Topic: Gen - St - Qld
Great War
Embarkation from Townsville to Enoggera
In September 1914, more embarkations from Townsville occurred. This time, the recruits were heading south for training at Enoggera, a training base to the west of Brisbane.
Marching down Sturt Street, Townsville.
[From: The Queenslander, 5 September 1914, p. 27. ]
This is the group of young hopefulls marching west along Sturt Street just past the Post Office building on the corner of Sturt and Denham Streets. This area now is all part of Flinders Mall although the old buildings have been preserved with a boutique brewery located in the old Post Office building. One thing that is not apparent in many other similar departure pix is the number of onlookers riding horses to get a better view of the parade.
Marching down Stokes Street, Townsville.
[From: The Queenslander, 5 September 1914, p. 27. ]
The parade has now turned left into Stokes Street and are moving south east to cross the Victoria Bridge over to Palmer Street and onto the wharf. One thing that really stands out is the poor condition of the road itself. If you look carefully, you can see all the fearsome ruts in what appears to be a macadamised earthen track. The buggies appear to have created a traffic jam.
Listening to the Speeches at the wharf, Townsville.
[From: The Queenslander, 5 September 1914, p. 27. ]
All the hopeful soldiers in muftee are lined up on the wharf in anticipation of saying farewells and boarding the ship. This is when they would have heard all the patriotic speeches.
Last Farewells at the wharf, Townsville.
[From: The Queenslander, 5 September 1914, p. 27. ]
The farewells. This rather awkwardly posed pic tries to demonstrate all the different ways people said farewell. However, the men look very uncomfortable in their new uniforms - probably the only couple who actually had a uniform of sorts. The dower women look stoic and expressionless. This is totally the opposite of the previous pix showing a more tumultuous farewell. Indeed, I would guess that after the pic was taken, these folk went back to making their farewells a tad bit more filled with emotion and expression.
The only difference between this deployment and one which occurred in 2006 to Timor, some 92 years later, is that in 1914 at least the people in Townsville knew that the men were leaving and were given an opportunity to say farewell. In 2006, the ship left in the dead of night and no one knew officially that the troops had departed until 3 weeks later, although the empty beds and no telephone responses indicated something had happened to the soldiers. That's progress for you.
Further Reading:
Battles where Australians fought, 1899-1920
Citation: Great War, Queensland History, Embarkation from Townsville to Enoggera
