The last Australian soldier to be listed as missing in action was Lance Corporal John Francis Gillespie of 8 Field Ambulance. On 17 April 1971 Gillespie was serving as a helicopter medic during a 'dustoff' (helicopter medical evacuation) operation in the Long Hai hills in Phuoc Tuy province. Four South Vietnamese Regional Force soldiers had been injured by a mine explosion and the difficult terrain demanded a helicopter evacuation. But the Long Hai hills were an insecure landing zone. The caves and dense timber of the Long Hais had long harboured a major Viet Cong base area and the dustoff operation required the protection of helicopter gunships. As the first wounded soldier was being winched up, the hovering helicopter was hit by enemy machine-gun fire. It crashed to the ground and burst into flames. Although the crew escaped, Lance Corporal Gillespie and three other soldiers were engulfed in the fireball. A helicopter crewman, Corporal Robert Stephens, repeatedly entered the burning aircraft and tried in vain to rescue Gillespie, until being forced back by the flames. Stephens was later awarded the British Empire Medal for his courage. Gillespie's body could not be recovered from the burning wreckage which was reduced to slag by the fire. Private Gillespie was listed as missing in action, apparently on a technicality because his remains could not be found. The classification was subsequently altered to killed in action.Stainless steel open ended bracelet with missing serviceman's full name and date missing. In a buff square satin lined box.MIA John Francis Gillespie 17/04/71mia, john francis gillespie, l/cpl john francis gillespie, 3170244, royal australian army medical corps, 8th field ambulance, cpl robert stephens, killed in action

Letter from Bendigo Mines Limited to Mccoll, Rankin & Stanistreet re the transfer of area near Nell Gwynne shaft between Nell Gwynne and 'your company'. Signed K.A. Cameron, field superintendent.bendigo, business, bendigo mines limited

Town Hall, Young Men's Christian Association of Bendigo Orchestral Society. Orchestral Concert, Town Hall, Bendigo. Wednesday, 30th, 1923, at 8pm. Conductor: Frank Grose. Assisted by: Lily Jackson, Soprano. Edith Lansell, Contralto. Muriel Boldt, Pianiste. William Cahill, Baritone. Mabel McGauchie, Accompaniste. Orchestral Society. Hon. Sec.: Thos. Shambrook. Pirates of Penzance: Romanza Scenza, Arabesque No. 2, Air De Ballet, Death and the Maiden, Sapphic Ode, Let me Love Thee, Russian Boatman Song. William Tell: O love from Thy Pow'r, Scherzo in Bb Minor, Abide with Me, Rock of Ages, Time was I Roved the Mountains, Eyes that used to Gaze in Mine, Invitation Vocal Valse, Coronation march. Bendigo YMCA Orchestral Society. First Violins: Miss Myrtle Knight, Agnes McNair, Olive Hannaford, Winnie Pithie, Louise Bolton, Louise Downie, Ruth Spier, Alison Smalley. Mrs. Grant, Swift. Second Violins: Mr. J E Fitt, A Richardson, Rex Matthews, Miss Lily Campbell, Elsie Stemmer, Myrtle Phillips, Alma Doxford, Evelyn Miles, Elva Hesse, Winnie Hobson, Master T Challen, J Watts. Cellos: Madame Dorothy Duval, Miss Maisie Field, Mr. E Minotti, W Ellis, G L Verey. Basses: Mr. J H Melrose, J Lavacombe, R Rule, W Jackson. Flutes: Mr. A E Sayer, R Crawford, Dilworth, Moon. Piccolo: Mr A E Sayer. Oboe: A B Challen. Clarinets: Mr. A B Challen, J Bowman, J McEwan. Horns: A Johnston, H Hilderbrande, J Tredinnick, L Rundle. , Trumpets: Mr. B Bowater, P Reed, N Banfield, A Old. Trombones: Mr. D Collier, H Bolton, W Pain. Euphonium: W Ketterer. Tubas: Mr. A Hoking, W Ketterer. Sassoon: Mr. T Francis. Timpani: Mr. J McLoughlin. Percussion: Mr. J Osborne. Organist: Mr. F C Stuart. Pianist: Miss Mabel McGauchie. Conductor: Frank Grose. President: Barkly Hyett. Treasurer: G W Lansell. Librarian: W J Wearne. Honorary Secretary: Thos. Shambrook. Three concerts per year will be given by the society. Next two concerts in August and November 1923. Subscribers Tickets are 1 pound 1 shilling. This ticket entitles holder to two booked seats for each concert. Picture of Harp with music book, laurel and bird on cover. 4 pages.F. H. Sparkman, Arcade Press, Bendigo.program, music, town hall, ymca of bendigo orchestral society. orchestral concert

This image is a reproduction of an 1899 original depicting the 'Williams Good Luck Mine' on the Mopoke Reef (also called 'Morepork Gully') in the Dingle Ranges, approximately three miles from Beechworth. A large opening to a mine can be seen behind the men in the photograph, with a wheeled cart on a track leading to the men's position, where the soil and rocks have been hauled away. This photograph interestingly contains dogs alongside the miners. While dogs have been recorded as deterrents to thieves in the Victorian goldfields, these dogs appear as companions to these men. Following the discovery of gold at Beechworth in 1852, rushes quickly followed at surrounding creeks and gullies in the district. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, small syndicates of miners continued to work old or abandoned quartz reefs, often persisting without the assistance of heavy machinery to remove the large amounts of rock, in order to obtain yields at ever greater depths. The group of miners in this photograph are Mr. Roger Williams and Sons, who revived operations at the ‘Old Good Luck’ mine on the Mopoke Reef in the Dingle Range near Beechworth around 1892, working the site for more than two decades. An emigrant from Cornwall with experience in the tin mining industry, 19 year old Roger Williams senior sailed to New Zealand in 1840, then to Australia where he spent time in the Bendigo Gold Fields before settling in Beechworth in the early 1860s. Mr Williams senior worked on various mining activities in the district, including the Rocky Mountain Tunnel project. Conversant with the character of gold-bearing reefs in the area, the syndicate dug an eight hundred foot tunnel, digging down as far down as two hundred feet with little capital save their labour, to connect and provide better working access to the mass of reefs and veins in the vicinity. Progress was hampered by poor air quality charged with fumes from dynamite and large quantities of rock had to be crushed to obtain payable yields. The Victorian Goldfields are filled with ruins and remnants of the area's rich mining history, ranging from small alluvial diggings to the remains of huge mining companies. Site names often changed several times throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Some sites were abandoned and forgotten, others were worked continuously over many decades. The names of mines were often repeated at different locations throughout the Victorian Goldfields. For example, there is a Mopoke Gully heritage mine near Fryers Creek, Victoria. 'Mopoke' is a common onomatopoeic name for Morepork and Australian Boobook owls.This image has historical, social and research significance for patterns of emigration during of the Victorian Gold Rush, and the historical, social and environmental impacts of mining at Beechworth at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. As gold became scarce and government support and large company investment waned, poor hard-working miners laboured intensively to make a living through periods of high unemployment. This image can be compared and studied alongside other historical mining photographs and objects in the Burke Museum Collection. It has potential to improve our understanding of miners working conditions and the shifting character of mining in the Beechworth district.Sepia coloured rectangular photograph printed on gloss photographic paper mounted on card. Obverse: Williams/ Good/ Luck Reverse: A02498/ 1997. 2498/ Good Luck/ Mine/ 1899/ Mopoke. burke museum, beechworth museum, beechworth, gold fields, gold rush, victorian gold rush, gold ming history, colonial australia, australian gold rushes, mining technology, beechworth historic district, indigo gold trail, migration, indigo shire, good luck gold mine, victorian goldfields, mining syndicates, gold fever, quartz-mining, small-scale mining, old good luck mine, mopoke gully, quartz reefs beechworth

This image is a reproduction of an 1899 original depicting the 'Williams Good Luck Mine' on the Mopoke Reef (also called 'Morepork Gully') in the Dingle Ranges, approximately three miles from Beechworth. The foreground of the image is littered with piles of smashed rock and detritus, known as ‘mullock’, beside a reinforced mine shaft, a vertical access passageway allowing miners to enter the mine and haul ore out using lifting technology such as a poppet heads, whims or windlasses. A group of miners and a dog appear close to an open-sided miner’s hut. Following the discovery of gold at Beechworth in 1852, rushes quickly followed at surrounding creeks and gullies in the district. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, small syndicates of miners continued to work old or abandoned quartz reefs, often persisting without the assistance of heavy machinery to remove the large amounts of rock, in order to obtain yields at ever greater depths. The group of miners in this photograph are Mr. Roger Williams and Sons, who revived operations at the ‘Old Good Luck’ mine on the Mopoke Reef in the Dingle Range near Beechworth around 1892, working the site for more than two decades. An emigrant from Cornwall with experience in the tin mining industry, 19 year old Roger Williams senior sailed to New Zealand in 1840, then to Australia where he spent time in the Bendigo Gold Fields before settling in Beechworth in the early 1860s. Mr Williams senior worked on various mining activities in the district, including the Rocky Mountain Tunnel project. Conversant with the character of gold-bearing reefs in the area, the syndicate dug an eight hundred foot tunnel, digging down as far down as two hundred feet with little capital save their labour, to connect and provide better working access to the mass of reefs and veins in the vicinity. Progress was hampered by poor air quality charged with fumes from dynamite and large quantities of rock had to be crushed to obtain payable yields. The Victorian Goldfields are filled with ruins and remnants of the area's rich mining history, ranging from small alluvial diggings to the remains of huge mining companies. Site names often changed several times throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Some sites were abandoned and forgotten, others were worked continuously over many decades. The names of mines were often repeated at different locations throughout the Victorian Goldfields. For example, there is a Mopoke Gully heritage mine near Fryers Creek, Victoria. 'Mopoke' is a common onomatopoeic name for Morepork and Australian Boobook owls.This image has historical, social and research significance for patterns of emigration during of the Victorian Gold Rush, and the historical, social and environmental impacts of mining at Beechworth at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. As gold became scarce and government support and large company investment waned, poor hard-working miners laboured intensively to make a living through periods of high unemployment. This image can be compared and studied alongside other historical mining photographs and objects in the Burke Museum Collection. It has potential to improve our understanding of miners working conditions and the shifting character of mining in the Beechworth district.Sepia coloured rectangular photograph printed on gloss photographic paper mounted on card.Obverse: Reverse: A02497/ 1997.2497/ 'Good/ Luck/ Mine'/ Morepork/ Gully/ Mrs Joyce/ Bright/ Tunnel/ 800 ft/ 1899. burke museum, beechworth museum, beechworth, gold fields, gold rush, victorian gold rush, gold ming history, colonial australia, australian gold rushes, mining technology, beechworth historic district, indigo gold trail, migration, indigo shire, good luck gold mine, victorian goldfields, mining syndicates, gold fever, quartz-mining, small-scale mining, old good luck mine, mopoke gully, quartz reefs beechworth

A light blue coloured cardboard cover with black information on the front. Near the top right hand corner reads WO Code No. 9731. There are two punch holes and tow rusty metal staples down the left hand side.booklet, british armed forces, field engineering, mine warfare, assault river crossing

A faded blue coloured cover with black information on the front. Near the top right hand corner reads WO Code No.8813. There are three punch holes down the left hand side and two rusty metal staplesbooklet, british armed forces, field engineering, mine warfare, laying, recording, marking of minefields

A blue coloured cardboard cover with black information on the front. Near the top right hand corner reads WO Code No 8776. In the middle of the cover there is a sketch of a bridge being blown up. There are three punch holes down the left hand side and two rusty metal staples.british army, booklet, field engineering, mine warfare, demolitions