Backward Glance: Memories of our region during wartime
On Anzac Day, Australians remembered the sacrifice so many have made and the sadness of those family members who have lost loved ones through all campaigns, including our most recent Afghanistan experiences.
On Anzac Day, Australians remembered the sacrifice so many have made and the sadness of those family members who have lost loved ones through all campaigns, including our most recent Afghanistan experiences.
There are many ex-service men and women who live among us here on the Sunshine Coast.
It is a time for us to say to them “thank you for your service”.
Honour rolls in our country town halls and RSL’s remember familiar pioneer names who served their country in war, some never to return.
The Anzac Day march and other memorial parades are often led by a lone riderless horse, with a pair of boots set backwards in the stirrups and the saddle stripped to identify with a unit now departed such as those from World War I.
It is a sign that a warrior has fallen.
The first Queensland troops left Pinkenba on September 24, 1914 on the “Omrah”.
Many streets of Caloundra, including Omrah Avenue, are named after ships that travelled along the North West Shipping Channel close to Caloundra’s shores.
There are thousands of ex-military personnel who went to many campaigns from this region. Unfortunately we cannot tell all their stories here but will mention a couple.
Frank Morrison from Palmwoods was one such man.
He was the son of Frank Alton Morrison Snr and Magdalene Morrison, pioneers of the Hunchy-Palmwoods district.
A labourer by trade, Frank Jnr enlisted for service on November 17, 1914, aged 24 years.
He served (Service no. 645) as a Private with the Light Horse Brigade, 5 Light Horse Regiment, 1st Reinforcements and departed from Sydney for overseas service aboard HMA Vestalia A44 on December 19, 1914.
William Dunlop was a teamster on the Blackall Range before enlisting in the Australian Army.
He first experienced the atrocities of war in the battlefields of the Somme in France.
He became a member of the 49th Battalion which was raised in Egypt on February 27, 1916 as part of the “doubling” of the AIF.
Approximately half of its recruits were Gallipoli veterans from the 9th Battalion, and the other half, fresh reinforcements from Australia.
Reflecting the composition of the 9th, the 49th was predominantly composed of men from Queensland.
The battalion became part of the 13th Brigade of the 4th Australian Division. William Dunlop was wounded in action on June 7, 1917 on the battlefields of France and then again in July, 1918.
The Maleny Soldiers Memorial Hospital was opened as a private hospital on August 1, 1920 with Dr Anderson as the Medical Officer and Matron Gorringe as his aide.
The hospital was constructed on the eastern side of Bean Street, on a hillside, which overlooked the township of Maleny and was later officially opened on October 21, 1920 by H F Walker, MLA.
The hospital construction was funded through public donations as a memorial to the soldiers who fought in World War I.
The building was erected by Paul Tesch of Witta, for 1157 pounds and 300 pounds was spent on hospital furnishings.
All returned men and women who served in World War I were treated free.
On November 11, 1918, hostilities between Great Britain and her allies and Germany ceased and an Armistice was signed.
Small towns here were alerted. In Woombye, the whistle of Bartholomew’s sawmill blew constantly and the bells of St Margaret’s church pealed across the little country town.
Residents of Glass House Mountains climbed Mt Beerwah and lit fires to celebrate that peace was to return to a young country which would forever be changed and would never forget.
The people of the Near North Coast saw peace return and celebrate they did.
Thanks to Sunshine Coast Council’s Heritage Library Officers for the words and Picture Sunshine Coast for the images.
_In 2017, we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Naming of the Sunshine Coast. For more information on this milestone anniversary visit www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/fifty_
Image captions:
Hero image: Anzac Day Parade, Currie Street, Nambour, ca 1925.
Carousel Images:
Image 1: Anzac Day service at the War Memorial, Yandina, 1940s.
Image 2: Soldiers outside the Brisbane Army Barracks, ca 1917.
Image 3: Armistice Day in Maleny, 1919.
Image 4: Float in the shape of HMAS Sydney participating in the Maleny street parade, Armistice Day, November 1919.