ANZAC Girls connection with Ballarat

Those who have watched the recently completed mini-series on ABC TV the ANZAC Girls may be interested to know that one of the nurses portrayed in the series has a connection to Ballarat. 

Alice Ross-King was born in Ballarat on August 5 1891 to Archibald Ross King, a storekeeper and his wife Henrietta (nee Ward).  Alice and her family moved to Perth when she was quite young but a terrible accident on the Swan River resulted in the drowning deaths of her father and two brothers.   Soon after this Alice and her mother returned to Victoria and settled in Melbourne.

Alice had a distinguished nursing career during World War 1: she was a recipient of the Military Medal for bravery, only one of seven nurses of the Australian Nursing Service during the war to receive this award.

She married Sydney Appleford, who Alice met on the ship returning to Australia, on the 29^th August 1919.  They settled in Lang Lang in South Gippsland where Sydney, a medical doctor, continued to practice medicine ably supported by Alice.  Alice died on 17 August 1968, survived by her four children.

(Photo taken from ANZAC Girls by Peter Rees. Photo provided to the book by Marion Sanders)

Ballarat’s first casualty of the Great War …

You might have heard news reports this week regarding Australia’s entry into World War 1 and the brief but fatal battle at Bita Paka.

In August 1914, over 100 Victorian naval reservists joined the Australian Naval & Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF) in order to seize and destroy German wireless stations in German New Guinea in the south-west Pacific. With troops from New South Wales and Queensland, the AN&MEF was ultimately successful in its task, but lives were lost at the battle of Bita Paka, where Victorian Able Seaman William Williams became the first Australian serviceman of WW 1 to die in battle (on 11 September 1914). You can read more here.

 Australia’s first submarine the AE1 was also involved, patrolling the area with other ships.  The AE1 disappeared without a trace on 14^th September 1914, and you can read an account of the current search for the submarine here.  The loss of this vessel was the worst submarine disaster in the world, to that time, and remains a mystery to this day.  There is a website dedicated to the memory of the crew of the AE1 which gives the history of these submarines and provides excellent photographs.

What makes the AE1 important for Ballarat is that Engine Room Artificer John Messenger was on board.  He was the son of John and Elizabeth Messenger of Humffray St  South.  At the Victorian Railways Institute, in Lydiard St, the Messenger name is commemorated by Messenger Hall.  ERA John Messenger, sadly, is Ballarat’s first casualty of the Great War.

Photograph of John Messenger taken from "Dinkum Oil", by Amanda Taylor, in the Australiana Room collection

                            

What was it like in Ballarat 100 years ago today?

 

Ballarat Courier, September 4th, 1914

100 years ago today, the first men from Ballarat to join the Expeditionary Force, left Ballarat amid affecting scenes at Ballarat station.

 Yesterday they had arrived in Ballarat from the training camp at Broadmeadows with about 24 hours leave to spend with family and friends.  But first there was a celebratory dinner for the men at the City Hall – they marched there from the station, along Lydiard St, which was lined with citizens.  The important thing about this article is that it names the men and the companies they are part of.  Once the dinner was over they were dismissed.

What did they do until they paraded again at 6pm on September 4^th at the railway station?  How did they spend the last day in Ballarat?  All we can know for sure is that the scenes at the railway station, as the men were boarding the train, were unprecedented.  They paraded where we park our cars now. The gates to the station were guarded, but the crowds just rushed onto the platform, any way but by the gates.  The band was playing “Auld Lang Syne”.  It must have been very exciting and overwhelming, but the Courier reports the “stern reality” of the war. 

If you would like to read the whole article on Trove follow this link.  If you would like to read the article in the “real thing”, our hard copy Courier on display in the Australiana Room at Ballarat Library, just ask the staff to turn the pages for you.