Tag Archives: Dubbo

Goonoo National Park to Dubbo Tuesday 20th October 2015

Posted on October 21, 2015 | 1 comment

Goonoo National Park to Dubbo Tuesday 20th October 2015

After an early start before sunrise, the Coo-ee marchers started out at 7 am on another long day, covering 31 km.

The Mayor of Dubbo, Cr. Mathew Dickerson, met them on the way, and marched into Dubbo with them.

The St Johns Eagles Marching Band participated with the marchers in a street parade  which started at 4 pm, marching down Talbragar Street, left into Macquarie Street, left into Church Street, to the Dubbo War Memorial in Victoria Park.  The band played Waltzing Matilda as they marched down Talbragar Street.

Coo-ees in parade in front of the Royal Hotel, Talbragar Street, Dubbo, 13th October 1915 (Town & Country Journal 20/10/21915)

Coo-ees in parade in front of the Royal Hotel, Talbragar Street, Dubbo, 13/10/1915 (Town & Country Journal 20/10/21915)

Then, and now …

St Johns Eagles Marching Band leading the parade in Dubbo, 20/10/2015

St Johns Eagles Marching Band leading the parade in Dubbo, 20/10/2015

Several hundred people watched them from the footpaths along the streets, with some waving flags.

Coo-ee marchers passing Dubbo City Council chambers, Church Street, Dubbo

Coo-ee marchers passing Dubbo City Council chambers, Church Street, Dubbo

There was also a good sized crowd at the commemorative service at Dubbo War Memorial, which commenced at 4.30 pm.

The Mayor , Cr. Mathew Dickerson welcomed the Coo-ee marchers, and gave a speech about the Coo-ees arrival in Dubbo 100 years ago.

Cr Mathew Dickerson, Mayor of Dubbo, giving welcome speech at Dubbo War Memorial 20/10/2015

Cr Mathew Dickerson, Mayor of Dubbo, giving welcome speech at Dubbo War Memorial 20/10/2015

Helen Thompson, Administration/Research Officer for the Coo-ee March 2015 Inc. (Gilgandra Sub-Committee), gave a speech about Joseph Patrick Wallis (also known as Joseph Patrick Wailes) who was one of the 12 recruits who joined at Dubbo, and who was killed in action at the Battle of Fromelles on 19th/20th July 1915, and Wilfred Ernest McDonald, who was born in Dubbo, and joined the Coo-ees at Wongarbon.  He was killed in action on 3rd May 1917, near Bullecourt in France. His name is on the Dubbo WWI Roll of Honour at the Dubbo War Memorial (and also on the Wongarbon Soldiers’ Memorial).

Further information about these two Coo-ees can be found at: http://cooeemarch1915.com/2014/06/01/joseph-patrick-wallis/ and http://cooeemarch1915.com/2014/07/01/wilfred-ernest-mcdonald/

The Ode was read by Mr Tom Gray, Dubbo RSL Sub-Branch President, and local bugler Mr Alan Sloane played The Last Post.

The marchers stayed overnight at Dubbo Showground, and dinner was provided by Red Rooster.

 

 

 

 

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Coo-ee marchers participate in Dubbo Centenary of Anzac Regional Sleep-out Parade 24 April 2015

Posted on August 9, 2015 | Leave a comment

Coo-ee marchers participate in Dubbo Centenary of ANZAC Regional Sleep-out Parade on 24 April 2015

Coo-ee March 2015 Inc. (Gilgandra Sub-Committee) was invited by Dubbo City Council to participate in the Dubbo Centenary of Anzac Regional Sleep-out Parade, which was held at Victoria Park No. 1 Oval in Dubbo on the evening of 24th April 2015.

 

Coo-ee marchers at Dubbo Anzac Regional Sleep Out parade 24/4/2015 – (from left) Stephen Thompson, Geoff Kiehne (support), Bruce Tyler, Eric McCutcheon, Don Kenaugh, Stuart Moore, and Brian Bywater (Photograph: H. Thompson 24/4/2015)

Coo-ee marchers at Dubbo Anzac Regional Sleep-out parade 24/4/2015 – (from left) Stephen Thompson, Geoff Kiehne (support), Bruce Tyler, Eric McCutcheon, Don Kenaugh, Stuart Moore, and Brian Bywater (Photograph: H. Thompson)

Six marchers participated in the parade, along with Army Cadets, Air Force Cadets, Army Reservists, two Light Horse, and the Dubbo Pipe Band.

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New Coo-ee March plinth unveiled at the Memorial Walk in Victoria Park near Dubbo War Memorial

Posted on August 9, 2015 | Leave a comment

New Coo-ee March Plinth at the Memorial Walk in Victoria Park near Dubbo War Memorial

The Coo-ee March plinth at Dubbo Memorial Walk near Dubbo War Memorial (Photograph: H. Thompson 25/4/2015)

The Coo-ee March plinth at Dubbo Memorial Walk near Dubbo War Memorial (Photograph: H. Thompson 25/4/2015)

Brian and Ann Bywater, President and Secretary of Coo-ee March 2015 Inc. (Gilgandra Sub-Committee) attended the unveiling and dedication ceremony for Dubbo’s new Memorial Walk near the Cenotaph in Victoria Park on Thursday 23rd April 2015.

The Memorial Walk contains ten new plinths, each of which tells a story about local soldiers and significant events relating to Dubbo’s involvement in the First World War.

The new monuments were unveiled by Dubbo Mayor Councillor Mathew Dickerson and President of the RSL Sub-Branch Mr Tom Gray.

One of these plinths tells the story of the Coo-ee March.

On Wednesday afternoon, 13th October, 1915, a crowd of 2000 local citizens had welcomed the Coo-ees as they paraded through town in the pouring rain to the Town Hall, led by members of the Dubbo Town Band and Dubbo School Band, where they had been greeted by the Mayor of Dubbo, and had held a recruiting meeting before their overnight stay, raising 12 new recruits for the Coo-ee March.  Further information about the Coo-ees’ arrival in Dubbo can be found at http://cooeemarch1915.com/2014/01/30/day-4-wednesday-13-october-1915-mogriguy-to-dubbo/

The nearby Cenotaph in Victoria Park also has a connection to the Coo-ees.

An article in The Dubbo Liberal and Macquarie Advocate (28/4/1925, p. 4) about the unveiling of this Cenotaph and the laying of the wreaths ceremony held over 90 years ago on Anzac Day in 1925 reported that the wreaths included a ‘beautiful wreath nearly three foot in diameter, to the memory of the unknown soldier’, and ‘individual wreaths and those to battalions’ which ‘covered the whole of the base on one side of the monument’, and ‘above the wreaths was placed the historic flag which had been carried by “The Coo-ees” in their march from Gilgandra to Sydney’.

Wreaths at Dubbo War Memorial after 2015 Anzac Day dawn service in area where the flag from the 1915 Coo-ee March would have been draped in 1925 (Photograph: H. Thompson 24/5/2015)

Wreaths at Dubbo War Memorial after 2015 Anzac Day dawn service in area where the flag from the 1915 Coo-ee March would have been draped in 1925 (Photograph: H. Thompson 24/5/2015)

Wilfred Ernest McDonald, one of the Coo-ees who was born in Dubbo, and joined the Coo-ee March at Wongarbon, is commemorated on the Dubbo War Memorial Roll of Honour. He was killed in action in France on 3rd May 1917 and has no known grave. His name is also remembered on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial in France, and on the Wongarbon Soldiers Memorial. Further information about this Coo-ee can be found at http://cooeemarch1915.com/2014/07/01/wilfred-ernest-mcdonald/

A commemorative service is planned to be held by the Coo-ee March 2015 Reenactment at the Dubbo War Memorial on Tuesday, 20th October, 2015.

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