Dugout Night is an annual event where Legatees gather and enjoy the company of fellow Legatees ("comradeship"), usually in April, close to Anzac Day. A dugout in wartime provides protection for soldiers from small arms fire, artillery bombardment and attack from the air. The sign could have been made to publicise Dugout night or most likely as a caption for photographs of the event displayed at Legacy House.Legatees supported each other by coming together for various events throughout the year. Dugout night was an annual gathering where Legatees could socialise together.White A4 poster for Dugout night.In black ink, 'Dugout Night / April 16th / Until the battery ran out ..........' Reverse side written in pencil 16/4/2008, (presumably the date of the event).comradeship, legatee event, dugout

Dugout canoebark canoe, aborigine, aboriginal, dugout canoe

Images from an event held for Legatees likely to be a Dugout comradeship meeting close to Anzac Day. Some of the legatees are wearing old uniforms and there are flags. The slides have been photographed to make digital images and moved to archive quality sleeves. In many cases the original images were not well focussed and the digital image is the best available.A record of the type of activities Legacy provided as a social outlet for the Legatees.Colour slide x 12 of an comradeship event in April 1968 in cardboard Kodak mounts.The mount is printed a blue and yellow Kodak logo and stamped with a date 'Apr 68 M2' in black ink and a frame number (8 to 20).legatee event, legatees, comradeship, dugout

A photo of Legatee Larkin and a flag with a kangaroo and the words 'Hop In, You're Welcome'. The banner appears to have been signed by people. It is possibly from a military deployment though the details are not known. Appears to be a 'Dugout Night' where Legatees gather for a comradeship event close to Anzac Day in April. The date is approximately 1991 as it was stored with a lot of items from 1990 and 1991. Legatee Larkin is wearing a serviceman's cap and there was a Legatee event at some stage with a display of military hats at Legacy house and could be of the same time.A record of an event at Legacy House with war memorabilia.Colour photo of Legatee Larkin and a kangaroo banner.legatee event, legatee, dugout

Photos of an event at Legacy House for the Legatees approximately 1992 or 1993.There are flags including the Union Jack, Australian flag, the Navy flag and possibly a French flag. There is a display of military hats as well. Likely to be a 'Dugout Night' where Legatees have a comradeship event around the time of Anzac Day in April. As well as flags there are signs such as 'Tiger Balm, Arrack, Jack Juice, Rice Wine, Suez Canal Water'. Identifiable legatees include John Stevenson (President in 1992), Fred Holdsworth (in airforce cap), Don Simonson (President in 1991) and Charles Munnerley who was chairman of the widows committee for many year to 1993. Also a legatee playing piano. A record of the comradeship of the Legatees.Colour photo x 8 of a legatee event with flags and military hats.legatee event, comradeship, dugout

Considered in terms of both loss of property and loss of life, the Black Friday bushfires on 13 January 1939 were one of the worst disasters to have occurred in Australia and certainly the worst bushfire up to that time. The fires burnt 2 million hectares, 69 sawmills were destroyed, 71 people died, and several towns and sawmills were entirely obliterated. Among those killed were four men from the Commission The subsequent Royal Commission conducted by Judge Leonard Stretton has been described as one of the most significant inquiries in the history of Victorian public administration. Its recommendations led to sweeping changes. In addition to building dams and water points, the Stretton Royal Commission recommended expanding and controlling the use of bushfire dugouts at forest sawmills. Well-constructed dugouts had saved the lives of many sawmill workers and their families during the 1939 bushfires. But in some locations, they had proved fatal. Dugouts became mandatory for those few sawmills that remained in the forest after the 1939 fires. Many remote logging coupes and FCV roading camps also had dugouts. The local District Forester was required to make annual pre-season inspections of all dugouts on State forests and those within the Fire Protected Area (FPA). Some were built privately on private land. Most were primitive construction with a log or corrugated iron roof covered with earth. A hessian bag often hung at the entrance to keep the heat and smoke out. But they were dark and damp with snakes and other creepy crawlies often lurking inside. By 1940-41 there were 19 new dugouts constructed by the Commission and a further 128 by forest licensees. Ten years later there were 8 new Commission dugouts and 21 new ones built by other interests. By 1960-61 the rate of new builds was declining but the Commission still managed 103 dugouts while 127 were looked after by others. However, as the forest road network improved and gave all-weather access to modern two-wheel-drive vehicles the reliance on dugouts receded.Large metal sign that was positioned near forest dugoutsbushfire, forest signs, forests commission victoria (fcv)

Ill, maps, p.127.non-fictionCome see my little dugout - way up on the hill it stands, Where I can get a lovely view of Anzac's golden sands.' The Anzac Book was the finest 'trench publication' produced during the Great War and was an instant bestseller when first released in 1916. Created by soldiers under enemy fire and in extreme hardship, the illustrations, stories, cartoons, and poems were intended as a Christmas and New Year diversion for soldiers facing a harsh winter in the trenches on Gallipoli. The way these young men powerfully captured their felt experiences and struggles in the trenches had a huge emotional effect on readers back home in Australia. From Desk to Dugout explores this particular moment in Australian literary and educational history and its intersections with the war at Gallipoli and the history of ANZAC.world war 1914-1918 - campaigns - gallipoli, gallipoli campaign - personal narratives

In 1847 dugout homes along the Burra Creek extended for along 5 kilometres. The census of 1851 recorded a population of 4,403 for the town, with 1,800 living in hunts in 'Creek Street'. The dug outs were rent free.Photograph of dugout accommodation in Blyth Street, Burra.

Clear Creek Tin Mine Dugoutmines, mining, tin, tin mining, sluicing, men, boys, clear creek, el dorado, eldorado

A colour photograph of the entrance to a fire dugout on Mount Margaret near Marysville in Victoria.A colour photograph of the entrance to a fire dugout on Mount Margaret near Marysville in Victoria. The fire refuge dugout, which developed in the era of bush sawmilling in the early twentieth century, was a distinctive cultural response to the history of fire in the tall Victorian forests. Few dugouts were built in other forest regions of Australia, but those that did exist in these Victorian ranges saved dozens of lives in the fires of Black Friday 1939.27 'Fire Dug out' Mt Margaret April 1960mount margaret, marysville, victoria, fire dugout, sawmilling industry, black friday 1939, bushfire

These photographs were taken by Caroline Winter, lecturer at the University of Ballarat. Horace Pickford was born at Clunes, Victoria. He was killed in action on 27 September 1917. According to his dossier Pickford was in the 58th battalion and was buried in the vicinity of Polygon Wood. Glyndwr Evans was a native of Treorchy in the Welsh Rhondda Valley. He emigrated to Australia with his parents who lived at Randwick in New South Wales. He attended the Ballarat School of Mines, and served on the Student's Magazine Committee in 1905. The following year Glyndwr took up a position as a solutionist at the Golden Horseshoe Mine at Kalgoorlie. In the application for a commission in the AIF Glyndwr stated at he had completed three years at the Ballarat School of Mines, obtaining a Mine Manager's Certificate of Competancy, an Assayers Certificate and additional certificates in Land Surveying, Electrical Technology, Metallurgy and Geology. Gyndwr was a member of the AIF 1st Australian Tunnelling Coy. He was killed in Action at Hill 60 on 25 April 1917 and is buried in Belgium at the Railway Dugout Burial Ground (Plot VII, Row G, Grave 33). (http://guerin.ballarat.edu.au/aasp/is/library/collections/art_history/honour-roll/honourroll_Evans.shtml) A number of colour photographs of World War One war graves of soldiers from the Ballarat district. .1) Horace Pickford's headstone, Tyne Cot Cemetery .2) Glyn Evans tombstone, Railway Dugouts Cemetery south of Ypres. 3. Railway Dugouts Cemetery, Glyn Evans tombstone has a poppy on it. university of ballarat, world war one, war graves, war cemetery, world war i, world war, pickford, evans, horace pickford, harry pickford

One of series of WWI postcards. Light railways were an important transport method on the Western Front. Pioneers primarily carried out construction work but were also trained infantrymen.Black and White photograph mounted on card, of soldiers crowded onto open cars on a light rail train" No11 - A party of Australian Pioneers returning to their dugouts,"wwi, world war one, pioneer, railway

From information book - "Reader's Digest/ Gallipoli/ 25th April 1915 - 9th January 1916/ Centenary Commemorative Prints". Collection of 20 prints. Refer Cat. No. 7300.Framed print. Print - colour print on paper. Copy of an oil painting on canvas. This painting depicts "several soldiers, in uniform and wearing tin helmets sitting in a dugout. "Holding a candle, one reads a precious letter from home". Frame - black plastic framing with glass front and MDF board backing with adhered black paper.Details below print - in black ink; "FRANK CROZIER (1883-1948) Diggers sitting in dugout 1918". FRANK CROZIER "enlisted with the Australian Imperial Force in 1915 and was trained in Egypt before serving at Gallipoli", 22nd Battalion. Appointed an official war artist in 1918.framed accessories, prints, ww1, gallipoli, centenary

Rectangular shaped glass covered picture frame showing a trench system with dugout/tunnel system entrance.ww1, ypres, flanders battlefields, lara r.s.l. belgium.

Postcard Album of Blanche Sly. Postcards stored in Folder 81 (49 postcards). 1403.1 - 1403.28 Grey linen look cover with picture of a small sailing boat pasted centre front pf cover. Partly torn sticker on lower LH corner. Blanche Victoria SLY Born: 11 Oct 1890, daughter of William and Hannah Sly Address: 1913; Loddon Vale Address: 1980; 100 Barnard Street Bendigo Died: Bendigo 12 June 1982, buried Bendigo G3 William Sly: Born: 1856 at Smythesdale, Victoria Married in Victoria in 1887; Hannah Theilman Died: Bendigo 1937, buried Bendigo G1 Hannah Sly Nee Theilman Born: 1866 Married in Victoria in 1887; William Sly Died: Bendigo 1948, buried Bendigo G3 See additional Research .Postcard Album of Blanche Sly containing 49 postcards. See 1403 B&W photo of 4 soldiers sitting in German made dugouts. Another soldier partially hidden lying on top of dugouts. Caption beneath reads "Tommy" at home in German Dug outs. Daily Mail war pictures no. 29 Addressee - not given Sender - not given Undatedpostcard, collector, blanche sly

There is no information with this item.An oval shaped black / white photograph with a white paper frame. it is of four soldiers sitting outside a dugout. Two men are smoking pipes.on back - "5153?????Mitchel. Depot Pay Office......N.S.W."ww1 armed-services soldiers-dugout

The famous Tobruk Fig Tree was named because it marked the entrance to a network of underground caves used to treat wounded soldiers. It became known as the Fig Tree Hospital. The caves became a place where wounded soldiers could be stabilized before being transferred to the Australian General Hospital. The Fig Tree was the only feature in an otherwise barren desert and an easy target for German artillery who heavily shelled the site for several hours per day. A cutting from the tree was brought back to Australia and planted at Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance.The 2/24th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army, which served during World War II .A unit of all-volunteers, it was formed in July 1940 from primarily Victorian volunteers and was known as "Wangaratta's Own" because of the time the battalion spent in the town during its formative period prior to deployment overseas. It served in North Africa in 1941–1942 as part of the 26th Brigade, which was assigned to the 7th Division, before being reassigned to the 9th Division. In early 1943, the battalion returned to Australia and later took part in campaigns against the Japanese in New Guinea in 1943–1944 and Borneo in 1945, before being disbanded in 1946. The 2/24th suffered the highest number of casualties of any 2nd AIF infantry battalion. The Unit was granted the Freedom of the City by the Rural City of Wangaratta in 1996 and one of the first, if not the first, to receive this type of honour. Reproduced black and white photograph of four soldiers under large tree - one soldier in dugout under tree watching two stretcher bearers carry out wounded soldierHandwritten on rear - Fig Tree Tobruk 2/24th battalion, fig tree, tobruk

An Australian Government sponsored detailed description of the Battle of Fire Bases Coral/Balmoral - an important Australian battle in the Vietnam War.A detailed but easy to read recount of a major Australian battle in the Vietnam War. Thin book, very dark in color for front and back covers; front cover shows soldier on watch, back cover shows (in negative) two soldiers jumping into shallow dugout.Vietnam 1968/The Battle of Fire Support Bases Coral/Balmoral.vietnam, vietnam war, battle, coral/balmoral, diamond valley vietnam veterans, fire support base

The 8th Light Horse Regiment AIF was raised at Broadmeadows Victoria in September 1914 under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Alexander White and formed part of the 3rd Light Horse Brigade. The regiment served at Gallipoli where in a courageous but ill-fated charge at the Nek on 7 August 1915 it suffered horrendous casualties including Lieutenant Colonel White. Faded black and white photograph of two 8th Light Horse soldiers standing beside sleeping dugout in side of sandbagged trench at Gallipoli, 1915. Photo is glued to fluted plastic backing.world war one, wwi, gallipoli, anzac, 8th, light horse

The 8th Light Horse Regiment AIF was raised at Broadmeadows Victoria in September 1914 under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Alexander White and formed part of the 3rd Light Horse Brigade. The regiment served at Gallipoli where in a courageous but ill-fated charge at the Nek on 7 August 1915 it suffered horrendous casualties including Lieutenant Colonel White. Faded black and white photograph of 8th Light Horse soldiers wearing shorts putting on his boot outside dugout in trench at Gallipoli, 1915. Photo is glued to fluted plastic backing.world war one, wwi, gallipoli, anzac, 8th, light horse

Item in the collection relating to F.A.W Hutson No 3539 57th Bn AIF. Refer Cat No 922 for his service details.Note book, brown cover, ruled lines, entries in pencil hand written, 23 pages. Notes are re Clorine and phosgene gas helmets, gas shells, effects, dugouts, wind etc.gas warfare, phosgene, helmets gas

Black and white photographic image of General Birdwood's Headquarters, ANZAC Gully, Gallipoli, Turkey. ANZAC Gully was completely open to the fire of the Turkish batteries at Olive Grove. he "dugout" was afterwards given some slight comouflage by hay trusses. world war one, gallipoli, landing, beachhead, colonel maclaurin, 4th battalion aif, 1st infantry brigade aif

Captain Bruce Bairnsfather was a British humourist and cartoonist. This booklet, Fragments from France contains a collection of his cartoons. The Fragments from France was extremely popular and sold hundreds of thousands of copies. The drawings display a wry humour of the terrible situation of the first world war. This item has strong historical artistic and social significance.Dark green soft card cover with black text. Illustration in black and white tones and white text is pasted on front cover. It shows two soldiers in dugout with explosions bursting around them.Advertisements inside front and back covers. 48 pages with monochrome illustrations with captions underneath each .Capt Bruce Bairnsfather. "To dear father from jean " written in black pen on first page. Two stamps Warrnambool and District Historical Society. Mussell & MacDonald newsagents & stationers Henty.warrnambool, fragments from france, captain bruce bairnsfather

Painting depicts a significant action carried out by the 2/6th Battalion, an anticedent unit of 5/6 RVRLarge framed print of painting by Ivor Hele shows 17 Platoon 2/6th Infantry Battalion in an Italian trench during the attack on Bardia. The painting depicts the scene after the capture of one of the Italian dugouts by Corporal Brian Latham's Section. The print is in a large mahogany coloured frame and has a matt finish to the picture. A smaller, separate frame sits below the print and contains the history of the painting. it is in a matching frame and has an olive card backing and the story is printed on an off white sheet.A manufacturers label is located on the obverse " GRAPHIC IMPRESSIONS 239 Burwood Road Hawthorn Vic. 3122 Telephone 9819 5800 76 Harold Street Camberwell Vic 3123 Telephoneww2, 5/6rvr, 2/6th australian infantry battalion, bardia, ivor hele

Ivor Hele was the Australian official war artist of World War II. This painting depicts the members of 17 platoon 2nd/6th Battalions in their first action of the war. their mission was to "attack and capture Post 11" in order to provide a faint or diversionary attack for the brigades main penetration. The attack was pressed home with the characteristic vigour of Australian soldiers Prior to the attack the commanding officer demanded that " No matter what happens to us, when we go forward we shall give the enemy such a thrashing that they will never willingly stand up to an assault by Australian Infantry again." The Battalion succeeded in its mission and went on to play a vital role in many of the most arduous battles of the war. This painting depicts the actions of one of the predecessor units to 5/6 RVR. Large framed print of painting by Ivor Hele shows 17 Platoon 2/6th Infantry Battalion in an Italian trench during the attack on Bardia. The painting depicts the scene after the capture of one of the Italian dugouts by Corporal Brian Latham's Section. The print is in a large mahogany coloured frame and has a matt finish to the picture. A smaller, separate frame sits below the print and contains the history of the painting. it is in a matching frame and has an olive card backing and the story is printed on an off white sheet. A manufacturers label is located on the obverse " GRAPHIC IMPRESSIONS 239 Burwood Road Hawthorn Vic. 3122 Telephone 9819 5800 76 Harold Street Camberwell Vic 3123 Telephone bardia, 2/6th australian infantry battalion, ww2, ivor hele, wark vc club

Black & white photos of WWI battle scenes in Europe. Seven Daily Mail battle pictures, black & white. Official war photos, Series VIII. No 57 Wounded. Tommy to Photographer: I'm not a German! No 58 Black Watch Pipers Playing to the Captors of Longueval. No 59 The Burial of two British Soldiers on the Battlefield. No 60 A Fag After a Fight. No 62 British Machine Gunners Wearing Gas Helmets. No 63 Tommy at Home in German Dugouts. No 64 A Big Mine Exploding.postcards - photographs, military history, passchendaele barracks trust

Photos were issued as collectable cards with funds raised going to fund the War Memorial.Collectable Black and white photos from Magpie Cigarettes with ads on back in brown writing. 1. Preparing a Bangalore torpedo to cut wire. 2. Australian Camel Corps going into action. 3. "We fought to the bitter end." 4. A typical Flanders Battlefield. 5. Support moving up to Idiot Corner. 6. A gigantic crater at Ypres. 7. Aust. 9.2" Howitzer in action Ypres. 8. Helping his wounded enemy Messines. 9. Old barracks at Ypres. 10 Warships of the desert Palestine (Camels). 11 Aust. Camel Corp going into action. 12. Uncomfortable dugouts in Ypres. 13 Empire Defence Series cards showing Australian Light Horsemmen. Description of each card as above.collectable cards, official war photographs, ww1

A photo of the Tyne Cot Cemetery in Passchendale dated September 24, 1930. It appears to be a professional photograph purchased as a souvenir. See also 01024 Menin Gate, Ypres, as it is by the same manufacturer. The Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) burial ground for the dead of the First World War in the Ypres Salient on the Western Front (source Wikipedia). The hand written inscription on the back of the photo says: "This memorial in Cemetery was built over a German dugout. 12,000 men are buried here. Stone wall at back has soldiers names engraved on same. Those unknown - words in stone 'Australian Soldier of the Great War Known unto God.' Australians captured Passchendale from the Germans Oct 4th 1917. Beautiful cemetery, all well kept, gardens, lawns, flowers. Ypres, Belgium Sept 24/30" The source of these photos is not known but they were stored together in the archives. The founders of Legacy were returned servicemen from the first world war and may have returned to France in the 1930s. Manufactured by L. Duhameeuw, Ypres.The professional photos from France imply that Legatees were making pilgrimages to the battlefields of France in the 1930s in memory of their comrades.Black and white photo of Tyne Cot Cemetery, Passchendale, France.Indistinct round stamp on the back and a handwritten message.world war one, souvenir, cemetery, memorial

The National Bicycle Game is an Australian-made and designed board game for 2, 3 or 4 players made by The National Game Company of Ballarat and Melbourne between 1930 and 1950. The earliest board games date from the mid-18th century and were printed on copper or steel plates and coloured by hand. By 1839 lithography was first used, making it possible for publishers to produce larger quantities of all types of toys. By the 1890s the games were mounted on to a folded board. Popular subjects were of an historical or geographical nature, as well as transport including motoring, aviation and railways and various sports. The board game 'A Motor Ride' ,made by The National Game Company, was possibly the first large-scale manufacturer of locally-designed board games in Australia. The firm was established in Ballarat, Victoria, at the beginning of the twentieth century by W. Owen. Other board games made by National include the 'Victory-United Nations" game, 'Fairyland', 'Yacht Race', 'Golf Game', 'Bicycle Game', Steeple Chase', 'Our Great Game' about football, 'Courtship and Marriage', 'Around the Commonwealth by Aeroplane', and 'Dugouts and Trenches' as well as the more traditional games such as Ludo, Snakes and Ladders, and Noughts and Crosses. This game board has been well-used. The game is significant because it uses scenarios familiar to Australian children in the first half of the twentieth century. This game board reflects the experience of being a child in the twentieth century. Toys were how children were socialised and taught. Most toys mimic the adult world, and looking at them can tell us something about how the world has changed. A folding game board for The national Bicycle Game for 2,3 or 4 players. It has a yellow spiral track on which the player progresses at the throw of the die, starting at the clubhouse until reaching home. In the background are pictures of rural scenes.board-games recreation cycling national-game-company

THE WEEK REVIEWED (Article; Bush Fires: A pictorial survey of Victoria's most tragic week, January 8-15, 1939. Published in aid of the Bush Fire Relief Fund by the Sun News-Pictorial in co-operation with its newsagents, pp2-3) THE fiercest bush fires Australia has known since its discovery are quiescent at the moment, and Victoria, in the comparative coolness of the change which came with rain on Sunday night, has begun·to count its losses. In the fiery eight days, from Sunday to Sunday, at least sixty-six men, women and children have lost their lives in forest fires, or have succumbed to burns and shock; many others have died from heat; and several serious cases of burns are being treated in hospitals. Two babies in Narrandera district have died, and ten others are in hospital, because of milk soured by the record temperatures of those eight days. Forest damage totals at least a million pounds, and incalculable damage has been done to the seedlings which were to have been the forests of the future. Water conservation will be seriously affected by the silting-up of reservoirs and streams from which protective timber has been taken by the all-engulfing flames. More than a thousand houses have been destroyed, and these, with 40 mills, and schools, post-offices, churches, and other buildings, represent a loss of at least half a million. At least 1500 are homeless. For their aid, money raised in appeals has now passed the £50,000 mark, and the biggest relief organisation ever set up in peace time has swung into operation. The First Hint Victoria's first hint of what was to come appeared on Sunday, January 8, when most parts of the State awoke to find a blistering day awaiting. At 12.20 p.m., when the thermometer reached its highest for the day, 109.6 degrees, the first fire victims were at that moment going to their death on a bush track five feet wide off the main road to Narbethong. They were the forestry officers Charles Isaac Demby and John Hartley Barling, who went to warn Demby of his danger when he parted from his companions, and was himself surrounded by the treacherous fire. It was not until 8 o'clock next morning that the tragic news was flashed throughout the State. Searchers found the two charred bodies close together, one seeking protection in the nook of two logs. Barling's watch had stopped at 1.20. In the meantime, tragedy was spreading its cloak. By Monday, big fires were raging at Toolangi, Erica, Yallourn, Monbulk, Frankston, Dromana, Drouin South, Glenburn, and Blackwood, with smaller outbreaks at many other centres. In the ensuing week, while women and children were evacuated as fast as the flames would permit, Erica-scene of the 1926 fire disaster-thrice escaped doom by a change of wind. Indeed, those who have been in the fire country these past days say that the numbers of times a change of wind has saved towns from destruction is amazing. In the towns they speak of miracles. Monday's Miracles The escapes from Monett's Mill at Erica and from the Hardwood Company's Mill at Murrindindi, near where Demby and Barling went to their death, were Monday's miracles. Twenty came out alive from each mill. At the first a 60ft. dugout provided an oven-like refuge; at the second, 12 women and children survived in the smoke-filled gloom of a three-roomed cottage while their eight men, their clothes sometimes afire, poured water on the wooden walls. Three houses out of ten remained when the fire had passed. Record Temperatures Sunday had been the hottest Melbourne day for 33 years; Monday dropped to a 76.1 degree maximum; but Tuesday dawned hotter than ever, the mercury reaching 112.5. By now rumor was racing ahead of fact; whole towns were being reported lost; the alarm was raised for scores of missing persons. But fact soon overtook rumor, and within a few days the staggering toll began to mount to a figure beyond the wildest imaginings of the panic-stricken. Six died from heat on this torrid Tuesday, and the fires spread in a wide swathe from south-west to north-east across the State. Fish died in shallow streams. A curtain of smoke hid the sky from all Victoria, and hung far out to sea. It alarmed passengers on ships. On the Ormonde, on the voyage to Sydney from Burnie, women ran on deck, believing fire had broken out in the hold. Days later the smoke reached New Zealand. In Melbourne thousands of fire-volunteers were leaving in cars: vans, motor-buses-anything reliable on wheels-to aid the country in its grim fight. In the fires at Rubicon and. Narbethong, seventeen were facing death this day. But not till Wednesday, when Melbourne breathed again in a cool change, while the country still sweltered in temperatures up to 117 degrees, did the news come through the tree blocked roads. A woman and her little daughter, trapped on the road, were among those who died. Their bodies, and those of menfolk with them, were found strewn out at intervals along the road, where the furnace of the surrounding fire had dropped them in their tracks as they ran. Twelve died at a Rubicon mill, five on the road at Narbethong. At Alexandra, not far distant, a baby was born while the fires raged, and stretcher-bearers brought in the injured. On Thursday the State Government voted £5000 for the relief of fire victims. The Governor (Lord Huntingfield) and the Lord Mayor (Cr. Coles) visited some of the stricken areas, and dipped into their pockets personally. Later, the City Council, too, voted £5000. Friday, The 13th Friday, the Thirteenth, justified its evil name. A blistering northerly came early in the morning, presaging destruction, and forcing the mercury to a new record of 114 degrees. Racing fires killed at least ten in those terrible 12 hours. Four children were engulfed in the furnace at Colac. Panic drove them, uncontrollable, into the smoke-filled road when the fire raced down behind their home. They choked to death. In other parts fires were joining to make fronts of scores of miles. Kinglake was being menaced on two fronts, £60,000 worth of timber was going up in smoke in Ballarat district. Warburton was surrounded. Residents at Lorne, favoured resort, were being driven to the sea-front by a fire which destroyed at least 20 homes. Healewille. with flames visible from the town at one stage, was in a trough between two fires which burned four guest-houses, seven homes and left its surrounding beauty-spots wastes of bowed-over, blackened tree-fern fronds; with its famous Sanctuary, however, intact. Most of Omeo was destroyed this black day: Noojee. while 200 residents crouched in the river, was being reduced to a waste of buckled iron and smoking timber; Erica was once again saved by a change of wind. Beneath a pall of smoke, the Rubicon victims were buried at Alexandra. Friday night and the early hours of Saturday saw the streets of beleagured towns strewn with exhausted fire-fighters. Their flails beside them, ready for the next call, they lay where exhaustion overtook them-on footpaths, beside lamp-posts, in gutters, in cars, under trucks. Saturday's dawn brought clear skies and lower temperatures in many parts, and from the burnt-out areas came a great rush of tragic reports. The death-roll rushed past the fifty mark with incredible speed. Some had been trapped on roads, others at mills; some, after burying their treasures, had clung too long to the places they had made their homes for many years. Four men lost their lives because one went back for his dog. By Sunday, when the first of the saving rain came, nearly another score of names had been added to the list.Newspaper magazine, 48 pages (incl. covers). Fully digitised and searchable PDFPublished in aid of the Bush Fire Relief Fund by the Sun News-Pictorial in co-operation with its newsagents.bushfires, 1939 bushfires, black friday, warrandyte