THE Singleton Museum in Burdekin Park has enlarged its war memorabilia for the centenary of the Gallipoli landing.
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The museum has attained the Carrowbrook Honour Roll, which had been in the Carrowbrook Community Church before the site was flooded by the Glennies Creek Dam.
The roll has 21 names and among them is Percy Cobcroft, one of the first 15 Singleton men to enlist for World War I.
After action at Gallipoli, he died of wounds in France in May 1917.
The memorial plaque that had also been erected in the Carrowbrook Church in his memory is attached to the outside southern wall of the museum.
A new addition to the museum in 2015 is the Camberwell Honour Roll from the Camberwell Church, which was closed after a vandal attack a couple of years ago.
There are 75 names on that roll with six of those men having paid the supreme sacrifice.
Two of the soldiers, Campbell Marshall and Arthur Reynolds, used their amateur photography skills during the war, so the history of the Desert War from Cairo to Palestine is well-documented by their photos.
Added to this, are some images from Mr Marshall’s collection of photos seized from the camera of a German prisoner.
Robert Stuart Bowman and Harry Dangar served in France and Belgium with the English Forces.
“Both men had cameras so we have traced their movements with their photos,” museum president Peggy Moore said.
“One very special item on display is a 1915 War Diary carried by Benjamin Charles Singleton, grandson of our town’s founder.
“He fought at Gallipoli, was wounded, returned to the Gallipoli scene until the evacuation, and then served in France.
“The diary is fragile but it has been digitised and the copy is printed for the public to read.
“A big thank you to those who have loaned us items.
“Other elements include items from two Queensland soldiers whose
relatives, Carol Savage and Kristy Donald, now live in Singleton; photos and medals of Levi Cann who was killed in France a few weeks before the end of the war; photos and items of the Imperial Camel Corps, which served in Egypt and the Desert War.”
Mrs Moore said a photo had been added to the Sergeant Morris collection too.
“Sergeant Morris was killed in Belgium in December 1917,” she explained.
“A plaque had been erected by fellow employees of the Patrick Plains Shire in the shire building, but with the amalgamation of the shire and the Singleton Council in 1975-76, the plaque was moved to the museum and is on the outside southern wall of the facility.
“We are seeking the public’s help with one photo handed to us by members of the Burns family.
“It is dated the same day the members of the 1st Contingent enlisted on August 22, 1914.
“The men are in civilian clothes.
“The photo of the 1st Contingent has men in army uniform.
“We suspect some of the men are in both photos as they have a small dog featured in them.”
The short DVD, A History of the Military in Singleton, will be shown in the O’Hara Rural Section of the museum.
All displays are available for viewing until the end of July, although some will be moved to Sacred Spaces when the Singleton Festival begins in July.
