The Oarsmen: The Remarkable Story of the Men Who Rowed from the Great War to Peace

Available from libraries and bookstores.

At the end of the Great War the Department of Defence was faced with the problem of repatriating tens of thousands of men from various theatres of war home to Australia.  Approximately 95,000 men were in France, 6,000 were in hospitals, convalescing, in reinforcement depots or working on the staff in the United Kingdom, and 30,000 were in the Middle East or other theatres of war.  

With insufficient shipping to achieve their repatriation within the "duration of the war plus four months" stipulated when they enlisted, a huge effort was needed to keep the waiting troops occupied and entertained.   One program was for sporting competitions between sportsmen of the allied armies, included such sports as shooting, boxing, athletics, football, and rowing.

Major Middleton, who was putting together personalities, programs, locations, and  events, in various sports had been a successful rower himself. He put out a call for men experienced in rowing to come forward and try out for the AIF crew.  He also sent out cables to rowers he knew to be in France or England  and asked them to come.  Whether Lieutenant Harold Newall received a personal invitation from Middleton, or responded to a notice in a newspaper, Newall turned up to tryout and was placed in the stroke seat of the AIF 2 crew, with Albert Dresser being in the stroke seat of AIF 1 crew.

The AIF crew was more democratic that the crews of other countries.  England relied on officers only, who had attended public schools before the war.  Class distinctions still counted in England.   The USA crew likewise filled their crews with officers and men who had been to Ivy League schools.   Australia put men of any rank in their boats, as long as they rowed well.   

A large number of the Australians selected had represented Australia in their pre-war careers, several having rowed in the 1912 Olympics, for instance.   Unlike these men, Newall before the war had rowed only as a club rower in Melbourne, for the Essendon Rowing Club. This club in itself was and is a democratic club, not relying on the public schools of Melbourne to crew their boats, but taking all comers.  

In his 1914 season Newall had distinguished himself as the Men's Senior Eight stroke, and in his last row for 1914, his team-mates lifted him to their shoulders and chaired him onto the shore on the Yarra.   Early in 1915 again, Newell won races for his club with his superior skills as the stroke, but it was the news of the severe losses at Gallipoli of which the Australian public only learnt in May 1915 that had 6 of 9 of the Essendon crew members join the AIF.

Patterson provides a detailed and interesting account of the vicissitudes of the training of the Australian crew prior to the Peace Regatta of 1919.  Some had suffered severely at Pozieres, and probably all had a degree of PTSD. Major Middleton somehow got these two crews to pull together in the boats, selecting himself to balance out the crew that eventually won the Regatta for the AIF.   It was unfortunate that the AIF 2 crew were selected to row against the AIF 1 crew in the first heat, and was thus eliminated from the Regatta early.

The Australian team cheerfully seized the King's Cup from the British rowing authorities who had been very reluctant even to allow overseas crews to compete, because heaven knows the Australians were not gentlemen.  So the King's Cup came to Australia, and even then there was a controversy over it.  The Australian War Museum seized it as a trophy of war.  The Rowing authorities argued that it was not a war trophy and they petitioned King George V to allow them to keep the trophy as an annual perpetual trophy for the men's annual eight-oared competition.  King George graciously agreed to the rowers' request, much to the chagrin of the AWM and others who were appalled at the effrontery of the rowers to go over the heads of the Australian government to petition the King.  (See, I said they weren't gentlemen.)

This book is a jolly good read, and I recommend it strongly to anyone with an interest in sports of any kind, rowing in particular, and the history of the AIF.   Scott Patterson is an excellent story-teller, and is also a film maker. His documentary film project on the AIF rowing team is nearing completion, and you can read about it  at the above link.

A letter from Rabbit Hole VIlla, Gallipoli

Typical accommodation on Gallipoli, H03942  AWM

Local AIF volunteer, George Gilchrist, of St Leonards Rd, Ascot Vale, survived the landing at Gallipoli with the 7th Infantry Battalion on 25 April 1915.

Gilchrist was 19 when he enlisted, and worked as a clerk.   He'd been involved in the cadet movement for some years, spending one year as a junior cadet, 2 years in senior cadets, and 15 months in the Citizens Military Forces with the 58 Infantry (Essendon Rifles).  As compulsory military service had only been implemented in 1913, his years as a cadet before that would have been as a volunteer cadet, possibly training at school, indicating his early interest in soldiering.   This was one reason he would have been an early appointment to Lance Corporal, and Sergeant while still at Gallipoli.

Gilchrist was mentioned several times in extracts of letters published in the Essendon Gazette, and following are extracts from letters he wrote himself to his parents:

Sergeant George A. Gilchrist writes to his parents at Moonee Ponds from "Rabbit Hole Villa," Gallipoli, describing the landing of the Australians at Gallipoli. Out of 35 in his boat only 15 got ashore. They rushed across the beach, and took cover, and connecting with another battalion rushed a small hill and took possession. They remained in the discarded trenches for a while, until they started off to regain the firing line which was well inland. Unable to do this, they retired. They rejoined the battalion later on.  Alick MacArthur was one of those killed on the boat. He was rowing, and was shot through the thigh; but kept on pulling till he dropped from loss of blood. 

In a later epistle, Sergt. Gilchrist tells of the trip to Cape Hellas with a party of New Zealanders. Here they spent a couple of days in the reserve trenches. It was very cold, and they went to bed looking like Esquimaux. On 5th May, they moved into trenches about 1000 yards from the enemy, and about 500 yards from a trench held by British troops. When word came, they jumped out of the trenches and went for the enemy. No. 5 platoon, under Lieut. Swift, was the first to move, and just as the Australians got to the top of the gully, the Turks poured shrapnel into them. Lieut. Swift was hit here and slightly wounded. (His brother, Alick, has since been killed in action.-Editor.) They- reached the trench held by the British, and advanced. The enemy had the range to a nicety, and their firing was very accurate. The boys got within 35 yds. of the Turks, and owing to the firing line having been thinned, they lay down and scratched up a bit of cover, without entrenching tools. They dug all night, and by morning were safe from anything but high explosive shells. 

Sgt. Gilchrist had several narrow escapes. A shrapnel pellet landed in his pack, and while digging he had four other close shaves. At time of writing, he was all right; but complained of the heat, and flies, especially the latter.

OUR SOLDIERS. (1915, October 14). The Essendon Gazette and Keilor, Bulla and Broadmeadows Reporter (Moonee Ponds, Vic. : 1914 - 1918), p. 4 Edition: Morning.  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74590395

For more stories of local volunteers, see:  The Empire Called and I Answered: the Volunteers of Essendon and Flemington, 1914-1918

George Young's War

Pozieres, pulverised by shelling, where George Young suffered shell shock.  AWM A05776

George Henry Young suffered a bit of a battering in the war.  He was wounded in the foot at the Dardanelles, being invalided to Malta and later England.  In 1916 in France he was hospitalised with shell shock, and again invalided to England.  During his lengthy periods in convalescence, he managed to marry a young English woman, and when repatriated in 1919, they had a baby with them.

When he returned to France he suffered shell shock after the terrible shelling of Pozieres, where his Battalion had been posted.

Rod Martin tells the story of George Young's war. 

State school teacher wounded at Gallipoli

 
         Private Thomas Keddie, State school teacher at San Remo.

Thomas Keddie, a State school teacher, enlisted in the AIF at the first opportunity in August 1915.  Like many men of his educational attainments he was made up to a Sergeant at an early stage in his training, but was reduced in rank in February 1915 to Private.  His service record does not specify why that occurred, though it is possible he requested the change himself.    He may have taken part in the defence of the Suez Canal when it was attacked by the Turks, but that remains another mystery.

On 25 April 1915 Thomas landed at Anzac Cove with his 8 Battalion comrades.   Later in the day he was shot in the leg and evacuated.  It meant the end of the war for Private Keddie, and he returned to teaching in Victoria.  His presence in the Ascot Vale State School "Book of Noble Deeds" suggests he taught there for a period.

You can see Rod Martin's account of Thomas Keddie's part in the Great War here.

Private Yeats and the attack at Polygon Wood

 
Somme mud, 1916 (AWM P905380.002)

Private William Yeats arrived in France in January 1917 in time to enjoy the worst winter in 40 years.  A slight increase in temperatures preceded a thaw that changed conditions to a muddy quagmire.  Rod Martin takes up the tale of  young William Yeats, iron moulder of Flemington, who struggled through the appalling conditions in France until struck by shelling at Polygon Wood, his death bringing grief to yet another Flemington home.  See his detailed story on the Empire Called website.

William Yeats' memorial at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery.

Pattie Deakin and the Anzac Buffet

Elizabeth Martha Anne Browne (but known as Pattie) was born at Camp Hill, Tullamarine Victoria on 1 January 1863. She was the third of the eleven children of Hugh Junor Browne and his wife Elizabeth (née Turner).

Throughout her married life, Pattie devoted herself to her family and charity work, especially in the area of child welfare.  She encouraged her three daughters to live a life of service to others.

For a listing of her philanthropic work, see the Australian Women's Register. 

Jane McMillan and Pattie Deakin (in a hat) with the volunteers of the Soldiers’ Refreshment Stall. The conditions are fairly rudimentary with a caanvas awning and the windowhatches the only shelter in the event of rain. Photo:  Voluntary War Workers Record, Australian Comforts Fund, 1918.

Vera Deakin and the Red Cross, by Carole Woods, was published by the Royal Historical Society of Victoria in 2020.  While reading this book I was interested in the reference to the Anzac Buffet, and most particularly just exactly where it was in St Kilda Road.  It required a little bit of digging, but now I know.

When the war began in 1914, the Australian Army put its efforts into equipping and training their recruits for war, but it was the women of Australia who threw themselves into providing comforts and morale boosting for young men separated from their friends and family.  Though the troops were surrounded by young men similar to themselves,  they could be lonely for their wives and girlfriends, mothers and sisters.   The women of Australia understood this and with a will they threw themselves into providing home comforts for the men. 

The women also excelled at seeing a need and working out a way of filling that need without the support of a huge organisation around them.   The Soldiers’ Refreshment Stall, later called the Anzac Buffet, is one example of a need met by a group of women without a formal organisation. Leadership was provided by older women, self-selected largely through class and status, and the rest generally formed a supportive group around them with no formal structure required, only a willingness to work hard and fill a need.

When men who had returned from overseas began congregating for appointments at the 5 Australian General Hospital (5AGH) in St Kilda Rd, often waiting for lengthy periods to be seen, the need was perceived for hot drinks and a meal to sustain them during their long waits and travel time at both ends of the appointment.  The men were highly appreciative of the services provided by the women, and all for the cost of only one penny. 

The 5AGH was located in the newly completed Police Hospital. Before ever having admitted a patient, the Police Hospital was taken over by the Army to provide for soldiers yet to embark and also by wounded returning from Gallipoli. The first patients were admitted in March 1915.

A news article described this drawing: “The Building elevation shown above is that of the new police hospital which is in course of erection upon a site on the corner of St Kilda road and Nolan-street, which was formerly part of the old Immigrants Home property.”  (Argus, 20 June 1914).

 

No. 5 Australian General Hospital (Base Hospital) Melbourne. F C Hawker, p 6.

The hospital faced Nolan Street on the north side, now renamed Southbank Boulevard.  St Kilda Road passes in the foreground.  It reverted to a Police Hospital in 1920.   

The Police Hospital from a drawing of the entire Police Depot in St Kilda Rd.

See The Heritage-Listed Old Police Hospital is Born Again.

Former Prime Minister Alfred Deakin had accepted an invitation to form a delegation to visit the USA in January 1915, and despite his daughter Vera being anxious to find a way to serve the war effort, she was obliged to accompany her parents to California.  Pattie, his wife, and Vera Deakin had been original members of the British Red Cross organising committee in Melbourne in 1914, but left the committee when they travelled overseas with Alfred.   Both of the women were accustomed to leadership roles,  so on their return they had to find a new activity rather than appropriate their former positions, now occupied by other women.  The Australian Red Cross was providing workers in the kitchens at the 5^th Australian General Hospital (5AGH), and  it might have been their suggestion that there was a need for a refreshment service for the men who had long waits to see doctors and other health professionals. 

Vera Deakin worked with her mother and Jane McMillan in the establishment of the Soldiers Refreshment Stall, but on 21 December 1915, Vera and her friend Winifred Johnston left Melbourne on a ship bound for Cairo, to begin her important war work with the Australian Red Cross Wounded and Missing Enquiry Bureau. 

The Deakins arrived home in early July 1915.  On 29 August 1916 The Argus reported that the first birthday of the Soldiers’ Refreshment Stall had taken place on the previous day, implying that the Deakin women had taken less than two months to set up and commence their work in 1915.   There were formalities to go through  – permission from the authorities at the 5AGH, a tent to work in, some basic equipment to assemble and the first donations of tea, coffee, cocoa and bread, cake and appropriate provisions for soup, and a team of volunteers to operate the stall seven days a week.  They kept this up for four solid years, with the work building from 4,000 per week in 1916  to an average of 1,000 “serves” per day in 1919. (The Herald, 11 Nov 1919, p 1).

The Stall served hospital  outpatients, drivers, men from the camps, orderlies and all soldiers who had a need of it.    Ten and later 15 volunteers turned up each day to run the stall. The group photographs show thirty-six and forty-eight volunteers respectively, and thirty-five are listed individually in the Voluntary War Workers Record, Australian Comforts Fund, 1918.   Between 400 and 500 volunteers assisted throughout the period of its operation, and 130 names were on the roll in 1919. (The Herald, 11 Nov 1919, p 1).

From the Ladies Letter, Punch, 4 May 1916:

“The Base Hospital Soldiers' Refreshment Stall celebrated Anzac Day by entertaining over two hundred overseas "Anzac" men, presenting each guest with packets of  cigarettes, sweets, and matches. There was no speechifying or boresome formality about the affair—just a homely, cheery greeting characteristic of this pleasant "corner" run by the "Serve You Right Sisters," as the volunteer- caterers at the S.R.S. are affectionately dubbed by their khaki customers. Each arrival was just enjoined, in greeting to "remember the day, and what it commemorates” and, indeed, the majority, of those present, with limp, hanging, empty sleeves, shaded eyes and pathetic bandages, had every reason to remember.

This "corner," by the way, is kept so busy now that it requires  an average "of ten helpers a day. There is no committee, no board, no red tape. Practically every suburb is represented among the helpers, among whom exists a wonderful esprit de corps and absence of friction. Over 900 men per day are fed and "mothered" very often, or a mean average of 4000 per week. Supplies and cheques just flow in without any necessity for canvassing or pleading on the part of the organisers — not in huge, spasmodic lumps and amounts, mind  you. There is just that knowledge among the S.R.S. that they know where to turn for support ; a regular fifty pounds of tea, for instance, keeps the caddy replenished from one firm ; so many pounds of cake per week arrive from another ; and so on. A leading Prahran emporium the other day handed in a cheque for £25, saying that was only the beginning of what the employes intended to do as a recognition of the fine work being done.

"By their works ye shall know them," and the gratitude of the soldiers who have been administered to, and of their relatives and friends, is constantly being signified in a variety of ways. One soldier—a baker by trade—sends along his "thank you" every week in the form of a trayful of pastry cook's goodies. The mother of one soldier who was shown kindness by these volunteers tried to express her gratitude by offering little gifts to the chief ministering angel. This was gently declined, with the explanation that other soldiers who were not able to afford such presents might be made to feel unhappy; but if "Mum" liked to send along some scones or something they would be very welcome. Now, with frequent regularity, a package of home-made cakes, scones, etc., arrive at the buffet from this grateful "Mum." In addition to the hundred-and-one little services which the workers in this "corner" are able to do, such as sewing on buttons, writing letters (for those, alas ! incapacitated), interceding with authority, helping through inquiries, comforting relatives, etc., a regular "Returned Soldiers' Aid Fund" has become established.

Temporary loans for small amounts are advanced to those who need them. Poor Billy Khaki is so often "stoney," awaiting pay  arrears—goodness knows why and how ! This temporary accommodation is given, with discretion, with common-sense judgment, but without cold official inquiry, without red tape, without even hesitation" as to its being "deserving." And how it is appreciated ! In nine cases out of ten all such advances are returned in due course. And as for the tenth—well, what are we all supposed to be doing, and thinking, and talking of, and bragging about, if it is not helping soldiers in need?  Another excellent movement instituted is for the provision of suits of civilian clothes for discharged invalids. A soldier is given one outfit by the Government when he doffs his khaki. If that gets wet or damaged he can very seldom afford to buy another. Husbands and friends of this helpful sisterhood are only too glad to contribute suits for this, purpose,  particularly duck and linen, outfits for on board ship for those discharged men who have to return to England”. (Punch, 4 May 1916, p 32.)

The soldiers', new refreshment stall at the base hospital, St. Kilda road, was opened on November 30 by the acting State Commandant, Brigadier-General R. E. Williams. The pavilion was built at the expense of the Defence department in order to provide better accommodation for carrying on the work than the old structure afforded. The new stall has been christened the "Anzac Buffet," and in it returned soldiers are provided with refreshments at a nominal cost. The buffet is conducted by a number of patriotic sympathetic ladies, who give their services, voluntarily. After Brigadier-General Williams had explained the launching of the movement two and a half years ago by women eager to serve their country in any capacity, Mrs Alfred Deakin (directress) responded, thanking the Defence department for the gift of the pavilion, which would greatly assist in the work they were devoted to, at which announcement the soldiers cheered enthusiastically. Luncheon was subsequently served, and amongst those present were Brigadier-General and Mrs  Sellheim, Mr. Alfred Deakin, Colonel F. D. Bird, Major and Mrs. Courtney, Colonel G. Cuscaden, Lieut.-Colonel Pleasants, Matron C. Milne, Mr. T Trumble, Mr. F. Gates, and others. (The Australasian, 8 Dec 1917, p 41)

At the same time as the improvement in accommodation and name change for the buffet came also some smart uniforms for the women.

 The large band of voluntary workers, for they number over a hundred, who help at the soldiers' refreshment stall on St. Kilda road, have blossomed out in smart uniforms of dark brown covert coating coats and skirts piped with red. They are very proud of their new pavilion, which Brigadier-General Williams described as "being quite ornate," and it is in comparison with the little building in which they first started. Fourteen women with a matron attend every day, and serve refreshments to returned soldiers and men on final leave only, and they have carried on their work without ostentation or desire for publicity for two and a quarter years. As this is, I believe, the first group of women to don a set style of dress, no doubt others will follow suit, and so we may have for all voluntary workers a recognised uniform like the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps in England. (Table Talk, 20 Dec 1917, p 31.)

On 1 August 1918 the Punch featured the Anzac Buffet in a page of photographs, by F W Tolra:

1 A group of buffet workers. (Looking very smart in their new dark brown tops and skirts with red piping.)

2 Watching the recruits pass. (Outside their new tin pavilion.)

3 The Army and Navy Meet.

4 Sandwich cutters hard at work.

5  A corner at lunchtime – Anzacs all!  (Rather more spacious than the original refreshment stall)

6 Some of the boys. (“Our four years' service here has been the greatest privilege of our lives.”  

Pattie  Deakin and Jane McMillan. )

In 1918 the Australian Comforts Fund published a small book entitled Voluntary War Workers Record to raise money for the comforts fund.  In this is a very engaging article from Philip Ray (most likely a pseudonym for Ray Philips, who appears in the list of Buffet volunteers included) describing the activities and atmosphere in the Anzac Buffet on an average day.

The closing of the Anzac Buffet was announced in August 1919, and many were the tributes for the kindness and hard work of Mrs Deakin, Mrs MMillan and the volunteers of the Buffet.  A typical tribute was paid by a returned Sergeant:

ANZAC BUFFET CLOSES
SERGEANT WITH 9 CHILDREN PAYS 

HEARTFELT TRIBUTE
After four years of useful service the Anzac Buffet 

at the Base Hospital closed today, and the speeches

which were delivered at a brief ceremony indicated 

the high place which the institution has won in the 

hearts of the diggers. '
 
"I am just out of hospital and I have nine kids, 

who are growing up now, thank goodness," 

declared a burly sergeant, wearing the Anzac 

rosette. "The humble little 'browns' which I 

pushed across the counter here were a great
help to me, until I got my settlement. It has 

been wonderful to the boys." His impromptu

speech won more applause than any of the

more formal expressions of approval.
 
Brigadier-General Brand, the State 

Commandant, sketched the story of the
buffet from its inauguration in a bell tent,

through the stage when it was housed in 

a shack, to its work in its present building. 

He paid a tribute to "those devoted ladies,"

Mrs A. Deakin, Mrs McMillan and their

co-workers, and mentioned that the 

average number of meals served in a day

was 1000. The buffet had been supported 

entirely by private subscription, and would,
in future, continue as a canteen for patients 

in the hospital.
 
Senator Russell, Acting Minister for Defence,

said that the four years of hard work which

had been carried out by the workers at the

buffet showed a spirit which would, in the

male gender, have found expression at the
front.  Mr Groom, Acting Attorney-General, 

said that the name borne by Mrs Deakin

would live for ever in Australia, because

it stood for all that was best in Australian

national life. The name of Deakin was 

one of the greatest not only in the history 

of the Commonwealth but of the British 

Empire. The lady who had stood by Mr 

Deakin through it all was with them today,
and he had heard that when the statesman 

was in England she had been called the 

"Queen of Australia." It had been her

pleasure to work for the soldiers who had 

made Australia the nation of which her 

husband had always dreamed. (Applause.)
 
Mr Herbert Brookes, in responding on behalf 

of Mrs Deakin and her co-workers, said that 

it was one of the “greatest distinctions” of 

his life that he was her son-in-law. The ladies 

had felt it was a privilege to wait upon the
diggers, and, as most of them had relatives 

at the front, it was heart-ease to them. 

(Cheers.)
 
In response to repeated calls, Mrs Deakin 

said that they had felt it a privilege to wait 

upon the soldiers. She and Mrs McMillen

had learnt to love their workers in a way

they would not have thought possible. 

The Diggers had set a splendid example, 

and they had tried to live up to it. 

(The Herald, 4 Aug 1919.)
 
Although Herbert Brookes waxed lyrical about it being one of the greatest distinctions of his life that he was Pattie Deakin’s son-in-law, he rewarded her by implacably opposing her daughter Vera’s marriage to Tom White, as if it was his right to choose Vera’s life partner.   He had supported Vera in her decision to travel to Cairo to help in the war effort, and supported her with funds to help with her living expenses,  but apparently felt this gave him rights as to her deciding about her marriage.  Vera married Tom White anyway, but  his opposition caused great distress at the same time as her father was dying.
 
In 1923  The  Herald noticed the final passing of the old Anzac Buffet:
 
End of Anzac Buffet
THE little Iron shed on the St. Kilda road, next to 

the police hospital, where for the past two years 

a band of kind-hearted women have provided
a free mid-day meal to any Digger who cared 

to come along, has gone, and with it despair 

will re-enter the hearts of some distressed 

ex-soldiers this winter, when they are right

"up against it" once more. It was only with 

the utmost difficulty that the organisers were 

able to carry on this Anzac Buffet in its later

existence. Funds became lower and lower, 

and every week, despite the good work 

which the buffet was doing, public apathy

increased in direct ratio to the decrease

in its monetary support. Finally the land 

on which the shed stood was required for

rebuilding, and now only a fence marks the site.
(The Herald, 5 Feb 1923, p 6.)  

After  the Anzac Buffet closed, equipment was donated to the Returned Soldiers and Sailors Imperial League (RSSIL) for their clubrooms.  

The two women who were most synonymous with the Anzac Buffet in Melbourne, Pattie Deakin and Jane McMillan had, however, bowed out in 1919, thanking the Diggers:  

ANZAC BUFFET.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE ARGUS.
Sir,  In closing the Anzac Buffet we should like to 

take the opportunity of thanking the "diggers"

 who have visited us since we opened in 1915 for

 their chivalrous behaviour in all circumstances. 

Our four years' service here has been the 

greatest privilege of our lives. We wish them 

all the best of good fortune in the years to 

come on behalf of the women of the Anzac Buffet

PATTIE DEAKIN.
JANE McMILLAN 

(The Argus, 10 Nov 1919, p 7) 

Pattie’s  husband Alfred Deakin, former Prime Minister of Australia, had died on 7 October 1919, just a month before this gracious farewell from the two ladies.   Jane had lost her only child in September 1917, but somehow had drawn herself together and returned to work at the Anzac Buffet.

Most diggers understood that the women of Australia had their own burdens to carry – sorrow, grief, anxiety, and often found on their return to Australia, that their families had been badly affected, with their parents or grandparents carried off by the constant stress of having their sons away, or the death of cousins and nephews, or deaths of sons of their close friends.  The war left a shadow on Australia for many decades.

I need to disclose that I am a member and volunteer of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria.

SOURCES

Punch, Melbourne, 1 Aug 1918  for the images from 1918.

No. 5 Australian General Hospital (Base Hospital) Melbourne. Hawker, F. C., Melbourne : Specialty Press, 1918.

Trove

Vera Deakin and the Red Cross, by Carole Woods. Royal Historical Society of Victoria: Melbourne, 2020.
Voluntary War Workers Record, Australian Comforts Fund, 1918;  Melbourne, “The S.R.S”  ed C Drake Brockman, pp 122-125.   

A Dashing Australian Officer - John Mott

Captain John Eldred Mott MC and Bar (later Lieutenant Colonel), the first Australian officer to escape from captivity in Germany, taken the morning after he reached Holland. Captain Mott is wearing the clothes in which he escaped. The fence in the background is the dividing line between freedom and captivity.  AWM A03035.

John Mott was working in mines in Western Australia when he joined the AIF in 1915, aged 38.  A well-known family in the Essendon area, John was one of four brothers to enlist.  He was quite a dashing officer, and was celebrated as the first Australian officer to successfully escape as a Prisoner of War.

Rod Martin tells the story of his remarkable service, from two awards of the Military Cross, an escape across Germany, meeting the King at Buckingham Palace, and post war work with the Australian Field Graves Battalion, of which he was given command as a Lieutenant Colonel.  Read about this dashing Australian officer.