Essendon Ambulances for the War Effort

Marilyn Kenny has done a wonderful job of teasing out the story of the fundraising efforts by the local community to provide ambulances for the war effort.  The result was a rather mixed.  The ambulances were lost for a time until Maurice Blackburn drew the attention of the public to their whereabouts.  How embarrassing!  Read the full story of the Essendon Red Cross Ambulances.

Snapshots of the Home Front: the Mountain family and the Essendon Red Cross

This photo shows the ballroom at Federal Government House, Melbourne, turned over to Red Cross sorting and packing of goods to send to men in the trenches, hospitals, training camps and prisoner of war camps.  Not only 'comforts', but essential items of clothing like underpants, socks, pyjamas and more.  It was a vast operation to keep the army in the field taken on by volunteers.

Just who were the volunteers who kept this huge supply operation going?  Marilyn Kenny has made a study of one family's role in the Red Cross.  The Mountain family of Essendon made a huge commitment to help prosecute the war, from William John Mountain, the father, who also served as the Mayor of Essendon, his wife, Julia Mountain, who became a joint secretary of the Red Cross for the duration of the war, their  three daughters, Hilda, Marjorie and Doris, who served on various patriotic committees, to their son, William John Mountain junior who joined the AIF.

Although the Mountains, as leading figures in the local community, were perhaps not typical of the general population, their prominent position produced ample newspaper reporting to be able to produce a detailed study of their war activities.  You can read Marilyn's excellent account here:
Snapshots from the Home Front: the Mountain family and the Essendon Red Cross.

Before the Dawn - an Entirely Original Australian Comedy in Three Acts

In October 1916 a comedy in three acts, written and performed by Joseph (Jo) Smith, was put on at the Essendon Town Hall, Moonee Ponds, to raise funds for YMCA huts to serve the men on the front line.   A description of the play and the playwright can be found here, and a more complete version , with colour plates,  of the program, can be seen at the State Library of Victoria here.  There is apparently a copy of the play lodged for copyright purposes held by the National Archives of Australia.