President’s Report : The Society’s visit to Hayden & Margaret Pilgrim’s “Watlington Museum” in Sims Lane, Homebush on Sunday, 5th August, as advertised in Edition 288, was a most enjoyable occasion attended by approximately 40 adults and numerous children, and resulted in more than $200 being added to the “Digitisation Fund”. We sincerely thank Hayden & Marg for their efforts in assembling such a comprehensive display of vintage horse-drawn and motorised vehicles, farm equipment, household furnishings and equipment, memorabilia, etc. Watlington is regularly visited by car clubs and other organisations, and the entry fees collected are donated to local organisations, including ADHS Inc.
The Society’s “Digitisation Fund ” currently holds just over $2,000, about 50% of which will be used in the near future to put the 1869 “Avoca Mail” newspaper on Trove. The scanning was scheduled to be completed in September, according to the most recent report from SLV. Many more donations are needed if we are to purchase a “Scanpro” as mentioned in edition 288. We already have some wonderful pledges of donations we and hereby invite you to emulate their generosity, or maybe even exceed it! If some generous person could see their way clear to fund the major part of the cost, that would be great, and would enable us to get the equipment sooner. Donations of $2 or more are tax deductible, and receipts will be issued promptly.
Please act NOW, by sending a cheque or money order to ADHS Inc., PO Box 24 Avoca VIC 3467, or depositing electronically to ADHS Inc Bendigo Bank BSB 633 000 Account 116634510 using your name plus the word Scanpro as the reference. Our thanks go to those who have contributed already.
The Courthouse continues to be open each Wednesday, from 10.30am to 4.00pm and has a regular attendance of half-a-dozen volunteers who busy themselves with indexing, cataloguing, filing, etc., of documents, photos, and, artefacts, and assisting our Research Officer, Dorothy Robinson, in dealing with visiting researchers. Some Wednesdays see no visitors, and on some we have so many that we struggle to provide adequate service! More of the visiting researchers are choosing to come on other days, by appointment, for a $30 “Special Opening” fee, which gets them our undivided attention for up to two hours. We recently had such a visit from an eminent historian working on a book commissioned by Maurice Blackburn Lawyers. The founder of that firm was born in Inglewood, during the time that his father, also named Maurice, was Manager of the Inglewood Branch of the Bank of Victoria. 1886-87 Maurice Blackburn (Senior) managed the Bank of Victoria in Avoca, and he is buried in the Avoca Cemetery. Unfortunately the location of his grave is not marked on the cemetery plan, so he may become a candidate for a plaque on the Memorial Wall.
ADHS Inc Committee Meetings have for some years past been held on the First Monday of each month, excepting January, at 2.00pm in the Helen Harris OAM Room at the rear of the Avoca Courthouse. The November Committee Meeting will be held at that venue on Monday, 5th November, 2018 at 10.00am., followed by the AGM at 11.00am., after which we will adjourn for lunch at the Olive & Lavender Store in High Street, one door north of Pyrenees Highway.
Tony O’Shea (President).
<Notice of AGM>
AVOCA UNITING CHURCH’S 150TH CELEBRATIONS
Sunday 16th September, 2018, saw the Avoca Uniting Church celebrate the 150th Anniversary of its official opening which took place on 15th March 1868 by Rev. William HILL (Chairman of the Castlemaine & Sandhurst District – the Foundation Stone having been laid on Monday 13th May 1867 by the same gentleman, in the presence of nearly 500 people, the event being celebrated by a tea meeting in the Shire Hall)
George SMITH emceed the proceedings, and we heard congratulatory remarks from the Mayor of the Pyrenees Shire, Cr. David Clark, followed by Judy CAUSON, who represented the Loddon-Mallee Presbytery of which Avoca is now a part.
The Pleasant Sunday Afternoon began with a bracket of toe-tapping items performed by David STEED on piano, Andy STEED on saxophone and Lachlan STEED on drums. This was followed by the Avoca Ukulele Group [11 of them] backed by Ken on the piano accordion. Sanne & Les then changed the pace with several beautifully poignant songs. Sanne performed solo her version of ‘Imagine’ which of course was penned by the late John LENNON.
Helen STREETER presented the Girl Guides with gift packs which had kindly been donated by Australian Natural Care in recognition of their contribution to our celebrations. Alan MAAS then gave us a spine-tingling rendition of ‘Amazing Grace’- all 4 verses on the bag pipes.
Afternoon tea supplied by the Avoca CWA Ladies, in Wesley Hall, which also contained an historical display spanning the 150 years of the church’s existence, part of which was a wonderful old frame containing photos of nearly all the ministers since 1854 when Wesleyan /Methodist services first commenced. This framed collection was put together by Joseph William FIELD for the church’s Centenary held in May 1954.
After the Girl Guides blew out the candles, Graeme PORTER had the honour of cutting the birthday cake which was made especially for the occasion and decorated with the Uniting Church logo.
It was pleasing to note that amongst the 150 people who attended, there were representatives of many of the early pioneering families associated with the early Church, Namely: PECK, ELLIOTT, DAWSON, FIELD, ROBINSON, PORTER, CASTLEMAN, REEVES, STREETER and POWERS.
On behalf of the Avoca Uniting Church congregation, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all who took part in any way and helped make this day a wonderful success. Jillian M. Hunter, Secretary
Francis James Lindsay – 1894-1958 – Great War Hero
~ Story contributed by Peter O’Halloran, a member of Avoca & District Historical Society Inc
In 2018 we celebrate the centenary of the armistice that ended the horror that masqueraded as The Great War. Conservative estimates suggest that there were more than forty million military and civilian casualties during the course of the conflict, twenty million deaths and another twenty one million wounded.
In October this year it will also be 101 years since Frank Lindsay was decorated for his heroism during the Great War following which he suffered intolerably as a result of his brave actions, his life considerably and unjustly shortened because of the shocking effects of the gas inflicted upon him and thousands of other diggers on the fields of France.
As a young lad it was my privilege to visit Lamplough and stay with Uncle Frank and Aunty Jo. Actually, Josephine Howell who was George Cartwright’s grand-daughter, via her mother Priscilla who had married Frederick Howell, was my mother’s cousin which makes her my second cousin, once removed. So, Frank was related by marriage. I only knew him towards the end of his life when the toll of the wartime gassing had taken a great toll on his lungs and eyesight which significantly incapacitated him. Nevertheless, he was always warm and welcoming despite his obvious difficulties about which he never complained. With my parents, I visited him in hospital shortly before he died, a sad sight that has never left me.
Frank was born in Broken Hill on 22nd September, 1894. Sometime after Frank’s birth the family moved to Talbot Creek in Victoria where, judging by the births of Frank’s next four brothers and sisters they lived until 1905. The 1906 electoral roll shows no Lindsays resident in Lamplough but the Howells (Josephine’s parents) are well established. Lawrence was born in Broken Hill in 1907 but by 1909 however, they were back in the Talbot district, probably at Lamplough, where Kathleen and May Veronica were born. The next available electoral roll on which the Lindsays appear is for 1919 when the family is shown living at Lillicur, Amherst in the electoral sub-division of Talbot. I suspect that the births registered as having occurred at Talbot Creek acknowledge the birth district rather than the actual home location. In the 1919 roll, John Joseph’s occupation is shown as farmer as is son John. Daughter Leila also appears on this roll, living at Rocky Valley and engaged in home duties.
Frank may have done some schooling in Broken Hill but he was also likely to have been schooled in the old Lamplough schoolhouse at some stage as well. It is difficult to know just where the Lindsays settled in these early years but we do know that it was not in the house that Frank and Josephine occupied in Lamplough for much of their lives because Josephine was already living there with her parents William Frederick Howell and Priscilla Cartwright as shown in the photo below:
Frank must have returned to Broken Hill as it was there that he enlisted for War Service in the AIF on 8th January 1915. At the time of his enlistment his papers record that his parents, living at Lamplough, were nominated as his next of kin. In the documents Frank is described as 5’ 7” tall, weighing 143 pounds with light brown eyes, red hair and a fair complexion. He was assigned to D-Company of the 22nd Battalion and shipped to Broadmeadows in Victoria for basic training.
The 22nd Battalion of the AIF was formed on 26th March, 1915 at the Broadmeadows Camp. The Battalion eventually became part of the 6th Brigade of the 2nd Division. Most of the battalion embarked for Egypt on 8 May 1915 and Frank’s war record confirms that he was one of the hundreds of soldiers who sailed out of Port Melbourne aboard the HMAT Ulysses on that day.
Launched in 1913, the Ulysses at 14,499 tonnes was the largest ship to serve as a troop carrier, and was leased by the Commonwealth until 15th August 1917. On 8th May 1915 she set sail from Melbourne with the first contingents of the 21st and 22nd Battalions and 6th Brigade Headquarters. On a subsequent voyage on 27th October 1915 she transported the 6th reinforcements 22nd Battalion to Egypt.
The Ulysses also sailed between Australia and England during the Second World War, again ferrying Australian troops and airmen to the front. The Ulysses was torpedoed by an unknown German submarine in 1942 and sunk off Florida after apparently disobeying an order that would have led her through safer waters.
The battalion deployed to Gallipoli in the first week of September 1915 allowing elements of the 2nd Brigade to be rested from their positions in the front line at ANZAC. The battalion served on the peninsula until the final evacuation in December 1915, and were then withdrawn to Egypt and brought back to strength with reinforcements. While most of the battalion was serving on Gallipoli the transport drivers, along with the other drivers from the 6th Brigade, were sent to the Salonika front to support the Serbs. They did not rejoin the battalion until after the evacuation of ANZAC.
In March 1916, the battalion embarked for France and experienced their first service on the Western Front in reserve breastwork trenches near Fleurbaix at the end of the first week of April 1916. The battalion’s first major action was at Pozieres, part of the massive British offensive on the Somme. In September/October they were moved to the Ypres sector then back to the Somme for the winter. The battalion spent most of 1917 bogged in bloody trench warfare from Bullecourt to Broodseinde in Flanders. In 1918 the battalion returned to the Somme valley. After helping to stop the German spring offensive in March and April, the 6th Brigade participated in the period of peaceful penetration of the enemy lines. It was in mid-May that Sergeant William ‘Rusty’ Ruthven earned the 22nd Battalion’s only Victoria Cross. In the last days of August and September the battalion helped capture Mont St Quentin. The 22nd Battalion took part in the last action fought by the AIF on the Western Front, the battle of Montbrehain, in October 1918. At 11 am on 11 November 1918 the guns on the Western Front fell silent. The November Armistice was followed by the Peace Treaty of Versailles signed on 28 June 1919. The last elements of the battalion began their journey home from the Western Front in May 1919 to return to Australia for demobilisation and discharge.
In November 1915, Frank came down with influenza and also developed an ulcerated arm which turned septic, the cause of which is not noted on his record. As a result he was evacuated to the hospital located in the Ras el Tin barracks at Alexandria where he remained for some four weeks. In February 1916 he came down with mumps and spent a couple of weeks in the Army hospital at Abyssinia. In February 1917, Frank was back in hospital for a few days with a problem shown only as “cardiac” and then in June 1917 he spent a further 44 days in the Giza Field Hospital suffering from a virus.
On returning to duty at the end of June 1917, Frank re-joined his unit now stationed in France where the Allies were engaging the Germans in some very heavy offensives in the determined push from Ypres towards Passchendale. Somewhere in the middle is Broodseinde Ridge where Frank’s valiant endeavours earned him the award of the Military Medal.
The following press report from a first-hand witness that appeared in the Daily Mail dated 17th October, 1917 gives some indication of the shocking conditions faced by the Australian and Allied troops:
SWAMP OF DEATH AND PAIN
Every inch we gained in Friday’s battle is worth a mile as common distance is reckoned. Some troops went forward 1,700 yards or even more, fighting all the way; and when their relic came back some part of that heroic journey no enemy dared follow them, so foul and cruel was their track.
They left behind them a Golgotha, a no man’s land, a dead man’s land. Five or six miles separate our troops from any place where you can step firm, where you can find any place in the swamp. It is a nightmare journey to traverse it , in spite of the ceaseless labour of pioneers.
Australian War Memorial image E01200
Our soldiers coming out of this swamp of death and pain maintain incredible serenity. If we could advance so far in such conditions we could go anywhere in fine weather. We were nowhere beaten by the enemy, though more defensive wire was left round shell-holes and pill boxes and fewer machine gunners knocked out than in any recent attack. We were beaten by the rain that began to fall in torrents at midnight before the attack, so they all say and feel, and so it was.
One of them, still full of humour, said he considered Friday an unlucky day for him. “you see,” he argued, “I was first hit in the shoulder by a machine gun bullet, and as I stumbled was hit in the foot, and as I lay another hit me in the foot and another hit me in the side. Decidedly, Friday is an unlucky day.” It was a terrible day for wounded men, and alternate advance and retreat now always leave a wide, indeterminable no man’s land from which escape to the mercy of either side is hard. But the best is being done, and the immortal eroism of the stretcher bearers was backed by both the daring and skilful work of doctors at advance dressing stations and ambulance drivers a little further back..
The trouble was how to find people or places. Wounded men, runners, contact officers, and even whole platoons had amazing journeys among shells and bullets searching for dressing station headquarters, objective or what not, and, as we know, even Germans on the pure defensive had similar trouble and their units were inextricably confused. It was all due, as one of them said, to the sump, or morass. The swampy terrain of Broodseinde Ridge 12 October, 1917
All that can be said of the battle is that we are a little higher up the slope than we were and a little further along the crest road to Passchendale. How we succeeded in capturing 700 prisoners is one of the marvels of the day. A marvel too, is the pile of German machine guns. They are some small concrete proof of the superhuman efforts of our infantry. If the world has supermen they were the men who waded forward up to their hips astride the Ravelbeck and stormed concrete and iron with flesh and blood. They were at least the peers of the men who fought “upon their stumps” at Chevy Chase. Today the artillery fire has died down, the sun bright, though the cold west wind threatens showers.
To be continued, next edition.
Searching for treasured World War I memorabilia
Do you have treasured World War I memorabilia hidden away? Is it related to the Avoca area and Avoca people and does it have an interesting story to tell? If so, we would like to consider it for inclusion in our upcoming exhibition marking the centenary of Armistice Day and the end of the First World War, Service and sacrifice at home and at war. The exhibition aims to honour the local contribution to the war effort at home and overseas, remember those who died, and celebrate the peaceful outcome after conflict. The exhibition is to be held in the Avoca Information Centre in October and November.
Please contact Tony with descriptions, stories and photographs by early October.