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Mud and Blood
At the Clocktower Centre, Moonee Ponds, 31 Aug at 12pm and 8pmLocal hero General 'Pompey' Elliott led the Essendon Rifles and took most with him to WWI after a farewell at Essendon Town Hall.. This...
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Gunner Thomas Hogg, the mature recruit
With his usual precision, Rod Martin follows the military career of the mature recruit, Thomas Bell Hogg, a railway employee of Ascot Vale.
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Private Wren Teale of Moonee Ponds
The above newspaper photograph which includes Hugh Lindsay (Wren) Teale was spotted in Winner by Cheryl Griffin, who is doing a mighty job for Coburg at the Fighting the Kaiser blogspot. Cheryl...
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This memorial plaque for Pte David Fiddes of the 58 Inf Battalion (formerly 60 Inf Bn) was sent to his father, Andrew Fiddes, of 80 Gower St, Kensington.The plaque was later donated to the Flemington...
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Sister Fleming at Dartford, 1917
A lovely new portrait of Sister Elizabeth Gertrude Fleming has appeared at the Australian War Memorial - it certainly wasn't there the last time I looked for pics of Gertrude. Just goes to show that...
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He was only 19. Private Laurie James
Troops on board HMAT Hororata at Port Melbourne, 17 April 1915, AWM PB0448.Laurie James, a bricklayer from Ascot Vale, was 19 years old when he swung out of the front gate of his family's tiny...
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Pte Herbert Keam - Missing in Action
Private Herbert Millest Keam landed at Gallipoli with the 7th Battalion on 25 April 1915, but by the following day he was missing. He was never found. Rod Martin tells the poignant story of the...
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Rod makes a century!
A game of cricket was played on Shell Green in an attempt to distract the Turks from the imminent departure of allied troops, December 1915. AWM G01289.In August 2010, when my website The Empire...
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"This is my last goodbye to you...."
In December 1915 as 2nd Lieutenant Cecil Beaumont Mills steamed away from Australia and all he held dear, he prepared a letter for his wife Effie (or Fairy as he called her), to be handed to her three...
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Mud and Blood
I saw this play in Moonee Ponds last year and it is an outstanding piece of work. See it if you can. Darren Mort is Pompey to the life.See the Mud and Blood website for further details.The title of...
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Disloyalty in the Essendon District
It would be a good thing if the Germans marched up Napier Street. - Statement attributed to Angelina King by Nurse Rebecca Ross Mrs. Rebecca Ross was indignant, accustomed to speaking her mind and...
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Lieutenant Mitchell and the gas mask
Australian War Memorial K00035Fitting gas masks to horses is probably not the first thing which springs to mind when we think of training up the troops to deal with gas attacks, but it becomes obvious...
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Bill Elliot - one of the "Essendon boys"
There was a group of soldiers in the 7th Infantry Battalion which Colonel H E (Pompey) Elliott used to refer to as his "Essendon Boys". He knew them from their time with the 58 Infantry (Essendon...
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AWM takes donations from weapons companies
I attended a Peace conference last night where I was pretty disturbed to learn that the AWM has been taking donations from weapons companies. I am an appreciative user of AWM resources, but I would...
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"Take Care of Him"
Image courtesy of Thomas Cavanagh, Secretary, Stanthorpe RSL Sub Branch. The organisation was under the auspice of the Anglican Church, as the Bishop's mitre implies The aims of the organisation can...
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Voluntary war workers' record / compiled for the benefit of the Australian...
This drab little volume holds a wealth of information about the myriad of patriotic organisations in Victoria - what they did, and who their volunteer workers were. It has been digitised by the...
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Cheer-up Brigade, Ascot Vale
Members of the Cheer up Brigade beside the Darge Studio building. The brigade was a patriotic group of women who visited AIF camps at Broadmeadows, Maribyrnong, Domain and Ascot Vale. They served...
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Godsons and Godmothers
From the Thuillier collection of glass plate negatives. AWM P10550.128GODSONS AND GODMOTHERS.What he terms "one of the few really beautiful, things to which thiswar has given birth" is the subject of...
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Isolation Camp, Ascot Vale
Guard, Isolation Camp, Ascot Vale, 29 September 1916. Quite prepared to shoot any measles outbreak. Courtesy of drakegoodman on Flickr.Owing to outbreaks of serious disease in the various military...
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6 Machine Gun Company at rest
This photo turned up lately as an enquiry as to where it might have been taken. "Belge" was taken to mean Belgium, but the word before it didn't compute. Still doesn't, so any ideas welcome....
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