April 2022 General Meeting - Saturday 9th April

Please note: our General Meeting for April is being held on 9th April, which is one week earlier than usual, so that it doesn't coincide with Easter Saturday.

Guest Speaker:
John Ramsland, OAM, FACE

Join us in Gordon Library Meeting Room 1, at 2 pm on Saturday 9th April 2022, when John Ramsland presents “Exciting, Adventurous and Heart-Rending – Rayner Hoff’s Memorial Masterpieces as a Sculptor”

Our guest speaker will be John Ramsland, OAM, FACE, Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Newcastle.

As one of the most significant artists in early post-World War I Australia, Hoff translated his sculptural forms into the egalitarian values of Australians – as a neo-heroic race that rivalled the Ancient Greeks!

Authorities agree that Hoff’s innovative work on the Hyde Park Anzac Memorial was his crowning glory. He captured war’s grim, gritty reality in a vast complex visual essay on the entire war. His group sculpture, 'Sacrifice', at the Memorial’s heart, is the greatest achievement of his entire career.

Hoff was one of the rare memorial sculptors to convey a duality of meaning of the relationship of male-female; masculine-feminine; timelessness and modern-ancient; sacred-profane; and past-present-future elements. He expressed both the sacrifice and horror of war on the youthful manhood and womanhood of the nation.

About John Ramsland

John was born in Manly in 1942 and educated at Manly Boys High School, Bathurst Teachers College, and the Universities of New England, Sydney and Newcastle. He is the author of many historical books, book chapters, journal articles, conference papers and press features. In 2003, he became Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Newcastle after serving there as Dean of the Faculty of Education, and later, Dean of the Faculty of Arts.

Book Launch

Immediately following John Ramsland’s presentation, military historian and battlefield war guide, David Wilson, will launch John’s latest book, 'Rendezvous With Death – Anzac Stories of the Great War' (Brolga, 2021) on behalf of Ku-ring-gai Historical Society.

Rendezvous With Death has been described as “an elegantly crafted anthology of epic heroism”. The book’s 564 pages hold many moving stories of men and women caught up in the tragedy of World War I. Each chapter deals with the life of historical figures – known and unknown, celebrated or forgotten – with the final chapter, “Remembrance of Things Past”, being on the life and work of George Rayner Hoff.

Copies will be available for signing at the special price of $20 – cash only, please, as we do not have credit card facilities.

As always, please keep an eye on our website in case of any last-minute changes.

The venue is Gordon Library Meeting Room No. 1, in the Old Gordon Public School, which adjoins the Gordon Library, 799 Pacific Highway, Gordon (corner Pacific Highway and Park Avenue).

It’s just a 5-minute walk from Gordon Station.

For a map and parking information, see our Contact page.

April 2022 Family History Group Meeting - Saturday 2nd April

Guest Speaker:
Patrick Dodd

Join us in Gordon Library Meeting Room 1 at 2 pm on Saturday 2nd April 2022 when Patrick Dodd presents 'The Dreadnought Boys'

Patrick Dodd will speak on 'The Dreadnought Boys' – a fascinating and also horrifying story of child and youth migration to Australia.

There were numerous schemes to bring out children and young people to Australia starting in mid-Victorian times. The Dreadnought Scheme was a program designed to promote and assist the migration of British youths willing to become farm workers in Australia. Funds which had been raised by public subscription for the purchase of a battleship were diverted to establish the scheme, when the Commonwealth instead decided to build an Australian Navy.

On arrival in Australia, the teenage boys were assigned to a state government farm for three months of agricultural training, after which the boys could be sent to work on any farm in the state.

Ku-ring-gai Historical Society member Patrick Dodd will speak about these schemes and the experiences of his late father-in-law, David Hogg, who was a Dreadnought Boy; as well as his own experiences as a ‘Ten Pound Pom’. It’s bound to stimulate plenty of discussion!

PLEASE NOTE: The election of the Family History Group Committee will also be held at this meeting. The nomination form has been distributed to members at the same time as the March Newsletter.

As always, please keep an eye on our website in case of any last-minute changes.

The venue is Gordon Library Meeting Room No. 1, in the Old Gordon Public School, which adjoins the Gordon Library, 799 Pacific Highway, Gordon (corner Pacific Highway and Park Avenue).

It’s just a 5-minute walk from Gordon Station.

For a map and parking information, see our Contact page.

March 2022 General Meeting

    

Guest Speaker:
David Wilkins, OAM

Join us in Gordon Library Meeting Room 1, at 2 pm on Saturday 19th March 2022 when David Wilkins, OAM presents "The Three Vietnam Wars from 1946 to 1975"

Military historian and Ku-ring-gai Historical Society member David Wilkins will discuss the causes and impact – and the controversies – of the “American War”; as well as the colonial war that preceded it, and the one that followed.

He will discuss whether the US strategy in the second war was appropriate or misguided; the fall of Saigon; whether or not it should be regarded as an American defeat; plus the impact of ‘public relations as a principle of war’.

David graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in 1963 and his career in the Australian Regular Army spanned 26 years.

In 1969-70, as a Captain, he saw active service for 14 months with the 5th Infantry Battalion in the Vietnam War.

Upon his return from active service, David embarked upon a new career direction in Law.

He is now fully retired with interests in history and writing, and was involved in the coordination, writing and editing of the four volumes of Ku-ring-gai Historical Society’s celebrated series Rallying The Troops: a World War I Commemoration.

It was for his involvement in Rallying The Troops that in 2019 David was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia “for service to community history”.

PLEASE NOTE: This meeting will also be our deferred AGM in which we will pass the Minutes of the 2019 AGM; review and endorse the financial statements for the years 2019-20 and 2020-21; appoint the auditor; and receive the President’s Report. The election of Committee members will take place at our usual AGM in the second half of this year.

As always, please keep an eye on our Events page in case of any last-minute changes.

The venue is Gordon Library Meeting Room No. 1, in the Old Gordon Public School, which adjoins the Gordon Library, 799 Pacific Highway, Gordon (corner Pacific Highway and Park Avenue).

It’s just a 5-minute walk from Gordon Station.

For a map and parking information, see our Contact page.