*Conscription Vote

Posted on 28/10/2008 by FFFAIF

Ninety two years ago the Australian people voted on the highly emotive issue of Conscription to fill the ranks of volunteers to serve in the AIF.  This was in the context of the decline in recruitment following the losses at Fromelles and the Somme.

On the 28th October 1916 Australians voted in the first of two Referendums to introduce Conscription to Australia. It was proposed by the Government, led by Prime Minister (W.H.) Hughes, to extend the existing militia training to also include service overseas. Voting was not compulsory but 82.75% eligible voters polled their vote. The final figures were 1,087,557 for YES and 1,160,033 for NO.
To read more about the Conscription issue on the ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee (Queensland) Incorporated web site, click here.

Photo: Referendum Badges.

 Prime Minister Hughes’ part in the conscription debate formed the subject of an episode in the ABC series The Prime Ministers’  National Treasures, produced in 2007. The episode entitled William Hughes and the 1916 Conscription Badge can be viewed on the Screen Australia website by clicking here.

The Conscription debate was also featured in the 1951 film Cavalcade of Australia 1901-1951. To view the clip from the film, World War 1 and the Conscription Referenda, click here.

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The Families and Friends of the First AIF thanks the Australian, UK and French governments for affording Australian and British soldiers – presently buried in mass graves at Pheasant Wood – dignified individual reburials in a new CWGC cemetery at Fromelles, and urge those responsible to ensure all necessary scientific and other means are employed to properly identify each soldier.

Posted in Conscription | Comments Off on *Conscription Vote

*Wartime Magazine

Posted on 28/10/2008 by FFFAIF

The Australian War Memorial’s official magazine Wartime has been in print since November 1997. The most recent issue, number 44, is a First World War Special Issue.

It includes a collection of articles on ‘Australia’s Worst 24 hours FROMELLES’ from ‘noted experts’ including:
Another brick in the wall by Nigel Steel
My quest to find ‘the missing’ by Lambis Englezos
The Battle of Fromelles by Ashley Ekins
Reflections on a battlefield  by Peter Pedersen
Digging hallowed ground by Tony Pollard
The missing of Fromelles and Kriegsarchiv, Munich by Peter Barton

There is also a collection of articles on ‘END OF THE WAR’ including:
The last to fall by Peter Burness
A very different war by Meleah Ward
Armistice 1918 by Peter Hart
Age did weary them by Christina Spittel
They shot the horses – didn’t they? By Jean Bou

Single copies and subscriptions to Wartime can be ordered online from the Australian War Memorial. They can be posted anywhere in the world. Click here for details.

*****

The Families and Friends of the First AIF thanks the Australian, UK and French governments for affording Australian and British soldiers – presently buried in mass graves at Pheasant Wood – dignified individual reburials in a new CWGC cemetery at Fromelles, and urge those responsible to ensure all necessary scientific and other means are employed to properly identify each soldier.

Posted in Australian War Memorial, Books, Top Posts | Comments Off on *Wartime Magazine

Mateship Award.

Posted on 22/10/2008 by FFFAIF

Lambis Englezos has been named the winner of Mateship Award in the Herald Sun/Sunday Herald Sun’s Pride of Australia awards, in Melbourne on Tuesday evening 21 October, 2008.

Photo: Lambis Englezos, Pheasant Wood April 2008.

Lambis is reported, in the Herald Sun, as saying that he dedicated his Mateship award to the war veterans he had met during his tireless six-year journey to find the remains of some of the 175 missing Diggers from the World War I Battle of Fromelles in France.

To read the Herald Sun article click here.

Posted in Events, Top Posts | Comments Off on Mateship Award.

New Zealand News.

Posted on 21/10/2008 by FFFAIF

Today, 22 October 2008, sees the opening of the Shout V.C. Barracks at Linton, New Zealand.  The barracks have been named after Captain Alfred John Shout VC, MC who served with F Company, 1st Infantry Battalion AIF on Gallipoli. The naming of the barracks follows the convention where Linton’s barracks are named after Victoria Cross (VC) winners who have a New Zealand connection. For more details on Linton Base, New Zealand, click here.

Shout was born in Wellington, New Zealand on 7th August 1881. Alfred Shout served in the Boer War with the Border Horse, under the Command of Colonel Baden-Powell at Mafikeng. Shout was mentioned in dispatches for his bravery during the Boer War campaign. Shout married in South Africa after the war and moved with his Sydney born wife, Rose and daughter Florence to Darlington, Sydney. Alfred trained part-time with the 29th Infantry Regiment (Australian Rifles).

Photo: Alfred John Shout [Harry Willey]

Alfred Shout was 33 years old when he joined the 1st Battalion AIF on 18th August 1914. Lieutenant Alfred Shout landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula on 25th April 1915. He was awarded the MC for his actions on 27th April 1915:
During operations near Gaba Tepe, for showing conspicuous courage and ability in organising and leading his men in thick, bushy country under very heavy fire. He frequently had to expose himself to locate the enemy and led a bayonet charge at a critical moment.

On 9th August 1915 Captain Shout again exhibited:
Most conspicuous bravery at Lone Pine Trenches, in the Gallipoli Peninsula. On the morning of 9 August 1915, with a small party, Captain Shout charged down trenches strongly occupied by the enemy and personally threw four bombs among them, killing eight and routing the remainder. In the afternoon of the same day, from the position gained in the morning, he captured a further length of trench under similar conditions and continued personally to bomb the enemy at close range, under very heavy fire, until he was severely wounded, losing his right hand and left eye. This most gallant officer has since succumbed to his injuries.

Capture Alfred Shout was a true original ANZAC. Families and Friends of First AIF member Harry Willey from Scone, NSW, has recorded Shout’s story in his book 150 years of the Victoria Cross, 1857 – 2007 Crimea to Afghanistan. The book also includes information on the history of the Victoria Cross, its awarding and the stories of 16 other VC winners

If you are interested in obtaining a copy of 150 years of the Victoria Cross, 1857 – 2007 Crimea to Afghanistan please contact Families and Friends of First AIF by emailing projectfffaif@yahoo.com.au.

Harry Willey has also written Scone’s Fallen ANZACs which tells the story of the lives of the one hundred and four men from the Scone district of New South Wales, that have their names recorded on the War Memorial Gateway at the entrance to the Scone Library

If you are interested in obtaining a copy of Scone’s Fallen ANZACs please contact Families and Friends of First AIF by emailing projectfffaif@yahoo.com.au.

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More news from NZ: Medals returned to Army Museum The collection of 96 medals, including nine Victoria Crosses, which were stolen in a smash-and-grab raid in December 2007 are now safely back in the Waiouru Army Museum. To read more click here.

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The Families and Friends of the First AIF thanks the Australian, UK and French governments for affording Australian and British soldiers – presently buried in mass graves at Pheasant Wood – dignified individual reburials in a new CWGC cemetery at Fromelles, and urge those responsible to ensure all necessary scientific and other means are employed to properly identify each soldier.

Posted in ANZAC Day, Diggers of First AIF, Events | Comments Off on New Zealand News.

Remembrance Day TV.

Posted on 21/10/2008 by FFFAIF

A note for your diary:

ABC

The ABC’s Four Corners program at 8;30pm on ABC1 on Monday 10th of November, the eve of Remembrance Day, will travel to the Western Front with historians from The Australian War Memorial and the Imperial War Museum and include a report from Pheasant Wood, Fromelles.

Foxtel’s The History Channel:

Winning World War 1 – The Western Front Diaries, two hour documentary written and presented by FFFAIF member, Jonathon King. The documentary is based on King’s book The Western Front Diaries and is narrated by Jack Thompson.  It screens at 7:30pm on Remembrance Day.

*****

The Families and Friends of the First AIF thanks the Australian, UK and French governments for affording Australian and British soldiers – presently buried in mass graves at Pheasant Wood – dignified individual reburials in a new CWGC cemetery at Fromelles, and urge those responsible to ensure all necessary scientific and other means are employed to properly identify each soldier.

Posted in Remembrance Day | Comments Off on Remembrance Day TV.

Lambert Exhibition.

Posted on 21/10/2008 by FFFAIF

If you live in Sydney or close by there is an opportunity to view The Australian War Memorial’s Travelling Exhibition, George LAMBERT: Gallipoli and Palestine Landscapes. The exhibition is now open at the Hazelhurst Regional Gallery & Arts Centre.

The gallery is located at 782 Kingsway, Gymea. The exhibition is on show until 30 November 2008.  Free admission.

The Gallery is open daily from 10.00am to 5.00pm.
Gallery Cafe open daily 9.30am – 4.00pm and weekend breakfast from 9.00am.

*****

The Families and Friends of the First AIF thanks the Australian, UK and French governments for affording Australian and British soldiers – presently buried in mass graves at Pheasant Wood – dignified individual reburials in a new CWGC cemetery at Fromelles, and urge those responsible to ensure all necessary scientific and other means are employed to properly identify each soldier.

Posted in Events, Uncategorized | Comments Off on Lambert Exhibition.

Preview new Memorial.

Posted on 21/10/2008 by FFFAIF

Australian Corps Memorial Park at Le Hamel is once again open to the public. The new Memorial will be officially re-dedicated at 3pm Saturday 8 November, 2008. This photo of the new memorial has just arrived from FFFAIF Member Yves Fohlen in France.

Photo: Australian Corps Memorial, Le Hamel, 2008

The original memorial was dedicated on July 4 1998 on the 80th anniversary of one of the most successful battles of the AIF on the Western Front.

Photo: Original Australian Corps Memorial, Le Hamel, 1998

 *****

The Families and Friends of the First AIF thanks the Australian, UK and French governments for affording Australian and British soldiers – presently buried in mass graves at Pheasant Wood – dignified individual reburials in a new CWGC cemetery at Fromelles, and urge those responsible to ensure all necessary scientific and other means are employed to properly identify each soldier.

Posted in Le Hamel, Memorials | Comments Off on Preview new Memorial.

*Remembrance Day Venues.

Posted on 14/10/2008 by FFFAIF

Remembrance Day, 11th November 2008, is the 90th Anniversary of the signing of the Armistice at Compiegne, France. The Armistice signalled the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front between the Allies and Germany in 1918.

This year many commemorative services will be held throughout Australia and around the world, including a special service at the Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, in France.

If you plan to attend a Remembrance Day Service this year please contact us at projectfffaif@yahoo.com.au – as we would like to be able to post reports, from near and far, on a wide collection of services.  Many members of the Families and Friends of the First AIF will be attending the service at the Australian War Memorial, in Canberra this year.

Photo: Remembrance Day Canberra 2007 [Alan Kitchen]

If you are planning your own Commemorative Service the Australian War Memorial website outlines the traditions of Remembrance Day services. Click here for details.

The Minister for Veterans’ Affairs released the following information about the commemoration of the 90th Anniversary of the signing of the Armistice and the re-dedication of the Australian Corps Memorial at Le Hamel:


2008 MARKS 90TH ANNIVERSARY OF ARMISTICE
AUSTRALIAN SERVICES ON WESTERN FRONT

The Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Alan Griffin, today announced that in addition to the many services in Australia, the Australian Government will commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Armistice with a Remembrance Day service at the Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, in France.
Mr Griffin said he hoped that many Australians would attend a Remembrance Day service either in Australia or overseas to remember the service and sacrifice of the more than 415,000 Australians who served during the First World War.
“More than 46,000 of the 60,000 Australians who died in the First World War lost their lives on the battlefields of the Western Front in France and Belgium.
“The end of the war on 11 November 1918 brought relief and rejoicing; but the joy was tempered by the terrible cost in human lives and suffering to Australia and many other nations.
“On this key 90th anniversary, it is appropriate that the Australian Government holds a service at Villers-Bretonneux, where the names of nearly 11,000 of our dead from the battlefields of France with no known grave are forever inscribed,” Mr Griffin said.
Mr Griffin said the service would begin at 10:15 am on Tuesday, 11 November.

The Remembrance Day service at Villers-Bretonneux will be preceded by the re-dedication of the memorial at the Australian Corps Memorial Park, Le Hamel, at 3pm on Saturday, 8 November.
Mr Griffin said the Le Hamel memorial commemorated the service of the Australian Corps through its actions at Le Hamel on 4 July 1918.  In this battle, the tactics very successfully applied by General Sir John Monash foreshadowed those used in larger offensives that began in August 1918 and led to the Allied victory.
“The re-dedication will mark the completion of extensive work funded by the Government to repair damage caused by the deterioration of the memorial,” Mr Griffin said.

For more information on the November events in France and other Remembrance Day services around the world visit www.dva.gov.au.

11 NOVEMBER REMEMBRANCE DAY CEREMONIES IN AUSTRALIA

Australian Capital Territory

Event:              National Remembrance Day Commemoration Ceremony

Time:               Ceremony commences at 10.15am.  Please arrive by 10.00am.

Venue:             Parade Ground, Australian War Memorial

Details:            Details of the ceremony will be posted on the Australian War Memorial website, www.awm.gov.au

Contact:          The Australian War Memorial Events and Ceremonies section, (02) 62434211 or ceremony@awm.gov.au

New South Wales

Sydney

Event:              Remembrance Day Commemoration Ceremony

Time:               Ceremony commences at 10:48am.  Please arrive by 10:15am

Venue:             Cenotaph, Martin Place, Sydney

Contact:          Department of Premier and Cabinet, (02) 9513 2041 or rebecca.gelao@dpc.nsw.gov.au

 

Photo: Remembrance Day Sydney 2007

Newcastle

Event:              Remembrance Day Service

Time:               Ceremony commences at 11.00am.  Please arrive by 10.50am

Venue:             Civic Park, Newcastle (Corner King & Auckland Streets) 

Contact:          Mr Charlie McGregor JP, Council Secretary, (02) 4968 3743 or charles@mysoul.com.au

Wollongong

Event:              90th Anniversary Remembrance Day Service

Time:               Ceremony commences at 10.45am.  Please arrive by 10.30am

Venue:             Wollongong City Cenotaph, Church St, Wollongong

Contact:          Mr Joe Davidson, (02) 4225 9818 or gongrsl@wollongong.hotkey.net.au

Northern Territory

Darwin

Event:              Remembrance Day Service

Time:               Ceremony commences at 10.45am.  Please arrive by 10.30am

Venue:             Cenotaph, Bicentennial Park, off Esplanade between Herbert Street and Knuckey Street

Alice Springs

Event:              Remembrance Day Service

Time:               Ceremony commences at 10.45am.  Please arrive by 10.30am

Venue:             Anzac Hill, Alice Springs

Katherine

Event:              Remembrance Day Service

Time:               Ceremony commences at 10.45am.  Please arrive by 10.30am

Venue:             O’Shea Park, Stuart Highway and O’Shea Terrace

Queensland

Brisbane

Event:              National Remembrance Day Commemoration Ceremony

Time:               Ceremony commences at 10.40am.

Venue:             Shrine of Remembrance, Ann Street, Brisbane  

Details:            Details of the ceremony will be posted on the RSL website at www.rslqld.org.

Contact:          Connie Millar, Public Relations Officer, (07) 3634 9410 or connie.millar@rslqld.org

Cairns

Event:              Remembrance Day Commemoration Ceremony

Time:               Ceremony commences at 10.40am.

Venue:             Cairns Cenotaph, opposite the RSL club on the Esplanade

Contact:          RSL Townsville, (07) 4759 9529

Townsville

Event:              Remembrance Day Commemoration Ceremony

Time:               Ceremony commences at 10.35am.  Please arrive by 10.00am.

Venue:             Cenotaph, ANZAC Park, The Strand

Contact:          RSL Townsville, (07) 4759 9529

South Australia

Adelaide

Event:              Ceremony commemorating the 90th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice

Time:               9.45am – unveiling of the ‘Atatürk Tribute’ Monument

10.15am – dedication of the Eternal Flame Memorial

10.45am – ceremony of Remembrance

Venue:             Cross of Sacrifice, Pennington Garden, King William Road, Adelaide

Victoria

Melbourne

Event:              Remembrance Day Commemoration Ceremony

Time:               Ceremony commences at 10.20am with the lowering of the flag and will finish by 11.20am

Venue:             Forecourt of the Shrine of Remembrance

Contact:          The Shrine of Remembrance, (03) 9654 8415 or reception@shrine.org.au

Event:              Association Des Anciens Combattants Francais de Victoria Ceremony

Time:               Ceremony commences at 11.20am. 

Venue:             Sanctuary of the Shrine of Remembrance.

Contact           The Shrine of Remembrance, (03) 9654 8415 or reception@shrine.org.au

The Main Sanctuary doors of the Shrine of Remembrance will be opened 11.55 – 12.05 to allow the public to see the sun shine on the inner sanctum. Due to daylight saving this event occurs an hour after the hour of remembrance.

Bendigo

Event:              2008 Remembrance Day Commemoration

Time:               Ceremony commences at 10.50am.

Venue:             Cenotaph, Pall Mall

Contact:          Bendigo RSL, (03) 5442 4013

Western Australia

Perth

Event:              State Remembrance Day Ceremony

Time:               Ceremony commences at 10.30am

Venue:             State War Memorial Precinct

Details:            State RSL Website – www.rslwahq.org.au

Contact:          State RSL, (08) 9287 3799, rslwahq@iinet.net.au

 

Albany

Event:              Remembrance Day Ceremony

Time:               10.20am

Venue:             War Memorial, corner York and Peels Place, Albany

Contact:          Mr Laurie Fraser MBE, President Albany Sub Branch RSL (08) 9844 4695

Fremantle

Event:              Remembrance Day Ceremony

Time:               10.30am

Venue:             Monument Hill Fremantle

Details:                        www.freofocus.com

Contact:          City of Fremantle, Corporate Events, (08) 9432 9830

Tasmania

Hobart

Event:              Remembrance Day Ceremony

Time:               Ceremony commences at 10.00am

Venue:             Hobart War Memorial (Cenotaph), Queens Domain, Hobart

Details:            Ceremony will commence with a parade of First World War unit banners.

*****

The Families and Friends of the First AIF thanks the Australian, UK and French governments for affording Australian and British soldiers – presently buried in mass graves at Pheasant Wood – dignified individual reburials in a new CWGC cemetery at Fromelles, and urge those responsible to ensure all necessary scientific and other means are employed to properly identify each soldier.

Posted in Remembrance Day | Comments Off on *Remembrance Day Venues.

*Remembrance Tour.

Posted on 14/10/2008 by FFFAIF

FFFAIF member Mike Goodwin  has recently returned from leading the fifth overseas tour with students from the ‘Lest We Forget’ history project of Mackay North State School in Queensland.  To glimpse some of what happened on the trip Mike has sent the following report:

Remembrance 2008 Commemorative Tour 

Photo: The tour group in the playground of Victoria Primary School, Villers-Bretonneux. [Mike Goodwin] 

Mackay North State High School’s fifth overseas commemorative tour has just been completed, with 32 senior History students having recently returned from a 3 week pilgrimage to the battlefields, cemeteries and memorials of Singapore, Gallipoli, France and Belgium.

Photo: Student, Duane Russell looking out over graves at Tyne Cot Cemetery. [Mike Goodwin]

Whilst on the tour, the students commemorated 115 fallen diggers in 47 cemeteries and at 12 memorials on behalf of families in Australia.  They also conducted 3 major commemorative services – at the Menin Gate, Lone Pine Memorial and the Australian National Memorial.

Photographs of the graves and memorial names will be presented to relatives at a special presentation evening at the school on November 1.

Photo: Student, Demi Portegys at the grave of John Gallagher – until the research carried out by Demi, John Gallagher’s family did not know of the existence of his grave. [Mike Goodwin]

 Special highlights of the tour included:
–  A private charter cruise along the Anzac coastline and swimming off North Beach over a sunken Anzac barge.
–  Spending dawn and dusk at Anzac Cove.
–  Twighlight at Polygon Wood – listening to a student sing the National Anthem overlooking Buttes New British Cemetery on a perfect Autumn evening.
–  Involvement in the Menin Gate Last Post Service.
–  Meeting the last British WW1 veteran, 110 year old Harry Patch.
–  Battlefield walks at Pozieres, Fromelles & Broodseinde Ridge.
–  Visiting the Pheasant Wood mass burial site at Fromelles.
–  Spending lots of time with our FFFAIF overseas members, Johan Durnez  & Yves Fohlen .

Photo: Student, Megan Mabin, at the grave of her relative, 19 year old Victor Reedman, buried at Bulls Rd Cemetery, Flers. [Mike Goodwin]

Mike will be writing more about his most recent pilgrimage in upcoming issues of DIGGER  magazine. Why not subscribe  to DIGGER for only $A40 p.a.? To find out more about becoming part of the Families and Friends of the First AIF and receiving your quarterly copy of DIGGER click here.

*****

The Families and Friends of the First AIF thanks the Australian, UK and French governments for affording Australian and British soldiers – presently buried in mass graves at Pheasant Wood – dignified individual reburials in a new CWGC cemetery at Fromelles, and urge those responsible to ensure all necessary scientific and other means are employed to properly identify each soldier.

Posted in Events, Projects, Villers-Bretonneux | Comments Off on *Remembrance Tour.

*1st Aussie Casualty on Western Front.

Posted on 14/10/2008 by FFFAIF

Yesterday, 14th October 2008, was the 94th anniversary of the death of the first Australian to be killed in action, on the Western Front, in the Great War. William Thomas Leggett, an Australian serving with the 1st British Life Guards was killed in a brief skirmish with German troops occupying Gheluwe in West Flanders, Belgium, on 14th October 1914.

Photo: William Leggett, Corporal Of Horse, C Squadron, 1st Life Guards. [Leggett Family]

To read the story around the events leading to the death of William Leggett, click here.

William Leggett was born in Lithgow, New South Wales, in 1891 and later moved to Goulburn. In 1912 Leggett sailed from Sydney to Britain where he joined the British Cavalry, serving with the 1st Life Guards.

In October 2001 the William Leggett Memorial was unveiled near the church at Gheluwe, thanks to the work of a dedicated band of supporters including FFFAIF members Johan Durnez, Anny De Decker and Ivan ‘Shrapnel Charlie’ Sinnaeve. For more details click here.
The memorial represents Corporal William Leggett falling from his horse after being shot by German soldiers.

Photo: The Leggett Memorial, Gheluwe, Belgium [Johan Durnez]

On Remembrance Day 2005 a second memorial to William Leggett was unveiled at Rocky Hill, Goulburn, NSW. This memorial was constructed from the sheet of steel remaining after the silhouette had been cut for the Gheluwe memorial – thus linking William Leggett’s home town in Australia to place of death in Belgium. Descendents of William Leggett were present at the unveiling of both memorials.

Photo: The Leggett Memorial, Goulburn, New South Wales. [Alan Kitchen]

On the same day across the other side of the world, in Belgium, a special Remembrance Day Service was held at the grave of William Leggett, Harelbeke Belgium.

Photo: The Mayor of Harelbeke laying a wreath on behalf of the Town of Harelbeke. [Johan Durnez]

A detailed photographic report on the ceremony at Harelbeke appeared in DIGGER Issues 14 & 15. DIGGER is the quarterly magazine of the FFFAIF. The magazine contains a unique collection of articles and photos, the majority of which are published for the first time and are provided by members. Take some time to have a look at past DIGGER magazines by clicking here.

Membership of the Families and Friends of the First AIF Inc is $A40 p.a. and includes anual subscription to DIGGER magazine. To discover more about the FFFAIF click here. Membership application forms are available by clicking here .

*****

The Families and Friends of the First AIF thanks the Australian, UK and French governments for affording Australian and British soldiers – presently buried in mass graves at Pheasant Wood – dignified individual reburials in a new CWGC cemetery at Fromelles, and urge those responsible to ensure all necessary scientific and other means are employed to properly identify each soldier.

Posted in Commemorations, Memorials, The Western Front | Comments Off on *1st Aussie Casualty on Western Front.