EMPIRE DAY ASCOT VALE SCHOOL (1913, May 31). The Australasian (Melbourne, Vic. : 1864 - 1946), p. 64. Retrieved February 13, 2015, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page15076373

ASCOT VALE STATE SCHOOL. (1915, May 20). The Essendon Gazette and Keilor, Bulla and Broadmeadows Reporter (Moonee Ponds, Vic. : 1914 - 1918), p. 2. Retrieved September 4, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74588873

OUR SOLDIERS

SCHOOL CHILDREN THANKED.

The following letter has been received by Miss Tanner and the boys and girls of Grade V at the Ascot Vale State school, which, needless to say, they were delighted to get. The letter was an acknowledgment of the receipt of a billy that was sent by the above.

Egypt,

Christmas Day,1916.

To Miss Ella Tanner and the boys and girls of the Ve Grade, State School No. 2608, Ascot Vale, Melbourne.

Dear Little Australians,

I wish to thank you all heartily for your billy, and even more so for the pleasant little letter enclosed. It was very, very nice of you all, as most of you must have relations of your own to send presents to, without troubling about unknown soldiers. We get a bit tired of this life at times, and these little rays of sunshine from our own bonny Australia are very cheering; so all the trouble you children go to is not wasted. Most of you never see the effect of your work for the soldiers, but it's all appreciated over here, and in France. I left with the Light Horse in the first fleet over two years ago, was seven months on Gallipoli, and through the Romani affair, and subsequent fights at Katia and Bir-el-Abd as the Turks retreated, and have had the luck never to be sick or wounded. It's very strange the accidental way one man gets killed and the marvellous way another escapes. I ought to have been shot a dozen times, but "Johnnie Turk" won't get such easy chances now.

I've just transferred to the 68th Squadron of the Australian Flying Corps, where the work is very much more interesting. One of the pilots took me up for a stunt recently, and the camps all round the Suez Canal reminded me of a big nursery. We were up 3000 feet, and the view of toy trains and railways, doll's houses and Noah's arks, tiny horses and tiny boats, would have interested all you boys and girls immensely.

I remember that right in the front firing trench at Pope's Post on Gallipoli, in amongst the sand bags of the parapet, there lived a family of mice. We could hear them squeaking, and occasionally, during a lull in the shooting, they would creep out to look for bully beef, and then a bullet would whine over like the mew of a baby kitten, and they'd duck back for their lives.

Ah, kiddies, you're lucky to be born in Australia; there's no country in the world like it, and it seems a very desirable spot after all this soldiering. Nevertheless, I don't want to see it until our account is squared up here and in France.

Good-bye and good luck to you all.

Yours sincerely,

V. HOCKING,

(No: A147, 2nd A.M. (air-mechanic),

"B" Flight, 68th Sqdn.,

R.F.C.

OUR SOLDIERS. (1917, March 8). The Essendon Gazette and Keilor, Bulla and Broadmeadows Reporter (Moonee Ponds, Vic. : 1914 - 1918), p. 3 Edition: Morning.. Retrieved May 3, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74601913

NOTE: 146 Pte Vernon Hocking, aged 26, clerk, of Semaphore in South Australia, enlisted in 1914 and embarked in October of that year from Adelaide with the 3rd Light Horse Regiment.

SCHOOL MATTERS

ASCOT VALE SCHOOL.

ANZAC DAY CELEBRATION.

A large number of parents and friends assembled at the above school on the 25th April to commemorate the entry of Australia into the great world war. The manner of that entry and the worthy part there played by Australia's sons will live for ever in the history of our land, and it is fitting the school children of to-day should have brought prominently before them the noble example of their fathers and brothers.

The children were arranged round the school flag and listened attentively to the interesting and instructive addresses of the various speakers, who included several returned soldiers. The headmaster, Mr. Barrett, in opening the proceedings, apologised for the absence of Mr. James Ward, chairman of the school committee, who, owing to a serious accident, was unable to be present. After the singing of the hymn, "O God, our Help in Ages past," a recitation, "The Landing of the Australians at Gallipoli," was rendered with telling effect by Miss Sylvia Cooper. Short addressees followed.

The Rev. J. Weir said that by their action on 25th April, 1916, our boys had made the name of Australia ring round the world. Byron had sung of what the Greeks of old did at Salamis and Thermopylae, but they did nothing grander or more heroic than did Australia's heroes on that occasion. He prayed God that those who were responsible for this awful war would be so crushed that those to whom he was speaking would have no fighting to do in years to come.

Mr. T. Ryan, MLA, through the medium of amusing anecdotes of Anzacs he had known, managed to get in some excellent advice to the children. He said that, on asking the Prime Minister, Mr. W. M. Hughes, how he should address the children on this occasion, that gentleman had said: "Tell the boys to look up to the soldiers called Anzacs and try to be as good men as they." All could do something. Almost every child had some relative, perhaps father, or brother, at the front. Let each child try to make life as easy as possible for their mothers, who had so much to worry them in these trying times. Cr. A. Fenton emphasised that the fact that this fight we were fighting was forced upon us. Britain was next door neighbour to France, France to Belgium. Germany attacked Belgium, expecting to over-ride her to get to France. Britain was acting the part of the big boy protecting the smaller one, who was attacked by a cowardly bully.

Chaplain-Capt. Fraser, as illustrating the spirit that animated the Anzacs, referred to a man he knew who had travelled 600 miles to enlist. An English lady had asked him if he could explain how it was the Anzacs wore such a fine body of men. Capt. Fraser replied that he could. The type of men that constituted the Anzac breed were descended, not from convicts, as she thought, but from the finest, noblest, bravest and most adventurous pioneers of the old land-the cream of the population of the British Isles. "You." said he, are of the same breed. Show the same spirit." When the Anzacs landed at Gallipoli, the gruelling they had had under a fiery sun in the Egyptian desert made them fit, and they never faltered. They have made the name of Anzac imperishable in the annals of history.

Chaplain-Capt. Woodfull spoke feelingly of the gratitude of the soldiers for the children's gifts. These gifts, as the men received them from time to time, cheered them up ofttimes in the midst of sad and depressing surroundings and made them think more lovingly of their home in the Sunny South and the dear ones there. Staff-Sergt. Turner gave a spirited description of the landing of the Anzacs, while Sgt. Madin, another Anzac, was of the opinion that the greatest victory of the campaign was the evacuation, which was accomplished with a casualty of one wounded. An able seaman of H.M.A.S. Australia, in referring to the thrilling adventures he had shared in, said he thought the Australian flagship must be under a special guiding star. Major Rossiter and Gunner lnches also addressed the children in their class-rooms.

The headmaster, in referring to the fact that the school committee were collecting funds for the erection of a worthy honour board for the school, said that the honour roll now contained 300 names. The committee would be glad to receive any further names of old scholars who had enlisted. Appropriate songs by the scholars, under the capable leadership of Miss E. Kershaw, were very creditably rendered. The saluting of the flag was carried out in the usual manner, after which the Last Post played in fine style by the bugle band, formed an impressive item. The ceremony conclude by the singing of the National Anthem.

SCHOOL MATTERS. (1918, May 9). The Essendon Gazette and Keilor, Bulla and Broadmeadows Reporter (Moonee Ponds, Vic. : 1914 - 1918), p. 2 Edition: Morning. Retrieved May 3, 2012, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article74605899

FUTURE DIGGERS AND NURSES
"There is no more fitting place for an honor board than this, where the
characters of young boys and girls is being moulded," said Brigadier-General
Brand, the State Commandant, this afternoon, in unveiling an honor board
at the Ascot Vale State School. Proceeding, he said that these men
had placed themselves under discipline and responded to good leadership, thus
making the Australian Imperial Force one of the finest organisations in the
world. They were apt pupils, and took a great interest in their work.

Two of the factors which had made the Australian soldier the
equal of, if not greater than, any other troops of the world was,
the good, sound education he received and his love in participating in sports.
With these two features, coupled with good home training and a good stand-
ard of living, there was no doubt that all the boys present would, if called
upon in time to come, emulate the deeds of the diggers, and of the heroic
and splendid nursing sisters.

FUTURE DIGGERS AND NURSES (1919, May 23). The Herald

(Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954), p. 5. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article243474096

School cadets provided a guard of honour on the return of Patterson H W-Pte-632, 1918.

Children provide a Welcome Home for Bone A W Pte 501, 1918