Carols at Yaralla – 2019

Why do we have honour boards? It seems almost too obvious. They are a way to remember those who fought and died for us in past wars. But what do we really know about those men and women whose names appear in columns of neat gold lettering? What can we ever know of their lives…

The Assisted Passage Migration Scheme was created in 1945 by the Chifley Government and its first Minister for Immigration, Arthur Calwell, as part of the “Populate or Perish” policy.  It was intended to substantially increase the population of Australia and to supply workers for the country’s booming industries. Australia required an influx of 70,000 migrants…

This following book review was published in The Labor Daily (Sydney) on 24 June 1933. War Letters “Experiences of a ‘Dinki-Di’ R.R.C. Nurse” by Gertrude Moberly, R.R.C., is an instructive and interesting publication of letters written by Matron Moberly during the Great War.  She rendered very considerable services during that War, with the result that…

In August 1916, Private Douglas Grant departed Australia on a troop carrier bound for the United Kingdom. Like thousands of other young Australian men, Grant had signed up for the AIF and wound up fighting in the trenches on the Western Front in France. The Germans captured Grant in June 1917 and he spent the…

The Legend of the Patrol In 1920 the horse and cart were still a predominant means of transport.  Many roads were not fit for cars, and ferries were often a preferred means of transport where available.  Back then the roads were a disaster.  When it rained a car could almost disappear into a pothole, and…

What would have happened if the three wise men had been three wise women? They would have . . . asked for directions arrived on time helped deliver the baby cleaned the stable brought practical gifts made a casserole. And what would they have said as they left the manger? “Have you heard that Joseph…