ANZAC Centenary
In 2015, to mark the Centenary of Anzac, the Sorell Historical Society created an exhibition at the Sorell Memorial Hall to remember and record those, with a connection to the Sorell area, who had served at Gallipoli and elsewhere in World War I.
Along with memorabilia over 150 posters on individual servicemen were on display, including service records, photographs and biographical information on the local veterans. Hundreds of visitors passed through on Anzac Day and during school visits in the weeks after.
In 2018 the Sorell Historical Society sponsored an acquisition category in the Sorell Regional Art Prize Exhibition. The winner of the section was Judy Pearson’s Memories, a collage of postcards and letters from her family collection, including a photo to Judy’s mother Madge Reardon from her cousin Lisle Reardon (shown right in the photo below).
Inspired by her story we successfully applied for a Tasmanian Government Centenary of Anzac Grant for our Postcards to the Troops project, which invited Sorell School students to write their own messages to current Australian service men and women on cards printed with images from Judy’s WWI postcard collection.
Funds from the Tasmanian Government Centenary of ANZAC Grants Program also made it
possible for Sorell Historical Society to bring together much of the research collated for the 2015 and 2018 exhibitions to produce a commemorative publication, Sorell Remembers 1914-1919, published for Armistice Day, November 2019.
Research
Our WWI commemorations owe much to the huge efforts of History Society members Graeme Evans, Peta Kelly, Rosemary and Tony Bruce-Mullins, Elizabeth Rigby, Carmel Torenius, Saakia Itchins, Peter MacFie and Moya Sharpe. Special thanks go to the late Sue Birch for liaison with the Sorell RSL and to Geoff Lowe for the loan of many items.
The principal researcher, Peta Kelly, was assisted by Elizabeth Rigby, Sue Birch and Rosemary Bruce-Mullins. Sources used were local memorials and Honour Rolls, the AIF project, the Discovering Anzacs website of the National Archives of Australia, the photo database developed by the State Library of Tasmania, Trove and the Tasmanian Memorials Database (published by Fred Thornet in 1996 with assistance from the Commonwealth Government ‘Australia Remembers 1945-1995’ Program). The University of New South Wales gave permission to reproduce material from the AIF project. Ethan Reed and Melinda Reed provided additional content on the Western Front.
The Tasmanian Memorials Database lists the 46 names recorded on the wooden Honour Board at the Copping Hall and the 282 names on the framed paper Honour Roll also at the Copping Hall. There are 19 names on the Honour Board at the Dunalley RSL, 22 on the Forcett Hall Honour Board, and in St. Mary’s Anglican Church at Forcett are the names of two Young brothers and their cousin who all died while serving. At the Sorell Memorial Hall 135 names are inscribed on the wooden Honour Board, including the 26 fallen who are listed on the grey granite obelisk outside the Memorial Hall. St George’s Anglican Church in Sorell also has nine World War I soldiers commemorated. Just one woman, Sister VC Jenkins, a nurse, is recorded – one of about 80 Tasmanian nurses who served overseas during WWI. Many names appear several times on the different memorials throughout the district.
Armistice
Although the Armistice was signed in November 1918 peace was not officially declared until July 1919. To celebrate, communities all over the world held peace parades. In Sorell the procession marched along Somerville Street to the Mechanics Institute, now the Sorell Antiques Centre. Local photographer Arch Rollings captured the procession of decorated carts, boy scouts, nurses, horsemen and returned soldiers passing the Pembroke Hotel and the extensive stables at the rear of the hotel. St Georges Church and Hall and Pelham House can be seen in the distance.
ANZACS of the Sorell district
** killed in action or died of wounds or illness
The Gallipoli Campaign
Jack ALLEN
Hedley ALLEN
Robert ALLEN
Arthur Victor BARNARD
Eric Gordon BARNARD
William BARNARD
Thomas BEDELPH
Christopher BENDER
Gordon BLACKWOOD
John Tasman BURKE
Angus HEAN
George HUNT **
Tennyson HUNT
Murray Lea JONES
Clyde KINGSTON
Howard KINGSTON
Percy SUTTON
William John WAGNER
The Western Front
Jack ALLEN
Hedley ALLEN
Robert ALLEN
Robert BAKER
Arthur Victor BARNARD **
Eric Gordon BARNARD **
William Henry BARNARD **
Thomas BEDELPH
Albert Harris Tasman BENDER **
Christopher Stanley Gordon BENDER
Frederick Theodore BENDER
George Robert BILSON
Albert Robert BLACKMORE
Gordon BLACKWOOD **
Walter Roy BOWDEN
Archibald BRYAN
Norman Sydney BIRCHALL **
Lorne BURDON
John Tasman BURKE
Leslie BURNS
Charles O’Neil BUTTERWORTH
James Samuel BUTTERWORTH
Douglas Vivian BUTTON
Ernest CLARIDGE
George CLARK
Sydney Charles CLIFFORD
Tasman George CLIFFORD
Albert CURRAN **
James CURRAN
Charles Terry DALTON **
Allan Handsford DAVIS
Arthur Clement DAVIS
Francis James DENHOLM **
Ronald Bilton DENHOLM
Richard Frederick DENNY
Frederick Percival DODDRIDGE
Charles DODGE
Frank DRANSFIELD
James Murdoch DUNBABIN
William DUNBABIN
Ashley Charles Owen FEATHERSTONE
George FEATONBY
Ira James FERGUSON
Jack FERGUSON
Tasman GILLIE
James GOODMAN
Archibald James GRANT
Harold GREEN
Joseph GREEN
Leonard William HARVEY **
Vivian Joseph HARVEY
Alfred Robert HATHAWAY
William John HATHAWAY **
Angus HEAN
Claude Alexander HEAN
Collin Thorpe HEAN
Keith Doctor HEAN **
Athol Harry HUNT
Tennyson Elwin HUNT
Albert Edward HUTTON
Harold HUTTON
Kenneth James HUTTON
William Harold ILES
Albert Ernest JACOBSON
Albert Edward JEFFREY
Herbert JENKINS
William Robert Stanley JENKINS
Ronald Kennedy JONES
Erle JOSEPH
Lynn Thomas JOSEPH **
Morris Pitt Gladstone JOSEPH **
Paul Hamilton Morris JOSEPH **
Cecil Andrew KEAN
Clyde Frederick KINGSTON
Clyde Henry KINGSTON
Howard Inglewood KINGSTON
Keith KINGSTON
Arthur Leonard LONG
George Henry LONG **
Frederick John McDERMOTT **
Clarence Wentworth Richard McGUINNESS
Edgar McGUINNESS
Allan McVAN **
Clarence Arthur MILLINGTON
Joseph Henry MILLINGTON **
Evelyn George MUSCHAMP
Stanley Dundas Peet NEWITT
Reginald PARKER
Clarence Hedley PORTER
Charles Herbert PULLEN
Roy Edwin QUINTAL **
Lisle Clarence REARDON
George Charles RICHARDSON **
Rowland John ROE
Colin Lionel ROLLINGS
Cecil Francis SPAULDING
Percy Vernon Henry SUTTON **
William TOWNSEND **
Monte Leslie WAGNER
William John WAGNER
Wilfred Claude WALKER
Hilary Gordon WEBB
Harold Goldie WITCOMBE
Charles Frederick WELLS **
William John WELLS
Benjamin Thomas WESTERMAN
Harold Leslie WIGGINS
Richard Samuel WIGGINS **
William Thomas WIGGINS
Kenneth Hilton WOOLLEY
Charles YOUNG **
Clement Robert YOUNG **
Joseph Allen YOUNG **
Richard Charles YOUNG
