Friday, 24 April, 2015 was a beautiful sunny day, the wind a little chilly, but the view from the paddock of Sutherland Homes in Diamond Creek was beautiful and peaceful, the soft rolling hills of Plenty, and the view looking towards the Kinglake Ranges was breath taking. It was to be a memorable day; the […]
Tag: World War 1
Memories of a military hospital patient
From Heidelberg Historian No. 154 February 1993 newsletter of the Heidelberg Historical Society The following memories were written by George M. Mollison of Ivanhoe in December 1968, relating to his experiences at the Macleod Military Hospital in World War I. I knew Heidelberg in the early 1910’s where we used to drill in the Militia […]
Not Forgotten
The Bell Boys of Kangaroo Ground – WW1 By Gayle Thwaites As a parent how does one sign a piece of paper authorizing the government to allow their son to be part of the AIF, how does one hand over a life to be used as a tool to fight somebody else’s war. I don’t […]
Story of a Chalice
First published as The Story of the Chalice Heidelberg Historian (Heidelberg Historical Society) October 1994 On 25 August 1994, a special service in the Ivanhoe Grammar School Chapel was the occasion of the presentation of an historical chalice by members of the 2/14th Battalion Association. The story of the chalice was provided in the order […]
Called from the Shadows
The news that the United Kingdom had been at war with Germany in 1914 had stirred a rather similar response here in Victoria to that in England in 1852 with the arrival of news that gold had been discovered here in Victoria awaiting those prepared to set sail and dig for it; those responding to […]
Women were there too
Olive’s story: women were there too – Olive Haynes (Dooley) By Liz Pidgeon ‘I am so glad I brought my gramophone that was given to me. The men simply love it, and I have to promise it days ahead to the different huts and tents. They start it going the minute they awake, and never stop until they have to. […]
Private John Valentine Wilson
19 October 1914, Port Melbourne Pier. Men of the 2nd Australian Infantry Brigade board the HMAT Benalla (right) for service overseas. Amongst them was a young Christmas Hills farmer Private John Valentine Wilson, son of David and Elizabeth Wilson. Just eight months later on 3 June 1915 Private Wilson aged 25 was killed in action […]
He Answered his Country’s Call
By Liz Pidgeon Outside the French village of Bullecourt, a bronze statue The Bullecourt Digger stands in the Australian Memorial Park. It reminds visitors of the role our Anzacs played in the Battle of Bullecourt under the British command in early April 1917. Over 3,000 Australians were wounded or killed in the First Bullecourt Battle […]
Searching for the Searcher
Often when searching history you learn about the people involved, their personalities, likes, dislikes and life achievements, other times just about the achievements. In researching the life of Stanley Simpson Addison it was somewhat easier to find out about his achievements than Stanley, the person. Whilst born into a modest farming family at Aldinga, near […]
Memories of the Great War
by Susan Webster The Heidelberg Voice, August 1, 1979 page 6 Modern memory encompasses two world wars. In those two battles we saw the shift from the importance of armed men to military machines. Yet in any war, no matter how much technology is deployed, the human element of man fighting man will still be […]