Snowball marches

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The Boomerangs at Forbes
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The Boomerangs at Forbes

During World War I, recruitment marches or snowball marches to Sydney were a feature of recruiting volunteers for the Australian Imperial Force in rural New South Wales, Australia. Between October 1915 and February 1916, nine marches were held starting from various points in the state. There was also a similar march in south-eastern Queensland. In 1918, in an effort to promote recruitment, another march was staged but this was less spontaneous and the marchers in fact travelled by train.

About 1,500 men marched in total but it may be that the marches persuaded still more men to enlist, perhaps up to two to three times the number enlisted directly from the marches.[1] [2]

It is said that the military authorities were ambivalent about these marches. They were not certain whether or not the men should march with rifles, when their pay would start, who would clothe or feed them. Along the route however, local communities fed and housed the men.[1]

Contents

[edit] Snowball marches: summary

  • Cooee March - 30 men left Gilgandra 10 October 1915, arrived Sydney 263 recruits 12 November
  • The Dungarees - 30 men left Warwick, Queensland 16 November 1915, arrived Brisbane 125 recruits
  • Waratahs - 50 men left Nowra 30 November 1915, arrived Sydney 120 recruits 17 December
  • Kangaroo March - 88 men left Wagga Wagga 1 December 1915, arrived Sydney 230 recruits 7 January 1916
  • The Wallabies - 38 men left Narrabri 1 December 1915, arrived Sydney 173 recruits 8 January 1916
  • Men from Snowy River - 15 men left Delegate 6 January 1916, arrived Goulburn 144 recruits 29 January
  • Kurrajongs - 114 men left Inverell January 1916, arrived Narrabri 150 recruits
  • The Kookaburras - 23 men left Tooraweenah 12 January 1916, arrived Bathurst 100 recruits 3 February
  • North Coast Boomerangs - 27 men left Grafton January 1916, arrived Maitland 240 recruits
  • Central West Boomerangs - 71 men left Parkes 19 January 1916, arrived Bathurst 202 recruits 5 February
  • Southern March to Freedom - Albury - Sydney 1918
  • Butler's 500 ‘Snowball March’ - Edithburgh on the Yorke Peninsula to Adelaide raised 170 men in 1918

[edit] Cooee March

Twenty six men left Gilgandra on 10 October 1915 on the 'Cooee March', led by the Captain of the local rifle club, W. T Hitchins. At each town on the route the marchers shouted "cooee" to attract recruits and held recruitment meetings. By the time they reached Sydney just over one month later on 12 November, the numbers had swelled to 263 recruits, marching a total of 320 miles and being welcomed by large crowds along the way. [3][4]


During the march, the Cooees were issued about 50 dungarees in Dubbo, Army greatcoats in Orange and some additional dungarees in Lithgow.[5]


[edit] The Dungarees

Twenty eight men left Warwick, Queensland on November 16. The 'Dungaree march' in south-east Queensland made its way through Allora, Clifton, Greenmount, Cambooya, Toowoomba, Helidon, Gatton, Laidley, Rosewood, Ipswich and Oxley. The 160 miles (270 k) march ended in Brisbane with 125 recruits.[6]

[edit] Waratahs

Men marched from the south coast: Nowra, Bomaderry, Meroo, Berry, Gerringong, Kiama, Jamberoo, Albion Park, Dapto, Unanderra, Pt Kembla, Wollongong, Balgownie, Corrimal, Woonona, Bulli, Thirroul, Coledale, Scarborough, Stanwell Park, Helensburgh, Heathcote, Sutherland, Hurstville, Kogarah, Rockdale, arriving at The Domain, Sydney. The contingent included men from Jervis Bay, and Kangaroo Valley even though these towns were not on the route. The Waratahs entered camp at Liverpool on 17 December 1915.[7]

[edit] Kangaroo March

Eighty eight potential soldiers left Wagga Wagga on 1 December 1915. They marched via Harefield, Junee, Illabo, Bethungra, Cootamundra and Wallendbeen. At Wallendbeen on December 9, the Governor-General addressed the marchers. After Wallendbeen, they marched via Nubba to Murrumburrah and the next day they were at Harden. They then marched through Galong, Binalong and Bowning to Yass. From Wagga Wagga to Yass was a total of 132 miles, the march travelled at an average of 8.8 miles per day. As with other marches, the men were fed and feted by the local population; at Murrumburrah, for instance, donations included 114 puddings and 9 sheep to be baked gratis by the local bakers, 200 loaves of bread, 850 potatoes and 30 dozen eggs. They marched to Campbelltown via Goulburn. The Kangaroo recruits travelled from Campbelltown into Sydney by train arriving on 7 January 1916 with somewhere between 210 and 230 recruits. It had been decided that this recruitment drive would finish at Campbelltown so that a country contingent could be created. [8] There were reports of rowdy and drunken behaviour along the route by the marchers. The best known recruit from this march was John Ryan who won the Victoria Cross.

[edit] The Wallabies

‘Maitland’s Own’ Battalion, the 34th, was formed from a core of men who had commenced a recruitment march at Narrabri on 8 December 1915 and finished in Newcastle on 7 January 1916. Forty-three men began the march and 281 miles later there were 265 new recruits.[9] [10] [11]

A re-enactment of the march was held on the 75th anniversary in 1991/92.

[edit] Men from Snowy River

'Men from Snowy River' at Cooma
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'Men from Snowy River' at Cooma

Following the successes of the 'Cooee' march in December 1915, 12 men set out from Delegate on the 6 January 1916 to march the 220 miles to the nearest AIF Training Depot in Goulburn (currently the site of Goulburn High School). Marching under the 'Men from Snowy River' banner (now housed in the Western Front gallery at the Australian War Memorial), the recruitment march passed through the major regional centres of the Monaro, with civil receptions at Bombala, Cooma, Queanbeyan, Bungendore and Goulburn. [12]

Although volunteers joined the 'Snowies' as they passed through smaller towns and villages, these massive civil receptions at the larger centres celebratised the 'Snowy' recruits, which was intended to entice further 'eligibles' at the meetings to do likewise. Such was the case with recruit Timothy McMahon, who despite volunteering to march with the Men from Snowy River at Michelago, was employed by recruiting staff to dramatically 'volunteer' at several of these receptions in order to appeal to the patriotism of the crowd, and lure other volunteers into enlisting.[13]

The Men from Snowy River recruitment march arrived in Goulburn on the 28th January 1916 144 men strong. Despite the massive media attention the recruitment march received in the local press, the end result of 144 recruits was disappointing to recruiting staff who had envisaged at least 200 men [14]

One recruit who did join the march was Ernest Albert Corey, a blacksmith from Nimmitabel. Corey later served with the 55th battalion as a stretcher bearer, and is recognised as the only soldier in the Commonwealth to be awarded to Military Medal four times.

Majority of recruits who enlisted during the march later formed the 4th reinforcements of the 55th Battalion, AIF, all of which saw service on the Western front. Of the 144 men that enlisted in the march, 39 were later to be killed in action and 75 became casualties.[15]

The Men from Snowy River recruitment march was relived during the Second World War when men retraced the original path of the 'Snowies', albeit diverting to Canberra. Both recruitment marches were commemorated by a reenactment of the march and a civil reception at the hall at Delegate in January 2006, on the 90th anniversary of the original Men from Snowy River march.[16].

[edit] The Kookaburras

Twenty three men set out in January 1916 from Tooraweenah, New South Wales on a march to Bathurst to recruit men for service in World War I. Men were recruited from Coolah, Mendooran and Dundedoo, Binnaway, Merrygoen and Tucklan.[10] En route, the Kookaburras are remembered for sleeping on the floor of the Capertee school.[17] There is a veteran's plaque on the Tooraweenah village common.[18]

[edit] North Coast Boomerangs

Arrival of "North Coasters" recruiting march in Port Macquarie
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Arrival of "North Coasters" recruiting march in Port Macquarie

Twenty seven men left Grafton on 18 January 1916 and arrived at Maitland with 240 recruits. The march was accompanied by Bill Hitchen who had organised the original Snowball march of the Cooees.[5]

[edit] Central West Boomerangs

The Boomerangs at the Parkes showground on 19 January 1916, photographed with the Mayor and Mayoress
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The Boomerangs at the Parkes showground on 19 January 1916, photographed with the Mayor and Mayoress

Seventy one men left Parkes by train on 19 January 1916. They marched from Daroobalgie to Donaghey’s Hill, and then on to Forbes, Yamma Station, Eugowra, Gooloogong, Canowindra, Billimari, Cowra, Woodstock, Lyndhurst, Carcoar, Blayney, Newbridge (to Georges Plains by train) and Perthville. They arrived in Bathurst with 202 recruits on 5 February at the same time as the Kookaburras from Tooraweenah and were given a combined reception. Each marcher was presented with a medallion in the shape of a boomerang, engraved with their name and town and the words "Come Back".[19]

On the Light Horse memorial at Cowra, a plaque commemorates the re-enactment of the 1916 Boomerang march in 1999.[20]

A re-enactment march was held in February 1999.

[edit] Other possible marches

[edit] Casterton to Melbourne

A "snowball" march of recruits from Casterton, Victoria in the Western District to Melbourne, a distance of about 245 miles, was planned in 1916. It is not certain if this proceeded.[21]

[edit] 1918 marches

[edit] Southern March to Freedom

A 1918 recruitment march from Albury via Yass to Sydney. The march stopped at 12 towns but the 'marchers' travelled by train.[22]

[edit] March to Freedom - Brisbane November 1918

There was a 'march to freedom' recruiting march in Brisbane in November 1918.

[edit] Butler's 500 ‘Snowball March’

The 1918 march, from Edithburgh, South Australia to Adelaide, raised 170 men just before the war’s end. Colonel Charles Butler, who'd fought on the Western Front, volunteered to raise 500 fighting men, but despite an enthusiastic response only 170 men enlisted.[23]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Robson, L.L. (1970 (1982 paperback)). The First A.I.F.: A study of its recruitment 1914-1918. Carlton, Victoria, Australia: Melbourne University Press. ISBN 0-522-84237-2.
  2. ^ Recruiting Marches 1915-1916. Australian War Memorial Encyclopaedia. Australian War Memorial. Retrieved on 2006-03-03.
  3. ^ The Coo-ee March. Gilgandra and District. Retrieved on 2006-11-01.
  4. ^ Rowlands drink stall set up beside the Market Tree for the Coo-ee recruiting march - Medlow Bath, NSW (Image). Picture database. State Library of NSW. Retrieved on 2006-11-01.
  5. ^ a b General Topic: Reserve Forces Day 2005 (archived discussion). Light Horse Forums. The Australian Light Horse Association (2004/5). Retrieved on 2006-06-03.
  6. ^ The Brave Dungarees. ozbird.com. Retrieved on 2006-11-01.
  7. ^ Waratahs recruiting march. Australian War Memorial Encyclopaedia. Australian War Memorial. Retrieved on 2006-11-01.
  8. ^ http://www.woolaroo.com.au/yassarmistice/kangaroo.htm
  9. ^ Recruiting Marches 1915, 1916 & marching WW2: Wallabies. Digger History: an unofficial history of the Australian & New Zealand Armed Forces. DiggerHistory.Info Inc. (2006). Retrieved on 2006-06-03.
  10. ^ a b Reading list: Recruiting marches, 1915-18. Reference material. Australian War Memorial. Retrieved on 2006-11-01.
  11. ^ James Bruce - ‘Der Rothaarig Teufel’(‘The Ginger Haired Devil’). Hunter Valley Military History. Retrieved on 2006-11-01.
  12. ^ Men from Snowy River recruiting march. Australian War Memorial Encyclopaedia. Australian War Memorial. Retrieved on 2006-11-01.
  13. ^ J. Meridith,'The Coo-ee march, Gilgandra-Sydney, 1915', Kangaroo Press: Kenthurst[NSW], 1986.
  14. ^ D. Rutherford, 'Men from Snowy River:The story of a famous First World War recruitment march, Wartime: The Official Magazine of the Australian War Memorial, Issue 26, 2004, p.18-20.
  15. ^ Page from AIF Nominal Roll: 55th Infantry Battalion, 4th reinforcements. Australian War Memorial. Retrieved on 2006-11-01.
  16. ^ "The Snowy River March starts again Saturday", Your guide: Bombala, 2006-01-24. Retrieved on 2006-11-01.
  17. ^ Capertee, New South Wales. Travel. Fairfax Digital (2004). Retrieved on 2006-03-03.
  18. ^ Tooraweenah. Travel. Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved on 2006-11-01.
  19. ^ Central West Boomerangs recruiting march. Australian War Memorial Encyclopaedia. Australian War Memorial. Retrieved on 2006-11-01.
  20. ^ Cowra Light Horse Memorial. War Memorials in Australia. skp.com.au. Retrieved on 2006-11-01.
  21. ^ Excerpts from West Wimmera Mail & Natimuk & Goroke Advertiser 1916. Newspaper extracts. Ballarat & District Genealogical Society Inc.. Retrieved on 2006-11-01.
  22. ^ Image of A recruiting drive in Albury, NSW, 1918. Australian War Memorial. Retrieved on 2006-11-01.
  23. ^ Butler’s 500 Anzac Celebration: Edithburgh in the Yorke Peninsula region of South Australia. Channel Nine: Postcards online. Retrieved on 2006-11-01.

[edit] External links

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