March of the Dungarees
The march began at Warwick with 28 men and followed the Southern railway line through Toowoomba, Laidley, and Ipswich to its destination in Brisbane, gathering 125 recruits along the way.
The first Australian to perish on the Western Front was Lieutenant William Malcolm Chisholm of the Lancashire Regiment, who died in the Battle of Le Cateau in France on 26 August 1914.
Eight Stanthorpe men volunteered to join up, taking the train to Warwick in time for the commencement of the march, with a ninth man catching up the following day.
[2] At the same time, recruiting meetings were held in nearby townships including Allora, Sandy Creek, Maryvale, Yangan, Tannymorel and Killarney.
[3] The men wore dark dungaree (blue denim-like material) uniforms with white linen hats and were supplied with badges indicating their initial acceptance following a medical examination into the recruitment process.
[4] The public spectacle of the march out of Warwick continued over the Helene Street Bridge, along the Condamine River bank, (where sporting fields are today), under the railway, and headed along Glengallan Road.
The Dungarees marched out of Warwick on the morning of 16 November 1915, pausing to take the salute on the Helene Street Bridge along the Condamine River bank, (where sporting fields are today), under the railway, and headed along Glengallan Road.
[3][5] At Mr Margett's residence, opposite the intersection with Womina–Willowvale Road, the troops were taken by local cars for the 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) run to Glengallan Homestead in time for lunch, which was provided by the Warwick Recruiting Committee.
The memorial had been unveiled in 1904 by Colonel (later Sir) Harry Chauvel, honouring the four local men who died, and 35 others who served in the southern African conflict.
The local ladies presented the recruits with some "necessities of life" including tobacco, pipes, cigarettes, matches, shaving soap and razor strops.
The march from Allora travelled north through Spring Creek where the men were given lunch by the Red Cross Society at "Ellerton", the property of Mr Fred Easton.
[9] They were welcomed by Arthur Hoey Davis, the Chairman of the Cambooya Shire Council and the local recruitment committee, but better known by his pen-name Steele Rudd, who grew up in Greenmount, when it was known as Emu Creek.
When Steele Rudd's play "Duncan McLure" was first performed in Toowoomba, Lieutenant Binnie (Commanding Officer of the Dungarees) had the lead role.
On Sunday morning 21 November 1915, the Dungarees participated in a church parade before being entertained by a band recital in the Toowoomba Botanic Gardens.
[14] After a hearty country breakfast in Helidon on the morning of 23 November 1915, the Dungarees marched to Grantham for lunch, where they were entertained by the local school children.
[15] Recruits: 2 [15] The Dungarees then proceeded to Gatton, pausing to pay their respects at the Boer War Memorial in the late afternoon and speeches were made.
[16] A late breakfast at the Shire Hall on the morning of 24 November 1915 was followed with a march to the Gatton Agricultural College (now a campus of the University of Queensland).
[16] Recruits: 2 but 1 later discharged on medical grounds [16] The Dungarees moved on to Forest Hill for afternoon tea in School of Arts Hall on the 24 November 1915 where badges were presented to the volunteers by Miss G Logan—presumably a relative of former resident Major Thomas James Logan a member of the 2nd Light Horse Regiment who had died at Gallipoli in August 1915.
Later that afternoon, the Ipswich Model Band led march up John Street to the post office and on to the school grounds where a reception was held.
[20] Recruits:[20] On the afternoon of 26 November 1915, Ipswich shops and businesses were gaily decorated and closed to allow employees to participate in welcoming the Dungarees.
[21] The following morning, the Dungarees marched out of town over Limestone Hill enabling the students from Ipswich Girls' Grammar School to bid them a final farewell.
[21] Recruits:[21] The Dungarees marched along Ipswich Road on the morning of 29 November 1915, stopping first at Bundamba where they were welcomed by waiting townsfolk and school students.
An open air dinner was held in the grounds of the Oxley State School followed by a campfire concert, before the men rolled into their camp beds for the night.
[26] They marched along Ipswich Road reaching the Woolloongabba five-ways at 10.30am on 30 November 1915 where the Mayor of South Brisbane, Alderman J Davey and his aldermen greeted them.
Canon Hay of St Andrew's Church, South Brisbane said that he was pleased to see that Warwick headed the list of the Dungarees, having lived there previously.
[27] A large crowd gathered and cheers rang out, as did the fog-signals from the trains in the Woolloongabba railway yards (now part of the South East Busway).
The Governor, Sir Hamilton Goold Adams, met the men at the baths and congratulated them on supporting the cause which Great Britain was fighting for.
T J Ryan, attended the final phase of the march, officiated by the Mayor of Brisbane, who congratulated the recruits on the example they had shown to other young men, and hoped that their sacrifice would encourage others to join up.
A plaque was unveiled on 13 April 1998 by Bruce Scott, Minister for Veteran Affairs and Eric Abraham (Queensland's last surviving recruit from the March of the Dungarees).
[33][34][35] This Wikipedia article was originally based on "March of the Dungarees" and subordinate web pages (3 December 2015) by Murray Johnson published by the State of Queensland under CC-BY 3.0 AU licence (accessed on 3 February 2016).
