Mulwaree High School Remembrance Museum is a treasure trove of military memorabilia and amazing stories.
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It is much more than just a museum. The tree corridor along the school boundaries has named plaques under native trees, indicating those who paid the “supreme sacrifice” – Vietnam and WWI along McDermott Drive and WWII along Middle Arm Road. This corridor is listed on the NSW War Memorial Register. Access to this area is always open and well worth the half hour or so reflective walk.
The treasures? The collection includes uniforms, militaria, paperwork (including photos) and weapons from conflict in the Maori Wars (1860-4) to Afghanistan (2001 – present) and Iraq (2003 – present).
These artefacts and their stories have been donated by locals of Goulburn and District. In the Museum’s tiny two-room space (having out-grown its original location in the school library 1992–96) it is simply not possible to have everything on display at once.
Besides, it is hoped that visitors would keep returning. Exhibitions are designed to change each year, and although the Centenary of World War 1 has been featured since 2014, the focus has altered to emphasize what was happening 100 years ago. Thus: in 2014, ‘The Journey into War’; 2015, ‘Goulburn to Gallipoli’; 2016, ‘The Western Front’; 2017, ‘The Light Horse and the Flying Corps’; this year, ‘Armistice’; and for 2019, ‘Returning Troops and the Spanish Influenza Pandemic’.
And the stories? To mention just a few … the diary notes of J.S. Hagan (AIF), describing the Gallipoli landing and being part of the Mesopotamia Expeditionary Forces; Crookwell man, F.L. Willis (ALH), who survived the Battle of Romani only to get hit by a stray bullet (story also outlined in Bradley’s book “The Australian Light Horse”); his sister, A.M. Willis who joined the nursing corps; the siblings and cousins of many Goulburn and district families who enlisted – Smith, Richmond, Lees, Rinaldi, Bolton, Boardman, Broderick, Byrnes, Bush. The 50 or so Kenmore Hospital employees who joined up, as did Goulburn Railway men – all remembered on Honour Rolls at their work locations, but stories to tell – such as bringing home a British war bride or being recalled to use their skills at the Everleigh rail workshop. Men, who served in two wars – either the Boer War and WWI or WWI and World War II….such as F. Sharp, enlisted 1915, at Gallipoli and the Western Front (Péronne), awarded a Military cross, discharged 1920, married a British girl. In WWII captured, along with his son, who was serving in the same Anti-Tank Regiment near Tobruk; escaped from a train relocating POWs from one camp to another in Italy and managed to reach neutral Switzerland!
Extended photo caption (left, back): R. Scott, P. Byrnes, T. Carpenter, J. Byrnes, W. Wilson; (middle row) W. Thorburn, P. Blackett, J. Hammond, A. Bromley; (front) V. Styles, H. Fenwick, A. Holroyd. J. Hammond was killed in action.