Kookaburra March Print Page

The memorial commemorates the Kookaburra March which passed through Mendooran in 1916. The names of those from Mendooran and the surrounding district who are believed to have joined the march are inscribed on the plaque. A re-enactment of the march was held in 1996.

On Wednesday 12 January 1916 a group of 25 volunteers left the Mountain View Hotel in Tooraweenah. Calling themselves the Kookaburras the marchers spent their first night in the woolshed at Yarragrin where they were joined by some of the Binnaway and Coonabarabran men. They marched through Mendooran, Boomley Railway Construction Camp, Cobbora, Dunedoo, Craboon, Birriwa, Tallawang, Gulgong, Mudgee, Havilah, Lue, Rylstone, Kandos, Ilford, Capertee, Cullen Bullen, Portland, Sunny Corner, Yetholme and Bathurst. By the time the Kookaburras reached Bathurst the group included 100 volunteers.

The Kookaburra march was conducted by the NSW State Recruiting Committee, with the assistance of Bill Hitchen from Gilgandra. It was led by Lieutenant Middenway and David Hugh Spring of Gulgong who was known as ‘Captain Hughie’. Local fundraising committees for the march had been organised ‘at Mendooran, Cobbora, Dunedoo, Birriwa, Tallawang and other centres along the route of the march’. These committees made sure preparations were in hand to feed and house the marchers.

Location

Address:	Bandulla Street, Memorial Club, Mendooran, 2842
State:	NSW
Area:	AUS
GPS Coordinates:	Lat: -31.823142 Long: 149.120992 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.

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Details

Monument Type:	Monument
Monument Theme:	Conflict
Sub-Theme:	WW1
Actual Event Start Date:	14-January-1916
Actual Event End Date:	03-February-1916

Dedication

Source: MA