Men of the West

Men of the West:  Volunteers from the Essendon and Flemington districts in the Great War 1914-1918, by Rod Martin.

To mark the centenary of the beginning of the Great  War, this compilation of fifty stories about volunteers from your district is being made available on a strictly 'made to order' and non-profit basis.  The stories were originally published on the website The Empire Called and I Answered,  and are now available in this hard copy form.

If you have been enjoying Rod's stories on the website, this is a great collection of them to dip into.

About the author: Rod Martin BA, Dip Ed, Dip Ed Admin, M Ed, is a former secondary teacher/ principal who has written and co-authored a number of textbooks,  stories and articles. The First World War is one of his specialisations.

Details: 264 pages, desktop-published in Microsoft Word on  100 gsm paper, 290 illustrations.

       

PRICES: Hard cover; $100 delivered  (the binding costs $68.00)

                    Clear/black plastic spiral-bound: $40 delivered.  

             

Contact Rod at ramartin46@optusnet.com.au 
to place an order.

 

Employees of the Metropolitan Gas Co who served in the Great War

Linda Barraclough has located a copy of this very rare book down at Old Gippstown, and has very kindly decided to scan the whole book, and make it available for those who wish to have access to it - and as a continuing record of the service of the men involved.

Linda says: " Accordingly, I am slowly scanning the 62 pages, usually over coffee, and will make it available over the next few weeks. I am hoping that those who access it (and you are welcome to download), will respect my request that is not be otherwise reproduced without further discussion with me. I would be fairly angry is anyone thought it appropriate to lift to sell, as I do not believe money should be made from what is basically a war memorial.

Family history groups / libraries etc are welcome to download to place on CD in appropriate collections. Those wishing to record it on webpages are invited to link to the URL below".

http://www.flickr.com/photos/20949561@N04/sets/72157624475856395/

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.

Tramways Board, Melbourne, Employees Died on Active Service

The following pages show the Tramways Board, Melbourne Employees who enlisted for Active Service.

The pages are taken from the Tramways Board, Melbourne Annual Report to 30th June, 1919.  Thank to Warren Doubleday for scanning the pages.

Teachers College Rolls of Honour

The Teachers College recognised the service of their teacher trainees with three wonderful leadlight windows and two astonishing tiled memorials. 

Two of the leadlight windows carry the names of those who served , and those who died in World War 1, while the third features an AIF serviceman.  The tiled memorials have been re-established in the building which is now the School of Graduate Studies, University of Melbourne, in Grattan St, Carlton.

The tiled memorials carry portraits of those who died.  I've been comparing this memorial with the one at Maffra, which Linda on the Maffra and District Historical Society blog describes as an opus sectile work.

Six names from the Essendon and Flemington database appear in the leadlight window memorial:

E C Holmes *
B J Keddie
G R Scott *
R G Scott
C F Sullivan *
F H McNamara

(* those who died)


An article by Jay Miller in 2006 explains the rediscovery if the memorials and the research on them, 'We shall not wholly die'  can be downloaded from the Ian Potter Museum website - a special issue of their Magazine "The Trainee" containing all the names of those who enlisted.

A brochure on the memorials can be downloaded from here

And last, but by no means least, a pdf version of "The Trainee: special War number 1919", which contains the names and portraits of the volunteers.

NOTE:  Some six years after the event the Ian Potter Museum has removed the items to which I linked (in bold above).   The best I can do to cover the subject is to provide a link to a webpage on the Teachers' Memorial Window on The Empire Called website, and you can download a copy of The Trainee from here.

Essendon Tram Depot WW1 Roll of Honour

At present the whereabouts of the Roll of Honour which is presumed to have existed at the Depot of the North Melbourne and Essendon Tramways and Electric Light Company is not known.

I have attempted to re-create that Roll of Honour with the names of the men in my database who had tramways related occupations.

If any other local men are known to have worked with the NMET& EL Co, I would be very interested to hear of it.

UPDATE:  Information from a reliable source suggests that some of the occupations - gripman and motorman - related to cable trams, which in 1915 were still operating between the city and Flemington Bridge, where they met the NMET&L trams.  The list on the website is therefore probably not exclusive to the NMET&L Co.

Associated Stock and Station Agents Roll of Honour

This honour board once hung in the foyer of the Administration building at Newmarket saleyards.  When the market closed in 1987 the board was removed.  In 1995 Keith Vincent (who wrote On the fall of the hammer) assisted in recovering the board from the City of Melbourne, and it now hangs in the foyer of the Victorian Livestock Exchange, Pakenham.  The board was kindly photographed by Jenny Coates.  For further information about the stockmen go here.

Unknown soldier - Mrs D Croft's donation

This photograph of an unnamed soldier was donated to the Essendon Historical Society in 1981.  The donor was a Mrs D Croft of Mt Alexander Rd, Moonee Ponds, whom I am unable to identify in postal directories.  Another item which she donated has her address recorded as Queensland, so she may have donated material prior to moving interstate.

The back of the photo records the date "April 1915", presumably when the photo was framed.

If I could identify Mrs D Croft it might help in identifying the soldier, who might be a relative of hers or her husband's.    Can anyone help with this? Or recognise the soldier?


Update

Kim of the Spirits of Gallipoli website feels that the photo resembles one she has for a James Henry Croft who died at Gallipoli on 28 April 1915 and is buried or commemorated at the Lone Pine Cemetery.


James had a brother John William Croft who married in 1913 and had children, but I just can't make out a possible Mrs D Croft - yet.  Still looking.   While James was born in Ballarat and enlisted in Kyneton, his brother was living in Kensington in the 1950s, according to the electoral roll, so it does bring them into the local area.