Wallabies Recruiting March Print Page

The plaque commemorates the Wallabies Recruiting March which passed through Weston in 1916. The Weston RSL received $1310 for the plaque to be installed in the Peace Park as part of the Anzac Centenary Grants Program.

In January 1916, during the First World War, a recruiting march, known as 'The March of the Wallabies' passed through Weston. Towns on the route of the march were Walgett, Burren Junction, Wee Waa, Narrabri, Merehula, Turrawan, Baan Baa, Boggabri, Dubledah, Gunnedah, Curlewis, Breeza, Werris Creek, Quirindi, Willow Tree, Murrurundi, Wingen, Scone, Aberdeen, Muswellbrook, Liddell, Ravensworth, Camberwell, Glennies Creek, Singleton, Branxton, Cessnock, Abermain, Weston, Kurri Kurri, East Greta, Maitland, Morpeth, Minmi, West Wallsend, Wallsend, Lambton, Waratah, with the march arriving at Newcastle on 8 January 1916.

Plans to continue the march to Sydney were cancelled by military authorities who wished to use the marchers as the basis of a new locally-raised battalion. This was formed in February as the 34th Infantry Battalion, known, ironically, as Maitland’s Own.

The "Wallabies" arrived at Abermain at 9.30 on Monday morning, the townspeople turning out in force, and cheering the men all the way to the recruiting station. A committee of ladies supplied the men with a hot dinner, and at a recruiting meeting held afterwards 13 men volunteered. At 2 p.m. they marched to Weston. The town band met the men two miles out, and played them into the town, and after a formal reception, they were marched to the Hepburn colliery dam, where a swim was indulged in. The men were served with afternoon tea, after which a recruiting meeting was held. Speeches were delivered by councillors and prominent townspeople, and as a result 17 men came forward.
The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW), 5 January 1916.

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