The Dungaree March - 1915

The reframe during the commemoration of military events is 'Lest we forget'.  As I reflect on my own interest in history I wonder if the reframe might be better stated 'Lest we forget any more than we already have'.  The Dungaree March features large in the Warwick narrative but access to simple lists of participants, with the exception of the 28 initial participants, is not that easily accessed. McCaughley's limited ditribution work is an exception, but it, like this post, is not complete.  This post is provided in the hope that people interested in seeing which families participated in the March may have easy access to such a list.

Admidst all the other 100th Aniversary commemorations this year is the 100th anniversary of the Dungaree March, one of nine 'snowball marches' in which newly enlisted soldiers marched through regional areas in the hope that they would accrue more recruits to go to the battle fields of WWI as they marched [1, 2].  The Dungaree March traversed 270 kilometres from Warwick to Brisbane via Toowoomba.  The journey was conducted over 15 days, 16–30 November 1915, with the following itinerary.

Day 1. Warwick to Allora
Day 2. Allora to Clifton
Day 3. Clifton to Greenmount
Day 4. Greenmount to Cambooya
Day 5. Cambooya to Toowoomba
Day 6. Toowoomba
Day 7. Toowoombato Helidon
Day 8. Helidon to Gatton
Day 9. Gatton to Laidley
Day 10. Laidley to Rosewood
Day 11. Rosewood to Ipswich
Day 12. Ipswich
Day 13. Ipswich
Day 14. Ipswich to Oxley
Day 15. Oxley to Brisbane

The 'Dungarees' were named after the item of clothing that the soldiers were issued with – the dungaree jacket – which from what I can tell is the jacket with four large front pockets in which soldier portraits are often taken.  'Dungaree' in common speech today refers to bib and brace overalls, but this was not the meaning during the recruitment drive.

Re-enactments

In 1998 a reenactment march lasting 12 days followed by 2 days of involvement with ANZAC Day ceremonies was conducted.  This march placed a number of monuments enroute and resulted in the publication of McCaughley's book [1].

In 2015 the Military Brotherhood Military Motorcyle Club (MBMMC) has planned a reenactment ride for the last week in November 2015 (ride details).  They will be accompanied by The Road Riders for Jesus (ride details).

Monuments and memorials

The march was at one time commemorated at the Warwick end by a fountain in the Condamine River near the O. O. Madson Bridge until a series of floods damaged it sufficiently that it was decommissioned around 2010.

Dungaree Fountain, Condamine River, Warwick.  Photo Simon Hamlet, January 2007.

28 trees were planted opposite the War Graves section of the Warwick Cemetery.  With a plaque to signify the event this was part of the 1998 reenactment march.

There is also a plaque at the Warwick Cenotaph with the names of the 28 enlistees who first left Warwick.

Monument Australia also lists the following other 'Dungaree March' monuments (links take you to the appropriate site).

• Rosewood Dungaree monument
• Forest Hill Dungaree monument
• Ipswich Dungaree monument

A plaque of the Victoria Street Bridge abutment, Brisbane was also installed during the re-enactment. Access to the abutment was improved with a pedestrian overpass by the Brisbane City Council in 2015.

The Dungaree plaque on the Victoria Street Bridge Abutment, looking East to the Brisbane CBD.  Photo Simon Hamlet September 2015.

List of Participants

McCaughley notes that:

Out of the 125 men who marched into Albert Square on 30th November 1915, only 103 have been traced with 34 having only scant records, and 22 being untraceable at this time. [page. 11]

All of the Dungarees are now dead with the last Dungaree, Erik Kingsley Abraham of Boonah, dying in 2003.  He was awarded a state funeral.

The list below is based on McCaughley's [1] list, with enlisted persons listed alphabeticaly by surname within the locality where they enlisted.  NR denotes 'no records' as per McCaughley's list of 103, KIA denotes 'killed in action' or killed as a result of injures obtained while in action (10 people have KIA beside their name). The Brisbane Courier of 27 November 1915 [3], provides a list of 43 recruits which agree with that in McCaughley.

The commanding Officer Lieut. David Johnston Binnie is not included in the list as it is probably incorrect to consider him a recruit.

McCaughley [1] notes the enlistment of 11 un-named persons. These appear under enlisted at Helidon and Gatton.

Most sources consider that the 28 people left Warwick, but I have included 32 enlistees for Warwick as four people enlisted at Warwick but joined the march at a later time.

The Brisbane Courier of 21 November 1915 [4] states ...

When the Southern Downs recruits left here for the march to Brisbane some of the boys who had arranged to join them were unable to be ready in time. The following recruits from this district will join between Toowoomba and Brisbane: Messrs. A. Courtney, C. Goodwin, P. Brosnan. P. J. Fitzgerald, W. Higgins, J. McIntosh, W. E. Girtler, H. Garvey, C. Harris and P Bartnett. It is under stood that Girtler, McIntosh, Garvey, and   Bartnett will join the march at Ipswich.

Brosnan, Harris and Bartnett were not in McCaugley's list, perhaps they are some of the unnamed recruits who joined the march at either Helidon or Gatton.

According to the Australian War Memorial records

• a Patrick Brosnan from Killarney did join on the 15 Novemeber 1915 [5]. He is probably one of the Dungarees,
• there are no records for any Bartnett in WWI.
• there a numerous C. Harris's on the record for WWI and this may be an investigation worth following further.

Enlisted in Warwick (32)

• Anderson, Percy
• Anstey, Henry
• Atkins, Lyall Henry
• Baillie, Richard Patrick
• Barnett, David
• Bell, Alexander John
• Bonnet, H. H. - NR
• Burns, Thomas Frederick - NR
• Clarke, S. J. - NR
• Corby, Samuel James
• Courtney, Allan Douglas
• Darragh, Archibald
• Day, C. W. - NR
• Edmonds, Thomas Christmas
• Evans, Clement Phillip Cotterell
• Glasby, Robert William
• Goodwin, Charles Thomas
• Guy, David
• Hamlyn, A. E. - NR
• Hatton, Wilfred Albert
• Keefe, Andrew
• Lesley, George Henry
• Mann, George
• Maxwell, James
• Meneely, Harold Charles
• Pierpoint, Harold William
• Ross, J. - NR
• Skehan, Daniel Joseph
• Walsh, Edward Joseph
• Warrener, John WIlliam - KIA
• Watson, F. J. - NR
• Welsh, Joseph Patrick

Enlisted in Allora (1)

• Siebenhausen, Clinton Gregory - KIA

Enlisted in Clifton (6)

• Duncan, Walter John
• Hawkins, E. - NR
• Hawkins, J. - NR
• Hazlitt, J. - NR
• Morris , Harry Agnew - KIA
• Rissman, C. J. - NR

Enlisted in Greenmount (3)

• Garvey, Harry Joseph - KIA
• Girtler, William Edward
• McIntosh, James Shaw

Enlisted in Cambooya (1)

• Smith, Fred

Enlisted in Toowoomba (15)

• Baggett, Andrew
• Ball, G. - NR
• Brandon, Frederick Christopher - KIA
• Buchanan, John Tait
• Burton, J. L. - NR
• Gosie, R. - NR
• Jefferys, W. - NR
• Lynam, Maurice - NR
• McMahon, John Leslie
• McMahon, R. - NR
• McMillan, Robert Ewin
• Malone, Patrick - KIA
• Moore, William Pierson
• Solomon, W. S. - NR
• Woods, George Ambrose

Enlisted in Helidon (1)

• Freeman, W. - NR

Enlisted in Helidon (7)

• 7 unnamed recruits

Enlisted in Gatton (4)

• 4 unnamed recruits

• (Bartnett, P.)
• (Brosnan, Patrick ?)
• (Harris, C.)

Enlisted in Ipswich (43)

• Abraham, Eric Kingsley
• Andersen, Jacob Neilson
• Aylott, Frederick Charles
• Aylott, Herbert
• Brady, J. - NR
• Brown, Ronald Bell
• Butson, Ernest William
• Carter, T. - NR
• Castinsos, Peter - NR
• Chalk, Alfred Titmarsh
• Dimmick, H.   - NR
• Edwards, William James
• England, H.  - NR
• Fullelove, Eric
• Harold, W. - NR
• Haylock, H. - NR
• Hinton, Edward John - KIA
• Howard, C. W. - NR
• Keen, David
• Little, Albert
• Little, Robert
• Llewellyn, L. - NR
• McBean, Donald Joseph
• McDonald, Henry Arthur
• McFarlane, Kenneth Leslie
• Mahaffey, Andrew - KIA
• Marsh, Sydney - KIA
• Maudsley, Arthur John
• Mengel, August
• Messenger, Edward Paul
• Mitchell, George - NR
• Nugent, T. - NR
• Pearce, John Joseph
• Robertson, John - NR
• Robinson, Sydney - NR
• Rossiter, Percy - NR
• Stolz, George Henry
• Surawski, Lorenz Andrew
• Surawski, Martin Theodore
• Walker, William George
• Ward, Haviland Vance - KIA
• Werner, Edward
• Woodward, Charles

Enlisted in Oxley (1)

• Webster, G. R. - NR

References

[1] McCaughey N. (2000) The Dungarees : an account of the recruitment march from Warwick to Brisbane by volunteers for the First World War and the re-enactment 1998.

[2] Snowball marches. (2015, March 20). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved July 7, 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Snowball_marches&oldid=652760726

[3] OVER 120 STRONG. (1915, November 27). The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), p. 5. Retrieved July 7, 2015, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20087500

[4] THE RECRUITING MARCH. (1915, November 22). The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), p. 8. Retrieved July 8, 2015, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20063628

[5] Australian Imperial Force - Nominal Roll.  Retreived July 24, 2015, from http://static.awm.gov.au/images/collection/items/ACCNUM_LARGE/RCDIG1067266/RCDIG1067266--152-.JPG

Version History

1.0 First posted 25 Jul 2015

2.0 Amended 13 Sep 2015.  (i) Added information about the Victoria Street Bridge plaque. (ii) Added Version History. (iii) Added image captions.