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.

Rallying the Troops set to be launched

The first volume of our WWI commemorative book series is about to be launched.

We are excited that Dr Brendan Nelson, Director of the Australian War Memorial (and former Federal MP for Bradfield) is returning to Lindfield on Saturday 26 July at 2pm to launch:

Rallying the Troops, a World War I Commemoration by Ku-ring-gai Historical Society, Volume I.

This volume includes chapters on Ku-ring-gai society before the War, memorials both local and overseas, early military campaigns, and biographies of those with surnames beginning with A to F. 

Dr Nelson has written a stimulating Foreword for the book.

The launch afternoon is almost fully subscribed, with about 120 people already booked in. If you would like to attend, please phone or email KHS as soon as possible to book your place.

We have a special early bird purchase price of $40 for purchases up to 31 August.

From 1 September 2014 the price will be $50.

Packaging and Postage within Australia is $15.

Please check our website for purchase details.

You can pay by EFT, cheque or visit the research rooms to pay in person by cash.

Copies will be available for purchase at the launch.

If you pay before the launch, you may collect it on the day and have it signed.

This is no ordinary World War I reference book.

Members of Ku-ring-gai Historical Society have rallied to delve deep into the service and family records of local soldiers and nurses to reveal their involvement in the Great War of 1914-1918. This volume is the first in the series; a second and third will be published in 2015 and 2016.

In the municipality of Ku-ring-gai in northern Sydney over 1,300 men and women served from a population of just over 12,000. They came from all walks of life, from labourers to university lecturers. Their origins were diverse, not only from the immediate locality but also from other parts of New South Wales, from other states and from other countries.

Their achievements were many; one in every ten was decorated. Their losses were great; one in every five did not return. What all did for their nation is monumental.

The Society has endeavoured to do justice to these veterans, to tell the stories that many never lived to tell or were unable to tell. The telling became a passion; it engendered pride and sorrow, anger and despair. Yet each and every story deserved to be told, to be recorded for all time.

At the moment of death, they became beyond time.

Trove Tuesday - Was he the youngest soldier?

Frederick Cecil Forsyth-Cheffins enlisted on 21 Jun 1915.

He was born on 26 April 1901.

Do the maths – that makes him 14 years and 2 months old when he enlisted.

This article in the Sydney Morning Herald claims he was the youngest NSW soldier at the front.

An entry in the SCEGS (Shore school) register.

He stated he was 16 years old on his attestation papers. 

His father was Captain F Forsyth-Cheffins, the attesting officer on many soldier’s service records.

Bugler Cheffins, 472, arrived at the Gallipoli Peninsula on 16 August 1915 and soon after this he was hospitalised with bronchitis and dysentery.

Before his 15th birthday, in mid-March 1916, he boarded a ship to return to Australia. His discharge (medically unfit) from the AIF on 13 July 1916 was well before he had reached the legal age to enlist.

Although Bugler Cheffins was born in Bathurst and lived in Northern NSW and Queensland, he is written up in our book because at the time of his enlistment, his parents lived in Gordon NSW (in Ku-ring-gai).

You will find many such soldiers in our volumes.

Frederick’s biography will be published in Volume 1 of our Rallying the Troops Anzac Centenary project.

We are excited that Dr Brendan Nelson will launch this first volume on Saturday 26 July 2014.

We welcome enquiries, comments, photos related to any soldiers with links to Ku-ring-gai. If you would like to join our research and writing team, please email khs@khs.org.au

Watch this blog for more details of our launch and for your chance to pre-order the books.

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.

Remembrance Day - Some local lads

It is almost the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month and many of us in Ku-ring-gai Historical Society have more soldiers to remember than we did last year - because of working on our WWI biographies project.

Here are some more local lads we have not been able to identify, but who deserve to be remembered by their full names.

Can you help us identify them and their links to the area?

F FOGDEN 

on the Killara Hall War Memorial at the Marian Street Theatre

AH DILLER and 

AJ DOUGLAS 

on the Wahroonga War Memorial

FG DANIEL 

on the Turramurra Park Gates Memorial

P BROWN 

on the Warrawee Public School Memorial

WL COOPER 

on both the Killara Uniting Church Memorial and 

the St Johns Church, Turramurra Memorial

If you have any information on these soldiers, please leave a comment on the blog or email us at khs@khs.org.au

LEST WE FORGET

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

Trove Tuesday - Identifying WWI Soldiers

Trove comes good again.

Ku-ring-gai Historical Society is undertaking a large WWI project: to identify and write biographies of all the soldiers on memorials in the Ku-ring-gai area, and others with strong wartime links to the area that may have been missed off memorials.

Some of the memorials aren't easy to find or to visit as they are in private clubs or even from defunct clubs.

Most of the memorials only give initials and these can at times be very difficult to identify with certainty.

So, off to Trove and look at this goldmine:
An article about the effect of the Great War on golf clubs, in particular a local club, Killara.

The article is really interesting in itself but provided us with full names, ranks and battalions (in most cases) of the men on the Killara Golf Club memorial.

Scroll down and look at the names.
Do you know any of them?
Are you related?
Do you have any photos you would be prepared to share with us?
Perhaps you would like to join our writer's group?

KILLARA GOLF CLUB ROLL OF HONOR.

Lieut. Burdett Philip Nettleton, 1st A.L.H.;

Surgeon Richard Prevost, R.A.N.R. ;

Major Clarence Read, A.M.C.;

Capt. Edward Maxwell Ramsden, A.M.C.;

Lieut. Mordaunt Lindsay Clarke, 13th Batt.;

Pte. Ralph Stanley Northcott, A.M.C.;

Driver William Douglas Wilson Walker, A.S.C.;

Driver Halse Millett, A.F.A.;

Lance-Corp. Adrian Morley Epps, A.M.C.;  

Driver William Alan Maschwitz, A.F.A.;

Capt. John Lloyd Evans, R.H.A.;

Capt. John Oberlin Harris, 4th Batt.;

Driver Edward Sydney Watkins, A.F.A.;

Private Percy Walker, A.I.F.;

Lieut. Horace Stanley Bagshaw, Manchester Reigment ;

Private Claudius Rolleston Gant, A.L.H.;

2nd-Lieut. R. J. York, R.G.A. Sons of members :

Capt. Cecil Arthur Callaghan, A.F.A.;

Corp. Cecil Robert Callaghan, A.M.C.;

Surgeon James Whitson Kemp Bruce, R.N.;

John Netherby Graham;

Private Reginald Hastings Cook, 1st Batt.;

Corp. Cecil Gilbert Reading, 1st L.H.;

Trooper William Edwin Penfold,

1st L.H.; Lieut. George Webster Binnie, 13th Batt;

Driver William Gould Balcombe, A.F.A. ;

Corp. Thomas Christian Boehme, A.S.C.;

2nd-Lieut; Henry Theodore Thumpson, 18th Hussars;

2nd-Lieut. James Gilbert Kidd, 10th Hussars;

Private Raymond Up ward, A.S.C.;

Sub-Lieut. Frederick Edmond Sargood, R.F.C.;

Sub-Lieut. Mervyn Minter, R.F.C.;

Sergt. Bruce Minter, A.F.A.;

Capt. Nowell Johnstone Sievers, 9th Essex;

Sapper Alan Alexander Wilson Walker, 1st F.C. Engineers;

Trooper Tom Vernon Garrett, A.L.H.;

Lieut. William Angwin Edwards, R.A.M.C.;

Trooper Jack Compton Bradford, 2nd A.L.H.;

Gunner Harold Palmer Bradford, A.F.A.;

Lieut Dudley Adams, R.F.C;

Lieut. Barton Adams, R.F.C.;

Sergt. John Duncan Carson, 2nd Batt.;

Lieut Arthur Lancelot Rickard, A.F.A.;

Private Dudley Palmer Braddon, A.S.C.;

Alan Shepherd Milward, R.F.C.;

Lieut. Reginald Empson, R.F.C.;

Major William Henry Read, A.M.C.;

Sergt. Sydney Clark Irving, 3rd Batt;

Private George Cameron Ferguson, 13th Batt;

Lieut. Charles Willoughby Lee Pulling, 13th Batt;

Lieut. Hugh Douglas Pulling, 13th Batt;

Sergt. Guy Harris Pulling, 17th. Batt;

Gunner Hubert John Curtis, A.F.A.;

Private Charles Stanley Davenport Adamson, A.S.C.;

Private Stuart Courtenay Gaden, 11th Batt;

Lance Corp. Charles Robert Windeyer, A.L.H. 

Trove Tuesday - Release of Golden Carp

One of our WWI researchers emailed an article they came across while 'troving away for information' on Private George Campbell of Turramurra.

The George Campbell the researcher was looking for enlisted with the 1st Light Horse Regiment in Sydney on 18 October 1914, earning himself the enviably low service number of 43.  Private Campbell departed from Australia two days after enlisting aboard the HMAT Star of Victoria.   
He served in the Middle East and eventually returned to Australia in December 1918 having attained the rank of Lieutenant.  Born in Cowra, NSW, in 1890, Campbell was the son of John Gavin Campbell, a local pastoralist.  
George was named for his grandfather, the first Mayor of Cowra, a former MLA and MLC, who had held extensive squatting runs in the area.  

Post-war the younger George changed his occupations and moved frequently, though maintaining links with the family property at Cowra.  

He resided in various regions of Sydney’s North Shore from about 1937 to 1963, including 51 Bobbin Head Road, Turramurra in 1949.

The George Campbell of Duntroon mentioned in the 1876 article has no apparent familial link to Lt Campbell but he did provide us with an amusing diversion.

I wonder if this George Campbell ever envisaged what a scourge of our river systems this fish would become!

World War 1 Project Writers' Workshop

Around twenty members of our World War 1 Project Writers' Group gathered at the Society rooms for a workshop with Cassie Mercer the Editor of Inside History Magazine last Saturday.

Cassie delivered a general talk about writing for magazines and newspapers then, after a break for a cuppa and a chat, gave us tips for writing up the biographies for the men and women from the Ku-ring-gai area who served in the conflict. It was pleasing to get feedback from Cassie on the work samples that writers had submitted to her before the talk. Cassie commended our writers on the research that had been done and the quality of the biographies submitted. Those who were present went away inspired to continue with their writing tasks.

Thank you, Cassie, for taking time out of your busy schedule and for the door prizes. Your passion and enthusiasm for family history and writing are infectious.

If you would like to join our group of researchers and writers for this project please contact Kathie Rieth, frithie@netdata.com.au.

Following are a few happy snaps from the event.

Cassie Mercer

Inside History Magazine 

Inside History Editor coming to Ku-ring-gai

Cassie Mercer

Ku-ring-gai Historical Society's writers are excited about next Saturday's activity.

Cassie Mercer, Editor of Inside History Magazine, will be conducting a workshop for those who are writing for our World War 1 Project; additional places for the workshop have already been filled. Cassie will be giving us a talk and then workshopping samples of writing we have prepared for the books we will be publishing to commemorate those from the Ku-ring-gai area who served in World War 1

Cassie has worked in publishing since 1999 after completing a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature at the University of Queensland. Companies she has worked for include UNSW Press, Pacific Magazines and ACP Magazines in Sydney, and Edward Elgar, IPC Media and the National Magazine Company in London.

We look forward to welcoming Cassie to Ku-ring-gai Historical Society.

Trove Tuesday - The Late Major Jenkins

One of the distinguished servicemen that the KHS World War 1 Project Group is researching is Major Richard Lewis Blake Hay Jenkins. Trove is proving to be an invaluable source as the writers research service personnel from the Ku-ring-gai area.

While researching another soldier this evening I happened across this article from The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate about Major Jenkins. 

The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate (Parramatta, NSW : 1888 - 1950), Wednesday 19 January 1916

We would warmly welcome to the group anyone who is able to assist with researching and writing up biographies for the publications we have planned to commemorate our fighting men.  

If you can help please contact Kathie Rieth at the Society or via email at frithie@netdata.com.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