Award for KHS World War I Writers Group

 An Australian award winner

Ku-ring-gai Historical Society has received the prestigious Mander Jones 2015 Award (Category 2A ) for Volume II of Rallying the Troops: a World War I Commemoration. 

The Category 2A award is made annually by the Australian Society of Archivists for the best publication that uses, features or interprets Australian archives, written by or on behalf of a corporate body. The award is made in the honour and memory of the life and work of librarian and archivist, Phyllis Mander Jones (and who was a Wahroonga resident educated at Abbotsleigh and University of Sydney).

David Wilkins accepts the award on behalf of the KHS World War I Writers Group

The citation for the award says:

“World War I Writers Group, Ku-Ring-Gai Historical Society, Rallying the Troops: A World War I Commemoration, Volume II:

A remarkable work bringing together so much information from a multitude of sources into a coherent local, yet universal, work of sound research. It utilises a range of resources from both government and private archival collections, from Australia and overseas, to create a great local and general history of WW1. The writing, layout, photography and captions were all high quality. We look forward to Vol 3 in 2017!”

Presentation by David Wilson on August 20th

Visiting Mother: Australian Soldiers in London during World War I

The guest speaker at our General Meeting at 2:00pm  on July 16 will be Elise Edwards, curator at The State Library of NSW. Elise's topic is Visiting Mother: Australian Soldiers in London during World War I. 

Elise received a staff fellowship in 2009 to research the Library’s World War I collections. Elise is currently curating an exhibition on the World War I collection of diaries and correspondence; ‘Life Interrupted: personal diaries from World War I’.

Diaries from the First World War reveal the horror, loneliness and the adventure of war. They also express the delight of visiting London on leave. This paper will explore London through the eyes of its Australian visitors. A city mobilised, yet offering respite, entertainments and a sense of home, albeit with London fog.

*Please note that the talk on Monash scheduled for 16 July, has been rescheduled for 2017.

Book Launch

As most members are aware, the Ku-ring-gai Historical Society is launching Volume II Rallying the Troops. This will take place at the Memorial Hall, St John's Anglican Church, Gordon next Sunday, 6 December from 2pm.

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It will be launched by the Hon. Paul Fletcher and others attending will include Major General Gordon Maitland (who wrote the forward to the book) and his wife; Mr Jonathan O'Dea and the current and immediate past Mayors of Ku-ring-gai.

This is a significant event for the Society as a major contribution to the World War I Commemorations focussing on the involvement of Ku-ring-gai veterans.  All members and friends are welcome and encouraged to attend.

The official program will be followed by refreshments and the chance to socialise so, for catering purposes, if you have not already registered would you please advise Kathy Rieth of your attendance on frithie@netdata.com.au.

Local Lads to be remembered on Remembrance Day

Brian Colden Antill Pockley

The Society recently received an invitation from Neil Chippendale, Local Studies Librarian at Hornsby to attend an event at Hornsby Central Library.

The free event with  Elise Edmonds, a curator at the State Library of NSW, is on Wednesday 11 November at 6.30pm. Elise will give an insight and overview of the  Life Interrupted exhibition held at the State Library of New South Wales in 2014.

This exhibition featured diaries and letters written by soldiers, many of whom did not return home. Elise will be giving an overview of the collection and telling the story of how the State Library built their collection of World War One material.

Elise will also be reading out some excerpts from various diaries, including some local men who wrote diaries and letters. She will be featuring Dr Brian Colden Antill Pockley from Wahroonga and the Fry brothers from Lindfield.

You and your friends are all invited to this event  but you must register. Details here: http://www.hornsby.nsw.gov.au/library/activities-and-events/family-and-local-history-talks.

Annual General Meeting

Our Annual General Meeting and Election of Officers will be held in The Old Gordon School  Meeting Room 1 on Saturday 15 August at 2pm. Members must be financial to be eligible to vote at the Annual General Meeting. If you are renewing on the day, please bring your invoice and arrive at least 15 minutes early.

The AGM and General Meeting will  followed by Guest Speaker David Wilkins, KHS Rallying the Troops researcher and writer, who will speak on "THE CENTENARY OF THE GALLIPOLI AUGUST OFFENSIVE’:  the last major Allied attempt to break the stalemate on Gallipoli Peninsula.

* No Bookings Required   * Afternoon Tea Available  * Visitors Welcome

Praise for our book: Rallying the Troops

Dr Brendan Nelson, Director of the Australian War Memorial launched our book on July 26 and we have had some great feedback since then.

Here are some of the comments (in no particular order):

Your Volume 1 is superb and a wonderful testament to the men and women whom it records and those who wrote it. You have given these locals from those days a form of immortality by making their stories accessible and coherent.

(Anzac commemoration committee member)

Lots to look at & so many familiar names. ... Many thanks to all the researchers, the volumes will be a valuable resource for many years!

(Descendant)

I received my book and was delighted and I have barely put it down. ...You are all to be congratulated indeed on the work and time you have all achieved and I am so proud to have been a small part, what a wonderful book and keepsake for my family. 

(Descendant and Contributor)

Just to let you know your wonderful book is now catalogued and in our Library. What a beautifully produced volume it is - and what an effort it has been for you and your editorial group. You must be exhausted, but elated. … Only people who have been involved in publications like this can fully appreciate what has gone before. I do hope more of those in your Society can now be inspired to lend a hand. ... Congratulations on a job well done!

(a regional Family History Society)

I was amongst the amazing number of guests at your book launch on Saturday. You must be very happy and justifiably proud of Rallying the troops.

(Local schoolteacher)

Yesterday I received my copy of Rallying the Troops … It is an amazing tour de force by you and your colleagues. Great, Great, Great work!

(local author / historian)

Thank you for the wonderful opportunity to take part in this worthwhile project.

(Contributor)

Heartiest congratulations on a ‘Job very well done’ - the launch was very well done with wonderful speeches by Dr Nelson and our Mayor.  The book is a masterstroke and will be very much appreciated by many.

(KHS member)

Congratulations on this significant achievement to you and the rest of the team.

(local community group leader)

A very impressive book indeed.

(Contributor)

We both think it is stunning! A magnificent tribute to all those who served in the War. Hats off and medals all round for you and your team. You must all be thrilled at how well it has turned out.

(Contributor, UK)

A very important source for all Ku-ring-gai history.

(KHS member)

If you'd like to buy a copy, please go to our website and follow the links to place an order.
We have a special introductory price of $40 for purchases before August 31, 2014.

THE UNEXPECTED WAR - Talk by historian Michael McKernan

One hundred years ago this month newspaper headlines were reporting on the political crisis surrounding the new nation’s first-ever double dissolution. A political assassination in the far-away Balkans in late June seemed barely worthy of mention.

The Prime Minister, Joseph Cook, and the leader of the Labour Opposition, Andrew Fisher, were busy preparing for a federal election. Neither they, nor other Australian politicians could foresee the terrible consequences of the diplomatic failures that were unfolding in Europe.

When Great Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August, Australia, like the rest of the Empire, was also at war. The news was greeted with nationalistic fervour by crowds in the streets of Australia’s major cities.

Australia’s reaction to news of the outbreak of hostilities is the subject of a talk to the Ku-ring-gai Historical Society this Saturday, 16 August, by eminent historian DR MICHAEL McKERNAN.  Michael is a former Deputy-Director of the Australian War Memorial, a radio commentator and author of many books charting the effects of war on Australian society.

Within a week of the outbreak of war, both of Australia’s political leaders having pledged immediate and unconditional support, recruitment was underway with a force of 20 000 men promised for the defence of the empire.

Thousands of young men enthusiastically rushed to enlist with, perhaps, little understanding of what was involved, and no foreboding that this conflict

would drag on for more than four years and cost millions of lives.

The first shot fired by Allied forces came from an artillery battery at Pt. Phillip heads to prevent the departure of the Norddeutscher Lloyd cargo ship SS Pfalz just after midnight on 5 August, 1914.

On 18 August a Naval and Military Expeditionary Force left Sydney to capture wireless stations used by the German East Asia Cruiser Squadron and which represented an urgent threat to merchant shipping. During the first fighting at Rabaul in German New Guinea four Australians were killed.

Among the casualties was Capt. Brian Pockley, a twenty-four year old medical doctor of Wahroonga and one of the more than 1300 men and women with links to the Ku-ring-gai municipality who served in what would become known as the Great War.

Ku-ring-gai Historical Society is commemorating the service of these men and women by researching and writing their stories to ensure that they will not be forgotten. Volume 1 of Rallying the Troops, containing the war stories of those beginning with names A to F, was recently launched by Dr Brendan Nelson, Director of the AWM.

Copies are now available from the Society (www.khs.org.au or 9499 4568)

Members of the public are cordially invited to attend the 16 August talk by Dr McKernan. It will be held in the Meeting Room, old Gordon Public School building adjacent to the Library, corner of the Pacific Highway and Park Avenue, Gordon. The meeting starts at 2pm and will be preceded by the AGM. Afternoon tea will be served.

Seniors week WWI memories

Our first morning session for this year's NSW Seniors Week is called WWI Memories and Mementos.

We have an active group researching and writing biographies of local soldiers and related background information around the time of the war. 

Our newsletter and blog articles have highlighted to us that there are many others with memories of their fathers, uncles, grandfathers who served in WWI.

So, as we near the centenary of the commencement of Great War, we invite you to come along and share your family WWI stories. 

Bring and show photos and other mementos of WWI. 

Learn where all the memorials are in Ku-ring-gai and how to find out more about your family member’s involvement in WWI.

It is on Monday 10 March from 10.30am to approximately 1pm.
It will be held in Gordon Library Meeting Room 1 - between our research rooms and the Gordon Library (799 Pacific Highway Gordon).

It is free to all but as morning tea is provided, please RSVP.

Phone our rooms on 9499 4568 (between the hours of 10am and 2pm please) or email us at khs@khs.org.au

Please see our Calendar tab for other Seniors week events.

Who downed the Red Baron?

An interesting post from our November 2013 Newsletter by Kathie Rieth

The name ‘BUIE, R’ is on the St Ives Public School Honour Board that hangs on the wall in the corridor outside the KHS rooms. This must be Robert Buie, who is reputed to have been one of the two men who shot down the Red Baron.

Born in 1893, a son of James and Jane Buie, he enlisted on 27 October 1916 and embarked on HMAT
Anchises on 24 January 1917 with the 10th Reinforcements, 1st Pioneer Battalion, disembarking at Devonport in late March. He entered the Pioneer Training Battalion at Fovant, later transferring to the 14th Field Artillery Brigade as Gunner, and was serving in France by the end of 1917.

In April 1918 he and fellow gunner William John Evans were recommended for the Meritorious Service Medal. The recommendation stated: ‘On 21.4.1918 these Gunners were on duty with Lewis Guns at the 53rd Battery, Australian Field Artillery on the hills north of Corbie. At about 11 a.m. two aeroplanes flying at a low height approached the Battery position. These were discovered to be a British Sopwith Camel closely pursued by a hostile single seater red triplane. As soon as the British plane had passed the line of fire both these gunners opened fire at close range at the hostile machine. Splinters were immediately seen to fly from the latter which crashed about 800 yards from the guns. It was then discovered that the enemy pilot was dead and was identified as Baron Mannheim von Richthofen. The fire from these Lewis guns it is considered undoubtedly saved the British plane. The prompt action and accurate fire of these two gunners are worthy of special recognition.’

The award, however, was ‘Not recommended for decoration in King’s Birthday Honours Gazette.’ Although it appears clear from the contemporary account that Buie and Evans were successful in downing the Baron, others later claimed credit.

In July 1918 Buie fell ill and was evacuated to England. Diagnosed with myocarditis, he returned to Australia per Somali, arriving home in February 1919. He was discharged from the AIF on 7 September 1919.

His movements after the war are not clear. An online account, written by family, states that he was plagued by ill health and financial problems. He returned to his former occupation, fishing the waters of the Hawkesbury. He died in April 1964 and was buried at Brooklyn Cemetery.

Kathie Rieth

Remembrance Week - Our local WWI soldiers

Remembrance Day (11 November) marks the anniversary of the Armistice that ended the First World War. Each year Australians observe one minute silence at 11 am on 11 November, in memory of those who died or suffered in all wars and armed conflicts.

As next Monday is Remembrance Day we thought, this week, we'd post some of the names of our local lads who went to WWI.

We are currently undertaking a large project to identify and write biographies of all those on WWI memorials in Ku-ring-gai.

We are having some trouble identifying some of the names and wondered if any of our readers could help.

Remembered on the Roseville Honour Roll (above):

PT Chamberlain

SW Connell

AC Fenton

On the Pymble & St Ives War Roll of Honour (below):

W Collins

J Cook

   De Latour (no initial given here)

RH Edwards (also on the Gordon Public School and St Ives Park memorials)

HC Fraser

Although many of our lads have strong links to the area - born, lived, schooled, parents, etc, some of the links to Ku-ring-gai we have identified have been quite tenuous: 

Sometimes they never lived here but :

- their parents moved here during the war or 

- they worked here, or 

- their next of kin lived here, or

- they went to school here.

Others were born here but moved away before the war.

If you can help with any of these names, please comment on the blog, or email us at khs@khs.org.au

They all deserve to be remembered - by their full names.

Trove Tuesday - Local boys respond to the Empire's Call

As our WWI biography project marches on, we find more articles in the newspapers of our local boys marching off to the Great War.
We found these recently in the Sydney Morning Herald:

- one a Barker College Roll of Honour,

- another from the Ku-ring-gai Recreation Club at Turramurra (now the Warrawee Club)

These are from quite early in the war, 1915 and 1916, so obviously the impact was already being felt back home.

These gems provide a great list of names for us but sometimes create more questions as no first names are given.

If you know any of these names, we would love to hear from you.

If you would like to join our very worthy project - researching and writing biographies of all those on local memorials, please contact us via khs@khs.org.au

What an enthusiastic group!

Last Saturday afternoon the members of our World War 1 Project group met for the first time for a workshop at the Society rooms.

—The workshop provided us with an opportunity to introduce the project leaders and for research team members to meet each other. We came together as a group of committed individuals but left as  members of an enthusiastic team.

Researchers were given information on the project background and aim and were given details about the book/s the group hopes to produce. We discussed the project timeline, went through the research pack and style guide provided and examined some samples of work that have already been submitted. 

As the session was collaborative in nature attendees were encouraged to comment and ask questions throughout the event. As a result some of the suggestions have been taken on board and incorporated into our support documents. Thanks to David Wilkins, our military man, for his prompt response in distributing additional materials.

One unexpected outcome occurred when we were going through a sample profile submitted by a team member. Members were quietly reading through the document when one person came to someone in the text by the name of Smith, she explained excitedly "He's mine". Co-incidentally she was sitting next to the gentleman who had written the profile; we could not blame them when they launched into a private tete-a-tete about the serviceman in question.

The researchers were asked if they would like us to organise a writing workshop with Cassie Mercer, editor of Inside History Magazine. As they were positive to this idea we have organised a workshop for August. 

I left the meeting feeling privileged to have been able to work with such a generous and passionate group of people. If you would like to join this project as a researcher/writer please contact Kathe Rieth via email frithie@netdata.com.au. We will organise similar workshops or meetings and provide support  for any new researchers who join us. Any person with an interest in one of our servicemen is most welcome to join our group.

Jill Ball