Harold Brocklebank Herbert

Popping into the Royal Historical Society of Victoria  recently this book, Harold Herbert: Convivial Artist,  on the 'for sale' rack struck my eye, and seizing it to investigate further it turned out to be a brief biography of Harold Brocklebank Herbert by John C Trinca.  Herbert has been mentioned previously in this blog as the artist who designed the MMTB Roll of Honour.  The book has colour plates of a range of his watercolours, including some made during his sojourn in the Middle East as a War Artist in WW2.

Herbert had a range of interests outside his art, including membership of the Savage Club, and also the Cormorant Club, dedicated to preserving trout by eradication of Cormorants - though apparently Herbert seldom despatched a cormorant himself. 

A steal at only $10!

Harold Brocklebank Herbert, artist and designer

It appears that the designer of the MMTB Roll of Honour was a young artist of growing reputation, who became well-known as a water-colourist and draughtsman.  In 1922 he toured abroad, including the Middle East, and his art shows were well-patronised.  In 1941 he was appointed as a War Artist to accompany troops to the Middle East. The illustration above dates from that appointment, and was included in the book Active Service: with Australia in the Middle East. He returned after a few months saying that he felt younger artists would be more suitable.  He had struggled in the hot temperatures with the heat drying out his water-colours too quickly.  Herbert died in 1945 aged only 52 "after a long illness", so one might surmise that he had been unwell during his time with the 2nd AIF.

Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board Roll of Honour 2

Recourse to the online Argus has revealed that the M&MTB Roll of Honour was unveiled in 1921, as below:

TRAMWAYS HONOUR ROLL.
Unveiled by the Premier.
The Premier (Mr. Lawson) unveiled yesterday
the board at the offices of the Melbourne and
Metropolitan Tramway Board erected in honour
of 518 tramway men who enlisted, 71 of whom
fell on service abroad, and 18 of whom received
awards for conspicuous gallantry.
The board is of artistic design in black-
wood, and is erected on the main stair
way to the administrative offices.
It was designed by Mr. H. B. Herbert

In the presence of members of the board
and officers of the administrative staff, Mr.
Lawson unveiled the memorial. The
record of their services, he said, showed
that tram waymen, who spent their lives
in giving public service, had done valiantly in ren-
dering the greatest of all services on foreign fields.
The memorial would stand for all time to remind
us that only by living up to the ideals for which
these brave men died could we achieve the fruits
of the victory they had won. Germany had lost
the war, but stood to win the subsequent eco-  
nomic conflict if we by our indifference and
neglect, and our division into sects and factions,
failed to remain steadfast to those ideals of
courage, loyalty, and truth.  

The Argus 9 November 1921
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4622851

See the board referred to here.

UPDATE
It seems likely that H B Herbert was the Melbourne artist Harold Brocklebank Herbert.  The MMTB offices in 1921 were at 673 Bourke St (south side) between Godfrey and King Street. (Thanks to Jenny Coates for her kind assistance.)

Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board

The Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board was formed in 1919 and began taking over the several private tramway companies operating in Melbourne.  Each of the private tram depots appears to have had a depot-based Honour Board.  This one commemorates those that died, presumably across the various tramway companies.  I don't know anything of the history of this Honour Board, but it is located in the museum next to the Malvern Depot.  I don't know where it originally hung, but would be pleased to hear from anyone that does know.  I haven't checked all the names yet for my particular interests, but I see that an Essendon lad, Roy Gordon Sumner, a tramways employee, is included