Historical information

Program for a rally arranged by the City of St Kilda on 26 June 1940 at St Kilda Town Hall to recruit numbers and raise war savings. Includes a detachable application form for War Savings Certificates on the back page. One of the speakers at the rally was Gunner Harold Holt MHR, who later served as Prime Minister in 1966-67. Holt was elected to Parliament in 1935 at the age of 27. He enlisted in the Militia in February 1939, joining a part-time artillery unit for businessmen and professionals and, May 1940, without resigning his seat, he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force with the intent of becoming a full-time soldier. He was posted to the 2/4th Field Regiment, holding the rank of gunner. Within three months his brief military career came to an end when three senior government ministers died in a plane crash, an election was called, and he was given leave from the Army to campaign. He was re-elected and then resigned from the Army in October 1940 upon being sworn in as Minister for Labour and National Service.

Physical description

Cream coloured paper, printed in blue on both sides, folded and perforated at the fold