homes at night, after

then, that women organised themselves so tightly and so

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 102

5/05/14 2:02 PM

The ballroom at the federal Government A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l J 00346

House, Melbourne, taken over by women of the Red Cross

professionally to make a difference where it really counted:

mourning black, indicating that a loved one had been

to the soldiers fighting the war. Did they save lives with

killed at the front or had died of his wounds. In those cases

their gifts of clothing, of medical supplies, and of medical

the work must have taken on a new intensity or sense of

facilities such as operating theatres and ambulances? Of

purpose.

course they did. Women might have been honoured and

Sadly some women, in their obsession with the

esteemed for this essential war work; instead, in large part,

need for reinforcements at the front, began to look with

they were overlooked.

frustration and disappointment at those men not in

It should be remembered that much of this work also

uniform. Not knowing, and not able to know, the individual

served a deep psychological or human need. Many of the

circumstances that kept an apparently eligible man out of

women working for the Red Cross, the Comforts Fund, or

the army, nevertheless some small minority of people at

the battalion associations had sons, husbands or brothers

home (anecdotally this was most often women) handed

at the war for whom they were deeply anxious. As the war

these seemingly eligible men a white feather, as a symbol of

continued its dreary path some of the working women

cowardice and a sign that the man had refused to see where

would have been attending the weekly, or more frequent,

his duty lay. We know that men sent back to their homes

knitting, cooking, sewing and packing sessions wearing

before the war had ended, who were too incapacitated to

War in the schools

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 103

103

5/05/14 2:02 PM

A predominantly female crowd farewells departing soldiers. As the ship pulls away,

R oya l H i s to r i c a l S o c i e t y o f V i c to r i a G S-W G-0185

the streamers snap so that loved ones are finally separated.

continue to fight, were sometimes recipients of these white

Better, then, to pay tribute to those whose energy, sense

feathers. How that must have hurt. These men would want it

of community and kindliness drove them to provide so

known as widely as possible that they were ‘ex 14th Battalion

handsomely and so nobly for those at the front. In creating

AIF’ or similar, and some men would paste such a notice

this substantial new industry, women showed determination

on their shopfront or at their place of work. Perhaps, too,

and competence way beyond what the community might

they wore their old greatcoats or an AIF badge or insignia to

have anticipated. Women deserved their medals, too, and

avoid a white feather on the tram or in the street.

tribute and honour from their community. But in the nature

War madness, we might call it, and only a small proportion of women would have taken matters so far.

104

of so much voluntary work, these loyal and dedicated women were often simply taken for granted.

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 104

5/05/14 2:02 PM

c h a p t e r

f i v e

Counting the cost

M

e l b o u r n e , in mid-1915, was a wartime city; just as London and Glasgow or Sydney were wartime cities. n There might have been fewer soldiers on the streets of Melbourne than on the streets of London, but they were still a significant presence. n Hospital trains were not pulling into Melbourne’s city stations with awful frequency from the Western Front, as they were arriving

into London stations like Waterloo or Victoria, but hospital ships

were arriving at Railway Pier, Port Melbourne, with the badly wounded from Gallipoli. n So many wounded soldiers would be sent home during

the war years that in 1914 the Automobile Club of Victoria (it was awarded the prefix ‘Royal’ in 1916) established a Volunteer Motor Corps, the club’s most appreciated war work. n

In four and a half years, a staggering 21 000 cars met 282

plain, there was now a mighty military camp. In July,

ships and transported 93 000 soldiers and nurses. Among

under the stimulus of the news from the peninsula, 21 698

the regular drivers were 25 women.

men had enlisted from Victoria. All these men had to be

To the north of the city, on the flat Broadmeadows

housed, fed and trained, mostly at Broadmeadows. The task

105

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 105

5/05/14 2:02 PM

Wounded returning soldiers given a tumultuous reception on the streets of Melbourne

was immense, the sight remarkable. While these new recruits started on their basic training and took trips to the rifle ranges, on 10 August 1915, Melbourne played host to a melancholy scene, the passage through the centre of the city, along Swanston, Collins, William, and Bourke streets, to the town hall, of dozens of cars and ambulances bearing recently returned wounded from the front. Thousands of Melburnians turned out to see these wounded returning soldiers and the welcome and the sympathy was warm and loving. The crowd must have known, if it had given thought to the matter, that these were the worst of the wounded, for those who could be patched up in Egypt, Malta or Britain, would be returned to the firing line as soon as possible after their recuperation. The men in Melbourne were out of the war for good. Most of those in the cars and ambulances had their arms in slings or their heads bandaged and ‘there was hardly a car which did not have at least one pair of crutches projecting over the side’. One man in particular ‘excited special sympathy’. ‘[He] wore a long muffler over the lower part of his face, which had been almost entirely shot away.’ Thereafter these melancholy processions became a regular thing in Melbourne. Another hospital ship arrived a fortnight after the first, with another procession, and then more in September and October.

106

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 106

5/05/14 2:02 PM

Counting the cost

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 107 R oya l H i s to r i c a l S o c i e t y o f V i c to r i a A-594.011-Ht

107

5/05/14 2:02 PM

You would think that the ‘heads’ would want to keep the returning wounded out of sight from the ‘boys’ who were making Broadmeadows the largest ever encampment of Victorian soldiers. So great were the numbers enlisting that the military camp at Seymour was also full to overflowing, and a new camp had been set up, temporarily, at the Melbourne Showgrounds at Flemington. It was one thing, however, to enlist in the burst of patriotic enthusiasm that Gallipoli caused, it was another thing entirely to be confronted with the inevitable facts of war. Modern warfare causes horrendous injuries, such as the loss of the ‘lower part’ of the face. Surgery and medical skill could never repair such a loss and the man so wounded bore the marks of war on his body for the remainder of his life. Melburnian hearts went out to these crippled and damaged men who numbered, in these gruesome parades, in their hundreds. As the Australian soldiers moved from the comparative backwater of Gallipoli to the Western Front, the number of killed, wounded and maimed would grow to totals unimaginable to these somewhat naive Victorians at that first moment of the return of the wounded in August. Out at Broadmeadows, as the soldiers read the newspaper accounts of the grim processions, they would have said, as soldiers everywhere would say, ‘it can never happen to me’. Most knew, of course, that it could. The odds were possibly even worse at another military encampment on the flat plains at Point Cook, on the western side of the city. As luck would have it, Australian military aviation had begun in the first months of 1914, after cautious government support from late 1911 onwards. In July 1914 the government had called for four men from the military forces ‘to learn the art of flying’ from the two instructors already appointed. The applicants were to be aged between 20 and 26, physically qualified, and, specifically, unmarried. Were the dangers too great for the government to risk taking on married men? Told to travel

108

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 108

5/05/14 2:02 PM

Wounded soldiers returned home during the war, and for many months after.

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 85.55/160/270

Some could walk to the waiting cars. Others were carried in stretchers.

Counting the cost

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 109

109

5/05/14 2:02 PM

in the first months of 1914. The corps was quickly operational after the outbreak of war.

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 110

R oya l H i s to r i c a l S o c i e t y o f V i c to r i a G S-W G-0091

The Australian Flying Corps began its life on the flat plains of Point Cook, outside Melbourne,

5/05/14 2:02 PM

by train to Werribee, the four were then taken by car to

service for two purposes. Soldiers who had succumbed to a

the ‘sheep paddocks’ of Point Cook. The historian of the

sexual disease early in their service, or had contracted such

Australian Flying Corps tells us what then confronted these

a disease in Egypt, were placed in a special hospital opened

men:

at Langwarrin. It would operate throughout the years of

an old tin shed and some ‘lean-tos’ just behind the beach housed stores and a diesel generator. At the other end of the property, among a plantation of pine and gum trees, a ramshackle collection of tents served as accommodation and messes for the pupils, instructors and a handful of

war. Additionally an internment camp was created to house ‘enemy aliens’. Fear and suspicion, and increasing racial hatred, drove this policy. Australia had a small German population, of no more than about 30 000 people, if by that we mean

ground staff. The kitchen was a shipping case and the

people born in Germany itself. Including second or third

nearest water supply was 6.5 kilometres away.

generations with a German background brings the Australiawide total to about 100 000 persons. There were 102

Thus, in the very first days of the outbreak of war,

Lutheran schools in Australia in 1914 where, in almost every

Australian military aviation was born. From these

case, English was the language of instruction. There were ten

remarkable beginnings at Point Cook, Australia would

such schools in Victoria and they were small. The average

have an air corps that would make a difference in the desert

number of students at a Lutheran school in 1914 was just

from 1916 onwards, and make such a difference in France

35 pupils. Despite these small numbers, some people in the

that General Sir John Monash was able to use aircraft in a

community began to fear German intrigue and subversion

critical relationship with his troops in the execution of the

and called for stern measures to combat the German threat.

remarkable battle at Hamel in August 1918, just four years

Hence the internment camps at, or near, each of the state

away.

capital cities.

There was yet another camp to the south-east of

Langwarrin internment camp appears to have opened

Melbourne, at Langwarrin on the Mornington Peninsula,

in early 1915, although virtually no records remain of the

where enemy aliens were to be housed. Despite the early

camp and the conditions of life there. By May 1915 the

and warmest public expressions of support and sympathy

government in Melbourne changed internment policy,

for Australians of German origin or nationality, within

closing most of the camps, and concentrating internment

weeks, and in the face of relentless British campaigns about

in three New South Wales camps, with the major one

the ‘Huns’, ‘our brothers in adoption’ had become ‘enemy

located at Holsworthy, near Liverpool. Langwarrin, which

aliens’. Hundreds, if not thousands of people, who properly

housed close to 420 enemy aliens for a few months, was not

thought of themselves as Australians, found that they had

entirely closed, but thereafter held only about 20 persons

lost their rights to equal and fair treatment and, possibly,

for the duration of the war. Those who continued to be held

found themselves placed in the internment camps that

at Langwarrin were deemed to be community leaders, or

were quickly set up. At first each ‘military district’, in effect

sufficiently influential that they should be quarantined from

each Australian state, had an internment camp to house

the broad mass of the enemy aliens in New South Wales.

local enemy aliens. There had long been a military camp at

Life in internment, in such small numbers, must have been

Langwarrin, inland from Frankston, and it was pressed into

tedious and unprofitable. Internment, though, did not stop

Counting the cost

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 111

111

5/05/14 2:02 PM

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 112 5/05/14 2:02 PM

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 99.100/1

One of Melbourne’s most famous buildings – the Flinders Street railway station. Note the recruiting sign to the left of the picture and the light horseman waiting for the tram to pass.

excitable people from hunting out German ‘spies’. One person even alleged that a radio mast at Bishopscourt, the home of the Melbourne Anglican archbishop, the solid north-country Englishman Henry Lowther Clarke, might indicate troublesome communication with the enemy. But this was later in the war, when war hysteria prevailed. For now, even as the conflict began to dominate Victorian life, there was a sense that Victorians were still learning about the war. The newspapers were full of it. The Argus, typically a 16-page newspaper on weekdays, with at least six of those pages devoted to classified advertisements, gave three full pages to war news. This would be followed by articles elsewhere in the paper, including jottings about the war and how Victorians were responding to it. Three subjects were addressed on a daily basis: how many men, that day, had enlisted for the war, how many had been rejected and what numbers were accepted; how much money, that day, Victorians had raised for specific war charities, most importantly the ‘Victorian Appeal for Australian Sick and Wounded’; and, the daily ‘Roll of Honour with Personal Particulars’. The Argus published about six photographs each day of Victorians who had been killed at the front, and gave pen portraits of about a dozen soldiers from the hundreds who had been killed. ‘We shall be glad to publish short personal notes on the careers of officers and men [killed at the front] provided that the paragraphs are duly authenticated by a relative’ the Argus stated, and much of the information was supplied by those who had known the soldier intimately: his wife, mother, other family and friends. Today, the roll makes grim reading, but reading such accounts every day, then, must have had a grief-laden and cumulative effect, helping people to understand what was being lost to Victorian society in the name of the war. This attempt at memorialising the war dead was a service to Victorian society, but might it not, eventually, have been a drag on enlistment, and war

Counting the cost

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 113

113

5/05/14 2:02 PM

enthusiasm generally? So many young men lost; so many

superintendent of the Sabbath school. He was secretary of

young men who might have contributed to the growth of

the Rushworth Caledonian Society, 27 years of age when

the state, to the good life of Victorians, as the following

he enlisted and a ‘commission agent’. Or Michael Byrne, 25

examples of the daily roll illustrate.

years of age, twice wounded on Gallipoli, the second time

‘William Cameron was the eldest son of the late Mr

fatally: ‘he was a lad of splendid physique, being robust,

William Cameron of Rushworth’ in central Victoria, north

agile and athletic, and altogether a fine sample of a young

of Bendigo, who was with the 8th Light Horse and killed

Australian farmer’. Private Walter Newton, 22 years of age,

in action on 4 September. He was actively associated with

had been selected for ‘bomb throwing’ on the peninsula and

St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Rushworth, being also

had written home of ‘several narrow escapes’. ‘When he

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , A u s t r a l i a n M a n u s c r i p t s C o ll e c t i o n, Al i c e K i tc h e n Pa p e r s, M S 9627

Wounded soldiers at the Australian hospital at Harefield Park, near London. The ‘walking wounded’ wore special uniforms for easy identification.

114

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 114

5/05/14 2:02 PM

last wrote he said that all of his tent mates [with him in the

participate in the fighting. Others might have felt a political

first days at Broadmeadows] with the exception of one, had

revulsion for war, as workers on both sides of no-man’s-land

been killed.’ While this seems an extraordinarily high rate

slaughtered each other in the interests of their bosses. But

of loss, and seemingly a deeply unlucky circumstance, surely

in searching to understand the general mood of Victorians,

it must have given pause to the soldiers still in tents on the

most of the evidence points to an intense interest and

Broadmeadows plain, going about their daily training. All

commitment to the war.

but one of the nine blokes or so in the tent now killed in action. Was anyone asking whether Gallipoli was worth it?

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , A u s t r a l i a n M a n u s c r i p t s C o ll e c t i o n, Al i c e K i tc h e n Pa p e r s, M S 9627

Perhaps accounts such as these stimulated the voluntary

And yet the news from the front was not encouraging. The Argus began to report mumblings of dissent from London about the nature and course of the campaign on

giving to charity, which became such a strong part of

the peninsula. In mid-October the paper stated, without

Victoria in the war. The appeal for sick and wounded, just

commentary, that a London newspaper, the Globe, had

one of the wartime charities, stood at £191 865/16/1 on

begun asking whether it was now time for a withdrawal

25 August 1915. Contributions that day included £71/10/–

of all our troops from Gallipoli. The newspaper reported

from the Shire of Ballan, £50 from the employees of

on 20 October that the commander-in-chief at Gallipoli,

HV McKay, Sunshine, and £27/5/– from the Boort Gun

General Sir Ian Hamilton, had been recalled to London and

Club. On 1 September the appeal stood at £203 773/1/3

would be replaced by Sir Charles Monro. Astute readers

with contributions of £225 from residents of the Shire of

of the Argus must have wondered at the progress of the

Glenelg and £5/16/6 as the proceeds from a football match

campaign. An editorial, seeking to calm public opinion,

promoted by the children of St Joseph’s Convent School,

explained that ‘the experts must be trusted in such matters’.

Maffra, in Gippsland. What stands behind that single entry

Charles Bean, the official Australian correspondent,

in the lists for that day? Who played in the football match,

continued to flood the newspapers with his dispatches and

how did the children go about promoting it and did they, or

readers of the Argus may have believed that they had the

the sisters in the convent school, manage the organisation?

most up-to-date information. Perhaps they did, but in

This single entry is evidence of a widespread, indeed

retrospect, we can see that Bean’s reports were very guarded

universal, sentiment that every part of the community had

indeed. A large number of Victorians, members of the

a role to play in this war of the nations, and that Australian

8th Light Horse, died at the Nek in the most forlorn and

soldiers must be supported in every way possible.

hopeless of charges. A large number of West Australian light

There were those in the community who were not

horsemen were also lost. Bean, whose words would be read

involved in fundraising, who did not closely scan the war

in hundreds of Victorian homes that were now plunged into

news in the newspapers, or did not have family and friends

grief, wrote of ‘a gallant and desperate attack’; he did not say

at the front. In any community there will be those who

that it had ended in total failure.

stand out from the general mood. Some of these people

There must have been an understanding dawning on

would have been opposed to any war and might have

those reading the casualty lists, which were promulgated

called themselves pacifists. For some, this would have been

so publicly, that an awful event had taken place somewhere

a religiously based objection to war: that the Prince of

on the peninsula. Name after name, from every part of

Peace could never sanction war or allow His followers to

Victoria, of those killed coming from the same unit. It is

Counting the cost

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 115

115

5/05/14 2:02 PM

P u b l i c R e c o r d O f f i c e V i c to r i a H 12907/p 2/1/h 399

Recruiting was everywhere – special trams

116

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 116

5/05/14 2:02 PM

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 117 P u b l i c R e c o r d O f f i c e V i c to r i a V P R S 12800P 1, H 5529; V P R S 12800 P 1, H 4071

P u b l i c R e c o r d O f f i c e V i c to r i a H 12907/p 2/1/h 399

And on trains

5/05/14 2:02 PM

Everything was tried to encourage men to enlist, but details of pay and conditions

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , E u r o p e a n wa r pa m p h l e t s, S 940.304 EU 745 (v.358)

of service were important to all potential recruits.

118

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 118

5/05/14 2:03 PM

hard to believe that the more attentive newspaper readers were not piecing together the facts that were omitted from the newspapers. The recall of Hamilton would surely have alerted readers to the idea that something was desperately wrong? Or, was it simply a matter of trusting the experts? To wait, to weep or to work? Victorians answered that question resoundingly. Two days after war had been declared, while her husband was busy with politicians and cables, Lady Helen Munro Ferguson, at federal Government House in Melbourne, that elegant structure on St Kilda Road, initiated what she termed ‘The Australian Branch of the British Red Cross Society’. Lady Helen, as she was affectionately known, became Australian president of the society, and the wives of the state governors were appointed state presidents. With such auspicious leadership would S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , E u r o p e a n wa r pa m p h l e t s, S 940.304 EU 745 (v.358)

women flock to the colours? Most certainly they would. Founded in 1864 and known as the International Committee of the Red Cross, the aim of the society was to relieve the suffering of soldiers wounded on the battlefield. The society spread rapidly throughout Europe and, within five years of its foundation, there was an American Red Cross Society. Until the outbreak of a world war, Australia, so remote from the battlefields of Europe, had no need for such an organisation. On its formation in Australia, members of the Red Cross would supply medical needs, raise money and keep a watchful eye on all things that might concern the welfare of the soldiers at home, before they went to war, on the battlefield insofar as Australia could help them and, for those who returned wounded and maimed, in the hospitals and hostels that housed them. It was gallant and noble work and intensely demanding. In the early days of the war, the Red Cross Society experienced extraordinary growth. Lady Helen called on the mayors and shire presidents of every locality in the country to form a branch of the society and few failed to act. Typically, following publication of Lady Helen’s letter in the

Counting the cost

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 119

119

5/05/14 2:03 PM

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l J 00360

Women at the Melbourne Town Hall sewing goods for the Australian Comforts Fund

120

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 120

5/05/14 2:03 PM

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l J 00360

local paper, a meeting was convened at the town or shire hall

fruitcake, sponges filled with cream, scones and hearty cups

inviting all patriotic, loyal women in the district to attend.

of tea. The Red Cross afternoon tea might seem a small-

The local official, so exhorted by Lady Helen, gave the

scale operation in the face of a world war, but the women of

society the use of rooms in the hall and watched in awe as the

Birchip raised a great deal of money in this way. So much,

women took over. Within a few months there were hundreds

in fact, that they were able to fit out an operating theatre

of branches of the society in Victoria, which came to be the

with the very latest equipment at the military hospital at

largest division in the nation, with the national headquarters

Caulfield. They spent more than £2000 on the theatre,

based in Melbourne. Taking the large and elaborate

which Lady Helen personally opened, speaking with praise

Government House ballroom as her own space, and ignoring

and pride of the Birchip Red Cross. Hundreds of other

the vice-regal throne at one end, Lady Helen turned this

branches were doing equally successful work.

most elegant of Melbourne’s centres of high society into a

Vast as this organisation was, it should be remembered

massive workroom and storage area for the Red Cross. So

that the Red Cross was just one such organisation drawing

vast was the work that the governor-general also surrendered

on the loyalty and patriotism of Victorians. There was also

his dining room to the society and, on occasions, the state

the Lord Mayor’s fund and the Victorian branch of the

drawing room. Thousands of women poured goods of all

Australian Comforts Fund, and many other organisations,

sorts, pyjamas, shirts and underwear, bandages of all kinds,

again with large and active memberships, raising money and

splints and crutches, and other comforts, such as writing

making a variety of goods for the soldiers. How a man living

paper and foodstuffs, into Government House. Hundreds

in the barbaric conditions of the dugouts of Anzac responded

of other women and men ensured the dispatch of these

when he received a parcel from one of these groups can

goods overseas or to where they might be needed at home.

only be imagined. His normal food was hardtack biscuits,

This was an industry on a vast scale, started from scratch in

bully beef and tea – when there was water available. Imagine

the first days of the war and snowballing into an avalanche

opening a parcel from the Red Cross or the Australian

of activity. By August 1915 there were 462 branches of the

Comforts Fund, to find clean, hand-knitted socks, a couple

society in Victoria, of which 55 were in Melbourne and its

of lice-free, for the moment anyway, pairs of underpants, a

suburbs. Country branches were larger than city branches,

fruitcake, possibly, some tobacco or cigarettes, some dried

both geographically and in numbers of members and,

fruits and ‘sweeties’, and writing paper for a letter to the

although accurate membership records were not kept, it is

folks at home. The love and commitment that was poured

clear that the society attracted the support and hard work of

into these parcels would have provided, to even the hardest

thousands of Victorian women.

lag on the Gallipoli battlefield, the whiff of home and of

At Birchip, in Victoria’s Wimmera region, to give but one example, the Red Cross women ran a regular Saturday

peacetime civilities, the gentler ways of life. If there was a newspaper included in the parcel, the

afternoon tea in the local Mechanics Institute. All week the

soldier, enjoying a quiet smoke or eating his fruitcake,

women baked cakes and scones and other delicacies and,

might have read of a change at the top in Melbourne.

on Saturdays, they cut their sandwiches, decorated and set

Andrew Fisher, wartime prime minister since September

their tables and heated the water for their teas. Imagine the

1914, resigned, exhausted, on 27 October 1915 and was

treat in store for their customers. Sandwiches and pies, rich

appointed Australian high commissioner in London. He

Counting the cost

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 121

121

5/05/14 2:03 PM

Troops departing for the front. Imagine trying to provide garments, medical requirements and small luxuries just for this body of men, let alone the

R oya l H i s to r i c a l S o c i e t y o f V i c to r i a G S-P M-142

320 000 AIF overseas.

122

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 122

5/05/14 2:03 PM

Counting the cost

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 123

123

5/05/14 2:03 PM

was replaced by New South Welshman, until then attorney-

army, Hughes explained, and what excuse did they have, he

general, William Morris Hughes, ‘Billy’ to all. Although

asked. His government would raise an additional 50 000 men

Hughes’s electorate was West Sydney, he and his family

immediately in addition to the reinforcements of 16 000 per

lived in Melbourne in an attractive house on Cotham

month that were needed to maintain the status quo. After the

Road, Kew, not very far from Archbishop Daniel Mannix’s

huge burst of 21000 men in July 1915 only another 10 565

mansion, Raheen, on Studley Park Road, Kew. Hughes was

Victorians had enlisted by the end of the year. Wanted men,

a passionate Empire man, totally committed to the highest

wanted more men, as the slogan had it.

level of Australian participation in the war. He determined

124

R oya l H i s to r i c a l S o c i e t y o f V i c to r i a ph n 1010

Leader 23 O c to b e r 1915, S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a, N e w spa p e r s C o ll e c t i o n

Volunteers packing newspapers for those serving abroad

 

Hughes’s highly emotive ‘Call to Arms’, was published

that the nation must provide more men; the AIF could be in

on 15 December 1915: ‘to wage this war with less than our

Constantinople by now, he thundered, if more Australians

full strength is to commit national suicide by slowly bleeding

had enlisted. The days in which the government’s offer of

to death.’ Hughes was full of admiration for what the soldiers

20 000 men was acceptable were gone and even the figure

had already done, ‘they have carved for Australia a niche

of 50 000 enlistments by the end of 1914 seemed paltry

in the Temple of the Immortals’ but ‘had the number of

considering the task that lay ahead. Many Australians

our forces been doubled many brave lives would have been

believed that every fit man should enlist. There were

spared’. What, my Jack might still be alive if those shirkers

600 000 fit men between the ages of 18 and 44 outside the

lounging about Swanston Street and hanging out of pubs on

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 124

5/05/14 2:03 PM

R oya l H i s to r i c a l S o c i e t y o f V i c to r i a ph n 1010

Victorian Red Cross women demonstrating their methods of work. They are on display in a shop window of the Buckley & Nunn department store in Bourke Street, Melbourne.

Counting the cost

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 125

125

5/05/14 2:03 PM

Bourke Street had bothered to enlist? It was a dangerous, divisive message. ‘This Australia of ours’, Hughes wrote, ‘the freest and best country on God’s earth, calls to her sons for aid. Destiny has given you a great opportunity.’ Was it bad timing in terms of the Call to Arms that, just a week later, on the eve of Christmas, the nation learned that the soldiers had been evacuated from Anzac and Suvla? The last of the troops at Anzac had left on the night of 20–21 December and the news was in the papers almost immediately. The Argus conceded that ‘people have been asking themselves whether the Allied troops should

A recruitment meeting

be withdrawn’ and that citizens would have ‘a feeling of

outside The Age office

immense relief’ that the evacuation had been carried out

in Collins Street.

and with ‘very few casualties’. Had it been known what was going on, the paper continued, Australians would have been ‘tortured with an anxiety as painful as any [we] have experienced during the war’. And, significantly, ‘we have not presumed to criticise those who planned and undertook the Gallipoli campaign.’ Hughes chimed in: ‘[the news] has been received in a spirit of devout gladness, chastened with a keen regret that the withdrawal has been found imperative.’ He continued: ‘I shall not comment upon, much less criticise …

Recruiters were thought to have failed when only a small number of men joined up. Could all these men have been accommodated?

those charged with the great responsibility for the conduct of the campaign have acted for the best.’ Yet, at the same time, the prime minister was asking for men and more men. Two days after this announcement the government published the 126th list of Australian casualties at Gallipoli. More lists were to follow, as a result of the inevitable time lag between the occurrence of a casualty and its publication in Australia. An established procedure was followed from reliably verified. Following this, a cable was sent to defence headquarters in Melbourne, where the exact details of the soldier would be examined and resolved. Then, a telegram would be dispatched to a clergyman of the denomination and in the hometown that the soldier had given on his

126

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 126

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l H 18396

the time when the news of a death or wounding had been

5/05/14 2:03 PM

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 127

5/05/14 2:03 PM

enlistment form. The clergyman would inform the next-of-

Victoria affected the community’s response to news like

kin of the death and report back to defence when the task

the ‘Call to Arms’ or the evacuation from Anzac. There

was complete. Only then could the details be released to

may have been dismay at the evacuation: all those boys

the public. This process related only to instances of death.

left behind, would the Turks respect their graves? There

A telegram, addressed to the next-of-kin, would tell of

may have been some cynicism that the campaign was

wounding and hospitalisation of soldiers from the campaign,

misconstrued and too many blunders put too many lives at

but it was possible that this information was in print before

risk. More likely there was widespread relief that the death

the telegram arrived.

and wounding would now stop. But where would our boys

The 126th list of casualties, or any other of the lists from that period, explained the evacuation. Ten officers and men

you be more likely to go now that Anzac was over or less

had been killed, 89 had been wounded, but 342 had been

likely? These are the imponderables of history. There will be

evacuated from the peninsula seriously ill. So sick had the

a lull in the casualty lists for a few months now and then the

army become that it was simply not possible to continue to

Australians will be in the thick of it on the Western Front,

fight. The Anzacs had been on the peninsula for eight

first at Fromelles and a little later on the Somme. Then the

months, or, more precisely, 35 weeks, accruing nearly four

telegrams will really start flowing and Gallipoli would come

casualty lists per week; and there were more to come.

to seem more like a stream and the Western Front a roaring

Running an eye down the list of the Victorian wounded in the

river.

126th list we note the birthplaces of these men. Randomly, it

There is no doubt that those at home could take it.

reads, Eaglehawk, Scotland, Rushworth, Bairnsdale, Rich-

Women in the Red Cross and the comforts funds, and all the

mond, Northcote, Daylesford, Footscray, Moonee Ponds,

other organisations, knitting, baking, making, dispatching,

Carlton, England, England, Warrnambool, Elsternwick.

now redoubled their efforts. Boys and girls in the patriotic

The war, on an almost daily basis, was touching everyone in

leagues also worked harder and longer to make sure the

every part of the state. You lived in Brunswick, yourself, so

soldiers had what they needed. The call to arms had gone

the eye naturally lighted on that suburb in the list. Did you

out and, in the first three months of 1916, Victorians came

know Private HC Geyer, personally? No, but you thought he

forward in gratifying numbers: 5000 in January, 7500 in

might have lived a few streets up and might have been a

February, 5500 in March, better than any other state. All up

member of your church. Not badly wounded, I hope. Let’s

some 55 000 Australians joined up in the first three months

pray that he pulls through. Indeed he will be prayed for at the

of 1916, meeting the first part of the prime minister’s call

Brunswick Methodist Church, his own church, next Sunday,

to arms, but falling woefully short of Hughes’s demand

and the congregation will be moved by his plight. A labourer,

for 50 000 plus the necessary reinforcements of 16 500 per

unmarried, generous, a nice lad, gunshot wound to the head,

month. A sense of foreboding, of unease about the war,

but recovering in hospital. (Though Henry Geyer will,

began to pervade the country. The Anzacs had been pulled

indeed, join the church’s roll of honour having been killed in

off the peninsula, mercifully without casualties. But of the

France in 1917 with no known grave.)

war there seemed no end and the nation was being called

We can have no way of knowing how the intimate, personal knowledge of the war in almost every home in

128

be sent next? If you were thinking about enlistment, would

upon to play a bigger part. Hughes was making a great deal of noise. Were people listening?

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 128

5/05/14 2:03 PM

T h e N e y l a n ds

I

n the many thousands of books that have been

and married. Thereafter his brothers streamed into the

written about the First World War there are a

AIF, all eight of them, although Percy, 31 years of age,

multitude of insights into why one individual decided

was rejected for service due to an arm damaged in a farm

to enlist. It may have been in a burst of intense

accident. Their local member of federal parliament, Sydney

patriotic love for his country, and a determination to

Sampson, uncle to the young Robert Menzies, boasted in

protect it from the enemy. It may have been to maintain

the House of Representatives of this extraordinary family,

the family reputation in the eyes of others. It may have

seven brothers in the AIF, all of them his constituents. No

been for the money and freedom from unemployment that

Australian family could have given more sons to the AIF,

service in the army would provide. It may have been to

surely, he said, and it might have been so. Even the father,

keep company with mates, for a bit of a lark. It may have

John Pringle, tried to enlist, but at 64 years of age he was

been some or all of these reasons and much more besides.

rejected outright as far too old.

Or it may have been simply an attempt by brothers to keep

They should not have taken the oldest brother, John

up with each other; if they are going then maybe I should

William, either. He had served in the Boer War, was

go too.

38 years of age when he enlisted and was married. The

John Pringle Neyland was born in Berwick, Scotland,

examining doctor should have noted John William’s

in 1851, the year he also arrived in the colony of Victoria.

defective eyesight, which was caused by an accident with

In 1874 he took up land at Corack in the Wimmera, and

a bolting horse. He spent much of his war in hospital

he later moved to Birchip. He was a shire councillor from

in Cairo, having left his homeland in November 1915,

1897 to 1906 and was also shire president. He married

therefore too late for Gallipoli. He was discharged in

Margaret Niven and they produced eight sons and four

Melbourne in December 1916, his duty done. Niven, in

daughters. There was, therefore, plenty of labour available

the 14th Battalion, did reach Gallipoli, and was reported

for work around the farm and house. Solid citizens, the

missing on 8 August 1915 in the midst of the murderous

Neylands were well respected and likely to be prosperous,

August offensive. He was confirmed to be a prisoner of

despite all those mouths to feed.

war of the Turks on 26 August and remained in captivity

Niven was the first of the brothers to enlist, on the

until the war’s end, arriving in Alexandria, a free man, on

last day of 1914, just a little more than four months

6 November 1918. Niven died in 1928, aged 49, an early

after war had been declared. He was 36 years of age

death perhaps caused by the rigours of his imprisonment.

Counting the cost

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 129

129

5/05/14 2:03 PM

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 90.140/1181

A view of Birchip from the water tower, 1910

Remarkably only one son was killed in action. James,

October 1917, the first of the toasts at the wedding breakfast

broke out. He travelled to England to enlist but arrived in

was to ‘The brave boys in the trenches’. His new wife, Marg-

London well before the AIF had established itself there. He

aret, had two brothers in the AIF, one of them killed in France.

was enlisted in the Lovat Scouts Regiment – a nod to his

130

When Percy, the only son to be rejected, married in

36 and single, was working in South Africa when the war

The last of the brothers to enlist, Colin Ritchie, born in

Scottish father – and he was killed on the Western Front on

1900, joined up underage in 1917. Perhaps our war records

9 April 1917. He is buried in the Highland Cemetery, just

are a bit too informative for they disclose that Colin spent

outside of Arras in France.

almost his entire war service in a Cairo hospital for the

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 130

5/05/14 2:03 PM

affairs of our property have lapsed into a hopeless muddle’ with all but one of his brothers at war and ‘my father has met with a serious accident permanently injuring him’. His father had in fact broken his leg in ‘a vehicular accident’. The Defence Department sent a local Birchip policeman, Senior Constable Peet, around to the farm to verify the facts. It was indeed true, he reported, that there were seven brothers at war. Their mother had taken over a Birchip bakery, the Star, in 1916 in an attempt to provide some off-farm income, but there was no doubt that ‘the family is not in a good financial position’. Defence, in what was an extremely rare or unusual decision, approved Earl’s request for release and he was returned to Australia and discharged in Melbourne in March 1918. John Pringle, the patriarch of this mighty tribe, had a heart attack while riding his horse near Charlton and was discovered dead on the ground in late November 1918. He had the satisfaction, therefore, of knowing that peace treatment of venereal diseases and died young, too, at the

had broken out and that his sons were part of a victorious

age of 36.

army. But he was not there to greet them on their return

In late 1917 Earl Sydney Neyland sought a discharge

home. Who can say what role he played in encouraging

from the AIF on compassionate grounds. He enlisted in

his sons into the fight? How much family pressure was

March 1915 and joined the 9th Light Horse. He was 25

exerted as each son, in turn, enlisted for the war? And

years of age when he enlisted and single. He served on

what of Margaret Niven Neyland, the mother who

Gallipoli, on the Sinai Peninsula and in Palestine and lost the

worried for each of her sons at war and, in the time of joy

sight of his right eye through his service. He wrote that ‘the

and gratitude, in the time of peace, lost her husband?

Counting the cost

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 131

131

5/05/14 2:03 PM

c h a p t e r

s i x

O n t h e We s t e r n F r o n t

W

hat a joy, to the historian seeking certainty and interest, is the war diary of the 14th Battalion, Victoria’s own, still written, it would seem, by Colonel Dare. n Clearly written and with a surprisingly engaging narrative style, the diary is one of the better of this type of record. n And there is food for thought in just about every

entry. n On 22 December the writer allows himself a little reflection on the long campaign that is now over. n He places the battalion on

Mudros, within sight of the Gallipoli peninsula, writing: n

twelve months today from Embarkation in Melbourne

in among the battalion on the front line; on 16 December

for Egypt. Only 4 Officers and 370 others of the original

from 2400 to 0400 a party was out in front of the trenches

Bn that embarked on that date still present with the Bn. Only 2 Officers and 44 others of the Bn have served continuously from the Landing on 26 April to this date without a break of service through wounds, sickness etc.

And yet, the battalion was in the thick of it at Anzac, right up to the end. On 15 December the Turks lobbed some shells

fixing the wire; on 17 December General Birdwood made a visit of inspection. Then, on 18 December, the battalion ‘formed up at 2040 in full marching order and marched off … embarked 2330’. That was it; they were rid of Anzac, all of its achievements, all of its sadness, forever. On 31 December 1915 the battalion disembarked

132

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 132

5/05/14 2:03 PM

at Alexandria at 2100 and, 45 minutes later, the troops

battalion were Victorians. The 46th also contained a large

departed the wharf by train for their next camp. Most

number of Victorians, but there were also some men from

members of the battalion would have taken in the New Year

New South Wales and Western Australia.

in a reflective mood. Had they failed at Gallipoli? Had they

On 31 May 1916 the battalions left for France, to face

deserted the mates they had left behind? What would the

the ‘real’ war, at last. Disembarking at Marseilles they made

folks at home be thinking? Where would they be sent next

the long journey by train to the north of this new land.

and what would the future bring? Would they be able to

Men of the 14th Battalion were on the train for 60 hours,

show their true fighting colours in the next engagements,

often sitting at a station, or at a siding, as trains with higher

possibly against the Germans, their real enemy? Had they

priority flashed past. What a journey: ‘for charm, novelty

learned much about war at Anzac? Would they meet the

and enjoyment [this trip] eclipsed any other experience that

standard expected on the Western Front? Would the 46

the battalion ever underwent abroad … few had ever seen,

blokes who had so far come through unscathed continue on

or will ever see, a fairer picture.’ The Victorians revelled in

their lucky way? As the train rumbled across the desert on

the beauty of the country, starting with the Rhone valley;

its way to Ismailia, there was much to think about.

passing through Paris they caught a glimpse of the Eiffel

The battalion was in the desert for five months at

Tower and vowed to return. All along the journey the

three different camps. With the new recruits pouring in,

local people feted the Australian battalions, and the 14th

the ‘heads’ created a new division, the 4th, into which some

loved it. The people were so friendly and grateful to these

of the 14th Battalion was transferred. The battalion was

strong, handsome men who had come such a distance;

sliced down the middle, with half the troops going to the

they couldn’t do enough for them. Hot drinks, flowers and

new 46th Battalion, a procedure that broke up the mates

little gifts were handed in to the carriages. The population

who had fought together at Anzac. But the 14th remained

consisted almost solely of girls, women and old men. All the

steadfastly a Victorian battalion. At full strength again after

others must have been at the front. A world war all right.

the long months in the desert there were now 27 officers

The newly arrived Australian battalions were now ‘on

and 958 other ranks in the battalion. All but four of the

training wheels’ and getting up to speed in this new war,

officers were Victorians. There was one Queensland officer,

which was no ‘sideshow’, as they now understood Gallipoli

two from New South Wales and a Pom. Good blokes but

to have been. The 14th went to the Bois-Grenier sector,

the Victorians liked their own. Almost all the rest of the

south of Armentières. Like the whole of the Western Front,

On the Western Front

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 133

133

5/05/14 2:03 PM

Bois-Grenier was heavily defended, but it was not an

at the Bois-Grenier advanced dressing station the same

active sector. Thus, the troops were able to discover the

day. After the war, the authorities wrote to his mother in

maze of trenches and marvel at the power and constancy

Ballarat East explaining to her that, while the government

of the artillery, in contrast with the few shells lobbed

would bear the cost of Bertie’s permanent headstone, she

into the Anzac lines by the Turks. The men of the 14th

could add a few words about her son at the estimated cost

Battalion took their places on the front line on 28 June

of 3 1/2d per letter. Mrs Mary Pring declined the offer:

1916 where, the next day, they suffered their first loss

‘I can’t get the grave done as I’ve only got my pension to

of life in France. Poor Bertie Pring had just turned 23

depend on as he was my only support.’ She did have his

years of age when he died. Joining up at West Melbourne

rosary beads, though, and a few other personal effects sent

in July 1915, and dead within the year. He suffered a

at departmental expense, to help her remember her only

gunshot wound to the head, shot by a sniper, and died

child.

134

N at i o n a l L i b r a r y o f A u s t r a l i a v n 4982250

N at i o n a l A r c h i v e s o f A u s t r a l i a , B e r t i e P r i n g, B 2455

B ay s i d e L i b r a r y S e r v i c e ID 20024

Mrs Mary Pring couldn’t afford to pay for words on a headstone for her son, Bertie.

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 134

5/05/14 2:03 PM

Throughout the war, Melbourne people never wearied of watching military parades. The 4th Light

N at i o n a l L i b r a r y o f A u s t r a l i a v n 4982250

Horse Regiment paraded along Bourke Street on 25 September 1914.

On the Western Front

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 135

135

5/05/14 2:03 PM

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a, Wa r pa m phl e t s s e r i e s, S 355.04 W19 (V. 168)

Training required manuals, and there were several published for the AIF. The soldiers might have wondered if there were adequate manuals for the generals.

The 14th Battalion, directed to carry out a raid at

spirits belied their anticipation of what lay ahead. Later that

Bois-Grenier on 2 July 1916, was almost certainly the first

night they climbed out of their trenches to lie in no-man’s-

Australian battalion into action on the Western Front. While

land and wait for the artillery. When it came, the power

the battalion historian questioned the wisdom of these raids,

of the artillery astonished and, quite possibly, terrified the

he accepted that the tactic was all that the ‘heads’ could

raiders. Its power was inconceivable. Of course, the Germans

come up with at the time. The raid was planned so that

responded immediately and, as flares lit up the night and

artillery would bombard the German positions for a period,

shells crashed around them, it was if the raiders were

hoping to destroy the barbed wire in front of their trenches.

stranded in broad daylight. ‘A perfect inferno’, and nearly

The raiders would then hurl themselves into the German

useless. When the artillery lifted and they made their dash

trenches and spend ten minutes creating all manner of

for the enemy’s trenches, the men of the 14th discovered that

mayhem, after which the artillery would start up again and

the shells had failed to break up the belts of wire in front of

give the troops cover to make a quick dash back to their own

the German trenches. Using wire cutters to force their way

lines. That was the theory – stupid enough – in practice it

through, officers and men had their clothes, arms and legs

was even worse.

badly torn. Despite this, they managed to create the mayhem

Just after 8 pm, the men of the 14th Battalion left their quarters to make their way to the front line. Their high

136

of their orders. The order to retire meant the agony of a retreat through the wire, carrying their wounded with them.

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 136

5/05/14 2:03 PM

Readers of the Melbourne Argus had a first-hand

children each; three sons to Ina, two sons and a daughter to

account of this raid, written by one of the survivors to his

Clement. Such loss, for a lousy little raid that did nothing to

dad, as he lay in a hospital in England. The father, so proud

advance the cause of either of the opposing forces.

of his son’s exploits, sent the account to the Argus, which

Worse was to come, but not yet for the 14th.

published it in full on 26 August 1916 under the heading

Australia’s high level of enlistment from mid-1915 caused

‘Melbourne Boy’s Adventure’. It is a pity that the newspaper

a reorganisation of the existing formations and several

did not give the name of its author because without it we

new units were created. One of these, the 15th Brigade,

cannot know if this lad survived. He explained that, for

comprising the 57th–60th battalions, was predominantly

at least 90 minutes, he and his mates lay in a ditch filled

Victorian in composition. The 57th–60th battalions

with icy water on the way back to their own lines, while

were formed out of the 5th–8th battalions, which were

the Germans raked no-man’s-land with machine-gun fire.

Victorian. The 57th was made up of men from the suburbs

Hit in the thigh the ‘Melbourne Boy’ relied on a mate’s

of Melbourne, and half of its intake came from the old 5th

strength to drag him along, as his right foot was useless.

Battalion. The 58th grew out of the 6th Battalion and the

Later, a strongly built sergeant picked him up and carried

59th from the 7th (which had been made up, predominantly,

him home with German bullets whipping around them.

of men from rural Victoria). The unfortunate 60th came

The sergeant, the boy reported, then went back for four

from the old 8th Battalion.

other wounded men after handing the ‘Melbourne Boy’ to

In charge of these men was Harold Edward Elliott,

the care of stretcher-bearers. ‘Australians will do for me’

who was known to all, to his regret, as ‘Pompey’. Born to

the boy wrote, ‘after the things I saw them do that night.’

a Victorian farmer and his wife at West Charlton in 1878,

For three-quarters of the men in the Bois-Grenier raid,

Elliott simply loved soldiering and always had. He was

this was the first action they saw; they were fresh recruits

academically gifted and won all manner of scholarships and

from Victoria, emboldened to enlist, many of them, by the

prizes, but, despite earning his living as a lawyer, he could

stories from Anzac. Perhaps they were some of the 21 000

not be kept out of a uniform. He fought in South Africa,

Victorians, like Bertie Pring, who had enlisted in July 1915.

continued in the militia after that war and, as soon as war

What an initiation into combat: three-quarters of the men

broke out in August 1914, he was back in the thick of it and

in the raid were either killed or wounded and all the officers

appointed to command Victoria’s 7th Battalion. He fought

in the raid were out of the fight. Then, to compound the

with great bravery at Gallipoli, especially at Lone Pine

experience, the Germans counterattacked the next night.

where he led his battalion to repel the Turkish counterattack,

At this stage of the fighting on the Western Front, this

and took part in the hand-to-hand combat. Four of his

was all the adversaries knew how to do and the pattern was

battalion received the Victoria Cross, he might easily have

set. In the mopping up after the German counterattack, it

been the fifth.

was discovered that the battalion’s twin brothers, Ina and

Despite Elliott’s experience and love of the military

Clement Moore of Ballarat, had both been killed. They

behind him, the ‘heads’ were not moved to listen to his

had been born on the same day, they enlisted on the same

wisdom. Told that his 15th Brigade would be one of three

day, and they died on the same day. Both men, the one an

Australian brigades to make a go of it in a planned attack at

engine-driver, the other a carpenter, left wives and three

Fromelles, alongside a British division, Elliott was appalled.

On the Western Front

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 137

137

5/05/14 2:03 PM

With casualty lists published so regularly in the newspapers after April 1915, did spectators look on at least some of these men

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l j 00331

as marching to their deaths?

138

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 138

5/05/14 2:03 PM

First, the attack would start in broad daylight. Secondly, the attackers would be pushing up onto the higher ground, running directly into massed German machine guns, which could pour lead down onto them before they were anywhere near the enemy’s trenches. Thirdly, the Germans were very well dug in, and would shelter from the artillery in their concrete bunkers, ready to re-emerge as the infantry came through, free to employ their massive machine-gun superiority. It was madness, Elliott raged, suicidal. Into the fight went the 14th Brigade, from New South Wales, the Victorian 15th, and the 8th, a composite brigade from all states except Tasmania, but including a fair proportion of Victorians. Elliott loved his men and visited his battalions around dawn each morning. And they returned that love, respect and admiration. His plans for his brigade had the major assault falling on the 59th and 60th battalions, with the 57th in reserve. The 57th Battalion came off relatively lightly, the 58th lost one-third of its strength and the 59th suffered heavy losses. But, with 757 casualties, the 60th Battalion was virtually wiped out. It is impossible to overstate the sickening loss that Fromelles represented to the people of Victoria. Pompey Elliott stood in the front line, tears streaming down his cheeks, shaking the hand of each of the returning survivors. Charles Bean said of him that he looked like a man who had lost his wife, so great was his affection for his men. Fromelles was permanently etched into Elliott’s heart and mind. The Australians suffered 5533 casualties overnight at Fromelles. It was, writes Elliott’s biographer, the worst 24 hours in Australian history. Not in Australian military history, he emphasises, but in the entire story of Australia. Consider what was lost: many of the men in Elliott’s battalions were from the original battalions, raised in the excitement of Melbourne in the heady days of August 1914. They had fought and survived at Gallipoli, where they became hardened, experienced soldiers, thoughtful and full

On the Western Front

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 139

139

5/05/14 2:03 PM

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l J 00321

Every man in the AIF swore allegiance and knew that he would remain a soldier until serious wounds, death or victory intervened. By 1917 many Australian soldiers feared that they would never see victory.

140

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 140

5/05/14 2:03 PM

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l A 02607

Brigadier-General Harold ‘Pompey’ Elliott

On the Western Front

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 141

141

5/05/14 2:03 PM

of initiative. So loyal to their officers and the AIF were

and recover wounded mates and to protect individuals and

they that they had accepted the break-up of the original

whole parties of men from the wrath of the extraordinary

battalions, and marched sadly, but loyally, to the new

German fire. Yet, no man was awarded the Victoria Cross

battalions. They accepted their new circumstances among

at Fromelles, as seven Australians had been so honoured

the raw recruits of 1915 partly, at least, because Elliott was

at Lone Pine. Nor can the historian of Fromelles point to

in charge. And they were sacrificed to the vanity, arrogance,

any strategic gain to the Allied position that might obviate

inexperience and sheer ineptitude of British general Richard

the full impact of this appalling loss of life. Standing on

Haking, who was infuriated that Pompey Elliott, a colonial,

the battlefield today, one weeps for the sheer profligacy of

for God’s sake, would seek to contest his orders.

it all. It is not hard to see how a man could lose his mind

what could he do? He was as much under orders as the most

of Australia. Homes across Victoria must surely have been plunged

junior soldier in his brigade. The futility of the attack was

into misery as a result of Fromelles. Yet, the casualty lists as

evident from its earliest planning. The battle of the Somme

published in the Argus and elsewhere, reveal a cover-up. The

began on 1 July 1916 and little progress was made. Haking

long and horrifying lists of names of those killed in action,

proposed a feint at Fromelles to draw German troops away

those who died of wounds, and those who were wounded,

from the Somme and to give the boys there a better chance.

which one would expect to read, were not printed. On list

But the position at Fromelles was so obviously unimportant

191, published on 10 August 1916, only 96 soldiers from

that even the most stupid German commander could see

across Australia were listed as killed in action. Similarly list

the attack for what it was, a matter of no importance or

192, published on 14 August, records 44 men as killed in

consequence. Except, in its outcome, to the soldiers who

action and another 74 as died of wounds. The 194 and 195

were sent into the fight. Elliott saw all this at a glance; and

lists, published together on 18 August, almost one month

yet he must do as he was told. The awfulness of it gnawed at

after the battle, name 210 men as killed in action: 5 officers

him throughout the war and he became erratic, thereafter,

and 205 other ranks. Surely word had come back to Australia

in his relations with his superiors. Senior promotion never

by then. And, surely, Fromelles should have resulted in lists

came his way, a failure that plagued him until, unable

naming many more hundreds of men.

to withstand the pressure, he took his own life in 1931.

The Department of Defence published casualty lists

One cannot doubt that Elliott took this step as a direct

as military orders, the official confirmation of the status of

consequence of that awful night at Fromelles, 19–20 July

those killed, wounded and missing. Helpfully, these orders

1916. If Pompey Elliott lost his mind out of all of this, how

also stated the number of the casualty lists as published in

many other survivors suffered a similar fate?

the ‘Press’, as the department called the newspapers. Thus,

War historians often cover up the loss of life in war

142

thinking of what is, arguably, the worst day ever in the story

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 37658/10

Pompey Elliott believed that he had betrayed his soldiers by allowing them to enter this severely unequal fight. But

Military Order 410 states that it ‘includes official Lists issued

– it is an inevitable consequence, after all – with heroic

to the Press Nos. 192, 193, 194 and 195.’ A comparison

narratives asserting the strategic difference that the battle

of these lists demonstrates that there was no discrepancy

made to the home side’s overall position. There was great

between the figures released by the military and those

heroism at Fromelles, especially in the attempts to care for

printed in the papers. In Military Order 420, published on

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 142

5/05/14 2:03 PM

29 August 1916, one man from the 57th Battalion is listed

in this attack had to face shell-fire more heavy and more

as killed in action, and two men from the 60th Battalion.

continuous than was ever known in Gallipoli’. Though

Military Order 462, published on 26 September 1916,

many of the Australians had not been on Gallipoli, he

lists seven men from the 59th Battalion and nine from

declared, and were seeing action for the first time, even

the 60th as killed in action. But, with Military Order 471,

so, he reported, they seem ‘to have been worthy of all the

published on 3 October 1916, the veil begins to be lifted:

traditions of Anzac’. Bean asserted that many Germans

it reveals that 86 men of the 59th Battalion and 20 men

had been killed, which seems unlikely, but, ominously, he

of the 60th Battalion are listed as missing. And Military

concluded his account chillingly: ‘the losses among our

Order 490, published on 17 October 1916, lists 114 men

troops engaged were severe.’ As the casualty telegrams

from 59th Battalion and 248 from the 60th as missing. Men

began to flow into Victorian homes, families would have

listed as missing have no date attached to their names, so it

understood his meaning, but because the published casualty

would be impossible for even a fully alert reader to discern

lists were so contained, even untruthful, the average

that these men were most likely victims of the battle at

newspaper reader had no idea of the disaster that had

Fromelles. The battle went almost

befallen the state.

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 37658/10

unreported and unremarked because the extent of the loss at Fromelles was

The AIF spent the first five months of 1916 training intensively in the Egyptian

never revealed. Even the Australian

desert. As a result the Australian

War Memorial as designed by its

troops could not be rushed into ‘the

founders, so complete in every

first day on the Somme’, 1 July

other detail, never attempted

1916, when some 57 740 British

a display or diorama, telling

soldiers were casualties. As was

the story of Fromelles. Only

clear at Fromelles, the ‘heads’

in recent times, particularly

had not yet established a way of

with the discovery of the

fighting on the Western Front.

massed graves there, has the

Engagements were haphazard

tragedy of Fromelles begun to

and woefully costly for the

be recognised more widely.

soldiers involved. Who could

Charles Bean, the official

survive a wall of steel producing

correspondent, wrote of Fromelles

6000 bullets per minute? This, combined

in a dispatch published in the Melbourne papers on 24 July 1916, just days after the battle. He did not name the location, describing it simply as ‘south of Armentières’: ‘Our troops

with shells shrieking down on them, left the

White feathers became more common as ill feeling increased among the people at home. Defence designed a medal to be worn by those classified as unfit to show that they had tried to enlist.

troops defenceless, as never before in human history. The average casualty rate suffered by a battalion in the first days on the Somme was 66 per cent. Some

On the Western Front

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 143

143

5/05/14 2:03 PM

battalions suffered 80 per cent casualties on the first day; and a battalion of Newfoundlanders suffered a casualty rate of 90 per cent. It was just awful. The Australians were held back; but their good luck could not last. The Australian divisions were thrown into the fight at Pozières on 23 July and would be stuck there and at Mouquet Farm for the next seven weeks or so, gaining such little ground and losing, eventually, over 23 000 men killed or wounded. Perhaps that is another reason why Fromelles has been overlooked. Awful as those 5500 casualties overnight were, they are less horrendous than the 23 000 casualties on the Somme. Having missed the battle of Fromelles, to their enormous good fortune, Victoria’s 14th Battalion nursed its wounds after its first raid at Bois-Grenier. Then, on 6 August

A separate file was

1916, the battalion entered the fight at Pozières, a good

created for every man

month and more after the battle had commenced. On that

who enlisted. Each file

battlefield, they encountered sights and sensations that were gruesome in the extreme. Dead bodies littered the ground in

gives the details of the

various stages of decomposition and, more ghastly, perhaps,

soldier’s service.

body parts lay about indiscriminately and everywhere; an arm or a leg here, a torso there. The stench of decay was everywhere. The shriek of the shells, continuous since the first mad dash on 1 July, combined terrifyingly with the shake of the earth as they hit. Hot, dirty, stinking. For men entering the battle for the first time, there were no words to describe what they experienced. The village of Pozières had been transformed into a place of dust and rubble, pitted with enormous holes. We can read the statistics, the first-hand accounts, and the many books that have been written about the Somme, but if you were not there, you could not possibly understand it. Empathy is impossible because the Somme was so beyond human experience as to be beyond human comprehension. In seeking to understand, we reduce the story to a man or a few men; to a battalion. But we cannot comprehend the scale

144

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 144

5/05/14 2:03 PM

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 145

145

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l J 00320

On the Western Front

5/05/14 2:03 PM

146

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 146

5/05/14 2:03 PM

of the thing: the massive numbers of men, the extraordinary numbers of shell and machine-gun bullets, the vast scale of death or injury. We stand with Bean at the windmill site, beyond Pozières village, and we reflect on his words that no other place on earth is so thickly drenched in Australian blood. But still we struggle to understand. As did Bean. How, he must have wondered, to write back to the Argus in Melbourne, or to all the other Australian papers that were taking his copy, and show the readers what

The awfulness of the battlefield – destruction in every direction

was really happening? Bean stood on the wreckage of a battlefield that had been torn to shreds by three weeks of fighting, and saw what the soldiers saw, the dead, the body parts, the earth turned to rubbish, and he wrote, almost primly: tonight an Australian force will charge over this front in an attack which I fancy will be a greater test than the Lone Pine attack, and perhaps even greater than the Landing on Gallipoli … “I believe we are going to hop over to see Fritz tonight” said one, looking up. They know well the sort of job that is ahead.

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 84.205/33

No-one, however, could really understand that job unless they were right in the thick of it. Individual bravery counted, of course, even in the midst of the awful power of shells and bullets. Albert Jacka was still with the 14th, having been made an officer after training in Egypt. On his first night on the Somme he sheltered in a dugout from the fury of a German onslaught. Two Germans appeared at its entrance and rolled bombs towards him and his mates, two of whom were killed outright. Jacka, enraged, chased the perpetrators out of the dugout, only to encounter a German party escorting about 40 Australian prisoners away from the fight. Jacka rallied his platoon of about seven men and, with bayonet and rifle fire, overwhelmed the German party. In hand-to-hand fighting Jacka’s party captured 42 men, released the Australians, who then turned on their captors, and showed that the individual could still make

On the Western Front

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 147

147

5/05/14 2:03 PM

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 84.205/45

More Australians lost their lives on the battlefields around Pozières than anywhere else.

148

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 148

5/05/14 2:03 PM

a difference on the battlefield. The line was retaken and the Germans repelled. All of Jacka’s men were wounded,

when his brother Bill had encountered him at a casualty

Bert seriously with wounds to neck and shoulder. Jacka

clearing station, he was quite sure that he would never

was awarded the Military Cross, although many believed

see Bert again. It seemed as if all the blood had been

he should have received the higher decoration of a bar to

drained from him. Jacka was in hospital with hundreds of

his Victoria Cross. But did a colonial really deserve what

Victorians from his battalion, and thousands of Australians

had never yet been awarded even to a British soldier? Bean

from all the battalions. The chaplains were working

described Jacka’s counterattack ‘as the most dramatic and

overtime burying the dead and everyone contemplated the

effective act of individual audacity in the history of the AIF’.

impossibility of sustaining casualties of this magnitude.

The battalion war diarist, Lieutenant-Colonel Dare,

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 84.205/45

By 9 August Jacka was in a London hospital, although

When the 14th was relieved from Pozières on 13 August

wrote more sparingly in his account of the events of

the official tally indicated that one officer had been

7 August, recording that a ‘counterattack [was] made from

killed and five had been wounded, 49 other ranks killed

our trenches with the result that a party of the 48th Battalion

and 320 wounded; 30 men were posted as missing. But

who had been captured by the enemy were rescued and about

these statistics are wrong; later returns showed that an

50 of the enemy taken prisoners and about 150 estimated

additional six officers and 399 men were also missing.

killed and wounded.’ The description is hardly sufficiently

Most of these would have been killed in action or died

graphic to merit a Victoria Cross for Jacka, although, of

later of their wounds. Such was the shortage of men,

course, a separate recommendation would have been written.

however, that the 14th was back in action at Mouquet

The diarist records that on this day, 26 other ranks were

Farm on 27 August in another failed attack. Casualties

killed, 25 were missing and three officers, including Jacka,

were lighter but still ghastly. By then, the 14th was done

and 110 other ranks wounded. One of the wounded officers,

for and removed to Flanders, a fragment of its former

Lieutenant HS Dobie, later died of his wounds.

strength. On 21 October the 14th returned to the Somme

Jacka’s extraordinary individual effort was not typical of

to winter quarters near Flers. Jacka rejoined the battalion

fighting on the Western Front. Do we make too much of

in November and together it, and the rest of the AIF,

individual gallantry and initiative in a war of millions of

endured the worst winter in living memory. Such was the

bullets and shells, of mechanised madness? Perhaps the real

misery of life on the Western Front.

bravery on the battlefield was to be found in those who just

With elegance and calm throughout these dark days,

kept on going in these atrocious conditions and simply did as

Colonel Dare maintained his battalion war diary. His tally

they were told to do. Remember ‘Dad’ Brotchie from Fitzroy?

of the death and wounding suffered by his men mounts up

Surely he was too old for fighting of this nature? Fortunately

in the margins. Officers are named, other ranks are just

for him and his nine children, ‘Dad’ was finally given a safe

statistics. But turning the pages of the diary from early

billet, either running a canteen behind the line when the

August, when the battalion entered the fight, to the end

troops were engaged, or at rest with them at Bois-Grenier.

of the year, day after day, the tally of death, the number

The battalion historian loses interest in him thereafter. It

evacuated to hospital wounded and sick, grows. Could

takes all types to make up a battalion of soldiers and not

those at home understand these losses, let alone sustain

everyone, by any means, was in the enemy’s line of fire.

them? Wanted men, wanted more men.

On the Western Front

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 149

149

5/05/14 2:03 PM

Indigenous Victorians

T

here are no records indicating how many

was allowed a soldier settlement block. What a disgrace,

Indigenous Victorians left their homes and

to discriminate so obviously when in war all had been

families to fight for their homeland in the war.

equal.

The enlistment forms asked no questions about

race and, indeed, it was assumed that persons of

‘half-caste Aboriginal’ on his enlistment form, but this is

Aboriginal descent would be excluded by the recruiters.

a fiction. His parents, Bessie and William, were full-

This was not the case. The enlistment form of an

blooded Aboriginal people. They lived at Purnim,

Aboriginal soldier will often have ‘dark’ written in the

north-east of Warrnambool. Reg enlisted in March 1916,

column under complexion. Additional words, such as

joining the 29th Battalion. He described himself as a

‘half-caste aboriginal’, may also have been written

‘horse breaker’. Reg reached France in November 1916,

somewhere on the form, but rarely. Large numbers of

but within a month was in hospital with trench feet, the

Indigenous Victorians enlisted and served overseas. Nine

debilitating disease caused by standing in waterlogged

members of the Lake Tyers community enlisted for the

trenches for long periods with no opportunity to dry the

war and four were killed. Hard research indicates that

feet. Reg returned to the front line in October 1917 and

similar figures could be obtained from most Aboriginal

was killed in action in August 1918. The award to him

settlements and communities.

of a Military Medal was notified 18 days after Reg’s death.

These Indigenous Victorians took all the risks of war,

150

William Reginald ‘Reg’ Rawlings is described as a

Reg Rawlings was a very brave soldier. He had been

were treated as all soldiers were treated and they died,

the ‘first bayonet man’ in a bombing team; that is, Reg’s

were wounded, took sick, just like their white mates in

job had been to storm the enemy front-line trenches,

the platoons and companies in which they served. Some

bayoneting all he found and clearing the way for the

were decorated for their bravery; some were promoted.

men behind him to come in with their bombs. What a

They might have thought that their loyal service at war

terrible job. He showed, so the citation for his award

entitled them to the same benefits that other Australian

read, ‘rare bravery in the performance of his duty killing

soldiers enjoyed. Yet was any Aboriginal returned man

many of the enemy, brushing aside all opposition and

offered land under the Victorian soldier settlement

cleared the way effectively for the bombers of his team.’

scheme? Research at the Public Record Office Victoria

He showed, the citation concluded, ‘irresistible dash and

shows that only one Indigenous Victorian, Percy Pepper,

courage.’

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 150

5/05/14 2:04 PM

Reg was Bessie’s only son and she was devastated by

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l P 01695.002

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l P 01695.001

Reg Rawlings MM

Harry Thorpe MM

example. The department explained that this remained

the news of his death, but proud. ‘I am very pleased to see

government property. Surprised by this, she wrote ‘I

in your letter that my son is awarded a medal from the

thought it was given to him my dear late son as his own

King’ she wrote in April 1919, when the department at

to keep … I hope however to get some of my dear late

last informed her of Reg’s high honour. But she wanted

son’s effects when they do come.’ This was in May 1919;

more by which to remember her son. His uniform, for

the wheels of government moved very slowly.

On the Western Front

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 151

151

5/05/14 2:04 PM

When the parcels from the front did arrive, Bessie’s

commander. By his splendid example and disregard of all

heart swelled with sadness and pride. She wrote that

danger he inspired those under him.’ Harry was killed

she was very pleased to have the ‘personal effects of my

on the same day as Reg Rawlings, 9 August 1918. An

darling son who gave his dear life for King and Country.

honoured and well-loved soldier, he suffered terrible

My only darling son he was all the world to me and he

wounds in battle and died the same day. His sister wrote

is gone forever. He told me if he should fall to always

how ‘excited’ she was to see a picture of his grave.

think of him in a soldier’s grave.’ He was buried at Heath

There is a shameful letter at the end of Harry

cemetery near Harbonnieres, so far from his country and

Thorpe’s soldier’s file. Some years later the secretary of

his people. Yet Bessie still believed that she was entitled

the Lakes Entrance RSL, Francis G Stephens, a school

to his kit: ‘I wanted to be treated as other mothers in

teacher who had been four times wounded in action,

getting their sons kit and sent home to them.’ Was there

wrote to the department seeking a statement of Harry’s

discrimination here, or just departmental indifference to a

service at war:

grieving mother? Harry Thorpe enlisted from the other side of Victoria, at Orbost in far Gippsland. He was 28 years of age, a labourer and married to Julia when he enlisted in February 1916. In July 1916 Harry was in France, a member of the 7th Battalion, and in the thick of it. He was wounded twice, in August 1916 a gunshot wound

Thorpe is a full-blooded black and to our knowledge had a fine record and died I believe of wounds. Some exceptionally slanderous statements have been made to the effect that this soldier saw no fighting and died of disease and the old people are very upset, appealing to the branch to contradict these and uphold the man’s integrity.

to the leg and in April 1917 a gunshot wound to the

152

shoulder. On 5 October 1917, a special day for Harry,

Hundreds of Indigenous Victorians enlisted and fought

he was promoted corporal and also awarded the Military

in the war. Did those who survived suffer, after the war,

Medal. What a fine soldier he had become, the citation

the discrimination and indifference experienced by the

tells us: ‘[he] displayed great courage and initiative in

bereaved relatives and friends of these two brave men who

mopping up enemy dugouts and pillboxes … [he was]

gave their lives for their country? As the lone example

conspicuous for his courage and leadership, handling

of Percy Pepper shows, there was active discrimination

the men with skill and materially assisting his company

working against these brave and gallant soldiers.

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 152

5/05/14 2:04 PM

c h a p t e r

s e v e n

Conscription

P

rime Minister Billy Hughes was sworn in to office on 27 October 1915 at Government House in Melbourne. n He was the logical successor to Andrew Fisher, but he had none of Fisher’s charm or refinement. n Where Fisher was a strikingly handsome man, Hughes was not. n Short, gnarled and energetic, Hughes always looked as though he was spoiling for a fight. n On 20 January 1916, having

been in office for less than three months, Hughes sailed for Canada on his way to England. n He would return to Melbourne on 8 August

1916, after nearly eight months abroad. n Truly an absentee prime minister. n When Hughes reached London on 7 March 1916 he

The first contingent of Australians, 1 Anzac Corps, began

might have been expected to almost immediately hop over

arriving in France later in March. In the meantime,

to France to see how the war was going. But what was the

wherever Hughes travelled in Britain, or into whichever

point of that? The Australian troops were still in Egypt,

influential political office in London he lobbed, he heard

hard-pressed at training and absorbing the huge number of

praise for the AIF from all quarters. Everyone was saying

recent recruits into AIF structures, and would remain there

to him that the Anzacs had done so splendidly on Gallipoli

during the first part of the prime minister’s time in London.

and so much was expected of them when they reached

153

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 153

5/05/14 2:04 PM

A recruiting rally at Mildura. Conscription

France. Anzac was the name that drew the highest praise:

would, of course, bring an end to such rallies.

from the King, the British prime minister, other ministers, churchmen, journalists, and the ordinary people on the streets. As prime minister, and being ultimately responsible for these mighty soldiers, Hughes could take much pride in their achievements. And he did. It is not too much to say that the AIF was the passion of Hughes’s life. Whenever possible he loved to mingle with the soldiers, yarn with them and study, in detail, their exploits. His popularity with the troops took time to grow and, in June, when he first addressed the Australians in France, near Fleurbaix, there was an undercurrent of dissent because he had kept the soldiers waiting for several hours. The men he was addressing were as yet inexperienced and, for the most part, new recruits from 1915 who had enlisted under the spell of Anzac. Hughes promised them that the people at home had the soldiers very much in their hearts and would never forget them and their dependants, during or after the war. A month later these troops would be in action at Pozières and many of the soldiers, then listening critically to the prime minister, would have need of his promises of care and concern. When he issued his ‘Call to Arms’ in December 1915, Hughes said that ‘to wage this war with less than our full strength is to commit national suicide by slowly bleeding to death’. It was emotive language, but Hughes was passionate about the need for reinforcements for the soldiers who were doing so much. Just before he arrived in London,

M i l d u r a a n d D i s t r i c t H i s to r i c a l S o c i e t y ID 5858

the British Government introduced conscription. With more than three million volunteers already in the army, the government nevertheless believed that it must have more men. The first British Act introducing conscription specified that all single men aged between 18 and 41 would be called up; making an exemption, though, for widowers with dependent children. Four months later the Act was revised, calling up all men in the age group, regardless of

154

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 154

5/05/14 2:04 PM

b ay s i d e l i b r a r y s e r v i c e i d 3wa r r 1

Working for the cause. These Brighton plumbers are making hot water bottles for soldiers at the front.

marital status. In April 1918 the age group was extended

minister and, as his car took him to the federal Parliament

to men up to 51 years of age. Hughes was impressed by

House in Spring Street, hundreds lined the route to wave

the British Government’s determination to fight the war

and welcome him, his wife and baby daughter home.

to the full. At about the time that he was speaking to the

The Argus reported that he looked well and happy, ‘his

Australian soldiers in France, New Zealand also passed a Compulsory Service Act.

face is bronzed and [he] looks more robust than when he

Hughes arrived back in Melbourne on 8 August 1916

left Australia. There are no signs of … the burden of his heavy responsibilities [as he returns] to take up the threads

and was met by enthusiastic crowds. When the train from

of grave problems in a great crisis’. Chief among these

Adelaide pulled into Spencer Street station there were

problems was whether or not Hughes’s government would

as many as 5000 people gathered to welcome the prime

have the strength and tenacity to introduce conscription.

Conscription

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 155

155

5/05/14 2:04 PM

The patriotic middle class was keen to help the war effort, raising funds for the soldiers and demanding that Prime Minister Hughes

Punch 30 A u g u s t 1917, S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , N e w spa p e r s C o ll e c t i o n

Ya r r a L i b r a r i e s ID r l 185

introduce conscription.

Young men from Richmond about to join the AIF. No ‘cruel law’ dragged them to the front.

156

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 156

5/05/14 2:04 PM

The crowds of people at the railway station and in the

and soon. Ominously Hughes concluded his speech with

streets had not assembled by chance. They came to show

an observation: ‘I believe I shall have the support of nine-

that they expected the prime minister, now that he was back

tenths of the people of Australia.’

in charge of his government, to give voice to a demand

Fearing that some readers might not clearly understand

for conscription, for compulsory service at the war. After

the assumption behind the prime minister’s speech, an

all, they reasoned, he had been to the battlefields and seen

Argus editorial spelt it out:

the lie of the land; he must now know that conscription alone could provide the men that the war demanded. For months, if not the whole of the year and earlier, there had been a groundswell of acceptance of conscription for service overseas. It was only fair, people argued, that all citizens should be involved in the great crisis, and that the

Mr Hughes, who proclaims himself the representative of nine-tenths of the people, knows that an insistent demand of a vast majority of the people has been that service in the war shall be made compulsory. This is demanded in the name of justice, on grounds of efficiency and in the interests of future internal peace and concord.

burdens of war should not fall only on the patriotic sections of society. So, let the prime minister clearly state his policy,

‘It is repugnant,’ the paper continued, that thousands of

even if members of his political party were less enthusiastic.

young men ‘are held to be absolved from all duty and

People turned out to welcome Hughes home and exhort

obligation to the Commonwealth.’ Hughes must act, the

him to do the right thing.

paper demanded, and be quick about it. So was brewing one

Punch 30 A u g u s t 1917, S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , N e w spa p e r s C o ll e c t i o n

Later that day, at the town hall, the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Sir David Hennessy, tendered a public

of the greatest fights in Victoria’s history. Perhaps nine-tenths of the people in the town hall that

welcome to the prime minister. With 50 returned soldiers

day were passionately pleading for conscription. The group

sitting on the platform behind him, Hughes delivered a

of Hughes’s federal Cabinet colleagues who had come with

powerful speech, which was received with great enthusiasm.

him to the welcome home would have included a small

He began by speaking of the responsibilities of citizenship:

number who joined the very small minority in the hall

this crisis, the greatest in our history, casts on us, as free citizens, a great responsibility. Each has to bear his share of the burden, as becomes a free citizen, when his country is tottering and may even fall … We still have much to do and to dare … We must resolve to sacrifice all things that we may be victorious.

that opposed compulsory service. The federal Opposition was represented by Sir William (‘Iceberg’) Irvine. The Victorian premier, Sir Alexander Peacock, was there, along with parliamentary colleagues, Messrs Adamson, Baillieu, Hagelthorn, Robinson and Lawson. The speakers of the federal and state houses attended, as did the secretary of the Trades and Labour Council, Mr C Gray. The galleries

Hughes did not mention conscription specifically in this

above the main hall were reserved for ladies. Almost every

speech, but as there had been so much discussion about

person in this hall expected and demanded that the prime

the need for conscription among parliamentarians, in the

minister introduce compulsion. Yet Hughes’s biographer

newspapers and, we may assume, among ordinary folk,

suggests that Hughes, in fact, had not finally made up

there was an understanding in the hall that the prime

his mind. The power of the meeting may well have been

minister must address the question of conscription directly,

influential.

Conscription

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 157

157

5/05/14 2:04 PM

Why did most of those in power and authority in Melbourne, and more generally around the state, and most of the Victorian middle class, so genuinely, warmly and urgently embrace the idea of compulsion for military service? The mood that dominated the state when war broke out, which saw the burgeoning of the belief that this was a just war and that the Empire must win, no matter what the sacrifices gives a partial explanation. So too, does the spirit that grew among Victoria’s secondary schoolboys – almost all from the middle classes – that this was a war from which they could not, must not, stand aside. We

A send-off for

need to remember boys like JD Burns, exemplary scholar

Brunswick recruits in

and thoroughly decent young man, imperial poet, of the

1915. The conscription

strongest loyalty and patriotism, who is buried on Gallipoli,

campaigns would badly

within hearing of the gentle waves, his young life sacrificed in a noble cause. Was it fair, those who knew him asked,

damage the sense of

that his life be freely surrendered for a great and glorious

community cohesion

cause, while men (in their view) less noble, less promising, less favoured than he, be allowed to continue their lives as

displayed here.

if nothing was demanded of them? It is certain that a great many of the men and women in the hall had sons at the war. WL Baillieu, for example, there among the Victorian parliamentarians, had three boys at the war, two serving with the Australians and one in the British army. All three survived. Most importantly, this unanimity of opinion and experience was built on the networks that made the state of Victoria work. These men knew each other: through family and school connections, sport and clubs, business, shared interests, churches. They all read the same newspapers – agreed with the near unanimous position on conscription that was adopted by these papers. The newspapers argued incessantly that the war must be won, that no sacrifice was too great in its winning, and that the obligations of citizenship should not fall on one class too heavily or

158

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 158

M o r e l a n d C i t y L i b r a r i e s ID 5837

the Argus, principally, but also the Age and the Herald – and

5/05/14 2:04 PM

Conscription

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 159

159

5/05/14 2:04 PM

exclusively. To see that assembly in the Melbourne Town

by the voluntary system. At the town hall recruiting station

Hall reacting with enthusiasm and as one to the as-yet

the statewide figures were tallied daily. On 8 August,

unspoken demand for compulsion is to gain some insight

the day Hughes spoke, 76 men had volunteered and 47

into the exercise of power and influence in Melbourne and

were accepted throughout the state; the next day, 84

throughout the state.

men volunteered and 53 were accepted; the day after, 77

And yet there was an element of delusion in the thinking of these men. They could not see, though the evidence was

of 1247 Victorians joined up, 6345 across the whole of

plainly before them, that the working men of Australia were

Australia. On these figures the AIF would inevitably begin

shouldering so much of the war effort. For every JD Burns,

to decrease in size, particularly if it experienced another

public schoolboy, buried on Gallipoli, there were 100 or

disaster like Pozières.

200 Bertie Prings, labourer of West Melbourne, the sole

It was one thing for Hughes to reach the conclusion

support of his widowed mother; she who was too poor to

that compulsion was the right policy; it was another thing

be able to afford her own few words on his headstone. Of

entirely to see the passage of the necessary legislation

course there were plenty of men in Victoria who had not

through parliament. (Hughes could simply have imposed

yet enlisted, and may never have intended to enlist. But the

conscription under the broad-ranging provisions of the War

men in the town hall could not know why each one had

Precautions Act, but that might have been a step too far.)

taken their decision. If men like Irvine or Peacock had given

Taking the parliamentary route, Hughes could be reasonably

thought to the circumstances of young Robert Menzies, who

confident that, with the total support of the Opposition,

was unquestionably one of their class, perhaps their support

the bill would pass the lower House. But Labor, holding

for compulsion would have developed a more complex

31 out of 36 seats, dominated the Senate and Hughes

hue, reflecting the diversity of individual circumstance.

could see the possibility there of the rejection of the bill.

Menzies gave his word to his brothers, as they enlisted, that

He believed, however, that an overwhelming majority of

he would remain at home. It was a sensible family compact

Australians wanted to see conscription introduced, certainly

that compulsion might invalidate. What of Mrs Pring, of

not the nine-tenths majority of which he had boasted, but a

Ballarat East, surviving on the pension her son had won,

substantial majority anyway. What if he took a giant public

poor beyond their comprehension? War, however, is not

opinion poll and showed his victory to the Senate? ‘Look’,

conducive to reflection. It seems that there was no room for

he would say to them, ‘something like 75 per cent of the

a better understanding of competing pressures: family or

people have voted in favour of conscription. Senators, you

country; survival of the family farm and family business or

cannot possibly stand in the way of such an overwhelming

overwhelming sacrifice?

demonstration of public opinion’. If the legislation could be

The horrendous losses at Pozières and Mouquet Farm,

rushed through parliament, the conscripted troops might

of which Hughes would have had some inkling when he

begin to flow to Europe early in the new year, possibly to

spoke in Melbourne on 8 August, but which would become

join the fighting for the offensive of next spring.

clearer soon, made the cause of compulsion even more

160

volunteered and 46 were accepted. Over August a total

To the dismay of some of his supporters, who wanted

insistent. Seven weeks of fighting resulted in the loss of

action right now, Hughes announced that a vote on

23 000 men, a number that simply could not be replaced

conscription would take place on Saturday 28 October

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 160

5/05/14 2:04 PM

his aims, took no account of the profound risk to the

needed a special draft of 32 500 men in September, and

nation that the vote entailed. Australia had convinced

then 16 500 a month thereafter, for every month of the

itself that the people were united in the war effort. What

war (which Hughes and many of the planners in London

if the referendum campaign revealed vast differences of

believed may last even into 1920). Voluntarism could never

opinion about the war? The sacred crusade, that must

make up these numbers, he explained, and therefore the

absorb the entire nation’s activity, might, for others, be of

people would be asked to authorise compulsion. Hughes’s

less importance than local issues, such as the safety and

certainty that he could carry the people with him, and

security of the family, the rights of ordinary working men

that the referendum was the surest method of achieving

to good wages and secure jobs, or the ongoing security and

Punch 17 F e b r u a r y 1916, S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , N e w spa p e r s C o ll e c t i o n

1916. He told parliament on 30 August that Australia

The evacuation at Gallipoli might have harmed recruiting, so people went out of their way to encourage men into the ranks.

Conscription

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 161

161

5/05/14 2:04 PM

economic health of the nation. Already, with so many men

Macfarland. Three more professors were on the executive

away, the economy was in danger; to take more men out

committee, as was Alfred Deakin, a former Australian

of employment might prove fatal. Men working the family

prime minister and leading Victorian. It was agreed that

farm, with sons and other farm workers away, were working

membership of the league would be open to all men and

to capacity. If the little labour remaining was withdrawn,

women over 18 years of age, and that there would be no

would the farm remain viable, or would that be lost, too,

subscription levied on members, although donations would

in the name of the Empire? And then there were the moral

be welcome. It cannot be known whether the existence

questions: did the state have the right to force men to war

and campaigning of the Universal Services Leagues

against their own wishes? In authorising the referendum

helped shape the prime minister’s thinking in favour of

Hughes was asking a great deal of the voters and risking a

conscription, but the league’s enthusiasm must have given

greatly divided society, if he reflected that nine-tenths of

him confidence that influential people would vote and

the people are never in agreement on anything.

campaign for ‘Yes’.

newspapers everywhere clamoured for conscription. Since

being proposed as the best method for winning the war.

1915 prominent citizens had banded together in Universal

Hughes knew that; he had only to look to his own party.

Service Leagues to plead with the government for what

Frank Tudor won the parliamentary seat of Yarra in the first

they saw as a fairer system. Following a lead from Sydney, a

federal election in 1901. Born in 1866 at Williamstown,

public meeting of ‘representative citizens’ took place at the

he soon moved with his family to Richmond and lived

Melbourne Town Hall on 21 September 1915. A manifesto

there for the rest of his life. Working in the hat industry,

calling for compulsory, universal service was drawn up by

Frank travelled to see the land his Welsh-born parents

Professor Orme Masson, professor of chemistry at the

had left, but he was a Richmond man at heart. A staunch

University of Melbourne, aged 57, and John G Latham,

and influential unionist he was president of the Trades

a 38-year-old wealthy and influential barrister. Perhaps

Hall Council when he stood for federal parliament. So

Latham thought his age excused his enlistment, but there

popular was he in Richmond that no-one stood against

were men like ‘Dad’ Brotchie, much older than Latham, in

him at the 1914 election; even so, 72 per cent of Frank’s

the AIF. If the Australian system were to follow the British

electorate turned out to vote for him. Tudor was a non-

rules, which conscripted men up to the age of 41, did

drinker and a committed member of the Congregational

people wonder why Latham had not enlisted himself, rather

Church, although his campaign manager, Richard Ignatius

than lead a campaign for compulsion? These were the kind

Loughnan, was almost certainly Catholic and may well have

of awkward questions that conscription would throw up.

taken his second name from Richmond’s most prominent

Unlike the New South Wales league, the Victorians

church, St Ignatius, high on Richmond Hill. Richmond

did not look for leadership from the politicians – only one

was a working-class suburb with a substantial Catholic

state member of parliament was on the executive committee

population.

– but looked instead to the university and business for

162

There would of course be opposition to what was

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 2010.174/29 (d e ta i l )

Yet he had reason to be optimistic. Throughout 1916

Tudor was minister for trade and customs in 1908

leaders. The meeting at the town hall was chaired by the

and retained that ministry in every subsequent Labor

university’s 64-year-old Vice-Chancellor, John Henry

administration. What to do about conscription? Tudor

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 162

5/05/14 2:04 PM

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 2010.174/29 (d e ta i l )

Daniel Mannix,

archbishop of

Melbourne

Conscription

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 163

163

5/05/14 2:04 PM

agonised. There were plenty of Richmond boys in the AIF;

example, ruled that: ‘the issue is a moral one and therefore

indeed, by the end of the war, over 2000 Richmond-born

comes within the sphere of Church action.’ Melbourne’s

men had enlisted. This mighty number soared beyond the

Catholic archbishop, Thomas Carr, maintained a dignified

255 people enlisting from nearby middle-class Camberwell,

silence and it is not known what his private opinion was. campaign by a churchman was a sermon preached at

enough. Tudor had plenty of reason to be proud of his own

St Andrew’s Church, Brighton. Even the Argus,

people, yet should he vote to compel more of them to go

prominently pro-conscription, headlined its report ‘A

to war? It was an awful choice in the name of imperial, or

Remarkable Sermon’. The preacher was the Rev. Archibald

even Cabinet, solidarity. Tudor wavered, unable to make

Law, ordained in the Anglican Church in 1897, who had

a decision. He said that he would wait until Cabinet had

served in 11 Victorian parishes before being nominated to

settled its view on the matter, but then his own people made

St Andrew’s, one of the most important suburban Anglican

up his mind for him. In the second week of September

churches. Law was 47 years of age when he preached

members of his party in Richmond announced that Tudor

this sermon and, therefore, not one of the ‘eligibles’, as

would be campaigning against compulsion and that was

men of military age were now being called. He told his

that. Tudor resigned from the ministry and campaigned for

congregation that he did not propose to tell them how to

‘No’. He would never again have ministerial office. Though

vote, but he did want to answer the question of whether

his resignation infuriated Hughes, the prime minister was

a Christian could vote ‘Yes’. Christ, he said, submitted

nevertheless a pallbearer at Tudor’s state funeral six years

Himself to the conscription of Heaven; it was a very real

later.

conscription. ‘He came to obey and to carry out the very

There were other prominent Victorian Labor

act of death imposed upon Him … Where would the world

parliamentarians who stood alongside Tudor in the ‘No’

have been if Christ had shrunk from the task? The name

camp, including Frank Anstey and William Maloney. The

of a conscript was the name of Jesus.’ And so, presumably,

strong majority of parliamentarians and almost every other

a Christian could not only vote for conscription, but in the

public figure, however, stated that they would be voting

name of Christ, must do so. ‘Christ a Conscript’ announced

‘Yes’. The public chorus for ‘Yes’ was overwhelming.

the Argus. Law was promoted from Brighton to St John’s,

Newspaper editorials on an almost daily basis, even

Toorak, in 1918 and ministered there for 27 years before

the liberal and somewhat cranky Age, campaigned for

retiring in 1945.

‘Yes’. Most parliamentarians, both federal and state,

164

Perhaps one of the strangest interventions in the

might be claimed, justifiably, that Richmond had done

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 98.250/2514

or the 533 people from neighbouring South Yarra. It

Those championing the ‘No’ case felt powerless and

were in favour of compulsion and those opposed, such

friendless in the face of the onslaught arrayed against them

as Tudor, Anstey and Maloney, had trouble having their

and, yet, there were signs that they were not as friendless as

speeches reported to a wider audience. The leaders of

they feared. One Sunday in October, two weeks out from

every Christian denomination in Victoria, the Catholics

voting day, a crowd of 35 000 people thronged Melbourne’s

excepted, indicated that they would be voting in favour of

Yarra Bank Forum where speakers, ranging from Christian

compulsion. Most used moral arguments. The General

Socialists, members of the Society of Friends, and every

Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria, for

variety of unionist, pleaded for a ‘No’ vote. There was an

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 164

5/05/14 2:04 PM

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 165 S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , r i l e y a n d E p h e m e r a C o ll e c t i o n

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 98.250/2514

St Ignatius

Catholic Church, Richmond

The pamphlet and poster war during

the 1916 and 1917 referendums was unrelenting.

Conscription

165

5/05/14 2:04 PM

indication that they had strong support: volunteers sold a high number of ‘No’ badges and raised money for the campaign. Workers should fear for themselves and their families, speakers claimed, because conscription might permanently damage the fragile Australian economy. How could it be moral to send a fellow to die in a war that did not concern him and was not of his making? Historians have long debated the wisdom of what Hughes did next. With the prime minister anticipating a ‘Yes’ vote, and desperate to have a large number of soldiers in training for dispatch to Europe, on 29 September the governor-general issued a call-up of all single men aged between 21 and 35. On 3 October notices appeared in newspapers detailing who was to enlist and where they were to present themselves. The notice offered the possibility of exemption from the call-up in specified cases and outlined the role of the exemption courts, which started hearing cases in the week before the vote was taken. Woeful timing. Throughout the state worrying numbers attended the exemption courts with almost identical stories: ‘they were required to gather the coming harvest and do the shearing.’ Bad luck. The exemption courts could take little notice of these concerns. At Benalla, for example, Mr Pennefather, police magistrate, heard the cases, assisted by Captain Taverner, representing the Defence Department, who conducted himself, in the words of the North Eastern first day of hearings, 16 October 1916, 56 men sought exemption and 29 were successful, but of these, 18 secured only temporary exemptions to December. On the next day, 53 men sought exemption with 27 granted, of whom 15 received a temporary exemption. Thoughtful farmers and their sons could see that the bush would be starved of labour if ‘Yes’ prevailed. It was the economic argument that encouraged Melbourne’s Catholic coadjutor archbishop, Daniel

166

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l H 16653

Ensign, ‘with acumen, prudence and ability’. On the

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 166

5/05/14 2:04 PM

Soldiers waiting to vote on conscription at AIF Headquarters, London, December 1917

Conscription

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 167

167

5/05/14 2:04 PM

.

Mannix, to enter the fray. Mannix spoke only twice, and

compulsory voting in Australian elections, usually about

briefly, during the referendum campaign, at Clifton Hill

75 per cent of the electorate voted in federal elections,

on 16 September and at Preston on 22 October, but he

so the turnout for the conscription referendum was

was seen then and subsequently as a leader of the ‘No’

impressive. Victorians answered ‘Yes’, but with a small

campaign. That is a tribute to the power and magnetism

margin of only 25 714 votes. Victoria was one of three

of this relatively young prelate, and to the force and

states to vote ‘Yes’, alongside Western Australia and

vigour of his language. But it is also the case that Mannix

Tasmania. The Australia-wide majority for ‘No’ was

operated in a vacuum, as almost the only prominent and

72 476 in a total vote of 2 247 590.

independent Victorian public figure to indicate that he

168

The pro-conscriptionists were infuriated by the

would vote ‘No’. He argued that Australia had already

result and asserted, immediately, that they would

contributed her full share to the war effort and that

continue their campaign for conscription and demand

very few Australians had escaped some form of sacrifice.

that the nation come to its senses. One of the outcomes

Rather than grind his teeth at the sight of ‘slackers’ in

of the referendum, therefore, was to open up deep and

the pubs and on the streets, Mannix worried for the

seemingly unbridgeable divisions in a society that had

workplaces, homes and farms that were already starved

given the appearance of unity for the more than two

of labour and in danger of collapse. He feared that the

years of war. Thereafter in Victoria the middle classes

economy would suffer serious disruption if more men

would think of themselves as the patriotic class. And they

were extracted from workplaces, and wondered if the

now thought of the working classes as harbouring large

number of troops raised by conscription would make

numbers of ‘disloyalists’, even though working-class

much of a difference in a war of millions of troops. In

Australians provided a strong majority of the members

his second speech Mannix attempted to head off those

of the AIF. They tended to think, too, that Catholics as

calling him disloyal and traitorous by saying that he had

a group had voted as Mannix had instructed and were,

a right to speak ‘at a secular place, at a secular function

therefore, mostly ‘disloyal’. The Argus described the

and in [his] individual, personal capacity’, for there had

referendum as ‘a desperate gamble’, which should never

been a great deal of anger aroused that he had spoken out

have been undertaken because people could not be

in the first place. Everyone in a position of power and

expected to bear the personal responsibility of sending

authority in Melbourne, so it went, was required to toe

the ‘eligibles’ off to war. There were scapegoats, too. Two

the line. Mannix had shown that he would not do this,

days after the vote had been taken, the Argus was telling

in the interests of the economy and of workers. To many

its readers of the ‘Sinn Feiners who followed Archbishop

he became a hero for attempting to sway the prevailing

Mannix, men who are traditionally hostile to Britain’.

consensus, to others he became an object of hate and fear.

There was, the Argus now said, ‘the gravest doubts of

A disloyalist in the highest ranks of Victorian society.

the future of Australian democracy’. For all his passion

It is difficult to know what factors influenced

for the AIF and for all his imperial loyalty, Hughes had

Victorian voters. Voting was not compulsory, but even so,

committed an enormous error of judgement. It would

682 000 Victorians voted out of over 800 000 who were

take many years to heal the deep wounds that the vote

eligible (85.25 per cent). Until the 1924 introduction of

inflicted on the Victorian community.

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 168

5/05/14 2:04 PM

The Light Horse

V

ictoria provided three regiments of the Australian

and improving their own gear. Only after that could they

Light Horse and contributed to a fourth

look to their own needs.

regiment. The 4th, 8th and 13th regiments were raised in Victoria as was part of the 9th. It is

The First World War idea of the light horse came largely from the Australian experience of the Boer War,

a myth that all members of the Australian Light Horse

where quick movement of troops and surprise was key

were men from the country. About 20 per cent of the

to success. But the creation of the light horse units also

light horsemen were city born, but obviously bush blokes

accorded with an understanding of the Australian as a

predominated. Of the first recruits in the 8th Light Horse

type of fighting soldier. The light horseman was mounted,

Regiment, 32 per cent came from Melbourne. If there is

obviously, but unlike a cavalryman, he would not take his

any romance at all to be found in the First World War then

horse into the fight. Cavalrymen rode into the midst of

it just might be among the light horsemen. But it would be

their enemies and used their swords or other weapons to

dangerous to make too much of the romance; as for other

cut their opponent down. The light horseman would ride

soldiers, most of the service of the light horse was just hard

to where the enemy were assembled, dismount and, seeking

slog.

shelter to assess the situation, would then attack the enemy

The 4th Light Horse Regiment formed at the

on foot. Horse-handlers, joining several horses together,

Broadmeadows Military Camp on 19 August 1914, its

would take the horses to the rear to protect them from

creation having been approved eight days earlier. The

the fight. The light horse was planned as a mobile and

8th followed a few weeks later. At first men brought their

aggressive force.

own horses with them, but then, of necessity, things were

Light horsemen travelled to Egypt alongside the

regularised and the right type of horse provided. The light

infantry and were disappointed to be left behind in camp

horseman’s duties differed substantially from the soldiers

when the infantry set off for Gallipoli. Soon, though, the

of the infantry. Made up of approximately 540 men, a

need for men on the peninsula was so great that it was

regiment of the light horse was about half the size of an

decided that the light horse regiments would join the

infantry battalion. Light horse regiments were divided into

fight, but they would leave their horses behind. The 4th

three or four squadrons. Horse lines had to be provided at

Light Horse Regiment arrived on Gallipoli on 24 May

camp and the men spent the bulk of their time watering,

1915, just as the truce was organised to bury the dead of

feeding, grooming and tending to their horses and checking

both sides. They quickly realised the awfulness of war

conscription

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 169

169

5/05/14 2:04 PM

and the brutal loss of life that had been inflicted, primarily

of movement there was more scope for the light horse. Still,

by machine guns. Perhaps even then it began to dawn on

light horsemen on the Western Front experienced a sense of

some of them that the day of the horse in war was rapidly

waste and lack of purpose as they waited long months to be

drawing to a close. Norman Bartlett, shot in the stomach in

engaged in the fight.

the first 20 minutes of landing, was a grocer from Morwell

against the Turks in the deserts of the Middle East. The

died later in the day and was buried at sea. Though the

charge of the 4th and 12th Light Horse regiments at

regiment was not used in the awful attacks of early August,

Beersheba on 31 October 1917 is claimed to be the last

when the Anzacs attempted to break the boundaries of

great cavalry charge in the annals of human warfare. For

the siege that their occupation had become, nevertheless,

the men of the light horse, it represented the high point of

Anzac was always a dangerous place and, by late August, the

their service and has rightly entered the Australian story as

regiment had only 320 men in the front line. Among those

one of the greatest feats of the war. Deprived of water for

killed was Humphrey Moule, captain of Brighton Grammar

at least 30 hours before the charge, the horses seem to have

School in his youth, a fourth-year law student at Melbourne

sniffed the water in the wells of Beersheba and, under the

University when he enlisted, and an interstate hockey player.

able direction of the 4th’s commander, Murray Bourchier,

He was killed in action on 7 August 1915. His father, a

a grazier from Strathmerton in central Victoria, the horses

prominent Melbourne judge, had written on hearing of his

needed little inducement to gallop the mile and a half to the

son’s gunshot wound to the arm earlier at Gallipoli, that

enemy’s trenches. With shells bursting around them, and in

he understood the wound to be superficial and hoped that

heavy rifle and machine-gun fire, the light horse determined

Humphrey would be back in the front line quite soon.

to take Beersheba. Ignoring the dust, smoke and fearsome

Evacuated with the rest of the Anzacs in December,

170

The remainder of the Victorian light horsemen fought

in Gippsland and the regiment’s first battle casualty. He

noise, the horses remained steady to their task, allowing the

two squadrons of the 4th Light Horse Regiment were sent

men to ride directly among the Turks, who fled when the

to France in March 1916, where they remained for the

full impact of this manic charge became clear to them. The

rest of the war, forming the II Anzac Mounted Regiment,

result was an overwhelming victory, the capture of about

with a squadron of the New Zealand Otago Mounted

1200 men and 14 guns, and the death of more than 500

Rifles. Though they rode their horses on scouting and

Turks. The Australian losses were modest in comparison:

reconnaissance missions and were deployed for mounted

between them the two regiments lost 32 men killed and

work, for example at Messines, the danger to the horses from

36 men wounded. The 4th Light Horse Regiment’s

the shell-holes and broken ground was extreme. In 1918,

motto, ‘Endure and Fight’ was precisely what happened at

when the war on the Western Front at last began to be a war

Beersheba.

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 170

5/05/14 2:05 PM

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l H 02670

A light horseman

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 171

Conscription

171

5/05/14 2:05 PM

c h a p t e r

e i g h t

Holding on

J

ohn McGlade, whom we first met at the Broadmeadows Military Camp in 1914, was wounded at Anzac and recovered at the Australian General Hospital, Heliopolis. n In February 1917 he wrote to his friend Shela Stagg in Gippsland, whom he would marry in 1925, n ‘If I get back, I’ll be a regular bush hermit. n It is just 2 years since we sailed from Australia and at times it

seems like 22. n It was all right at first but after going through

the Gallipoli nightmare and living twelve months right out here in this land of nothing, well it takes all the gilt off it … Don’t forget about fattening that pig. n I think your Dad is right when he

says he can smell peace.’ n If only Shela’s dad had been right and peace had come

these were followed in late October 1917 by what is

in early 1917. Thousands upon thousands of lives would

known as Passchendaele, in reality a series of battles. At

have been spared and Australians would not have endured

the beginning of this campaign there had been the hint

the agonies of Bullecourt, where so many good men died,

of a victory, but when the rains came, Passchendaele was

Messines, a victory – but so costly – and Polygon Wood,

transformed into a byword for suffering and misery. This

such an awful disaster. To complete the litany of disasters,

was Australia’s worst year of the war.

172

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 172

5/05/14 2:05 PM

In Toronto Avenue Cemetery, a small cemetery in the

self-styled themselves, the ‘Win-the-War’ party, continued

shadow of Messines Ridge, lie the graves of 76 known Aus-

to blame the working classes for the collapse of recruiting

tralians and two unidentified. Despite a name redolent of

and to accuse workers of looking to their own rather than

Canada, in fact it is the only Commonwealth War Graves

the national interest. How that must have rankled with

cemetery on the Western Front to contain only Australian

Tudor. Richmond rightly boasted that no suburb, town or

war dead. A quiet place, infrequently visited because it is so

village the length and breadth of the land had sent more

far off the tourist track, it speaks of a battle in 1917 which

boys to war without the need for the hated conscription.

might have gone the Allies’ way, except that very little was

Priests from St Ignatius Church were so often out delivering

going their way in 1917. Peace would be a long time coming.

telegrams as the casualty lists from Bullecourt, Polygon

At home the bitter divisions continued. The Labor Party

Wood and Passchendaele rolled in. Of course, other

broke up; Billy Hughes walked out on it, taking government

Richmond clergy, such as the minister from Tudor’s own

with him. With a number of Labor ministers, such as the

Congregational church and the Anglican priest, too, from

intensely loyal George Pearce, Hughes forged an alliance

St Stephen’s, next door to St Ignatius, were also out and

with the Opposition led by Joseph Cook and, again, had

about with the telegrams. Many in Melbourne now, though,

the numbers in the lower House with which to govern.

would applaud the patriotism of the boys from St Stephen’s

Hughes remained prime minister, but surely there is little

and look on the congregation at St Ignatius as disloyal to the

that is more divisive and distressing than the break-up of

Empire and prayerful for Ireland.

a government. In this case a government that had begun

In 1917 recruiting collapsed. Across the entire year

its term with such strength and confidence. Deprived of

only 11 326 Victorians enlisted, certainly not enough men

government, the federal Labor Party was at its lowest ebb

to replace the losses in the proud Victorian battalions.

and members reflected bitterly on a war that had all but

After May 1917 no Victorian monthly total of recruits ever

destroyed their party.

again reached more than a thousand men, except for May

Frank Tudor, former minister and powerbroker,

1918. March 1918 was the lowest recruiting month ever in

Richmond boy through and through, became leader of the

Victoria, with just 457 men enlisting. It is clear why Hughes,

now Labor Opposition, but his was a thankless task, leading a

with his passion for the war undiminished, began to think of

dispirited group of parliamentarians with no realistic chance

conscription again. There were men out there on the streets

of government for many long years. Loyalists, as they now

who seemed fit enough to be in the army, but you simply

Holding on

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 173

173

5/05/14 2:05 PM

In various settings, some not as elaborate as this, which were provided by the Salvation Army, the

S a lvat i o n A r my 150676.2

YMCA, and the Australian Comforts Fund, thousands of soldiers wrote their letters home.

174

couldn’t convince them to see where their duty lay. Perhaps

the war fanatic feel better, but were the targets always well

Mannix had been right, however, the nation had done more

chosen? There are many stories of men returned from the

than enough, and to take any more men out of the factories,

front with severe, but perhaps not evident, wounds being

offices and warehouses, and off the farms, would risk the

given a white feather in the street. One man, Joe Clark,

nation’s capacity to keep on feeding, clothing, housing and

returned to his bootmakers shop in Malvern, a Melbourne

educating its people. Had the nation reached the limit of

suburb, having been badly wounded at war. He pasted a

its available manpower? Handing out white feathers to

sign in his shop’s window, ‘Late of 7th Battn’ to avoid the

men who seemed to be of recruiting age might have made

white feathers.

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 174

5/05/14 2:05 PM

The Salvation Army soldiers’ refuge in the city, with officers at the front door

S a lvat i o n A r my p 162794

waiting for clients

Holding on

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 175

175

5/05/14 2:05 PM

of whom would return, the story of the war was told to

Women, boys and girls continued to work hard for the war

them regularly in the letters home from each boy. Brian,

industries, raising remarkable sums of money for the Red

later a professor of architecture at Melbourne University

Cross and the comforts funds, and continued, in the words

and a writer, was too young to go to war, but he clearly

of the Victorian Education Department, ‘to raise the next

remembered its impact on his family. ‘Each letter’, Brian

hundred thousand’. Letters and parcels continued to flow in

wrote many years later in his evocative account of the war,

a strong and steady stream from Victorian homes to the boys

‘was a journal of the week’s happenings, and we had them

at the front. Now, with so many of the wounded returning,

all from the day they went into camp until the day they

there was new work to be done in the hospitals and hostels

returned.’ Ralph Lewis, who served in France in the 2nd

that sprang up to house them. It was possible to say ‘no’ to

Australian Tunnelling Company (terrible work), was the

conscription but ‘yes’ to an outpouring of love and affection

first to come home in February 1918, after six months in

for those still caught up in this most awful of wars. The

various hospitals abroad. He had a shocking wound to his

tragedy for Victoria in these grey years was that people

left leg and knee, but the good news was that he would not

began to classify their neighbours and others they knew

lose the leg. The hospital ship docked at Railway Pier, Port

less well as either for or against the war. But, looking at the

Melbourne, ‘the gangway was put down and men with empty

evidence broadly, there were very few indeed in Victoria who

sleeves, men on crutches and men hobbling on sticks came

were genuinely against the war.

down it.’ Ralph used a stick; he was ‘very quiet and a bit

Tevie Davies, having nursed wounded Anzacs on

shaky … he looked different.’ Apart from his wound Ralph

Lemnos and in Egypt, was now in France. Her mother

also had shell shock and even a little setback, now that he

wrote to her from Healesville, in the hills to the north-

was a civilian again, could send him to his bed for a week.

east of Melbourne, giving Tevie news from home and

But he liked to do jobs around the place and one evening he

increasingly singling out the ‘disloyalists’ in her community

hobbled in next door to feed the neighbours’ chooks. ‘When

for condemnation. The Labor party, she thought, was

he came back through our front gate someone had fixed a

‘disloyal’ as were those who voted ‘No’ led by the nose by

white feather on our letter box for him.’ So far had Victoria

the disloyal ‘R[oman] C[atholic] priests [who were] at the

sunk into division and contempt.

head of the Sin Fein’. They had organised their people to

Had many Victorians, in fact, turned from the war

176

war of stalemate might soon become a war of movement.

vote against conscription, she believed, ‘just for hatred of

with a sense of loathing and disgust? Evidence from the

England and to be “agin the government”’. It is impossible

enlistment figures might suggest that this was so, unless we

to know what her daughter in faraway France made of this

accept that there were few men still free to enlist. Young

interpretation, but there can be little doubt that Mrs Davies

men coming into fighting age might have been just about

in Healesville sincerely believed what she was writing. It

the only pool of available recruits. But all other indications

was nonsense, but Victoria had fallen into such a state that

show that the war still deeply engaged the people, as it had

people were convinced that their state was at risk from

done from the beginning. It still filled pages and pages of

Catholics and other disloyalists. Such had been the main

the newspapers. Small boys still moved coloured pins around

outcome of the conscription referendum of 1916, which was

maps of the Western Front thinking, perhaps, that the

reinforced by a second referendum in December 1917.

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l P 06246.001

For the Lewis family, with four sons enlisted, three

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 176

5/05/14 2:05 PM

Joe Clark, left, enlisted in the 7th Battalion in 1915 and was badly wounded at Gallipoli in August. He was discharged in Melbourne in August 1916. He placed a sign in his shop window, ‘Late of 7th Battn’ so as to avoid white feathers. His brother, Frank, is beside

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l P 06246.001

him.

Holding on

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 177

177

5/05/14 2:05 PM

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l E 00455

A soldier resting during the fighting near Bullecourt

178

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 178

5/05/14 2:05 PM

Men’s lives were still being thrown away recklessly at the front, under orders from commanders who still had no

artillery fire. It was an impenetrable barrier for infantry:

idea how to win the war. Victoria’s 14th Battalion, Jacka’s

‘pure murder’, Jacka reported, to send men against the uncut

Mob, had been resting and building up its strength in the

wire. No bother, responded the ‘heads’, with 12 tanks to go

months after Christmas 1916. The men of the battalion

into battle with them, the soldiers would prevail. Jacka was

faced possibly their greatest tragedy of the war at the small

furious and pleaded his case, but no-one was listening.

French village of Bullecourt. Thanks to the efforts of the

And so, the men of the 14th Battalion found themselves

local people, it is possible to cross the exact battlefield today,

lying in the snow, waiting for the tanks to arrive so the battle

taking the same route that the 4th Australian Brigade took

could commence. It was early on the bitterly cold morning

in early April 1917. Today there is no entrenched and alert

of 10 April 1917, and the position of the troops, out there

enemy a kilometre in front of you, with machine guns ready

in no-man’s-land was incredibly dangerous if they were to

to burst into life. But, trudging along the walkway, it is

be discovered. But the tanks did not arrive – they were slow

possible to imagine what the attackers experienced.

moving, it seemed – and the battle had to be postponed.

By this time, the Germans had retreated in massive force

The Germans watched silently as men rose from the ground

behind the Hindenberg Line, a seemingly impenetrable

in front of them and walked back to their own lines. The

system of defence. The bright idea formulated by the

surprise that the ‘heads’ had hoped for was now entirely lost.

‘heads’ was to penetrate the line by surprise. This effectively

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l E 00455

of the German trenches, which were undamaged by recent

The next morning the soldiers were out there again in

meant that there could be no artillery used to alert the

the snow, ready for action and thinking – who knows what

defenders, or protect the attackers. The attacking troops

they were thinking? That men should not be used like this?

would instead be supported by a brand-new weapon, the

And then they heard them: the tanks, growling and coughing

recently arrived tank. Involving the tank at this point, in an

their way to the front line, becoming bogged and a target for

offensive undertaken by troops that had never worked with

German fire. Soldiers watched in amazement as tank crews

tanks before, was a fatal error of judgement. There was no

abandoned their machines in the face of the deadly assault

time for the troops to familiarise themselves with the tanks

and made a dash for safety. There was nothing for it, the

because the ‘heads’ wanted the battle of Bullecourt to take

infantry must advance unassisted. Across the snow-covered

place immediately. The tanks, it was thought, would provide

field, into the uncut wire, and remarkably, some even made

the protection needed for the soldiers as they dashed across

it into the German trenches. But already there were many

the open land and, rumbling and powerful, would crush

bodies hanging on the German wire as if attached by clothes

the belts of barbed wire and other defences in front of the

pegs, as Newton Wanliss, the battalion historian, wrote.

German trenches. They might also terrify the Germans into

Those who made their way through could fight, though so

surrendering.

savagely cut up, but not without ammunition, which could

Bert Jacka, now a captain, and with a real instinct for

not be resupplied. Eventually the survivors were called to

command, had been out in no-man’s-land to get a feel

withdraw back to their own lines. Which they did, walking,

himself for what was required. Flat, level land with no hint

almost casually, to show the strength of their spirit and their

of protection, no indentations in which a man might shelter.

contempt for those who had demanded that they do the

On the far side were massive belts of barbed wire in front

impossible.

Holding on

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 179

179

5/05/14 2:05 PM

The 4th Brigade went into the fight with about 3000 troops. Roll calls in the four battalions after the battle

delivered every one of his impetuous predictions was being

showed that the brigade had suffered 2339 casualties, nearly

paid for by the crushing of the magnificent force which

1000 of whom had been captured. The brigade and the

had been given to him to handle.’ Bean described Gough

14th Battalion, which was part of it, was crippled. The 14th

as working with ‘almost boyish eagerness’ and breaking

Battalion lost 19 officers and 582 other ranks. When the

rules that would have been observed even by a platoon

battalion finally returned to its home base at Ribemont, near

commander.

Saint-Quentin, and the villagers realised ‘that the small party

Hughes did not know the truth of the battle. And, in

returning, weary and war-battered was all that remained of

any case, he had taken his eye off the fine detail of the war

the proud and imposing unit that had marched away less

to fight a federal election, which he had called for 5 May

than a month before, expressions of grief and sympathy

1917. Hughes expected the election fight ‘to be the most

were heard from them on all sides’. With less than 1000

bitter on record’. For fear of certain defeat, he could not

men enlisting each month in Victoria, it was now almost

stand again in his long-held working-class electorate of West

impossible to replace these men. Even the 14th now had to

Sydney, and settled instead on the Victorian seat of Bendigo.

accept some few reinforcements from New South Wales.

The electorate was close to Melbourne where he now had

‘Stop wasting men recklessly’, Hughes might have

his home and would be reasonably safe for him. Though he

cabled to France, except that no-one thought in those

announced that his government had accepted the judgement

terms. Equally, Hughes may not have had a clear idea of the

of the voters on conscription, in his first address to the voters

disaster that had befallen the Australians at Bullecourt. In

of Bendigo Hughes stated that if ‘national safety demands

a brief addendum to a long article published in Melbourne

it the question will again be referred to the people’. This

on 17 April on the success of British arms at Lens, Charles

allowed his opponents, including Archbishop Mannix, to

Bean gave his account of the fighting at Hendecourt (as he

claim that a vote for Hughes was a vote for conscription

called it):

and the issue came to prominence yet again, with the same

At dawn on the morning of April 11 the Australians attacked. That irresistible Australian infantry fought its way under machine-gun fire through such barbed wire as has hitherto been unknown, seized two lines of Hindenburg trenches [and] pushed further on … it was one of the most gallant feats Australian soldiers have ever performed.

180

the attack, is palpable: ‘within two hours of the attack being

horribly divisive potential. Earlier in 1917, when he was opening a new Christian Brothers school on Dawson Street, Brunswick, Mannix looked at the role of education in the life of the nation and in the development of Australian trade. He worried, he said, about the decline in Australia’s trade,

In his official history, however, which was written years

perhaps alluding to his view that the Australian economy

later when he knew all the facts, Bean described Bullecourt

was being damaged by the war. Since the state and federal

as a ‘shocking loss’: ‘The [troops] had been employed

government, he said, had cut back on spending in the name

in an experiment of extreme rashness, persisted in by

of economy and to allow governments to channel all funds to

army commanders after repeated warnings, and that the

the war effort, 800 carpenters and joiners had been thrown

experiment had failed with shocking loss.’ Bean’s anger in

out of work. ‘Not a penny was coming to the support of their

writing of the British general, Hubert Gough, who ordered

families’, he said:

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 180

5/05/14 2:05 PM

Many of these men were over the military age and had sent their sons to the war. These men must walk the streets looking for work … . It was about time, that the people faced the problem of unemployment – faced it fairly and squarely.

the front, and his position in the military further infuriated and inflamed his numerous critics. Hughes was remarkable in the restless and tireless energy he brought to the election campaign, around

‘The war,’ Mannix continued, was ‘just an ordinary trade war’,

Australia but most particularly in Bendigo, his chosen

no different from any other war and driven by trade jealousy.

electorate. The city itself had a substantial population and

Had Mannix been speaking in 1913 or, indeed, throughout

saw much of Hughes, but he also visited the smaller villages

most of 1914, these words would have caused little

in the electorate, such as Kamarooka, Raywood, Sebastian

controversy. People then understood that Britain and

and Sydney Flat. The Bendigo Advertiser reported on a day

Germany were locked in a battle for trade supremacy. But as

spent on the hustings with Hughes. First stop Kamarooka.

the war went on it became, to the patriotic classes, a crusade;

What the local schoolchildren made of Hughes’s visit to the

to many it was a sacred crusade, and when the Argus reported,

Kamarooka East state school is unknown, but they, together

possibly through mishearing, that Mannix had called the war a

with ‘a crowd of local residents’, heard the prime minister

‘sordid trade war’, there was passionate opposition expressed

declare that the Union Jack was ‘our shield and our defence

to his views. (Though the Argus, in later editions, withdrew

but if it came down it would be our shroud’. He was next at

the word ‘sordid’.) There was no doubt in the minds of his

Kamarooka itself with about 150 people in the town hall:

opponents that Mannix harboured a hatred of Britain and that

‘we had been doing our duty’, he said, ‘but we had to go

his adherents disloyally nurtured the same hatreds.

further still.’ The Raywood Town Hall was full, holding

Melbourne, in particular, and more generally Victoria, was

some 200 people, for Hughes’s third stop of the day and the

now bitterly divided along religious and race lines: Protestant

prime minister painted ‘a pitiful picture of the plight of the

against Catholic, British against Irish.

outraged and deported and oppressed Belgians … From all

Though the election was set for 5 May, Mannix had more

those terrors Australia had been free,’ he continued, ‘but

on his mind than politics. He was, after all, the coadjutor

the majority of people could not say that the war had done

archbishop of Melbourne, to succeed to the top job on the

them harm.’ A full house waited at the Sebastian hall and

death of Thomas Carr, archbishop of Melbourne since 1886.

the prime minister said that, if they elected him, he would

Now 77 years of age, it was apparent in the first months of

do his best to look after their interests and to see that every

1917 that Carr’s health was failing, and he died on 6 May, the

man and every woman received a fair deal. There was also

day after the federal election and four days short of his 78th

a wayside gathering at Sydney Flat in a grove of ‘graceful

birthday. Mannix, therefore, succeeded Carr as archbishop

pepper trees’ at which Hughes said he could give his listeners

of Melbourne. By a strange quirk his brother bishops then

only a few minutes ‘and let them see that the devil was not as

nominated Mannix to be the Catholic chaplain-general, the

black as he was painted’. Then it was on to Eaglehawk and so

administrative head of the Catholic chaplains department,

the day ended.

again in succession to Carr. The headquarters of the Defence

A very high turnout of 90 per cent voted in the

Department were in Melbourne, they reasoned, so the

electorate of Bendigo on 5 May 1917. Hughes won the seat

chaplain-general should also be in Melbourne. Henceforth

easily, just as he won government. His majority in Bendigo

Mannix would be selecting Catholic chaplains for service at

of 4181 was the biggest win seen in this former Labor seat.

Holding on

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 181

181

5/05/14 2:05 PM

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 182

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 92.150/859

Bendigo as Billy Hughes, the new local member, would have found it in 1917

5/05/14 2:05 PM

In the House of Representatives his government held 53

overseas?’ Catholic bishops were more generally joining

seats against Labor’s 22. Bendigo had been doing its bit

Mannix in the fray, choosing to believe that the new list of

throughout the war, 6463 of its people enlisted there or gave

exemptions, somewhat different from 1916, was an attack on

Bendigo as their place of birth on the enlistment form; out

their church. The list exempted ‘ministers of religion’, but

in the sticks the enlistment figures were: Kamarooka 11,

not students for the priesthood or religious brothers, such as

Raywood 55, Sebastian 23 and Sydney Flat 3. This war was

the Christian Brothers in their schools. It was an oversight,

everywhere.

countered Hughes, of course men in these categories would

As spring finally arrived in France in May 1917, the 14th

be exempted. Instead the bishops chose to speak of the real

Battalion expected and had been promised a long period of

threat to the existence of their Catholic schools and the

rest after the disaster at Bullecourt. Now the snows of April

future sacramental life of the church.

could be forgotten and the troops enjoyed the prospect

Mannix spoke more frequently and at greater length in

of rest and regrouping at Ribemont. But the respite was

the second campaign and was regarded as a real leader of the

short-lived and the battalion found itself in front of Messines

case against conscription. He placed himself firmly on the

Ridge at the end of May, at Polygon Wood in September,

side of the workers and spoke bitterly about those with money

and even in the later stages of the fighting at Passchendaele

and influence, even if they happened to be members of his

in October. Though the losses were nowhere near as severe

own church. ‘I say that this cheap talk about equal sacrifice is

as at Bullecourt, nevertheless the battalion, like most of the

galling, absurd and ridiculous’, he asserted at one large rally

Australian battalions, was being bled dry.

at Melbourne’s Exhibition Building. ‘The wealthy classes

Hughes determined that the awful losses of 1917

would be very glad to send the last man,’ he said, recalling

represented the threat to ‘national safety’ of which he had

Andrew Fisher’s initial pledge, ‘but they have no notion of

spoken in the election campaign. This threat, he told the

giving the last shilling, or even the first … the burden in the

people, would alone justify another attempt to introduce

end will be borne by the toiling masses of Australia.’

conscription. Perhaps his overwhelming electoral victory

Towards the end of the campaign Mannix was invited by

in May had encouraged him, for how else could he have

the Young Ireland Society to address them at the Exhibition

conceived of throwing the country into another divisive

Building, and to speak again of the evil of conscription and

and bitter referendum? The referendum was set for

its threat to Australian national life. His opponents had had

20 December 1917, close to Christmas and, in a break

enough and they prevailed on the premier and the trustees

with usual electoral practice, would be held on a Thursday,

of the building to prevent Mannix from speaking. It was

perhaps in the hope of limiting the turnout of workers. This,

a hollow victory, for sportsman and entrepreneur, John

at least, was alleged by Hughes’s opponents, amidst a flurry

Wren, stepped in and offered the organisers his Richmond

of charges and counter-charges.

racecourse as an alternative venue. When Mannix arrived to

It particularly annoyed Hughes’s opponents that the

speak he found that he had an audience of at least 100 000

question put to voters on the ballot paper did not use the

people, perhaps one of the largest crowds ever assembled in

word ‘conscription’. Rather, voters were asked whether

Victoria. Of course he could not make himself heard to all

they were ‘in favour of the proposal of the Commonwealth

these people at once so several platforms were erected and

Government for reinforcing the Australian Imperial Forces

he gave the same speech to portions of the crowd all around

Holding on

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 183

183

5/05/14 2:05 PM

the racecourse. This must have been truly exhausting, but

of our men, insensible to the danger threatening the Empire

Mannix managed to hold the crowd and excite them into

and Australia, would be moved to vote “Yes”’.

Hughes was appalled and horrified by the strength of the

his commission to the governor-general. People expected

campaign against conscription and, in an attempt to bully

that he would honour his word, but who would govern in

the electorate, vowed that he would not be able to continue

his place? Not Tudor, who lacked Labor majorities in both

to govern if the people rejected his proposal. Hughes also

houses, though the governor-general did call him in to

sought to silence Mannix, his most vocal critic, by appealing

discuss the possibility. Tudor had to confess that he could not

to the Vatican to intervene. Rome, however, displayed a

form government. Hughes surrendered his commission as

shrewd understanding of the situation and a Vatican cardinal

Munro Ferguson sought alternatives. The official historian of

replied:

the home front, Ernest Scott, pictures rows of cabs arriving

It must not be forgotten that Monsignor Mannix, wrongly or rightly, enjoys great influence on the working classes – proofs of this are the imposing and clamorous demonstrations of Melbourne and Sydney – therefore severe measures taken against him even by the Holy See, would undoubtedly aggravate the situation and create grave difficulties for the Government itself.

from the city to deposit Hughes’s leading colleagues at Government House, all of them pledging that only Hughes could govern. The single exception, West Australia’s Sir John Forrest, Treasurer in the ‘Win-the-War’ government, thought that he might be able to do the job. Other ministers assured the governor-general the proposition was unworkable and, within the day, Munro Ferguson had recommissioned

In the event, the voters rejected conscription for a second

Hughes as his, and the nation’s, prime minister. To many it

time, again by a slim majority, but more strongly than in

was another in the saga of twists and turns and deceptions for

the year before. Victoria joined the ‘No’ majority, although

which Hughes was becoming notorious.

with 662 262 ballots cast, the Victorian ‘No’ majority was

184

Crushed, Hughes now confronted his promise to return

Hughes retired to his holiday home in the Dandenong

only 2718 votes. Even Bendigo voted ‘No’, but with a small

Ranges for the Christmas break and Australia tried, for at

majority of about 500 votes. Despite its slender majority,

least a day, to take their minds off the war. Those who went

Victoria’s ‘No’ vote was a significant turnaround from the

to church on the day itself heard sermons that could not

first referendum. In its first response to the possible defeat of

but refer to the war. The story of the Christ child caught up

the referendum, before all the votes could have been counted,

with other stories about the need to put down the threat to

the Argus wondered why the ‘eligibles’ had been allowed

the Empire and the evil that Germany represented. As 1917

to vote. Surely it was silly, the paper believed, to invite men

gave way to 1918, an end to the war looked as far off as ever.

to conscript themselves. Such was the vision of democracy

There was little fighting on the Western Front throughout

promoted by the Argus. We can never know how the

another bleak winter, but when the snows thawed, spring

‘eligibles’ voted, but we do know that soldiers at the front, in

returned and the fighting resumed, would victory be any

both referenda, voted ‘No’. And, when the true horror of the

closer? Jack McGlade did not write to Shela Stagg this

situation revealed itself in the final voting figures, the Argus

winter, or if he did, his letters have not survived. Could

was appalled: ‘It was absurd to suppose,’ the paper thundered,

anyone, even in remotest Gippsland, smell peace in the air

‘that electors, blind to the chaos in Europe, deaf to the call

this Christmas-time? It seemed unlikely.

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 2011.26/6

enormous displays of fervour.

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 184

5/05/14 2:05 PM

Federal Government House, Melbourne, the scene of much horsetrading in late December 1917 as the governor-general tried to find a prime minister after

S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , P i c t u r e s C o ll e c t i o n, H 2011.26/6

Hughes’s resignation. Hughes was recommissioned.

Holding on

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 185

185

5/05/14 2:05 PM

two soldier priests

D

ozens, if not hundreds, of Anglican priests and

expected to see out his working life in Australia. When war

Protestant ministers enlisted in the ranks of the

broke out Heneghan was an assistant priest at Smythesdale,

AIF. Most of them worked as stretcher-bearers,

20 kilometres from Ballarat on the road to Hamilton in

but some bore arms. Their enlistment shows that

western Victoria. Heneghan enlisted in the Victorian

these men saw the war as of overwhelming importance

7th Battalion in Melbourne on 7 July 1915. He was 33

in the life of the nation, of the Empire, and as a moment

years of age, of medium height and weight, with a ‘fresh’

in world history. Many of them believed that they were

complexion and blue eyes. Smythesdale provided 72 men

fighting against an evil German ideology and in the defence

for war service. Did Heneghan find it impossible to look

of the rights of small nations. Yet many senior churchmen

their families in the eye if he, a relatively young man, did

argued against allowing priests and ministers into the ranks.

not go too?

TH Armstrong, Anglican bishop of Wangaratta in north-

Heneghan left Australia in November 1915, but did

eastern Victoria, likened the enlistment of a clergyman to

not leave Egypt until the end of May 1916 and spent the

the use of a razor to cut wood: ‘any strong, healthy man of

remainder of that year in England. In January 1917 he

ordinary intelligence can do the duties of the rank and file

transferred to the 14th Field Ambulance and was soon

… but every such man is not called, trained and consecrated

in France. He received a gunshot wound to his left side

to be a priest of the Church.’

in May 1917, but recovered and returned to France

Despite studying the role of the Australian churches in the Great War, I had not found evidence of the enlistment

found guilty of behaving ‘in an insolent manner to an

of Catholic priests and I believed that Catholic priests had

officer’ and received 14 days field punishment for his

a tighter ethic of obedience to their superiors’ decrees and

crime. He was killed in action on 22 March 1918 and is

possibly a more elevated understanding of their own role in

buried in Dranoutre Military Cemetery in Belgium. Due

the sacramental life of their church. I was wrong.

to longstanding AIF confusion, his headstone gives his

We cannot know what impelled Father John Thomas

186

two days after Christmas 1917. In January 1918 he was

name as Henehan, but his name is spelt correctly on the

Heneghan to enlist. He was born in 1882 in County Mayo,

Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour. In May 1918

Ireland, studied for the priesthood at All Hallows College,

the parish priest at Smythesdale wrote to the Department

Dublin, was ordained and in 1908, at the age of 26, left

of Defence asking if Heneghan had made a will. He had

for priestly work in the diocese of Ballarat. He would have

left some books behind him when he enlisted, wrote the

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 186

5/05/14 2:05 PM

priest, and he would like to know to whom to send them. Though he died in the service of Australia, Heneghan left few, if any, Australian roots. While the reasons for Heneghan’s enlistment

the authorities to find a place for O’Donnell as a chaplain. Chaplain O’Donnell determined to visit Ireland, where he had studied, before his own return to Australia after the armistice. While dining at the International

are obscure, there is no doubt why Thomas Joseph

Hotel, Kilkenny, on 9 October 1919, it was alleged that

O’Donnell joined up. Born in 1877 at Buninyong, near

he uttered disloyal words directed towards the King.

Ballarat, O’Donnell also studied at All Hallows and was

O’Donnell was arrested and held for several days in

ordained in 1907. A near contemporary of Heneghan,

Dublin without charge or trial. Hughes was appalled

they almost certainly knew one another, though after

and worked hard for O’Donnell’s release, cabling to the

ordination O’Donnell worked on the north-east coast of

British Government: ‘I feel sure a very regrettable mistake

Tasmania. O’Donnell profoundly disagreed with many of

has been made. I know Father O’Donnell very well. He is

his co-religionists about conscription. He was strongly in

a true Australian and one of the most loyal and patriotic

favour of compulsion for military service and, noting that

of men … he boldly denounced the disloyalists in our

Archbishop Mannix had said that it was a political matter

midst … his arrest is having a most unfortunate effect on

about which Catholics might disagree, offered himself

his co-religionists.’

to Billy Hughes to make a ‘dramatic declaration’ to

Though he was briefly incarcerated in the Tower of

counteract the influence of Mannix. O’Donnell spoke up

London, traditional home to traitors, O’Donnell was

during the second campaign, hoping to show a different

handed over to the AIF for his court martial. It was a

Catholic response and to divert, perhaps, the ignominy,

serious affair and witnesses gave conflicting statements,

indeed hatred, that was piled on Catholics when the ‘No’

one of which suggested that his detractors had thought

victory became apparent. He failed in that, and failed to

O’Donnell was loudly complaining about King George,

draw much attention to his campaign for ‘Yes’.

when actually he was giving voice to his concerns about

Depressed beyond measure by the failure of both

Lloyd George, the British prime minister. Retiring,

referendums, O’Donnell enlisted in the ranks of the AIF

members of the court took nearly two hours to reach their

in early 1918, though he was 40 years of age. Mannix,

verdict, but exonerated the priest-chaplain. He was free to

now Catholic chaplain-general and clearly unhappy with

return to Australia. How Mannix might have enjoyed his

the prospect of a priest in the ranks, placed pressure on

discomfort at the hands of the British.

Holding on

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 187

187

5/05/14 2:05 PM

c h a p t e r

n i n e

Vi c t o r y

‘D

ad’ Brotchie left Port Melbourne three days before Christmas in 1914. n His oldest child, Ada, was then 18 years of age, his youngest child, Ruby, was only three. n By 1918 John Brotchie and some of his mates in the 14th Battalion had been continuously at war since April 1915. n None of Brotchie’s nine children had seen him since his

troopship departed; they had spent four Christmases without him. n

Edgar, Victoria and Ruby, the three youngest, probably had only hazy memories of ‘Dad’; the six older children had spent the formative years of their lives without any input from their father. n

His wife, also Ada, was the sole parent throughout the long

through the awful separation from their homes, families

years of war and there must have been much worry in her life.

and friends. Hughes was in London again – he had left

Especially when she learned that ‘Dad’ had received a gunshot

Australia on 26 April 1918 and would not return until

wound to his arm in France in October 1917, sufficiently severe

August 1919 – when he decided that the 1914 men must

for a reasonably long spell in hospital in England.

have leave back in Australia. Hughes proposed a two

Billy Hughes worried about men like Brotchie. They had been away for too long, had suffered too much at war and

months’ furlough at home, to freshen the men up before they went back to the war and to reward them for their

188

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 188

5/05/14 2:05 PM

devoted and lengthy service. ‘Not possible’, thundered the

hoped that their presence in Australia ‘would give an

British shipping controller, ‘can’t let you have the ships

immense impetus to recruiting’. Bean was touched to see

such leave would require’. But Hughes was persistent and

how the ‘old diggers’ responded to this news: ‘at the sight

eventually prevailed, against the War Office, which was

of their joy no Australian could remain unmoved.’ There

reluctant to release the men, and the Shipping Controller,

would have undoubtedly been equal excitement in the

reluctant to release the ships. In mid-September 1918 the

Brotchie home in Fitzroy.

first 60 officers and 740 men left the battlefield and went

There was other work for Hughes at the War Office in

straight on board their leave ship, with no time even to pick

London. He had determined that not only would the 1914

up fresh clothing. They would be given new gear in Egypt

men be given their furlough, but that the whole of the AIF

on the way home. ‘Anzac leave’ they called it, and as ‘Dad’

must be withdrawn from the front line by 15 October for

would be one of those entitled to it, he might even be home

long rest. Hughes was acutely aware that the Australian

for Christmas 1918.

battalions had been fighting hard and continuously since

Charles Bean announced news of the leave in the

March. In the days following 21 March the Germans

papers on 17 September 1918. Hughes told a group of

launched their great offensive that all but won them the

soldiers that, after his ‘strong representations to the War

war. Moving with speed and surprise the Germans had their

Office’, he had succeeded in gaining leave for the 1914

opponents on the run, backwards, crossing the Somme

men, of whom there were thought to be about 7000 still

battlefields that they had won with such extraordinary

on the front line, out of a pool of more than 50 000 who

sacrifice and loss of life in 1916. Indeed, the Germans

enlisted by the end of 1914. What savage figures! A soldier

recovered in a week territory that the British had gained

serving continuously at the front since April 1915 had a

across two hard years of fighting. It was clear that should

high likelihood of having either been killed or severely

Amiens, a key railway centre on the route to Paris, be lost,

wounded. Then there were those in occupations away from

the whole war might be lost too. The British Commander-

the front, who were not eligible for leave, and members of

in-Chief, Douglas Haig, sent out a special order ‘to all ranks

the light horse to whom Anzac leave did not apply.

of the British Army in France and Flanders’. He conceded

Those on Anzac leave would quit the battlefield in (European) autumn and all would be away by early winter, to return to the front during the spring of 1919. Hughes

many amongst us are now tired … [but] Victory will belong to the side which holds out the longest … There is no course open to us but to fight it out … With our

Victory

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 189

189

5/05/14 2:05 PM

backs to the wall and believing in the justice of our cause each one of us must fight on to the end.

In March 1918 the Australian 4th Brigade, including Victoria’s 14th Battalion, was the first of the Australians to face the advancing Germans. The commander of the 14th Battalion, Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Crowther, briefed his men before they went into battle on the night of 25 March. Crowther, educated at Brighton Grammar School and Melbourne University, won the respect of his new battalion who recognised him as a fighting soldier, renowned for his bravery. He told them that the 14th Battalion had never retired and that they would not do so now. But, as men of the battalion watched the retreating and seemingly beaten British soldiers, they may have doubted Crowther’s rhetoric. In the words of the battalion historian: ‘seldom have troops marched to meet a triumphant and overwhelming enemy under more disheartening and depressing conditions.’ In addition to the retreating British soldiers, the battalion witnessed French civilians fleeing in panic. But the French were soon reassured by the arrival of the Australian battalions and villagers, who had loaded their possessions onto whatever carts they could find, on witnessing the determination of the battalions of the 4th Brigade, changed their minds about retreat and returned to their homes. The line held at Hébuterne, thanks to the efforts of the 4th Brigade, and the German push slowed and then stopped there on 5 April 1918. The brigade was back in action at Villers-Bretonneux in late April, building on the good work of earlier Australian resistance. Once again a determined German push was halted; once again the Australians were central to the task. The 14th Battalion was fighting at the peak of its performance, calling on the spirit that Bert Jacka had infused into the unit, though for Jacka himself, badly gassed on 15 May north of VillersBretonneux, and with old wounds reopening, there was a

190

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 190

5/05/14 2:05 PM

(1918) being welcomed home. ‘Dad’ Brotchie would have been somewhere among these troops. No doubt some or all of his nine children were among the crowd of wellwishers.

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 191

Victory

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l J 00351

Perhaps the happiest march of troops through Melbourne. These are men on Anzac leave

191

5/05/14 2:05 PM

long period in hospital ahead. For him, the war was over. In late June the battalion found itself training with tanks, so recently despised after the tragedy at Bullecourt.

plotting movement on the Western Front. Recruiting had just about come to a standstill and

This was in preparation for General John Monash’s set-

politically Australia was as deeply divided as perhaps it

piece battle at Hamel on 4 July 1918, one of the most

has ever been in the nation’s history. But, still, the war

successful and well-choreographed actions in which

dominated people’s thoughts and lives. The same volume

Australians had ever participated. The 14th Battalion,

of material about the war continued to be produced

though in reserve initially, fought with determination and

by the press, but as the year moved on, in Melbourne

skill at Hamel and in the subsequent mopping-up. Then

and the bush, the tone became more optimistic and

in early August the battalion was in action again at Cerisy

encouraging, as if this awful scourge might possibly be

and Morcourt as part of the overwhelmingly successful

drawing to a conclusion. The Argus told the story of the

‘Battle of Amiens’, ‘a brilliant victory, cheaply purchased’

battle of Hamel just two days after it had happened on

in the words of the battalion historian.

6 July 1918. Hughes sent a cable saying that he had had

Casualties, though, were mounting. When the 14th

192

growing vegetables, collecting pennies and, at last,

the privilege of addressing the troops ‘before their going

Battalion was called into action at the Hindenburg

in’ and found that ‘the morale and condition and spirit

Outpost Line near Péronne, its ‘over-the-top’ strength

of all the Australians are splendid.’ When he cabled his

was just 360 men. The battalion was not relieved from

congratulations to Monash after the battle, he wrote, of

the fighting until the night of 20/21 September and, by

their ‘brilliant victory, which comes at the psychological

then, it was ‘absolutely worn out’. There were, possibly,

moment and which may have several military and political

only 200 men left in the 14th’s ranks. At last, the rest that

effects.’ Was it too much now to dare to hope?

had been promised many times over the last 16 months

The day before this thrilling report was published,

eventuated. The battalion went into quarters at Hangest

Swanston Street was taken over for ‘Comforts Fund Day’.

and it was there that the remnants of Victoria’s own, with

The street was decorated with flags and bunting and

such a glorious history, heard the news on 11 November

lined with 40 kiosks. There were ‘singing parties’ in the

1918 that Germany had capitulated.

street and a theatrical troupe, assisted by members of the

There were three groups working for the welfare of

Savage Club, offered a show in the town hall, which was

the 14th Battalion in Melbourne, Ballarat and Geelong.

well patronised. The variety and quality of the work for

Since almost from the moment the battalion was formed,

sale showed that ‘Melbourne housekeepers are not only

the women in these groups, largely mothers and wives,

generous in their contributions, but resourceful in ideas

raised money to buy ‘comforts’ for the soldiers, and

… the display of wares yesterday being about the best

made things, such as socks and cakes, to send to the

yet seen in the streets.’ Over £26 000 had been counted

boys to brighten up their lives. This work continued

by Commonwealth Bank staff at the end of the evening’s

throughout 1918 even as the women thrilled, at last, to be

trading, but it was expected that the final tally might reach

reading some of the good news of increasingly victorious

£30 000.

battles. Red Cross groups, such as the women at Birchip,

At the same time, outside the federal Parliament

continued with their fundraising and children continued

House at the top of Bourke Street, a large gathering

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 192

5/05/14 2:05 PM

S to n n i n g to n L i b r a r y a n d I n f o r m at i o n S e r v i c e p h 9205 S to n n i n g to n L i b r a r y a n d I n f o r m at i o n S e r v i c e p h 9206

The fundraising work continued right to the end. A gala effort in Chapel Street, Prahran, on 29 June 1918, raised nearly £6000 for the war effort.

Patriotic workers in Prahran

Victory

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 193

193

5/05/14 2:05 PM

assembled to watch the governor-general present soldiers

to welcome home Private R Feuteral. Proceedings

or their relatives with bravery awards. Some of the soldiers

began with the entire group singing the national anthem

present were wearing blue armbands indicating that they

and there were three speeches of congratulations. The

were still receiving medical treatment and ‘there was rich

returning soldier was presented with a gold medal

pathos’, the newspaper reported, ‘in the appearance of

inscribed in his name, and when he spoke ‘his friends

some of the soldiers whose health had suffered, and in

were agreeably surprised at the natural talent displayed by

the coming forward of parents or widows to receive the

him’. Then everyone sang ‘For he’s a jolly good fellow’.

honours conferred on their dead sons or husbands.’ The

There were musical items, a dance followed and supper

governor-general said that ‘honours won in the field will

was served by the ladies at midnight. The festivities

always rank far above any others, and in handing you these

terminated at daybreak. Would every returning soldier be

decorations in the name of His Majesty I would express

so celebrated? In the interests of sobriety and hard work,

the hope that you will live long to wear them.’ ‘Many

you would have to hope not.

boyish voices helped in the cheering,’ the paper reported, leaving the reader wondering why these lads were not in

number was as nothing to the joy around the state on

school, except that still, of course, the war was everywhere.

the night of 11 November 1918, and the following

In Casterton, less than a week after Hamel, at the

morning. The news of the armistice could not have

annual meeting of the Red Cross, the year’s work was

caught people unawares, for the good news had kept on

tallied and 29 office-bearers were elected, all of whom,

coming throughout October and early November 1918.

bar one, were married women. The only males in the

But could people really believe that the war might end?

organisation were the honorary auditors. The women

There had been a false report of the coming of peace

had knitted 702 pairs of socks, made 293 shirts, 17 pairs

a few days earlier and officials were wary of further

of pyjamas, 166 scarves, 130 Balaclava caps and many

furphies. So, while arrangements had been made by the

other items and had raised £436/9/7 with activities such

state government to send a telegram of good news to the

as afternoon tea and luncheon at the Casterton Racing

town clerk of every municipality throughout the state

Club, a Sportsman’s Band, dance and collection, and

(there were 90 of them), the government held off sending

various donations. The Casterton branch of the Red

the telegrams on the night of 11 November, despite the

Cross was not exceptional in its activity; on the contrary,

rumours, waiting instead for an official announcement

it exemplifies the enormous commitment to the war that

from the acting prime minister, William Watt.

remained a central part of every Victorian town, village

Events overtook these plans. The Argus and the Age

and suburb. Were the war to end there would be an

posted their bulletins of the cabled news from Europe

enormous void in many people’s lives.

outside their offices in Collins Street, and the Herald did

Already men had been returning home, discharged as

194

The joy at Bahgallah at the return of one of their

the same in Flinders Street. The people went mad. In

medically unfit, as had happened throughout the war, but

towns and villages across the state people were waiting

in the increasingly positive times there were now reports

outside the town and shire halls for official news, which

of parties and dances to welcome the returning heroes.

came when telephone messages alerted the whole state

At Bahgallah, near Casterton, 150 people came together

to the news that had burst upon Melbourne. ‘It kindled a

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 194

5/05/14 2:05 PM

blaze of feeling such as the State has never known before.’

the town hall and sang the national anthem and patriotic

So remarkable was the news that the Argus, the most staid

songs. Most of the revellers were in the city by 9 pm and

of Australian or even imperial newspapers, published it on

the celebrations lasted long into the night. Though ‘last

the front page, which was religiously reserved for classified

trains’ concentrated minds somewhat: ‘the excitement at

advertising. A small notice, to be sure, but such a break

Flinders Street reached its zenith just before midnight

with tradition: ‘Germany Beaten. Armistice Signed’.

when thousands of exuberant folk remembered that there

Collins Street became one huge mass of people from Russell Street to Elizabeth Street. Boys climbed

were such things as “last trains” even on “Peace” night.’ The news of the armistice reached Casterton about

the trees opposite the Argus office and ‘perched like

9 pm on 11 November, and although some refused to

monkeys amongst the branches’; other boys ‘got on the

believe it, they were in a minority. Someone took to

iron verandahs in Swanston Street and were pounding

ringing the fire bell and soon almost the whole town was

on them with sticks.’ Everyone wanted to make as much

on the streets. At about 11 pm a message from Ballarat

noise as possible. There were tin whistles and kerosene

confirmed the great news, but some sceptics remained

tins pressed into service and an explosion of crackers

unconvinced. All doubts were removed when, at about

and fireworks. One enterprising individual placed small

midnight, a message came from the governor-general; it

Allied flags all over Germany on the war map outside the

was true, the war was over. Casterton had already formed

Argus office and a girl shouted that he should place the

a peace choir and, by luck, the members were rehearsing

Australian flag on Berlin. Returned soldiers were hoisted

that very night. Members hastily formed up in front of

on to the shoulders of men in the crowd and treated

the Mechanics Hall in Henty Street where they sang

with much respect and gratitude. For, throughout the

‘Praise God from whom all blessings flow’. Then the

celebrations, the contribution of the AIF to the outcome

Casterton Brass Band arrived and ‘lively airs soon added

was in the forefront of people’s thinking: ‘it’s the boys who

to the general rejoicing’. An improvised platform was put

have helped win this war for us that we ought to cheer,’ a

up and speeches followed, including those of Archdeacon

woman said. The demonstrations were entirely popular

Harris and the Presbyterian minister the Rev. J Meers,

and spontaneous without an official lead from any person

but unlike at the farewells four years earlier, not the

in authority. There would be a place for the governor-

Catholic priest. Several returned soldiers also spoke. The

general, the acting prime minister and state and local

brass band met competition from a hastily organised

officials, but that place was not on this night. The eruption

band of young women playing penny trumpets, kerosene

of joy showed just how intensely the war had dominated

tins, and even a bullock bell. ‘The fire bell was adding to

the thinking of all. When the news broke, people in

the noise with an almost continuous dong and the streets

the suburbs, parents carrying sleeping babies, rushed to

were kept lively until well after midnight.’

the city, packing trains at that late hour. Some, though,

Joy everywhere. There must have been madness

remained in their own places, such as the estimated 4000–

and great celebration in King William Street, Fitzroy,

5000 who celebrated outside the Brunswick Town Hall.

too, ‘Dad’ Brotchie’s home. From youngest to oldest,

At Richmond, still taking pride of place in the number

all nine children might have been ecstatic. But perhaps

of local boys who had enlisted, a crowd gathered outside

their mother’s mood was subdued by thoughts of the

Victory

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 195

195

5/05/14 2:05 PM

S to n n i n g to n L i b r a r y a n d I n f o r m at i o n S e r v i c e ph 9201

196

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 196

Monster fair, Chapel Street, Prahran

5/05/14 2:05 PM

Can it be true?

R oya l H i s to r i c a l S o c i e t y o f V i c to r i a G S-W G-0204

Peace at last. Outside the Melbourne Town Hall

Victory

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 197

197

5/05/14 2:05 PM

Melbourne celebrates Armistice Day with an official public holiday, huge crowds in the city, the flags of the Allies and widespread

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l J 00348

delight.

198

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 198

5/05/14 2:05 PM

men who had enlisted alongside ‘Dad’ in the first days of

number of citizens, and the hall could have been filled

the war and who would not be coming home? Even in this

many times over given the immense crowd outside. The

great joy there was time for reflection. Did anyone spare

day was declared a public holiday and people were free to

a thought for that poor boy, Bertie Pring, sole support of

celebrate. Waiting for the speeches to begin the crowd sang

his widowed mother, the first of the 14th Battalion to be

patriotic songs, accompanied by the mighty town hall organ

killed in France? Did Bertie’s mother leave her cottage in

and a brass band. Rising to speak and cheered to the echo,

Ballarat East when she heard all the commotion on that

Acting Prime Minister William Watt moved a motion

happy night, or did she turn to the wall and say a couple of decades of her rosary for her boy and all the other boys who would not be coming home? There was an official celebration in the Melbourne Town Hall on Tuesday 12 November, attended by a huge

that the citizens of Melbourne express their devoted loyalty to the Throne and the Empire … [congratulate] His Most Gracious Majesty the King upon the triumph of the British and Allied Armies and they trust that an enduring peace for the British Empire and all mankind may be assured.

S to n n i n g to n L i b r a r y a n d I n f o r m at i o n S e r v i c e p h 9210

A peace celebration outside the Malvern Town Hall, 12 November 1918

Victory

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 199

199

5/05/14 2:05 PM

Punch 21 N o v e m b e r 1918, S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , N e w spa p e r s C o ll e c t i o n

The governor-general received an address on the armistice from the federal parliament to send to the King.

200

Watt, born near Kyneton, north-west of Melbourne, grew

premier in 1914 to take the federal seat of Balaclava

up in North Melbourne and attended the Errol Street

(southern Melbourne) he was a federal minister in Billy

state school. He helped his widowed mother as a lad by

Hughes’s National government and federal Treasurer

selling newspapers, and worked in a variety of jobs before

when Sir John Forrest moved on to take his seat in the

becoming an accountant. He studied at the Public (now

British House of Lords. (Forrest died at sea on his way

State) Library of Victoria and the Working Men’s College

to London.) ‘Willy’ Watt was as thoroughly a Melbourne

across the road in La Trobe Street. Resigning as Victorian

man as had yet served in the federal Cabinet, possibly

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 200

5/05/14 2:05 PM

remember the mothers and fathers and other relatives of the boys ‘who never can come back’. On Wednesday the only official federal government function was the journey of the governor-general from Government House on St Kilda Road to the federal Parliament House to receive the parliament’s resolutions on the armistice for transmission to the King. As Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson was escorted to the parliament, he was cheered by the crowds of people who assembled along the route. He may have been thinking that now, at last, his state ballroom, dining room and even his sitting room, might lose their Red Cross occupants and return to him for their intended uses. By order of the state governor, Sir Arthur Stanley, the people of Victoria observed Sunday 17 November as a day of thanksgiving. Each of the great city churches, St Paul’s, St Patrick’s, Scots, Wesley, Collins Street Baptist, Collins Street Independent, provided impressive services for their adherents. At St Patrick’s, Archbishop Mannix preached at the solemn High Mass. ‘The dreadful, cruel, disastrous war was now happily ended … unique in its infamy and in the horrors that accompanied it from the very first day.’ He urged people to remember in their prayers those who had fallen in the war, though he recognised that the sympathy of the nation could never ‘assuage the grief of the relatives of the bereaved’. At Casterton the Venerable Archdeacon Harris preached to a large congregation in Christ Church and said that ‘joy in full measure would come to the world’. At Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Casterton, the parish excepting Alfred Deakin. The acting prime minister

priest, still Father Lowham, celebrated a thanksgiving Mass

was among friends at the town hall. In his speech he

to ‘a very large congregation’. In his sermon he said that

referred to the overthrow of tyranny and rejoiced that the

two feelings were uppermost in the minds of all, joy and

‘despotic thrones’ had ‘tottered to ruin in a few months’.

sorrow. But even the sorrow, he said, ‘should be mingled

The men who were responsible for the war were ‘flying

with a sacred joy, to feel that [those who had died] had

like hunted criminals’ to wherever they might find safety.

sacrificed their lives on the altar of Duty and Patriotism’.

To murmurs of sympathy Watt called on the meeting to

At Scots Church, Casterton, ‘hearts breathed out praise and

Victory

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 201

201

5/05/14 2:05 PM

thankfulness to God for the great blessing bestowed upon the Empire and people.’ On Sunday afternoon, outdoors at federal Parliament House, a service of remembrance was held for the

Thanksgiving service at federal Parliament House, 17 November 1918

fighting men of Australia who had died in the war. The governor-general attended, as did a crowd that assembled in front of the Parliament House steps and stretched far down Bourke Street. A vast crowd gathered in the city in Swanston, Collins and Spring streets and, although they could not all take part in the service, the people solemnly joined in the spirit of the occasion. It was estimated that some 30 000–40 000 people were in front of parliament where they heard a simple service, lasting less than half an hour, which concluded with the last post. A special reserve was set aside for the relatives of the fallen. There were hymns and prayers but no speeches. A reporter, leaving the service, heard a woman remark, ‘I have lost seven nephews. Life can never be the same to me again, but, oh!, I feel so proud.’ There was no official Catholic presence, priest or prelate, at the service for the fallen at Parliament House. The Argus asked why and was told by a priest at the cathedral that it was universal Catholic policy not to participate in joint services with the representatives of other faiths or creeds. But ‘a solemn requiem mass’ was held at the cathedral the next day for those who had died. At a Sunday evening benediction service at St Patrick’s, Mannix, having preached earlier in the day at the solemn High Mass, presided, but did not preach. Instead, Patrick Phelan, the bishop of Sale, addressed the densely packed cathedral. Phelan, born in Ireland, served his priestly ministry entirely in Victoria and was dean of Melbourne and administrator of St Patrick’s from 1900 to 1912. He was, it seems, deeply disappointed that he had been passed over for Melbourne when Mannix was appointed coadjutor archbishop, but he was a loyal ally of the new

202

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 202

5/05/14 2:05 PM

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 203 N at i o n a l L i b r a r y o f A u s t r a l i a a n 25120737

Victory

203

5/05/14 2:05 PM

Punch 21 N o v e m b e r 1918, S tat e L i b r a r y o f V i c to r i a , N e w spa p e r s C o ll e c t i o n

204

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 204 5/05/14 2:05 PM

Part of the massive crowd outside federal Parliament House on Sunday 17 November 1918

Victory

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 205

205

5/05/14 2:05 PM

The Salvation Army celebrates the victory and draws the lesson as soldiers march past its Melbourne headquarters. It is intriguing that two boys have their backs

S a lvat i o n A r my p 1544750001.jp g

to the soldiers.

206

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 206

5/05/14 2:05 PM

man. During the conscription campaigns Phelan had

Our boys are in Heaven, he might have said, more

stressed the official neutrality of the church and he had

directly, but who knows where their boys are. Soldiers

once described sectarianism as ‘that prolific mother of

of the 14th, or any other Australian battalion, might

strife’.

have thought that in death every single one of them

The cathedral was a glorious sight on that night, rows

was equal, in sacrifice and in the love and esteem of

of candles burning on the altar, banks of ‘choice flowers’,

those at home. Phelan, in these bitter and divided times,

the rich aroma of incense. The archbishop was in all

thought differently. Indeed, he gloried in the difference.

his glory on the ‘throne’ at the altar. The archbishop of

‘Arrangements have been made,’ he concluded, ‘to

Wellington, New Zealand, who happened to be visiting

have a Solemn Requiem Mass here [tomorrow] for the

Melbourne, the Most Rev. Dr Francis Redwood, added

Australian soldiers who have fallen in the war. Thus

additional colour and grandeur and also present were

the Church never loses sight of her children.’ It was as

leading diocesan clergy. Phelan preached a lengthy

if he was sneering at the service of hymns and prayers

sermon occupying five full columns in the diocesan

recently conducted at Parliament House, just across the

newspaper. He spoke of the Pope, of the ‘Prince of

way.

Peace’, and of the heroic deeds of the Australian soldiers.

Victorians went back to work on Monday and life

Their work was more praiseworthy, he said, because the

slowly began to return to normal. Parties of men on

men had enlisted freely: ‘their gift of sacrifice and life

Anzac leave began to arrive home and people read eagerly

was a free gift; no cruel law dragged them from their

about arrangements for the return of the entire AIF.

parents and friends.’ With joy and gratitude being the two

General Monash was placed in charge of repatriation

dominant themes since the armistice, was it appropriate

arrangements and quickly announced the general

or politic to drag his congregation back to the bitter

principle that those who had enlisted earliest would be

divisions of conscription?

sent home first. But, he warned the community, with

Worse was to follow. When he spoke of the dead,

so many men to repatriate the return would take many

the bishop reminded his listeners that the sons of

months to complete. Even so, the first men to arrive on

Catholic parents were almost certainly assured of

Anzac leave were publicly feted in the city and in their

salvation. ‘Catholic mothers have a consolation denied

own homes. Houses were decorated with bunting and

their country-women, who made a similar sacrifice,’ he

flags and ‘Welcome Home’ signs stretched across front

continued:

verandahs. Local halls celebrated welcome home dinners

The Catholic boys, as a rule, received the Bread of Life going into the last engagement and, in most cases, the Sacrament for the Dying before setting out for Eternity. … when a man in a dying condition

for returning groups of men and orators practised their arts. Many of the soldiers, though, simply wanted to slide back into their communities without too much fuss and resume the lives that had been so remarkably disrupted.

is carried from the battlefield, what little use is the

In time they might want to look into their experiences, to

Bible-reading clergyman, who has no power to

seek to help one another through reunions and marches

absolve from sins.

and memorials. For now, many of them simply wanted to forget.

Victory

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 207

207

5/05/14 2:05 PM

S i r J o h n M o n as h

J

ohn Monash died at home in Toorak on

indeed, struggled with his degrees. After university and into

8 October 1931 at 66 years of age. More than

early middle age, Monash’s business affairs were chaotic,

300 000 people witnessed the passage of his

after which he began, at last, to make his mark. Monash

funeral cortege through the streets of Melbourne.

combined engineering, particularly of concrete products,

Why did so many people honour this man and make such

with soldiering, at which he excelled. Always ambitious,

an effort to farewell him? Could it be that Monash, Jewish

Monash worked hard at his reading in the Public (later State)

and of alien descent, was held in such esteem as to be

Library and was involved in the construction of the Library’s

regarded as one of the greatest Victorians? Politicians –

breathtaking domed reading room, which opened in 1913.

such as Alfred Deakin and Robert Menzies – spring to mind

Adversity must have steeled Monash and it is certain that,

as possible contenders for the title, but Monash stood head

as a Jew and descendant of a German, no-one could have

and shoulders above them on the world stage.

expected that he would play the pre-eminent role in the AIF.

Monash’s body lay in state in Queen’s Hall, Parliament House from Friday 9 October. The funeral procession

which included Victoria’s iconic battalion, the 14th, when it

left Parliament House in Bourke Street at about 1 pm

was formed at Broadmeadows in September 1914. Monash

on Sunday 11 October 1931 and made its way, past the

proved himself an inspired and excellent trainer of men.

partially completed Shrine of Remembrance, where a

Critics were harsh about his performance at Gallipoli and

memorial service was held later that afternoon, to the

unfairly criticised him for the failure of the attack on Sari

Brighton cemetery on North Road. An estimated 8000

Bair, 6–8 August. But Monash and his men were asked to

returned men marched ‘in mufti’ and accompanied the gun

achieve the impossible and Monash’s biographer, Geoffrey

carriage on which the coffin was placed. The streets were

Serle, writes that Gallipoli ‘had given him a devastating

packed with silent onlookers.

education’. It was a significant part of his genius as a military

At around 40 years of age Monash complained of

commander that Monash learned his lessons very well. His

his ‘cursed bad luck’, and his life to that point gave

growth and development as a strategist, thinker and leader is

him grounds for such an anguished cry. His father, an

the most impressive aspect of his years at war.

immigrant from Prussia, did not prosper in Victoria as he

208

Monash was given command of the 4th Infantry Brigade,

Perhaps it was his extraordinary good fortune to be given

might have expected. John, ferociously bright at school at

command of the newly formed Australian Corps in June

Scotch College, did not set the university world alight and,

1918 when, for the first time, all the Australian divisions

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 208

5/05/14 2:06 PM

came together to form a national unit. Monash took over

might have expected significant national work, but those

the corps as the Australian troops reached their peak of

who had the gift of these things seemed wary of him. The

efficiency and experience. His set-piece battles, particularly

Prince of Wales arrived in Melbourne on 26 May 1920, on

at Hamel, but elsewhere in the Battle for Amiens, too,

the Victorian leg of his Australian tour, to give thanks for

were remarkable. Monash insisted that the troops know

Australian achievements and Monash might have expected

the detail of what was expected of them, and of the terrain

to be at the forefront of the welcoming committee. Instead,

over which they would pass. He did not treat his men as

he joined the crowd of onlookers that thronged Swanston

expendable or ‘cannon fodder’ and the loss of life in the

Street. The omission was widely noted and things improved

new Australian Corps, despite the extraordinary battles in

thereafter with his attendance at dinners and receptions,

which they participated, was relatively low.

but Monash must have felt it as a slight.

Knighted by the King at the AIF headquarters at

In June 1920 Monash became general manager of the

Bertangles, France, on 12 August 1918, Monash was

State Electricity Commission of Victoria, later chairman.

regarded as one of the most successful of the British

This important task, which helped to thoroughly renew

commanders. His critics allege that he was devoted to

and revitalise Victorian manufacturing industries with the

burnishing his own reputation and remarkably in 1919,

provision of cheap electricity, suited Monash’s engineering

with the war over, Monash rapidly produced a substantial

skills, his leadership strengths and his strategic vision.

book, The Australian Victories in France 1918. Serle writes

It was as important a task as could have been given to

that it was ‘propaganda, but not far off the truth’. Monash

any Victorian and established the state as an economic

was also given the job of masterminding the repatriation of

powerhouse.

the 180 000 Australian soldiers, 7000 war brides and some

Monash was also heavily involved in the official

children to their homes. He completed this huge task with

commemoration of Victoria’s war dead throughout

speed and care. He also designed and took great pride in

the state and, in particular, with the siting, design and

the AIF Education Scheme which occupied men awaiting

construction of the Shrine of Remembrance in the Domain

repatriation and taught many of them important skills for

in Melbourne, which was completed after his death in 1934.

civilian life.

He was the appropriate and popular leader of Victorian

Despite his towering achievements Monash was treated somewhat shabbily on his own return home. He

Anzac Day commemorations. From 1925 until his death in 1931 he led Melbourne’s Anzac Day march, mounted on

Victory

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 209

209

5/05/14 2:06 PM

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 210

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l E 02964

210

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l E 02750

General Sir John Monash, seated, with members of his senior staff at Bertangles, 1918

5/05/14 2:06 PM

‘Arise Sir John’. King George V confers a knighthood on General John Monash at

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l E 02964

Bertangles chateau, outside Amiens, Monash’s headquarters.

his horse, the very picture of military bearing. ‘No-one in

the university is appropriate given Monash’s lifelong quest

Australia’s history,’ Geoffrey Serle concluded, ‘crammed

for knowledge and growth, his emphasis on knowledge

more effective work into a life.’ Victoria’s Monash

and understanding in war, and his own determination

University, one of Australia’s best tertiary institutions, is

as a young man to develop the broadest possible base of

named after him, as are other state assets. The naming of

learning.

Victory

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 211

211

5/05/14 2:06 PM

Epilogue

I

f you reach the top of Mount Wombat near Strathbogie in north-eastern Victoria, you will be rewarded with a fine view of the country below. n According to a plaque at the summit, on a good day, the view encompasses about one-quarter of the state of Victoria. n This reminds the climber what a small state, in Australian terms, Victoria is. n Should you then visit the village of Strathbogie, consisting of a main street and a few side streets, you will find a memorial to those

who died in the First World War and those who returned. n You would

expect to find a memorial at Strathbogie; almost every Victorian town, village and suburb has one. n But the numbers recorded at Strathbogie might surprise you. n From the district, 20 men were killed at war; 33 returned to resume their lives. n

Given that the village was tiny with only a few hundred

Victorians came out of the war with a story to sustain

people, the proportions are sobering, but so is the scale of

them for the next 100 years or more. A story of sacrifice,

enlistment and loss for this remote and tiny place. Victoria

above all, from every class and section of society. Of

is not a large land mass but its people gave generously and

sacrifice made willingly by boys and girls in every part of

nobly to a cause that had dominated Victorian society for

the state, by women of all kinds and descriptions – mothers,

four years.

wives, girlfriends, aunties, cousins, friends, workers,

212

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 212

5/05/14 2:06 PM

worshippers, neighbours. Of sacrifice made willingly by

those who had given their lives, and a pledge to protect

men of all kinds and descriptions – fathers, brothers, uncles,

those who had depended on them weighed heavily. The

cousins, employers, workers, worshippers, sporting mates,

debt included those now in the military hospitals and Anzac

mates and neighbours. Of sacrifice made by farmers, who

hostels spread around the state, who might be there for

could not find enough rural labour and carried on as best

years yet, or for life.

they could. Of sacrifice made by employers, builders,

There are two books that tell me how it was in Victoria

shopkeepers, bankers and all who, without young and eager

after the war, better than any other accounts that I have

labour, made the best go of it that they could. Of sacrifice

read. Neither was written by a soldier come home from the

borne by clergymen delivering nearly 20 000 telegrams

war, indeed the writers, both of whom were born in 1912

telling of death at the front.

and died in 1970, were too young to understand the full

Victorians hoped that this sacrifice was purposeful,

impact of the war at the time. The first book, a novel, My

for how otherwise could it be justified? The images from

Brother Jack by George Johnston, was published in 1964;

Henley-on-Yarra on the day of the big regatta in the last

the second, a memoir, The Road to Gundagai by Graham

year of peace are a revelation of the wealth of Victorian

McInnes, came out in 1965.

society. Women in their long gowns, many specially

Both Johnston’s parents went to the war and returned

purchased for this day; men in their best suits, many with

bearing its deep scars. Johnston’s hero is called David

boaters or bowler hats on their heads, escorting their

Meredith, but readers have long assumed a heavy element

wives or girlfriends and doing what Melburnians loved

of autobiography in the writing. A scene from David’s early

to do: to promenade. These are among the last images

life has stayed with me since I first read it, and says so much

from Edwardian Melbourne. To be sure, Henley-on-Yarra

about the immediate postwar years. David is a young boy

would resume in 1919, but Melbourne and Victoria had

and is walking along a street of shops in Elsternwick, when

lost something that would take many years to recover; the

he comes upon a disused photographer’s shop. The window

society had lost its confidence, its elan, its love of life. The

space is decorated with photographs of soldiers, presumably

war took this and left Victorians facing a drab and fearful

taken on pre-embarkation leave as a memento for those

future: the war merging into the Great Depression and

left at home. An older boy is kicking a ball down the street

then another world war. Victorians finished the war with

and he, too, stops at the photographer’s to look in. He

a heavy financial and social debt. The debt of gratitude to

says nothing for a long time and then announces: ‘all them

Epilogue

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 213

213

5/05/14 2:06 PM

214

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 214

5/05/14 2:06 PM

blokes in there is dead, you know.’ David runs all the way home, trying not to cry. His mother, a nurse at the war, returned home to nurse at the Caulfield Convalescent Hospital as it became known after the war. David and his brother Jack were required to visit the hospital regularly to cheer up the blokes housed there and several of them came to live in David’s family’s home for longer or shorter periods. When David’s older sister married a returned soldier with only one leg ‘this seemed to us, at the time,

Peace Day was celebrated throughout the Empire on Saturday 19 July 1919. Here a naval contingent leads the way up Swanston Street; a small portion of the 7000 sailors and soldiers that marched through Melbourne.

quite normal and expected’. McInnes was born in London. His parents divorced in 1917 and his mother, Angela, married an Australian soldier, Captain GLA Thirkell, the following year. He brought the family, including the two sons of the previous marriage, to settle in Melbourne in early 1920. Angela Thirkell, a writer, gave an account of the voyage in her book Trooper to the Southern Cross. She returned to London in 1929, ostensibly to look after her ageing parents, but in reality the marriage was over – Angela could never adapt to suburban Melbourne. Graham remained behind. Eventually he too left Australia for a successful career as a Canadian diplomat. His book on growing up in Melbourne became an instant hit. One chapter ‘Central 434, please’, the phone number of the Naval and Military Club in Alfred Place, Melbourne, deals with the difficulty his stepfather (the former soldier)

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l DA X 2077

had in adjusting to postwar life. Almost nightly Graham was asked by his mother to ring the club to ensure that her husband would be returning for dinner. Even with such reminders, Captain Thirkell rarely arrived home before 8 pm. Later ‘I learned what it was that kept him so late. It was not, as Mother sometimes hinted, Demon Rum or even its more probable Australian equivalent … Melbourne Bitter. It was, rather, the Anzac Dream’. In his early teens Graham entered the club bar itself: and discovered that

Epilogue

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 215

215

5/05/14 2:06 PM

Peace Day celebrations with soldiers about to pass the saluting

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l DAy 2085

base at federal Parliament House

216

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 216

5/05/14 2:06 PM

beneath it all lay a lazy sense of camaraderie, of some secret shared in common which excluded me, not only because I was of another generation, but because I had not been “over there”; because the names Gallipoli, Gaba Tepe, Mudros, Anzac Cove, the Somme, Passchendaele, the Ancre, VillersBretonneux held for me no common memories.

Both these books tell their readers of death, damaged and wounded soldiers, and of memories that would not fade away. These were some of the legacies of the ‘Great War’. While the bereaved lived with their grief and communities opened their hearts and their wallets to assist the wounded, others, naturally, tried to put the war behind them. The war memorials that were built throughout Victoria drew on the love and the grief of the people and a determination that the sacrifice and service would never be forgotten. Much grew from the Great War. Rituals and traditions

Stonnington Library and Information Service ph 13378

emerged including the two minutes silence on Armistice Day,

Norman Dickinson has survived the war and is reunited with his mother, Christina, at the family home in Prahran.

Epilogue

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 217

217

5/05/14 2:06 PM

the Anzac Day march, and the Dawn Service. Organisations sprang up that became important and influential in community and political life. The most prominent of them, of course, was what was always known as the RSL (Returned and Services League), though it had a variety of formal titles. The RSL is one of Australia’s greatest welfare organisations and one of our most loved institutions. It has cared for and looked after every type and manner of returned man and woman, regardless of creed, politics, or circumstance. Closely on its heels in public esteem is Legacy, begun in Tasmania, but at its greatest strength and influence in Victoria. Founded

A house in Cecil

on the principle that the surviving sailors, soldiers, airmen

Street, Kew, is

and nurses had a responsibility to look after the widows

decorated with

and dependants of mates killed in the war, Legacy fulfilled that mission magnificently. The history of these rituals and

flags and bunting

organisations arising from the war is outside the scope of this

to welcome home

book, even as we acknowledge how they influenced postwar

Trooper Horace

Victorian life. But it was the war memorials of each suburb, town and village across the state that gave a constant physical reminder of the impact of the war and the extent of the community’s sacrifice. One of the earliest and grandest of these memorials was the Peace Memorial in Johnstone Park, Geelong, opened

Day, who enlisted in January 1916 and returned home in 1919.

by the Victorian governor, Lord Somers, in October 1926. Somers had served throughout the war and was twice wounded at Ypres. John Monash was asked to assist at the opening and both he and the governor were given a briefing about Geelong in the war. They must have been impressed by what they read. The citizens of Geelong had raised £23 000 to build the Peace Memorial, of which £8500 was paid to widows of soldiers killed in action to enable each of them to purchase a home. Geelong and district had a population during the war of about 35 000 people, of whom about 3000 served overseas. Throughout the war, Geelong raised £150 000 in cash for war funds. Citizens provided two ambulances in France, a YMCA hut, and they equipped,

218

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 218

5/05/14 2:06 PM

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l P 03130.005

Epilogue

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 219

219

5/05/14 2:06 PM

Inside the Dickinson home in Prahran for a gathering to welcome Norman back. Flags, bunting and decorations show how pleased they were to have him home.

S to n n i n g to n L i b r a r y a n d I n f o r m at i o n S e r v i c e ph 13379

He had been sick in hospital several times during the war. Did he worry for his future?

out of their own pockets, the Geelong Military Camp.

people present. The governor and Monash were met

Women worked continuously throughout the war for the

by over 1000 returned men and the banners of 60 AIF

Red Cross and the Comforts Fund, sending a huge quantity

battalions were held high, representing the service

of clothing to the central depots. Each Geelong man at war

of all Australians. Somers said that those who passed

received a Christmas Billy annually. As each man returned

through the memorial should be reminded of the spirit

to Geelong from the war he was met by a Citizens’

of comradeship, of unity, of discipline, of service and

Committee headed by the mayor and driven by car to his

sacrifice, qualities that had caused the building to be

home. After the war the citizens purchased the former

built. He declared the memorial ‘one of the finest

Union Bank building as a club for returned soldiers.

erected in Australia’ and asserted that in battle ‘the

The official opening of the Peace Memorial took place on Sunday 31 October 1926 with about 10 000

220

Australians were without equal’. The words ‘Lest We Forget’ were etched into the floor of the Peace

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 220

5/05/14 2:06 PM

War involved the extended family, as this welcome home party shows – a parent, perhaps a grandparent, aunties, friends. At this party in Northcote, the family welcomes Lieutenant Clifton Wilson MM,

A u s t r a l i a n Wa r M e m o r i a l P 09135.001

promoted in the field. The woman he will marry is at the far left of the picture, at the back.

Memorial and, after the official proceedings concluded,

permanent reminder to all Victorians of what had been lost

many people laid wreaths around the inscription.

and what had been achieved in the war. For some, though,

Monash and the governor were frequently involved in

it came too late. Mrs Annie Whitelaw, mother of six soldier

opening or dedicating such memorials around the state,

sons, four of whom lost their lives to the war, had not the

culminating in the dedication of Melbourne’s remarkable

comfort of seeing the shrine commenced or completed,

Shrine of Remembrance on 11 November 1934. Monash

for she died in April 1927, aged 64 years. Bob, Ken, Ivan

laid the foundation stone in 1927, predicting that the shrine

and Angus, her four soldier sons killed, are listed on her

would be of a size equivalent to occupying a Melbourne city

headstone in the Briagolong cemetery. Beneath their names

block or else it might comfortably swallow up the Melbourne

the inscription says: ‘Happy is she who can die with the

Cricket Ground. The shrine dominated the Melbourne

thought that in the hour of her country’s greatest need she

skyline, able to be seen from many parts of the city, a

gave her utmost.’

Epilogue

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 221

221

5/05/14 2:06 PM

A note on sources Readers will see that this book is not footnoted as works of

was the paper chosen for Victoria and while, on occasion,

history commonly are. It was decided that footnotes would

I have consulted the Age and the evening Herald, it was the

interfere with the flow of the text in a book that aims to be

Argus that I normally used in my study at home to discover

accessible to the widest possible cross-section of readers.

what was happening in Melbourne and Victoria across the

To assist more general readers the following sources are

years of war. The best means of accessing the Victorian

provided.

newspapers is through the National Library of Australia’s search engine Trove: .

N ational A rchives of A ustralia

In every case where the details of an individual Australian

A ustralian War Memorial

soldier or nurse are given I have taken the facts from the

War diaries for each of the units comprising the AIF have

individual’s enlistment form and record of service held at

been digitised by the memorial and are available online. I

the National Archives. In an extraordinary achievement, of

used the 14th Battalion war diary extensively and looked

the greatest benefit to historians everywhere, the archives

at the war diaries of other Victorian battalions as required.

digitised this entire record series so that it is available

War diaries can be accessed on the memorial’s website:

online. Records can be accessed via the National Archives

.

homepage: . C hapter O ne S tate L ibrary of V ictoria

For the difficulties in late July to early August 1914 and the

As a remarkable contribution to our knowledge of Victoria

election campaign, Ernest Scott, Australia During the War,

at war the State Library has digitised nearly every Victorian

vol. XI of the Official History, Sydney: Angus & Robertson,

country and suburban newspaper for the period 1914–18.

1936; on the Pfalz incident, Scott, Australia During the

This gives readers access to the details of the Victorian war

War; Broadmeadows Military Camp, Essendon Gazette,

effort online in a way that was unimaginable even a few

August 1914; Newton Wanliss, History of the Fourteenth

years ago. Readers of this book will note my heavy reliance

Battalion AIF, Melbourne, 1929.

on rural newspapers across the years of war. The decision

Marvellous Melbourne

was made some time ago to digitise one major metropolitan

Graeme Davison, The Rise and Fall of Marvellous Melbourne,

newspaper from each Australian capital city. The Argus

Melbourne University Press, 1979.

222

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 222

5/05/14 2:06 PM

C hapter T wo

JD Burns

Jack McGlade, Papers 1914–77, State Library of Victoria,

Scotch Collegian.

MS MSB639.

W h at t o d o i n w a r t i m e ?

McKernan, The Australian People and the Great War. C hapter T hree

Visit to St George’s Uniting Church, Chapel Street, East

C hapter F ive

St Kilda; Michael McKernan, Padre: Australian Chaplains in

Michael Molkentin, Fire in the Sky: The Australian Flying

Gallipoli and France, Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1986; Charles Bean, The Story of Anzac, vol. I of the Official History, Sydney:

Corps in the First World War, Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 2010; Gerhard Fischer, Enemy Aliens: Internment and

Angus & Robertson, 1921; Peter Stanley, Digger Smith and

the Homefront Experience in Australia 1914–1920, St

Australia’s Great War, Sydney: Pier 9, 2011; Jan Bassett, Guns and Brooches: Australian Army Nursing from the Boer War to

Lucia: University of Queensland Press, 1989; Michael McKernan, Gallipoli: A Short History, Sydney: Allen &

the Gulf War, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1997.

Unwin, 2011; McKernan, The Australian People and the

A l b e r t J a c k a VC

Robert Macklin, Jacka VC: Australian Hero, Sydney: Allen &

Great War; Birchip Advertiser and Watchem Sentinel; June E Senyard, Birchip: Essays on a Shire, Shire of Birchip,

Unwin, 2006.

1970.

C hapter F our

Birchip Advertiser.

The Neylands

Keith Hancock, Country and Calling, London: Faber & Faber, 1954; Rosalie Triolo, ‘Our Schools and the War’, North

C hapter S ix

Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2012; How We

Ross McMullin, Pompey Elliott, Melbourne: Scribe, 2002;

Raised the First Hundred Thousand, Melbourne: Education

Wanliss, History of the Fourteenth Battalion.

Department War Relief Fund, 1917; Mathew Sharman,

Indigenous Victorians

Papers 1898–41, State Library of Victoria, MS MSB 510;

Alick Jackomos and Derek Fowell, Forgotten Heroes:

Michael McKernan, The Australian People and the Great War,

Aborigines at War from the Somme to Vietnam, Melbourne:

Melbourne: Thomas Nelson, 1980; Brian Lewis, Our War,

Victoria Press, 1993.

Melbourne University Press, 1981.

A note on sources

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 223

223

5/05/14 2:06 PM

C hapter S even

C hapter E ight

Michael McKernan, Australian Churches at War, Sydney:

Lewis, Our War; Wanliss, History of the Fourteenth

Catholic Theological Faculty and Canberra: Australian

Battalion; Macklin, Jacka VC; Griffin, Daniel Mannix;

War Memorial, 1980; James Griffin, Daniel Mannix:

Bendigo Advertiser; McKernan, Australian Churches at War.

Beyond the Myths, Mulgrave: Garratt Publishing, 2012; LF Fitzhardinge, The Little Digger, 1914–1952, Sydney:

C hapter N ine

Angus & Robertson, 1979.

Charles Bean, The Australian Imperial Force in France,

The Light Horse

During the Main German Offensive, vol. V of the Official

Cyril Smith, The 4th Australian Light Horse Regiment:

History, Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1940; Casterton News.

Some Aspects of its War Service, Sandringham: 4th Light

Sir John Monash

Horse Regiment Association, 1954.

Geoffrey Serle, John Monash: A Biography, Melbourne University Press, 1982.

224

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 224

5/05/14 2:06 PM

Acknowledgements This book was funded by the Victorian Government to

the skill, commitment and energy all have brought to the

commemorate the Anzac Centenary and commissioned by

project.

the State Library of Victoria. I worked closely with Margot Jones, Publishing Project

Two friends have looked over every manuscript I have written across the last several years. I am extremely grateful

Manager at the State Library, and with Dr Marina Larsson,

to them for their close reading and vast knowledge. Thank

until recently Senior Policy Officer, Veterans Heritage,

you Paul Macpherson and Dr Stephen Foster.

within the Veterans’ Unit. We met regularly to discuss

Justine Molony edited the text with skill and sympathy.

progress and both gave me confidence that the project was

I could not have asked for more in an editor. And the hours

on track. Margot Jones was incredibly helpful in helping me

she keeps!

to find the illustrations and with her detailed involvement

Staff at the State Library of Victoria were always

in the text. The same words apply exactly to Marina

ready to help and I much enjoyed working with so many

Larsson and, in her own time, she applied an intense

dedicated and professional people. The staff I dealt with

editor’s eye to the text. I thank them both most warmly.

were always interested and friendly as was Shane Carmody,

I also thank David Roberts, Manager, Veterans Affairs, Department of Premier and Cabinet, and Robert Heather,

a friend of many years. I also worked quietly and unobtrusively, I hope, at

Manager, Collection Interpretation at the State Library,

the National Library of Australia and enjoy the superb

who both took a keen and supportive interest in the

conditions of work there.

project. NewSouth Publishing won the contract to publish the

I thank my friends and my family for sustaining me in love and kindliness. Katherine and Mark, Matilda and

book. I could not have been better served by the publisher.

Nina; Jane and Toby, Ada and Eugene, make my life a

Though I only met personally one of the talented people

joy. My best thanks are reserved for my wife, Michalina

working on this book I have been most impressed with

Stawyskyj, who gives more than she knows.

225

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 225

5/05/14 2:06 PM

Index NB Page numbers in italic refer to photographs. 1st Australian Division, departs for Middle East 51 2nd Australian Infantry Brigade, at Krithia 62 4th Australian Brigade 50, 66– 67, 179–180, 190–191 4th Division, formation of 133 4th Light Horse Regiment at Beersheba 170 at Gallipoli 169–170 Bourke Street parade 135 on Western Front 170 raised in Victoria 169 6th Battalion, at Gallipoli 57–58 7th Battalion, Victoria Cross recipients in 64 8th Brigade, at Fromelles 139 8th Light Horse Regiment 45, 70, 115, 169 9th Light Horse Regiment 169 12th Light Horse Regiment 170 13th Light Horse Regiment 169 14th Battalion at Gallipoli 71–72 at Pozières 144 on Western Front 132–149, 179–180, 183, 190–192 relieved from Pozières 149 14th Brigade, in Fromelles attack 139 15th Brigade, in Fromelles attack 137–142 21st Battalion, casualties in 86 29th Division (UK) 62 46th Battalion, formation of 133 57th Battalion, at Fromelles 137–142 58th Battalion, at Fromelles 137–142

226

59th Battalion, at Fromelles 137–142 60th Battalion, at Fromelles 137–142 II Anzac Mounted Regiment 170 Aboriginals 150–152 Adamson, Lawrence 97–98 Age 14, 126–127, 194 AIF see Australian Imperial Force AIF Education Scheme 209 alcohol serving hours restricted 96 Amiens, battle for 189–192, 209 Anstey, Frank 48–49, 164 Anzac Cove see Gallipoli Anzac Day marches 218 Argus announces outbreak of war 13 Bean reports for 147 coverage of war news 113 on armistice 194–195 on battle of Hamel 192 on Bois-Grenier raid 137 on British entry into war 11–14 on conscription referendum 168 on Gallipoli 115 on Hughes’s return to Australia 155–156 on Law sermon 164 on Mannix speech 181 on Pfalz incident 17 on retreat from Gallipoli 126 on second conscription referendum 184 Ari Burnu 62–63 armistice, effect of 5, 188–207, 217–218 Armstrong, Bishop TH 186

atrocities, reported in parliament 49 Australian Army Nursing Service 44, 45, 58–60, 60–61 Australian Comforts Fund children’s work for 78–81 Comforts Fund Day 192 establishment of 32 facilities provided by 174 fundraising for 192 goods collected for 120 governor-general’s wife promotes 121 in Geelong 220 work done by women for 102–103 Australian Corps, Monash given command of 208–209 Australian Flying Corps 108, 110 Australian Historical Mission 58 Australian Imperial Force (AIF) armistice celebrations for 195 Hughes concerned for 154, 188–189 oath of allegiance to 140–141 Victorian quota 20 Australian Light Horse 169–171, 171 Automobile Club of Victoria 105 Bahgallah 194 Baillieu, WL 158 Bartlett, Norman 170 Bean, Charles dispatches from 115 on 6th Battalion at Gallipoli 57–58 on ‘Anzac leave’ 189 on Bert Jacka 74 on Bullecourt 180

on Fromelles raid 143 on Lone Pine battle 63 on ‘Pompey’ Elliott 139 on the Nek battle 70 on the Somme 147 on Victorian response to war 5 photographs by 56, 88–89 Beasy, Henry 38 Beersheba, charge at 170 Belgium, fundraising for 47–49 Bell, Jane 58 Bendigo, Hughes wins election in 181–183, 182 Biggsley, HA 63 Birchip 121, 130 Bird, SC 92 Birdwood, General William 60 Bois-Grenier sector, 14th Battalion in 133–137 Bourchier, Murray 170 Bourke Street, Melbourne 10, 135 Briagolong 1–2 Bridges, General William 60 Briggs, Barney 98 Brighton Red Cross festival 98 Britain see United Kingdom Broadmeadows Military Camp 14th Battalion at 51 establishment of 20–23 in 1915 105–106 letters written from 41–42, 43 mounted forces at 21, 169 recruits at 19 visiting day 22, 23 Brotchie, John Alexander, ‘Dad’ 51, 149, 188 Brotchie family 51, 188, 195–197 Brown, FE 98 Brunswick recruitment rally 158–159

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 226

5/05/14 2:06 PM

Brunt, William Henry 38 Buckland, William 98 Buckley & Nunn department store 125 Bullecourt, battle of 178, 179–180 Burns, Hugh McLeod 86 Burns, James Drummond 86–88, 158, 160 Burton, Alexander, awarded Victoria Cross 64–66 Byrne, Michael 114 ‘Call to Arms’ 124–128, 154 call-up of single men 166 Cameron, William 114 Carmichael, T 63 Carr, Archbishop Thomas 164, 181 Carter, Duncan 98 Casterton 30–31 armistice celebrations 195 early effects of war 29–40 farmland near 36–37 Red Cross work at 194 thanksgiving services 201–202 Casterton News 32–34 casualties at Beersheba 170 at Bullecourt 180 at Fromelles, extent of concealed 139–143 at Gallipoli 4, 45, 63, 126–128 at Krithia 63 at Pozières 149 at the Somme 143–144, 149 from 6th Battalion 56–58 from 8th Light Horse regiment 70 from 14th Battalion 56–57, 192 from 21st Battalion 86 from Australian Light Horse 170 from Casterton 35–41 from private schools 97–98 from Richmond 173 hospitalised 114 listed in Argus 113–115 maimed and disfigured 84, 105–108 on Western Front 160 procedure for notification of 2–3, 126–128 published lists of 71

Catholic Church, sectarianism in 5 Caulfield Grammar, recruits from 98 Caulfield Military Hospital 84, 121 cavalry see mounted troops cemeteries see war memorials and cemeteries Chapel Street, Prahran 193, 196–197 children effect of war on 76–85, 90–93, 98–99 fundraising by 115 socks knitted by 91–92, 91 Christ Church, South Yarra 24 Clark, Frank 177 Clark, Joe 174, 177 Clarke, Henry Lowther 113 clergymen see also names of clergy, as recruits 186–187 Collins Street, Melbourne 12–13, 14–15 ‘comforts’ see Australian Comforts Fund Commonwealth Census 77 Commonwealth Government Defence Department 8, 142– 143, 166 federal parliament 7–8, 46–48 recruitment drives by 124 referendums on conscription 160–162, 168, 176, 183 troops offered to Britain by 50 Compulsory Service Act (NZ) 155 conscription debate 153–168, 176 Cook, Joseph 8, 11, 20, 173 Corian 98 Cornwall and York, Duke and Duchess of 6–7, 14–15 Courtney, Richard 74 Courtney’s Post 64, 74–75 Crowther, Lieutenant-Colonel Henry 190

Defence Department 8, 142–143, 166 Dickinson, Norman 217, 220 Dobie, Lieutenant HS 149 Duff, C Alec 90–91, 93 Duffy, John Gavan 19–20 Dunstan, William 64–66

Dare, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Moreland Montague 74, 132, 149 Davies, Evelyn ‘Tevie’ 58–60, 62–63, 176 Day, Horace 218–219 Deakin, Alfred 162

Galeka (troopship) 57 Gallipoli 14th Battalion at 56–57, 132–133 Australian Light Horse at 169–170 casualties at 4, 45, 56–58,

education system 78–85, 90–93, 111 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne 12–13 Elliott, Brigadier Harold Edward ‘Pompey’ 137–142, 141 Elmslie, George 19 Embarkation Pier Cemetery 72 England see United Kingdom English Scottish and Australian Bank Building 24 Essendon Gazette 23 Exhibition Building 6–7, 24 farm labour, withdrawn for military use 41, 44–45 federal parliament see Commonwealth Government Feuteral, R 194 Fisher, Andrew as prime minister 8, 46, 47 commitment to war 20 Jacka congratulated by 75 resigns as prime minister 121–122, 153 supports Belgian fund scheme 49 Flinders Street Railway Station 112–113 food at Gallipoli 64 Forrest, Sir John 184, 200 Fort Nepean, first shot in war fired by 17 Fothergill, Jack 57–58, 64–65 Fothergill family 58 Fromelles attack, Victorian casualties in 137–142 fundraising parades 84–85

63–64, 71–72 effect of news from 70–71 evacuation from 126–128 failure of Allied campaign 60, 115–119 Monash at 208 Plugge’s Plateau 56 Victorian troops at 50–73 Garde, Rev 58 Geelong Grammar School, recruits from 98 Geelong Peace Memorial 218– 220 George V, King of England 211 German-Australians 14–15, 111–113 Geyer, HC 128 Gillison, Andrew 52, 53, 66–67, 71–72 Glen Eira 84 gold rush era 24–25 Gough, General Hubert 180 Government House 103, 121, 185 Grand Fleet 53–56 Gray, C 157 Great Britain see United Kingdom Greenham, Charles Gustus ‘Gus’ 35 Grey, Sir Edward 14 Haig, Douglas 189–190 Haking, General Richard 142 Hamel, battle of 111, 192 Hamilton, General Sir Ian 60, 75, 115–119 Hancock, Eric 90 Hancock, Jim 76 Hancock, Keith 76–77 Harefield Park Hospital 114 Harris, Archdeacon 195, 201 Heathcote, Norm 92 Heliopolis, Egypt 44, 58 Henderson, Kenneth 76 Heneghan, Father John Thomas 186–187 Henley-on-Yarra regatta 26–27, 28 Hennessy, Sir David 19, 157 Herald, reports on armistice 194 Hindenberg Line 179 Holsworthy alien internment camp 111

Index

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 227

227

5/05/14 2:06 PM

horses see mounted troops hospital ships 105 How We Raised the First Hundred Thousand 81 Howells, Alf 38 Hughes, William Morris addresses troops on Western Front 192 as prime minister 124–128, 153 calls up single men 166 concern for servicemen 188– 189 in 1917 election 180–182 leaves Labor Party 173 overseas travels 153–154 second conscription referendum 183–184 supports Belgian fund scheme 49 Hunt, Tom 91–92 Hurley family 38–41 Indigenous Victorians 150–152 Irvine, Sir William 157 Jacka, Albert ‘Bert’ 75 at Bullecourt 179 awarded Military Cross 147–149 awarded Victoria Cross 3–4, 64, 65, 74–75 hospitalised 190–192 Jacka, David ‘Sam’ 74 Jacka, Sydney 74 Jacka, William 74, 149 Johnston, George 213–215 Johnston, JAK 63 Jolley, Edward Francis 46–47 Kamerooka, Hughes campaigns in 181 Keiran, RC 63 Kendall, William Augustus 97 Krithia campaign 62 Lake Tyers Aboriginal community 150 Langwarrin alien internment camp 111–113 Langwarrin military hospital 111 Latham, John G 162 Law, Archibald 164 Legacy organisation 218

228

Lemnos Island, medical facilities on 58–61 Lewis, Brian 98–99, 176 Lewis, Keith 98 Lewis, Owen 98 Lewis, Ralph 176 Lewis family 176 Lone Pine, battle of 63–64 Lone Pine Memorial 58 Loughnan, Richard Ignatius 162 Love, Alfred Herbert, diary of 68–69 Lowham, Father JP 34, 41, 201 Lutheran schools in Australia 111 Macfarland, John Henry 162 Maloney, William 164 Malvern Town Hall 199 Mannix, Archbishop Daniel 163 campaigns against conscription 166–168, 180–181, 183 preaches at postwar service 201 Martin, Stanley 98 Masson, Orme 162 McCay, Colonel James Whiteside 62–63 McCutchan, Frank 98 McGlade, John ‘Jack’ Matthew assigned to 8th Light Horse 45 letters written by 41–42, 172 wounded and evacuated 70 McGrath, David 49 McInnes, Graham 213–216 McKernan, Thomas James 7 McKernan, Vera 7, 14 McNeil, A Rowan 86–87 medically unfit designation, medal for 143 Meers, Reverend J 195 Melbourne fundraising parades 84–85 historic buildings 24–28 Light Horsemen from 169 public transport system 25, 116, 117 reaction to armistice 5, 195, 198 reaction to outbreak of war 6–23 recruitment marches 72–73, 80–81

Red Cross Day march 95 remembrance service held in 202, 202–203, 204–205 returned soldiers’ reception 106–108, 106–107, 190–191 sporting events in 94 wartime restrictions in 96, 105–106 Melbourne Cricket Ground 25–28 Melbourne Grammar School, recruits from 76, 92 Melbourne Showgrounds, temporary military camp at 108 Melbourne Town Hall 197 armistice celebrations 5, 199 ‘comforts’ collected at 120 pro-conscription meetings 162 rally for Hughes’s return 157–160 recruitment meeting at 17–19 state school parade 79 Menzies, Frank 77–78 Menzies, James ‘Les’ 77–78 Menzies, Robert 77, 98, 129, 160 Merrington, Andrew 72 Mildura, recruitment rally 154 Military Cross awarded to Bert Jacka 149 Military Medal awards 150, 152 Military Orders, Fromelles casualties revealed in 142–143 military rations at Gallipoli 64 military training manuals 136 Mill, Howard 35 Millen, Edward as minister for defence 11, 34, 50 on Germany 48 Monash, General Sir John 210, 211 battle of Hamel planned by 192 commands 4th Brigade 50 death and funeral 209 in charge of repatriation 207, 209 lays foundation stone at Shrine of Remembrance 221 military aircraft used by 111 opens Peace Memorial 218–221 Monash University 211 Monro, General Sir Charles 115 Moore, Ina and Clement 137

Moquet Farm, battle of 144, 149 Mornington Park property 22 Moule, Humphrey 170 Mount Wombat 211 mounted troops see also 4th Light Horse regiment; Australian Light Horse 8th Light Horse Regiment 45, 70, 115, 169 at Broadmeadows Military Camp 21, 42 from Victoria 169–170 lost at Gallipoli 115 Mudros, 14th Battalion at 132 Munro Ferguson, Lady Helen 119–121 Munro Ferguson, Sir Ronald addresses 14th Battalion 53 as governor-general 46–47 Hughes surrenders commission to 184 medals presented by 194 receives parliamentary address 200–201, 201 UK communicates war news to 11–16 Murphy, William Patrick 56–57 My Brother Jack 213–215 Myer Emporium 10, 28, 96 Nek attack 70 New Zealand, conscription introduced in 155 New Zealand Otago Mounted Rifles 170 Newham, Jack 98 newspapers, packed and sent to troops 124 Newton, Walter 114–115 Neyland family 129–131 Niven, Margaret 129, 131 No. 1 Australian General Hospital in Lemnos 58–60, 60–61 nurses 44, 45, 58–60, 60–61 Oakleigh Hall 48 Oddfellows Hall, Casterton 32–34 Orchard, WL 92 Parliament House, Spring Street Federal Parliament meets in 46

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 228

5/05/14 2:06 PM

Peace Day march 216–217 remembrance service held at 202, 202–203, 204–205 Peace Day march 214–215, 216–217 Peacock, Sir Alexander 19, 157 Pearce, George 48, 173 Peet, Senior Constable 131 Pennefather, Mr 166 Pepper, Percy 150, 152 Peskett, Peter 38 Pfalz (cargo ship), returned to Melbourne at gunpoint 16–17, 16, 18 Phelan, Bishop Patrick 5, 202–207 Pittendrigh, Robert 71–72 Point Cook military encampment 108 Port Melbourne, troopships depart from 53, 54–55 Pozières, battle of 144, 148, 149 Prahran Children’s Patriotic League 100–101 Prince of Wales, Australian visit by 209 Pring, Bertie 134, 137, 160, 199 Pring, Mary 134 propaganda, for conscription 165 ‘Public School Company’ 92 public transport system 25, 116, 117 Quinn’s Post 64 Rawlings, Bessie and William 150–152 Rawlings, William Reginald ‘Reg’ 150–152, 151 Raywood, Hughes campaigns in 181 recruitment and training advertising for 116, 117 after Gallipoli 71 files kept for each soldier 144–145 meeting outside Age offices 126–127 posters for 59, 161 rally at Brunswick 158–159 rally at Mildura 154 reasons given for 78 Recruit’s Companion 118 volunteers vs conscripts 156

recruits at Broadmeadows Military Camp 19 departure overseas 104, 122–123 first volunteers 20 from Casterton 34–35 from rural Victoria 42–44 marches through Melbourne 72–73, 80–81, 138–139 numbers decrease 173 Recruit’s Companion 118 Red Cross in Australia at Casterton 194 festival held by 98 in Government House ballroom 103 Red Cross Day march 95 women’s support for 102–103, 119–121 work done by 125 Red Cross International 119 Redwood, Dr Francis 207 referendums on conscription 160–162, 166–167, 168, 176, 183 Reserve Gully, Gallipoli 66–67 Returned and Services League 218 returned soldiers’ reception 106– 108, 106–107, 108–109 Richmond 162–164, 173, 195 Road to Gundagai, The 213–216 Robinson, Captain 16–17 Roll of Honour with Personal Particulars 113 Roper, Arthur 34 Ross, Councillor 32–34 Royal Australian Navy, role in WWI 53–54 Royal Navy, support for RAN from 53 Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Casterton 39 Salvation Army 174, 175, 206 Sampson, Sydney 129 School Paper, war coverage by 78, 82, 83, 98 Scotch College 87 recruits from 86, 92, 98 Scots Church, Casterton 34 Scott, Ernest 184 Sebastian, Hughes campaigns in 181

sectarianism in Catholic Church 5 in conscription debate 164, 176, 181, 187 in postwar services 202–207 Serle, Geoffrey 208, 211 Seymour Military Camp 108 Sharman, Mathew Stanton 90–91 Shrapnel Gully 88–89 Shrine of Remembrance 209, 221 Smith, Albert 56 Smith, Eoin Lindsay 98 soldier settlement scheme, Aborigines excluded from 150 Somers, Lord 218–221 Somme, battle of 142, 146–147, 147–148 sources 222–224 sporting events during wartime 94–96 St Andrew’s Church, Brighton 24 St Ignatius Catholic Church, Richmond 24, 165 St John’s Church, Toorak 24 St Joseph’s Convent School football match 115 St Kilda Cricket Ground, 14th Battalion awarded colours at 51–53 St Mary’s Catholic Church, West Melbourne 24 St Mary’s Church, East St Kilda 24 St Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne 5, 202–207 St Paul’s Cathedral, Melbourne 5, 201 Stagg, Shela 41–42, 172 Stanley, Sir Arthur 42, 201 Stanley, Peter 53–56 State Electricity Commission of Victoria 209 state school parade 79 State Schools Patriotic League 84 Stephens, Francis G 152 Stewart, Donald Macrae 87 Stillwell, Rev F 34 Strathbogie War Memorial 212 Swanston Street, Melbourne 8–9, 214–215 Sydney Flat, Hughes campaigns in 181

Symons, William 64–66 tank warfare 179, 192 Tate, Frank 78, 83–84 Taverner, Captain 166 Temporary Restriction Bill (Vic) 96 Thirkell, Angela 215 Thirkell, Captain GLA 215 Thorpe, Harry 151, 152 Toronto Avenue Cemetery 173 Trooper to the Southern Cross 215 Tubb, Frederick 64–66 Tudor, Frank 162–164, 173, 184 United Kingdom advises Australia of war news 11 Australian hospital in 114 conscription introduced in 154 naval support from 53 Universal Services Leagues 162 University High School, recruits from 90–91 Vickery, Norman 35 Victoria early recruitment from 29–46 education system 78–85, 90–93, 111 first shots in WWI fired by 16 impact of war on 213 number of recruits from 71, 128 Victoria Barracks, St Kilda Road 8, 20, 23 Victoria Cross recipients Albert ‘Bert’ Jacka 3–4, 64, 65, 74–75 at Lone Pine 64–66 William Dunstan 70 Victorian Appeal for Australian Sick and Wounded 113 Victorian Football Association, suspends matches in wartime 94 Victorian Football League, attendance at drops in wartime 94–96 victory, effect on Victoria of 188–207 Villers-Bretonneux 190 Volunteer Motor Corps 105

Index

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 229

229

5/05/14 2:06 PM

Wale, PG 63 Wanliss, Newton 179 war memorials and cemeteries Briagolong 1, 3 Casterton 38, 40 Embarkation Pier Cemetery 72 Geelong 218–220 Lone Pine 58 Monash involved with 209–210 Strathbogie 212

230

Toronto Avenue Cemetery 173 War Precautions Act (Cth) 96, 160 war work 155 Waters, James Kelso 38 Watt, William 194, 199–201 Wesley College 92, 97–98 Western Front Australian troops on 132–149 casualties on 160, 179 final battles 189–192 white feathers for ‘cowardice’

103–104, 174, 176 Whitelaw family 1–3, 221 Williams, Walter William 35 Wilson, Lieutenant Clifton 221 Wilson, RG 22 women see also Australian Comforts Fund advertisements appealing to 71 effect of war on 102–104 work for 14th Battalion by 192 Wren, John 183

Wurt Wurt Koort property 38, 41 YMCA, facilities provided by 43, 174 York, Duke and Duchess of 6–7, 14–15 Young Gardeners’ League 90 Young Ireland Society 183 Young Workers’ Patriotic Guild 90

Victoria at war

VictoriansAtWarText2print.indd 230

5/05/14 2:06 PM