Into The Army
Into The Army
It is always a good idea to begin at the beginning.
In this case, it is easy to remember. The politicians were kind to future generations who will have to learn history, by giving them such an easy date to remember - 3/9/39. Even I can remember that one. At the time I was a jackaroo on Oakhurst station. The Boss (Matt Robinson) was called into camp with the Light Horse Unit. The other jackeroo was called home as his brother had also to go into camp. I had nothing pressing and at that time everything looked very indefinite, so I stayed on as Overseer until Matt's return. Then I headed for Melbourne.
The recruiting office at the Melbourne Town Hall seemed a good place to start my Army life. Many others seemed to have the same idea. There were tables set up all over the place. You shunted from one to the other. Answered all sorts of questions, showed various parts of your anatomy, which wasn't inspected too closely. Eventually I was sent home to return the next day prepared to stop.
I duly reported, was lined up with a lot of others. Given a New Testament and 'sworn in'. Then I found the New Testament was only on loan, just to hold during the swearing in. Into a bus and out to Caulfield Race Course. There were no races or horses, just crowds of people milling round like a disturbed ant nest. Eventually, I was issued with the essentials that were a fairly close fit. The group I was with were moved up to the Member's Bar. It was an open camp, so we were free to leave after tea, but had to be back by mid-night or 23.59 hrs. I went home and dropped my civvies. I was back in good time. So ended my first day in the Army. I had a uniform, a number I was afraid I would forget and was at the please 'of His Majesty's Government for the duration of the War and six months there after, or until such time as His Majesty's Government saw fit to lawfully and legally discharge me.'
Shepparton and Trawool
We didn't stay very long at Caulfield race course. One of the big difficulties for the Government at that time was to find places to house the troops. A fairly good solution for the basic training were the country show grounds. There was plenty of space for drilling. Generally, a building for administration, some cooking facilities and shelter for the troops. That is what happened to us. Our new home was the Shepparton show grounds. We were first in, so everything was fairly rough and not very ready.
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