March of the Dungarees
About the March of the Dungarees in Queensland.
During the First World War, there were a number of recruitment or snowball marches held in New South Wales and Queensland, with the aim of recruiting more men to boost the flagging number of enlistments for the war effort. Enthusiasm to enlist had waned after the Gallipoli campaign (April 25, 1915 to January 8, 1916).
| 1915 Kangaroos (Wagga Wagga to Sydney) Wallabies (Narrabri to Newcastle) Dungarees – Queensland (Warwick to Brisbane) Waratahs (Nowra to Sydney) Gilgandra (Gilgandra to Sydney) |
1916 The Men from Snowy River (Delegate to Goulburn) Kurrajongs (Inverell to Narrabri) Kookaburras (Tooraweenah to Bathurst) Central West Boomerangs (Parks to Bathurst) North Coast Boomerangs (Grafton to Maitland) |
The March of the Dungarees is the only well-known march held in Queensland, as the March of The Cane Beetles was considered too small in numbers to be of any real consequence.
Twenty-eight men from the Southern Downs region started the march on the 15th November 1915. They marched for a total of fifteen days and stopped at many townships along the way to encourage others to join them on the march.
Day 1 – Warwick to Allora
Day 2 – Allora to Clifton
Day 3 – Clifton to Greenmount
Day 4 – Greenmount to Cambooya
Day 5 – Cambooya to Toowoomba
Day 6 – Toowoomba: Church parades and entertainment were the order of the day.
Day 7 – Toowoomba to Helidon
Day 8 – Helidon to Gatton
Day 9 – Gatton to Laidley
Day 10 – Laidley to Rosewood
Day 11 – Rosewood to Ipswich
Day 12 & Day 13 – Ipswich: This allowed men from as far away as Boonah, Harrisville, Ipswich, Esk and Kilcoy to come into Ipswich to join the march.
Day 14 – Ipswich to Oxley
Day 15 – Oxley to Brisbane
In Brisbane, a large enthusiastic crown witnessed the arrival of a total of one hundred and twenty-five men who had been a part of the Dungaree March.
Read about Southern Downs Military History here.
Respectfully Remembered and Honoured.
LEST WE FORGET