Kensington State School

A vist to the school in 2010 did not produce any information as to whether there was ever an honour board for the pupils of the school who volunteered for the First World War.   The small centenary  history of the school produced in 1981 does not mention a board, nor can any reference be found in the online Argus to indicate that one was installed.  It would be very unusual if an honour board was not installed,  so perhaps one was removed many years ago.  If anyone has any information about such a board, a photograph, or a list of names from the board, please get in touch.

In the meantime I am slowly assembling a list of volunteers from the school who volunteered in the First World War, any additional information is very welcome.

Trove of WW1 photos found in Vignacourt, Somme Valley

From The Age today, the story of a cache of 3,000 photographs, known as "The Thuillier Collection" of Australian and Allied soldiers taken behind the lines in Vignacourt in the Somme Valley.  A story on these photos will show on Channel 7 tonight at 6.30 pm Eastern Standard Time. The photos were taken in 1916, and later in 1918.    See the photos on the Channel 7 website.

A smaller trove of photos of mainly Tommies, but which also includes some Australians, was reported in The Independent in 2009, taken in late 1915 and early 1916.

See also the Australian War Memorial blog with an article by Peter Burness.

UPDATE:  And there is a Facebook page - thanks to Linda for the link.

ANOTHER UPDATE:  The above links  now do not appear to show the whole set of photos,  so see the report on the Lost Diggers from the AWM here.   As at December 2011 these photos do  not appear to have been added to the AWM online catalogue.

ANOTHER UPDATE:  You can now call up the full set of photographs of Louis Thuillier by going to the Collections part of the AWM website and putting Thuillier in the search engine. You will get 814 results.  These photos have a copyright statement on them.

Off to War from Kensington - Autumn Twilight Walk

Friday 11 March  2011, 6.00- 7.30pm

This 90 minute walk is an opportunity for those who are interested in Kensington’s World War One Volunteers. We will look at the homes from which the volunteers came and some of the Post World War One Memorials. For example there were 32 volunteers who enlisted from Bellair Street alone, mostly in 1915 and 1916.

Meet outside the Kensington-Flemington Town Hall, Bellair Street, Kensington at 6.00 pm. Book at Kensington Neighbourhood House 89 McCracken Street, Kensington VIC 3031, Ph: 03 9376 6366, kwgp@vicnet.net.au or via Wayward Books 172 Bellair Street, Kensington VIC 3031. Limited places. Gold coin donation, no charge for children accompanied by an adult.

Tour Leader - Lenore Frost, Creator of the online project
The Empire Called and I Answered -  WW1 Volunteers of Essendon and Flemington

Herleville Wood, France, 1918 - updated

Pte Arthur Beachcroft brought home this aerial photograph of Rosieres, France with a plan of battle marked on it.  This was Arthur's last engagement of the war, as he was wounded between Wood 2 and 1 at the top of the image, and made his way to the dressing station at R26d84 marked at the bottom of the image.  For Arthur's description of the plan, go here.  Click on the photo for a larger version.

On this day, at this place, Captain William Donovan Joynt won a VC.

Update:  Tim L  has helpfully pointed out that the photo was taken closer to Rainecourt than Rosieres.  The East-West Road shown in the photo is at the top of the map detail shown below:

 Map from the Maps page of the Australian Army website.

S S Mamari homeward bound, 1918

Arthur Beachcroft, 6th Infantry Battalion, of Athol St, Moonee Ponds returned home on the SS Mamari, embarking 21 December 1918.  The inscription on the rear reads: "Signatures of Battalion pals given day before leaving boat coming home  Feb 4th 1919".  Postcard courtesy of Ann McLeish. 

Auckland War Memorial Museum

Things have been a little quiet lately as I have been on a cruise around New Zealand.  While in Auckland I checked out the Auckland War Memorial Museum, an attractive building with an impressive gallery of New Zealand's war dead named on marble walls, as well as interesting exhibitions of war time memorabilia.

St Thomas's Church of England Roll of Honour

The very beautiful Roll of Honour at St Thomas's Church of England, Mt Alexander Rd, Moonee Ponds, is an example of what is called 'optus sectile', which is a work in tiles.  A series of tiles contain the names of the members of the church who volunteered for the Great War.  At the top of the list are those who died. 

The list is strangely personal, in that it does not list ranks, but first names, unlike many which give initials only.

It is a beautiful piece of art, and well worth a look if you are in the vicinity of the church. 

The full list of names on this Roll of Honour has been placed on the Empire Called website, and I am working through linking each name to a personal record.

Other examples of opus sectile were discussed earlier on this blog.