Moonee Valley Family & Local History Blog

Imagine it is mid 1915. Around these parts just a few months ago the community was jublilantly sending young men to war. Now the devastating news from Gallipoli has hit home and the community is reeling. The area around Essendon has been hit particularly hard - dozens of local men were killed at Gallipoli within days. But more recruits are still needed. The men known as the "Fair Dinkums" weren't naive when they enlisted. These fruit pickers and farmers, bootmakers and blacksmiths, miners and mailmen of the 7th Battalion were a brave and ingenious bunch; just think of William Scurry, who went to school in Ascot Vale, and whose ingenuity led to the self-firing rifle mechanism that helped enable the safe evacuation of the ANZAC troops from Gallipoli. Glenn McFarlane, experienced journalist and author of The Fair Dinkums, will share their heartbreaking, gutsy and remarkable stories with us at Sam Merrifield Library on Wednesday evening. Book online now .

From now until 30th April, the Writing the War exhibition is on at Avondale Heights Library and Learning Centre. This exhibition, which helps commemorate 100 years since World War I, tells the stories of seven Australians through personal accounts. We've also put together displays of original artefacts from the First World War which local people and organisations have very generously put forward for this exhibition. There are fascinating (though often tragic) stories to learn about how local people contributed and were affected. Thank you to Lenore Frost, David McCall, Essendon Historical Society, Essendon Rifles, Essendon RSL, East Keilor RSL, Stephen Hutton, Judy Maddigan and Moonee Valley City Council for lending artefacts for this exhibition.  

Lenore Frost will be leading a guided heritage walk through Flemington, Kensington and Newmarket this Sunday, 3rd May, 2.30-4.00pm. This walk, presented by the National Trust, will highlight how the area was impacted by the First World War. For details on how to book, and more information, see Lenore's blog post here .

Join us next Tuesday evening as we commemorate the centenary of ANZAC Day at Sam Merrifield Library with a special talk about the local impact of Gallipoli and wider war on what is now the Moonee Valley area. The local contribution and impact of the First World War was enormous, but is now not well known. Local Historian, Lenore Frost, will share some of this amazing, often tragic, history, particularly the stories of early World War One enlistees from Moonee Ponds and Essendon, several of them former cadets in the Essendon Rifles. Many of these men went on to serve as officers on other fronts, if they were first fortunate enough to have survived Gallipoli. To book call Sam Merrifield Library on 8325 1950, or book online .

A book recording the names of soldiers who died during the Gallipoli campaign of the First World War has just been donated to the Essendon Historical Society. This book was donated by the 58th/32nd Battalion. The Book of Remembrance is being exhibited at the Essendon Historical Society's museum, the Moonee Ponds Courthouse museum (cnr of Mt Alexander Rd and Kellaway Ave, Moonee Ponds). Open Sundays 2-5pm. For more on this story see the Herald Sun article , and also the clarifying note by local historian Lenore Frost(see comments below).

If you're interested in how the First World War affected Australia don't miss the ABC's new documentary, The War that Changed Us , tonight. It will be looking at the war experiences of 6 Australians (3 men and 3 women) who had very different experiences of the war. One of the people they will be focusing on is Lieutenant Colonel Harold Elliott, better known as "Pompey" Elliott, who reached the rank of Brigadier General. This should be fascinating because Elliott had an outstanding but often controversial life and career. Although he was originally from Ballarat, and never lived in Essendon, as commander of the "Essendon Rifles" before the war, and leader of the Battalion that included the Company recruiting from the Essendon area at the start of the war he had very strong ties to this area. Which is why we've also chosen to feature Elliott in our event Essendon 1914: local impact of WWI this Saturday, which will look at how World War I affected th...

For the last few weeks both Jennie and I have been doing lots of reading and researching about the war and how it impacted on the local community. The stories we've uncovered have been fascinating. Volunteer soldiers from this area were involved in some remarkable, often tragic and harrowing, exploits - and we both feel that these are stories of great local relevance that deserve to be better known by the community. This is why we're holding a special event at Sam Merrifield Library, Essendon 1914: local impact of WWI . This event is happening on Saturday 23rd August from 2pm until 4pm, and will involve special guests Ross McMullin (author of Pompey Elliott and Farewell Dear People ) and local historian and life member of the Essendon Historical Society, Lenore Frost (author of Bandsman Vosti and many other titles). Ross and Lenore will join library staff in a discussion about how local people contributed to the Great War, and how this conflict affected the local area. Each...

On the 19th July 1916 Australian troops took part in their first major offensive on the Western Front, the Battle of Fromelles. Over 7,000 Australians lost their lives. A shell damaged farm near Fromelles. Photograph from the Australian War Memorial Collection. In April this year a new museum opened in Northern France commemorating the Battle of Fromelles. This museum will be interest to those with ancestors who fought at Fromelles, as many men from this area did. Learn more about the new musuem at: www.musee-bataille-fromelles.fr or about the Battle of Fromelles from the Australian War Memorial: https://www.awm.gov.au/units/event_159.asp Julia

If you've noticed these commemorative tins of Anzac biscuits around you may be interested to learn that they feature the image of a local soldier. Robert Allan Bunning was born in Kensington and later lived in Moonee Ponds. He is pictured having Christmas Dinner at Mena Camp in Egypt in 1914. Thanks to Lenore Frost's Empire Called and I Answered blog for sharing this information. Julia

We've mentioned this website before, but it is so good and so relevant, particularly as we approach the centenary of World War One, that I'm going to feature it again. The Empire Called and I Answered ( http://empirecall.pbworks.com/ ) provides historical information and photographs of over 4500 volunteers who contributed to Australia's First World War effort who came from Essendon, Flemington, Kensington, Newmarket or Ascot Vale. If you are trying to find out about the Great War contribution of a local from this area, this database should be your first stop. There is also an associated blog http://empirecall.blogspot.com.au/ which features fascinating stories and images drawn from the database. Congratulations and thanks to Lenore Frost for creating both the database and the blog - fascnating resources for our local community to explore. Julia