Cheer-Up Society

Following an editorial in The Register[2] lamenting the lack of public support for the SA members of the AIF 2nd Contingent who were about to be posted overseas, Mrs A. Seager organised a "Cheer Up Our Boys" luncheon at Montefiore Hill, staffed by women volunteers, for the 1,100 soldiers who were completing their training at the Morphettville camp.

secretary) and their network of volunteers, but with members of the public clamoring to join, and with money and goods beginning to arrive, it was necessary to put the organization on a firm footing.

In February Mrs Baker resigned as president and William John Sowden, editor of The Register and a man well known as a charity organiser, was elected to the post.

The most active country branches were in 1916 named as Aldinga, Angaston, Ardrossan, Balaklava, Blyth, Burra, Bute, Crystal Brook, Freeling, Gawler, Jamestown, Kadina, Lameroo, Laura, McLaren Flat, Marrabel, Morgan, Mount Gambier, Murray Bridge (who provided refreshments to soldiers on trains, no matter what the hour), Narracoorte, Nuriootpa, Orroroo, Petersburg, Port Augusta, Port Elliot, Port Pirie, Robertstown, Strathalbyn, Tallunda Flat, Tanunda, Tumby Bay, Victor Harbor, Wallaroo, Willson's River (Kangaroo Island) and Willunga.

The books and accounts of the society were scrutinized by two auditors, and half yearly balance sheets and full financial statements submitted to the executive committee and to the annual general meeting.

The design, by H. J. Henderson, was little more than a model, but on that basis Henry Slade and his team finished the job under budget and in time for the Official Opening on 4 November 1915, the first anniversary of the society.

Believed to be the first such structure erected in Australia in recognition of the Anzac forces,[24] it was demolished June 1925 after Railways Department declared it unsafe.

[29] A magazine was inaugurated around March 1916 and seven issues were published in that year, largely the work of Cheer-up volunteers, and for much of its early history edited by F. J.

[30] From August 1918 the magazine was subtitled "Official organ of the Returned Sailors and Soldiers' Imperial League of Australia, South Australian Branch".

Another innovation by Mrs. Seager, Violet Days were intended as an opportunity to remember the war dead, and as a fund-raising mechanism for the Cheer-up Hut.

Cheer-Up Society volunteers would throng the city, meeting every tram, bus and train, offering for sale bunches of the flower and souvenir badges.

The sale of flowers and buttons was dropped in favour of memorial services variously held at the Jubilee Exhibition Building or the Adelaide Town Hall.