Bush to battle

Aryana Rusmussen, 5, from Warwick will march in her first Anzac Day parade on Saturday. She is pictured at the Leslie Park Cenotaph. 138007 Picture: TERRY WEST

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By SONJA KOREMANS

TENS of thousands of people will march though major cities on Anzac Day but there is nothing more enduring than the legend of the region’s country soldiers.
They had an enormous impact, those men and women from the bush, who died in their thousands during World War I (WWI).
Honour boards in regional and outback areas are a poignant reminder of our rural soldiers unwavering faith in protecting a cause they believed in.
Many of those surnames etched in stone are still familiar throughout country districts where descendants remain immensely proud of their Anzac forefathers.
Rural towns would have struggled with the war’s toll as their populations were small, said Allora RSL secretary Ken Ashton.
“Allora alone lost 69 soldiers in World War I and back then its population was just a few hundred,“ Mr Ashton said.
“Those sort of losses would have left an indelible mark on tiny communities in both Australia and New Zealand.“
Even in the relatively large town of Warwick, where the March of the Dungarees recruit drive began in 1915, enlisting enthusiasm would have diminished its population of 4500.
The bush Anzac legend conjures up an image of rugged farmers but there are just as many rural accountants, teachers, cooks and clerks on honour rolls at the Australian War Memorial.
And let’s not forget our country nurses who worked in hospitals, on ships and trains or in casualty stations closer to the frontline.
They served in locations from Britain to India, taking in France and Belgium, the Mediterranean, and Middle East.
Many of them were decorated and many died during their service.
From a national population of less than 5 million back in 1915, it is estimated more than 140,0000 country men and women served overseas in WWI.
Queensland war historian John Telfer believes that some foreign settlers on the Darling Downs may have changed their names to enlist for war and defend their new nation.
“It could be speculated that a percentage of the German and Chinese populations are under represented among those who went to war from the country as some may have changed their names to join.“
“You could imagine these foreign settlers would have seen their Australian mates enlisting for war and would have wanted to pledge their support.“
Recruitment may have been proportionally high in some Darling Downs communities because of the British population in farming towns, as well as skills such as horsemanship, Mr Telfer said.
The Downs, Granite Belt and New England in particular have a strong connection with the Light Horse, as many of the young men enlisted in the mounted troops.
Famous names such as Harry Chauvel and J.F Thomas, along with many other courageous young men – some as young as 15 – came from the area.
It must have been apparent to those refined English officers just how tenacious these men were.
They could shoot, ride and camp out in the toughest conditions having been familiar with horses, rifles and the outdoors since childhood.
Of the 64 Australian Victoria Cross (VC) recipients of WWI, about a quarter were from country towns and it seems unjust just to single out just one but Private John Leak, who moved to Allora after the war, does stand out.
He was Queensland’s first recipient of a Victoria Cross – the highest award for acts of bravery in wartime.
Private Leak enlisted into the 9th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force in 1915 when he was 23 years old and embarked from Brisbane on board HMAT A55 Kyarra to the Middle East.
The London Gazette reports: “At one assault, when the enemy’s bombs were outranging ours, Private Leak jumped out of the trench, ran forward under heavy machine-gun fire at close range, and threw three bombs into the enemy’s bombing post.
“He then jumped into the post and bayonetted three unwounded enemy bombers.
“Later, when the enemy in overwhelming numbers was driving his party back, he was always the last to withdraw at each stage, and kept on throwing bombs.
“His courage and energy had such an effect on the enemy that, on the arrival of reinforcements, the whole trench was recaptured.“
Mr Ashton said Allora is honoured to have Private Leak in its area of remembrance.
“John Leak moved here to Allora after the war where he owned a sawmill and a farm,“ Mr Ashton said.