The Dungog Chronicle reported that the news that WWI was over, reached Dungog at 9 pm on 11 November 1918 and was “joyfully greeted with the banging of a make do tin can band of 200 strong, the banging of drums, wild hurrahs, mill and train whistles shrieking, bells pealing, an impromptu concert and speech by the Mayor and a thanksgiving service.  It is said that sleep was impossible because of the terrific din. We are not exaggerating when we say that the noise was heard at Brookfield and Fosterton.    …what of our boys? They have made the name of Australia ring throughout the world.  The share they had in bringing victory was no small one, nor have they been stinted of praise by the nations they are assisting.  They must be regarded as men who responded to the true test of citizenship, they fought for their country, and their names will be ever sacred in the annals of history.”

The Society’s Maureen Kingston said part of the initial remembrances were the WWI Honour Boards of which there are 12 in Dungog and surrounding hamlets.

Mrs Kingston and Marie Neilson have been able to identify all but about 10 to 15 of those men through tireless research.

“Our first WWI exhibition, “Gallipoli and Beersheba’: The Dungog Connections’ was about the local men and Sr Susan Arnold’s experiences in the middle east,” said Mrs Kingston.

“After the evacuation at Gallipoli the men in the ALH stayed in the middle east, while the men in the infantry battalions were sent to France. 

“Our new exhibition is about the men who served on the western front.”

The pair used the soldiers’ attestation papers and the Unit Diaries which are online and the (then) two local papers,  the ‘Dungog Chronicle’ and the “Eastern Telegraph”.

Mrs Kingston said the first local man to die was Cpl Eric Floyd Hancock (3240), who was killed in action on 20 July 1916 during the battle of Fromelles. 

“The last battle that men with Dungog connections fought was the battle of Mont St Quentin Canal in late September 1918, while the battle of Montbrehain was the last battle for the AIF. Pte George Edward Ikin (233), who was wounded on 29 September and died on 1 October 1918 was the last Dungog casualty.

“Forty-five men were killed or died from wounds inflicted on the Western Front, eight Eight of those men were also Gallipoli veterans.”

The Australian military recognised that maintaining the morale of the troops was very important. 

The winter of 1917 was one of the coldest winters for many years.  The mud, snow and the cold challenged not only the men but the animals well. Getting food and drinks to the men on duty in the trenches in those conditions was very difficult.

Never the less the Unit Diaries show that considerable effort was made to get provisions the men on the front line. 

Hot cocoa, sometimes with rum was clearly a winner. (e.g. 55th Inf.Bn Diary entry 4 July 1918 –AWM RCDIG1005699)

When away from the trenches the troops attended all sorts of training in the use of military equipment. Time was also spent cleaning equipment.

Military and Church Parades were also held as well as lectures. In August 1918 officers were given a demonstration of a captured German machine gun.

In October 1918 the 34 the Inf.Bn unit notes state that the YMCA had set up a branch in a tent in Frucourt Square and was much appreciated by the men. 

Sometimes the entries for Christmas Day just mention the day and that the men are in billets.  Other entries were more informative. The diary entry of the 20th Inf.Bn for Christmas Day 1917 reads in part:

Christmas Day was observed, as far as possible as a holiday, and only the vary necessary fatigues were carried out. Voluntary Church services were held for all denominations. 

Extra rations were served to the men, and each man in the unit received a parcel, the gift of the Comforts Fund Committee.

A concert was held, and every endeavour made to make the day as normal as possible.

Away from the trenches the men were also able to bath, change clothes and otherwise care for themselves.

 Trench feet was particularly a problem in the 1916-1917 winter.  The incidence of the problem was reduced when it was discovered that regular washing as well as rubbing feet with oil and care of boots and puttees reduced the incidence of the disease.

Depending on the season various sporting competitions were held. They included cricket, football, athletics and swimming carnivals. Sometimes the competitions included troops from other allies.

 On 1 August 1918 the entry for the Unit Diary of 3rd Infantry Battalion reads:

        300 pairs of swimming trunks have been purchased at St Omer for the men to wear in the canal.

Even without trunks some soldiers were able to cool off!

It’s a long, long way, I’m thinking,

It’s a far call, son of mine,

From Australian ways and Australian days

To the plains of Palestine;

From the curve of the Williams River

Where the stately mountains stand,

From the friends you knew and the place where you grew,

To your grave in that far off land.

It’s a long, long way, I’m thinking

To-night as I backward glance,

From where you were bred and the life you led

To the fields of far- off France.

Far from the ones that loved you in a stranger land to be,

With stranger skies above you over a stranger sea.

Twenty boys from around Dungog

All of the best they gave;

Gallipoli, France, Jerusalem

Scattered and far, each grave,

Twenty boys from the township

Close to the River’s shore

Gave in this awful conflict,

And- how many brave lads more?

It’s a long, long way I’m thinking,

From the shade of these mountains grand

To France and the Lone Pine ridges

And the dust of the Holy Land.

God pity wives and mothers,

He, alone, had the meaning plain,

Till the dawning ray of that perfect day

When you find your own again.