More than 40,000 people attending a WWI anti-conscription rally on the banks of the Yarra in Melbourne on 21 October 1916.
The anti-conscription movement was also active in our Shire. An anti-conscription rally was organised in Panton Hill by Kangaroo Ground wheelwright Mr Fryer. A correspondent writing in the Evelyn Observer in 1916 accused Mr Fryer of being ‘pro-German’. The next week… Harold J Harvie wrote to the editor defending Mr Fryer. The wheelwright was known for his ‘comic recitations’, and had performed at the ‘Grand Carnival and Concert’ at the Panton Hills Recreation Reserve in May 1915. This event was organised by the Panton Hills Progress Association in aid of the Belgian Relief Fund. Harold Harvie defended Mr Fryer’s reputation despite his ‘different views’ on conscription. ‘For your correspondent to infer that Mr Fryer is pro-German after Mr Fryer’s generosity to the cause of the Allies can be interpreted to be a low down method of spite.’
Source: Evelyn Observer and Bourke East record, 30 April 1915, page 3 and 27 October 1916, page 3.
First published on Facebook Nillumbik Chronicles #23 16 January 2015
Image: Leaflet promoting a No vote in the referendum over conscription during First World War. [1916 or 1917] State Library Victoria.
This story was first published in “Fine Spirit and Pluck: World War One Stories from Banyule, Nillumbik and Whittlesea” published by Yarra Plenty Regional Library, August 2016
