City of Darebin Heritage Study Volume 1 Draft Thematic

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DAREBIN HERITAGE STUDY STAGE 2Figure 57Recreation Centre for theAborigines AdvancementLeague, Cunningham Street,Northcote, c1966Photographer: Peter Wille[State Library of Victoria, AN:H91.244/3989, INa22673]6.4 Defending AustraliaIn 1909, concern over the threat of war with Germany resulted in the requirement for allyoung Australian men to undergo military training (Victorian Year Book, 1973:459).Compulsory universal training for men between the ages of 14 and 18 was introduced in 1911.An outcome of this was the construction of new drill halls in many towns and suburbsthroughout Australia for use by local volunteer units. Drill halls were built in Northcote andPreston in 1913 and 1915 respectively.Darebin’s people played their part in the two World Wars, as military personnel and byproviding moral support for the troops and manufacturing armaments and equipment.Darebin also had a special role in training servicemen and women and in their repatriationafter war, and as the secret site of an Anti-aircraft Operations Room in the Preston Town Hall.Local war effortAt the outbreak of the First World War both the Northcote Town Hall and Preston Shire Hallbecame recruiting centres, as did town halls all over Australia. The Northcote Town Hallbecame the workroom for Red Cross fundraising activities for the war effort. The halls werealso the venues for farewelling the soldiers as they left for service and for welcoming homethose who returned. For those who did not return an elaborate memorial arch was built infront of the Preston Town Hall.Figure58aGoods made by the NorthcoteRed Cross(Image date unknown)[Australian War MemorialsCollection, ID H11735]94
VOLUME 2: THEMATIC ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORYAble Seaman C.V. Williams, a police officer from Northcote, had the unfortunate distinctionof being the first Australian casualty of the First World War. In September 1914, he wasmortally wounded during successful operations involving the Royal Australian Navy, whichresulted in the capture of Rabaul and other German possessions in the Pacific. Williams iscommemorated in a plaque at the old Northcote Police Station. 15 During the Second WorldWar Darebin’s industries manufactured all kinds of military equipment, ranging from themobile cranes made in Victor Bradley’s Northcote Council depot to the pontoon bridges madeat the Tramways Workshop, and sole leather for military boots produced by Braithwaite’stannery to insulators for explosives made at the Premier Pottery. Again the civilian communitysupported the war effort with fundraising for comforts for the troops. The Preston communitycontributed a mobile canteen (Lemon, 1983:239-40; Carroll, 1985:166-9).Carroll describes the range of defence activities carried out by the Preston community duringthe Second World War, when Australia feared invasion by Japan. Air raid wardens wereappointed and Preston Council provided a control room in Kelvin Grove staffed by 70telephonists with boy scouts as messengers. Preston Girls’ School became a first aid post, readyto be turned into a casualty station if necessary and people were trained in first aid. Air raidshelters were dug in backyards and at schools, and the Preston City Hall became theheadquarters of the Volunteer Defence Corps. People were encouraged to invest in war loans toassist the government to finance the supply of arms, and streets where residents responded bybuying War Savings Certificates, became War Savings Streets. Similar activities were occurringin communities all over Australia (Carroll, 1985:163-9).Most importantly, Preston Town Hall was, for a few months in 1941-2, the secret location ofRAAF Air Defence Headquarters. An Anti-aircraft Operations Room was set up in the hall andit was manned by specially trained civilians of the Volunteer Air Observers Corps, releasingService personnel for other work. The Operations Room accounted for all aircraft approachingthe defended area. It received reports directly from the coastal radar stations, enabling aircraftto be sent to investigate unidentified aircraft, ships and submarines. After the Battle of theCoral Sea, the Air Defence Headquarters moved on, however Signals 16 stayed at the Town Halltill the War’s end.Figure 58bMembers of theVolunteer Air ObserversCorps manning the bigoperations table at theRAAF Air DefenceHeadquarters atPreston Town Hall,November 1944.[Australian WarMemorial, ID:VIC1731]Preston honoured two of its war heroes, both Victoria Cross winners. William Ruthven was aFirst World War veteran and State Member of Parliament was honoured in the naming of arailway station and a park reserve. Bruce Kingsbury, Victoria’s first VC winner in the Second15 Information supplied by Paul Michell, of Darebin Libraries and,www.naby.gov.au/spc/maritimepapers/piama16/rabaul.html16 Military intelligence95
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CONTENTSVOLUME 1: THEMATIC ENVIRONM
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3.14.1: Building to suit Australian
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7.6.3: Policing Australia7.6.4: Dis
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CRITERION E:VOLUME 2: THEMATIC ENVI
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