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.

Newspaper advertising in 1914

At the Ballarat Library, in the Australiana Research Room, we keep a copy of the Ballarat Courier newspaper which is always open to the page dated 100 years ago.  At the moment when you read through it there are stories about the War beginning in Europe and stories a bit closer to home such as the 70th Infantry leaving Ballarat.  These stories are sprinkled throughout the newspaper but one thing that stuck out in the newspaper this week was the advertising.  Not just the advertisements but the wording that was being used.  'War on Tailoring', 'Miller's great attack. All new goods surrender', 'War versus Furs'.  It seems the War was making for some good advertising.

The Ballarat Courier, 29 August 1914 (accessed online)

The Ballarat Courier, 29 August 1914 (Accessed online)

The Ballarat Courier, 29 August 1914 (Accessed online)

If you would like to look at the Ballarat Courier from 1914 you can access it online via the National Library Australia at TROVE, or if you would like to look at a hard copy come on in to the Ballarat Library.

The Wiles Cooker

The Ballarat Courier, Tuesday,  August 18 1914, p. 4, gives a splendid description of the 70^th regiment in camp in Queenscliff.   Its wonderful reading, very Boys Own, chin up, what-ho stuff. 

They must have been having a lovely time.  There was a footy match between the Infantry and the AMC*, and as the Infantry had in its ranks many prominent League, Association and school players, the results were foregone, the AMC going down by 33 points.  There was the first lady visitor to the 70^th Regiment Officers’ Mess “at the first camp while on active service”.  Importantly, there was duty in Melbourne guarding various institutions, as well as the cordite factory and artillery magazines.

And here is the blot on the landscape.  Those on duty returned to Queenscliff unexpectedly early, and dinner had been ‘off’ for some hours.  Were the troops to go without their tea?

Not at all!  Here steps up “the dauntless Sgt-cook J. Wiles” and utilising his patent cooker he had a hot meal ready for the 150 men in 15 minutes!

James F. Wiles was born in Clunes in 1883, and was educated in Ballarat.  He definitely sounds like a “character” eventually getting himself to the Boer war by subterfuge, having been rejected 3 times. In South Africa he had many adventures including working as a rough rider to break remounts, and surviving the Woolmarannsrust disaster. (I don’t know what that was but I am going to have to look it up!)

Back in Ballarat in 1903 he joined the 7^th Australian Infantry Regiment, retiring years later with the rank of sergeant.  It was during this time that he determined that the system of cooking in the field needed improvement, and this led him to invent and patent the Wiles Travelling Kitchen – an object which gave “keen satisfaction to brigade and battalion C.O.s and men.”  It was utilised for the troops throughout WW1, but was also very useful to farmers.  He established a cooker manufactory in Doveton St South in order to keep up supply to the Federal Government during the War. 

             

From “Citizens and Sports at Home and Abroad” in the Australiana Research collection, Ballarat Library

Wiles evidently had a fine baritone, and won prizes at various competitions, and he sang at charity concerts. As could be expected, he was an excellent shot with the rifle, winning many shooting matches.  He also served with the City Fire Brigade. 

However, after the First World War, his life became rather complicated.  James Fletcher Wiles died in Adelaide in 1939, just prior to the Second World War.  WW2 saw further adventures of his family with steam cookers; it is a wonderful story and you can read more about James, his sons, and steam cookers here.  James Wiles is undoubtedly one of Ballarat’s heroes.

You can read the article ”With the Troops at Queenscliff” from the Ballarat Courier, August 18 1914, here

* I think AMC stands for Army Medical Corps, but please do correct me if I’m wrong

 

 

70th Infantry leaving Ballarat

The Ballarat Courier on Saturday 8th August 1914

On Saturday 8th August, 1914, this image of the 70th Infantry preparing to leave Ballarat to go to camp in Queenscliff was included in the newspaper.  It is the first known image of the Infantry appearing in the Ballarat Courier. This infantry consisted solely of men from the Ballarat region.  The article accompanying the photo begins with, 'It was brought home to Ballarat and district yesterday, more directly than has been the case since the outbreak of hostilities on the Continent  a week ago, that Ballarat's part in the responsibility the Empire has been called upon to shoulder, was to be more than that of a passive spectator.  The news that the Empire was likely to be drawn into the struggle was received with a sense of regret.'

The Ballarat Courier on Saturday 8th August 1914

If you would like to look at the original of this image and article, it can be viewed at Ballarat Library in the Australiana Research Room or if you would like to look at it online, you can go to the TROVE website, which has digitised most of the Australian newspapers from 1914-1918.

70th Infantry leaving Ballarat - online version

If you would like to read more about this important event, see Neil Leckie's article which was published in the Ballarat Courier on 14th August, 2014.

100 years since Ballarat answered the call - by Neil Leckie

 

 

 

Mapping our Anzacs

Mapping our Anzacs is a fantastic resource which allows you to locate a service person as well as add information about that person and build a tribute to them online.  As described on the website, 'The heart of Mapping our Anzacs is a tool to browse 375,971 records of service in the Australian Army during World War I according to the person's place of birth or enlistment.'  

You simply find the town on the map that the person was born in, or the town that they enlisted in, and after clicking on the link a list of names will appear.  The person you are looking for should appear in this list and after clicking on their name you will be taken to the National Archives Australia website where the persons service record, having been digitised, will be waiting for you to read!

www.mappingouranzacs.naa.gov.au



Mapping our Anzacs website