cooee march 1915

coo-ees 

this was the first of the recruiting marches organised in new south wales during 1915.

route:
gilgandra, balladoran, eumungerie, mogriguy, dubbo, wongarbon, geurie, wellington, dripstone, mumbil, stuart town, euchareena, boomey, molong, orange, millthorpe, blayney, bathampton, bathurst, yetholme, wallerawang, lithgow, little hartley, mt victoria, katoomba, lawson, springwood, penrith, parramatta, ashfield, sydney.

gilgandra local plumber and rifle club member william t hitchen (captain bill) proposed a route march from gilgandra to sydney. at every town there would be a public demonstration to secure more recruits.

the state recruiting board and the department of defence were not willing to support the scheme. over the following months, at least 50 young men from the gilgandra region made their own way to sydney to enlist. eventually, in september, the gilgandra recruiting association decided to go ahead and raise support from the local region.

many recruiting posters of the time used the word “coo-ee”. a number of songs and poems were written, and a competition was held to select the best of these.