To the beat of a kettle drum and the cheers of the crowds lining the streets in towns and villages, the Wallabies put their patriotism to the test and their lives on the line by signing up for the far-off battlefields.

The Wallaby March from Narrabri to Newcastle in December 1915 was an exciting event and became one of the most successful recruitment efforts of World War 1, eventually providing around 800 troops for Australia’s war effort in Belgium and France and in Egypt and Palestine.

In Narrabri, Gunnedah, Quirindi, down through Coalfield towns in the Hunter Valley and villages in between, the steadily growing numbers of marchers were met by cheering crowds, brass bands and large numbers of excited youngsters.

The Wallaby March came a few months after the highly successful Cooee March from Gilgandra in the central west to Sydney.  

Volunteers from Wee Waa, Walgett, Collarenebri, Moree and Inverell districts began arriving by train and went into the Narrabri Military Camp on the racecourse near the railway station in early December 1915. 

The men marched out behind a motor transport flying the Union Jack and the Australian flag, to the cheers of the crowd and the beat of a kettle drum, which had been presented to the group by citizens of the town. Among the ranks of the marchers were shearers, opal miners, blacksmiths, clerks, stock and station agents, farmers, station hands, labourers, a grocer, school teachers, bank tellers and a clergyman, the Reverend John Wilkinson, Methodist Church minister at Narrabri, who became the Wallabies’ first casualty in early February 1916– he was killed by a bolt of lightning while the Wallabies were in camp at West Maitland.

After leaving Narrabri, the marchers camped out the first night in a deluge of rain. By morning their blankets were like sponges. Discarding their clothes, they marched on in their swimming costumes. By the time they arrived at Baan Baa, however, they were “like nigger boys”, according to one newspaper report, as the road was a quagmire. 

As they entered each village, the men took up the chant – “what do we want?” Reply (a roar): “More men”. Each man was a recruiting agent. They sought out and “buttonholed” the young men, tried their hats on them and did their best to persuade them to join the march.

Each night, the Wallabies bunked down in village halls and public buildings or, if they were out in the bush, they slept under the stars, using their army issue coats rolled up into a swag as their pillow. As the march continued, publicity grew apace. 

At Boggabri, the Wallabies were presented with two tambourines and at a public meeting that night the “star turn” was a permanently incapacitated local soldier, who described the landing at Gallipoli eight months earlier – how many brave Australian soldiers died as they hit the beach and in charging up the precipitous terrain against withering Turkish gunfire.  

One recruit was signed up at Dubbledah and two at Emerald Hill before the Wallabies set out for Gunnedah the next day. After a few hours on the road, a parade near the freezing works pumphouse and a swim in the river, the recruits formed ranks for their triumphal march into Gunnedah.

The best description of the march comes from the notes of Gunnedah historian Russell McDonagh, published years later in the Namoi Independent newspaper. 

It read, in part: “Long before the appointed time of arrival, throngs of people were assembling on the Boggabri Road. People in vehicles of all descriptions, men and women on horseback, pedestrians of all ages, and schoolchildren, all went out to give the Wallabies a tumultuous welcome. It was estimated that there were nearly 2000 people congregated there.

“Led by Captain Cameron, the Wallabies were lustily singing patriotic songs to the accompaniment of the bagpipes and the rat-a-tat-tat of the kettle drum. A large banner was carried, which was most striking and fitting – it bore in large letters The North West Route March and underneath The Wallabies. In an oval painting in the centre of the banner was a wallaby in its natural state.

“Twenty-two lads who had earlier been recruited at Gunnedah went out to join the Wallabies on the edge of town.

“On reaching the town boundary in the vicinity of the saleyards, a halt was called for the imposing procession through Conadilly Street, which was marshalled by Sergeant Reid of Gunnedah Police and headed by Constables Blackman and Prangley on police horses. Then followed the town band, the senior cadets under Sergeant Summers Reid, volunteer reserves, the militia led by Sergeant Cohen, the Rifle Club and the members of the Friendly Societies.

“On reaching the centre of the town, large streamers of bunting were suspended across the street and Allied flags were hung from the shops, hotels and public buildings...”

The Sydney Morning Herald, which had sent a reporter to cover the march, described the town’s welcome as “lavish”. One of the spectators lining the route, a young man, called out: “Your feet will be sore before you get there, mate” to which one of the marchers replied: “It’s better to have sore feet than cold feet,” as much as saying that the caller should show some courage and throw in his lot with the Wallabies.

The procession down Conadilly Street was described by the Tamworth Daily Observer as the largest gathering in the town’s history, quoting Captain Cameron as saying that “the Governor-General could not have received a better reception”.

Following a night of heavy rain, the Wallabies set out for Curlewis. There the Wallabies again received royal treatment. More than 20 lads gave their names and a similar number promised to join up at a later date. 

On Saturday, January 8, the Wallabies reached their destination for a huge reception outside the Newcastle Town Hall.

The Wallabies eventually formed the nucleus of the 34th Battalion of the A.I.F., which endured unimaginable conditions on the Western Front, sustaining terrible casualties.  Among those who signed up at Gunnedah were Tom Torrens, Billy Richmond, Jack Dodd, Herb Pryor, Jack Bloomfield, Joe Stevens, Lance Tudgey, Pat Kelly, Fred and Jack Shaw, Dick Harwood, Jim Panwick, Gerry Lonsdale, Fred Church, Vincent Wortley, Les Turner and William Dwyer. Many of these were killed.

The Menin Gate Memorial on the Western Front records the names of 54,000 Allied troops, who have no known grave, among them Leslie Turner, of Carroll, and Tom Torrens, of the small community of Rosewarne on the western outskirts of town. They died in the 34th Battalion’s assault on Messines Ridge on June 7, 1917, as did Curlewis soldier Robert George Sullivan, whose body was never found. Altogether close to 20 Gunnedah and district soldiers are listed on the Memorial.

Extract from In the Line of Fire, by Ron McLean. Published by Gunnedah and District Historical Society Inc. Price $45. Available from Gunnedah Newsagency and Second Edition bookshop.