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Author Archive | Keith Maxwell

ANZAC Day is near

By on 5 April, 2023 in Uncategorized

ANZAC Day is not far away so your mind may be turning to the special memorial at Splendour Rock that remembers 13 bushwalkers (from bushwalking clubs of Bushwalking NSW) who did not return from World War II.  This memorial in the Megalong Valley of the Blue Mountains must be Australia’s most remote war memorial.

You may or may not be aware of some other memorial plaques at this site.  A new book by Keith Maxwell and Michael Keats OAM should be on your bookshelf.  It is the definitive work that is bound to become a valuable reference on Splendour Rock with so much information.  It answers so many questions.  For example,

# Who found Splendour Rock plus when was the plaque installed and by whom?

# When was the memorial put on the official NSW register of war memorials and Australian War Memorial?

# Who are the bushwalkers remembered and what did they look like plus who were the bushwalkers who served and returned from WWII?

# How did the bushwalkers at home support their friends in uniform?

# How have these bushwalkers been remembered at ANZAC Day Dawn Services starting in 1948?

# What are the other memorial plaques including on the Central Coast and in a North Sydney church?  What is their story?

# How have fallen NZ (of ANZAC – New Zealand) trampers been remembered?

# What is the bushwalking club founded by a walk to Splendour Rock?

With 360 glossy pages it is a great read packed full of so much information plus pictures and early maps.  A must for every bushwalker’s bookshelf.

Splendour Rock – A Bushwalkers War Memorial by Keith Maxwell and Michael Keats OAM is available at bookshops where you find other great bushwalking books or from the website – bushexplorers.com.au (postage free at $66)

Keith Maxwell.

The Splendour Rock Choir from the Illawarra Grammar School.

Know your Clubs – YMCA Hobnails

By on 2 January, 2023 in Bushwalking history

Hobnail Canyon is a short, pleasant canyon located just off the Bell Road past Mt Tomah.  Now hobnails are a kind of boot cleat popular in the pre-WWII era.  They were nailed onto the leather sole of boots to minimise slipping.  Did the first bushwalkers through the canyon wear boots or were they from YMCA Hobnails Bushwalking Club?

From 1952 to 1970 the Hobnails were a club of young men 17 – 21 years of age with a strong reputation.  This club was just one of a strong group of bushwalking clubs in the YMCA during 1950s / 1960s where boys could progress into bushwalking as they grew older.

Young Pioneers included boys 12 – 14 years of age.  These boys could then progress to the Venturers (not Scouts) as they grew to 17 years old.  When my younger brother joined the Venturers in 1969, they were down to just three members and were officially folded up a few years later.  From 18 years of age young men and women (note) could join the YMCA Ramblers.

The YMCA Ramblers were the longest lived of these clubs.  Formed in November 1938 by Harry Black and three others it lost two members in WWII.  At their AGM of 1978 the Ramblers left the YMCA but had a final BBQ at Neilson Park on 23 November 2003.

The Ramblers always had a tense relationship with the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA).  Not every member had a tent, so they were often shared including ‘co-tenting’.

‘Old’ Hobnails were meant to progress to the Ramblers except that they mostly didn’t instead going to the Kameruka Bushwalking Club (KBC).   From 1946 to 1988 the KBC were renowned for doing tough and exploratory bushwalks.

So, what did hobnails look like?  Dunlop Volleys sandshoes were all the go for the Hobnails bushwalkers.  I can remember an ex-Hobnail telling me that he could not recognise a hobnail (boot cleat) when he was shown one.

You can find club badges for the Hobnails, Ramblers and KBC among many others at the Bushwalking NSW website club badges page.

Keith Maxwell – Honorary Historian BNSW.

 

Splendour Rock book

By on 29 December, 2022 in Uncategorized

Did you know that there are four other memorials in the immediate area of the plaque at Splendour Rock in the Wild Dog Mountains.  A detailed, fully researched book by Michael Keats and Keith Maxwell is now with the printer.  For any bushwalker with even a passing interest in Splendour Rock this will become a go to reference.

Splendour Rock honours thirteen (13) bushwalkers from clubs who died on active service during WWII. While Splendour Rock has been described as ‘God’s Balcony’ with its views of the Southern Blue Mountains it was not the first choice of a site for a memorial.

The book answers so many questions such as, who were the thirteen (13) young men, how did they die and what did they contribute to bushwalking?  How have they since been remembered?  Who cast the Splendour Rock plaque and when / how was it installed and then dedicated?  Who were the bushwalkers who served and returned?  How were they supplied comforts from home?  What is the story behind the other four memorials.

A great read and a great reference not to be missed.  Watch out for a book launch early in 2023.

Keith Maxwell.

BNSW Honorary Historian.

 

Splendour Rock – hidden in plain sight

By on 29 March, 2022 in Uncategorized

ANZAC Day is not far off.  Many bushwalkers will be heading to Splendour Rock in the Wild Dog Mountains of the Megalong Valley.  They will be there to honour thirteen (13) bushwalkers remembered by a simple but moving Dawn Service at this memorial plaque.  There has been an annual Dawn Service since at least from 1992 and perhaps even 1990 (records are incomplete).  Prior to that time Dawn Services were infrequent but usually at significant anniversaries such as 10, 25 and 50 years since its dedication in 1948 by the NSW Federation of Bushwalking Clubs (now Bushwalking NSW)..

The Bushwalking NSW website has a file that describes the fallen we remember at Splendour Rock prepared by Michael Keats OAM, Belinda Keir and Keith Maxwell.  See – https://www.bushwalkingnsw.org.au/history/

There is something special about Splendour Rock that has been hidden plain sight.  Its not just the location which is very special with its stunning view of the southern Blue Mountains.  It tells the story of a changing Australia in World War II.

In WWI Australia sent a new army, the AIF (Australian Imperial Force) to the other side of the world for an amphibious landing on ANZAC Day 1915 at Gallipoli.

Australia industrialised as war came very close in WWII and the casualties tell an interesting story.  Among the bushwalkers remembered a minority were in the AIF but all four (4) died in the fall of Singapore in 1942 or later as POW of the Japanese.

Bruce Elder (pictured) of Coast & Mountain Walkers died on HMAS Sydney when it was lost off the Western Australian coast in November 1941.

James McCormack of YMCA Ramblers although in RAAF died on HMAS Canberra when it was lost in the Battle of Savo Island in the Pacific Ocean.  Again, not Europe.

Norman Saill of Sydney Bush Walkers and RAAF died in the New Guinea campaign.  The remaining six (6) bushwalkers (of the 13) were all in RAAF and died while based in the UK.

So, hiding in plain sight was the fact that at Splendour Rock more airmen (8) are remembered than soldiers (4) who were more likely to have died close to Australia and not in some foreign (European) field.

Splendour Rock Memorial 1948

Elder Bruce photo

Keith Maxwell.

WERE YOU THERE at SPLENDOUR ROCK

By on 15 July, 2021 in Affiliated club news, Bushwalking history

You or your club may be able to help in a fabulous project.  Michael Keats and Keith Maxwell are researching Dawn Services at Splendour Rock on ANZAC Day.  There are few details for many years as to whether a Dawn Service occurred at all.  We are calling on clubs to fill in the gaps, if possible.

A book is well advanced that will contain a wealth of information about Splendour Rock but we would like to confirm details for the years below.  You could help make this publication an even better book.

Splendour Rock was dedicated on ANZAC Day in 1948.  Contributions from various club magazines and individual club members have resulted in some truly great recollections which will be included in the text. There are significant gaps in the record, such as an incomplete set of logbooks in the State Library of NSW, and anyone who can help fill these years would be most welcome to send us their stories or recollections or field notes. Years for which we seek stories are –

1949 1953 1957 1970 1977 1981 1987 2020
1950 1954 1963 1974 1978 1982 1990  
1951 1955 1964 1975 1979 1984 1991  
1952 1956 1968 1969 1980 1985 1992  

 

Please contribute your records or memories to Michael Keats at mjmkeats@easy.com.au

Keith Maxwell.

REMEMBRANCE at Splendour Rock 2021

By on 6 March, 2021 in Bushwalking history, Events

At 6am on 25 April (ANZAC Day 2021) there will be a short ceremony of remembrance at Splendour Rock to recognise the thirteen fallen bushwalkers from WWII.  This will return the pattern of remembrance from at least 1992.  Every year since then (and perhaps even 1990 but there is insufficient evidence) on ANZAC Day there has been a Dawn Service of remembrance at Splendour Rock.  Naturally, due to the pandemic, there was no dawn service in 2020.

Bushwalkers who have previously been to Splendour Rock for ANZAC Day will know that Mt Dingo is a dry campsite that can be subject to high winds.  However, when the weather is right overnight camping on Mt Dingo can be an unforgettable experience.  Splendour Rock is in the Wild Dog Mountains whose nearest access is the Dunphy Carpark at the end of the Megalong Valley Road from Blackheath.

It is now an NP&WS requirement that you must REGISTER your intention to camp overnight in a National Park of NSW.  Please be COVID safe in your camping.  More information can be found here – camping 

The memorial plaque at Splendour Rock was installed in February 1948 by a combined group of Sydney Bush Walkers (SBW) and Coast & Mountain Walkers (CMW).  The plaque was dedicated on the following ANZAC Day.  Both clubs each lost four (4) members while the YMCA Ramblers Bushwalking Club lost two (2) members.  Three other bushwalking clubs each lost one member being the Campfire Club, Rucksack Club plus the Trampers Club.  Background details for all of these fallen service personnel can be found on the Bushwalking NSW (BNSW) website – here.

Splendour Rock photos

By on 26 December, 2020 in Uncategorized

Splendour Rock in the Wild Dogs of the Blue Mountains with its fabulous location is a unique war memorial that has attracted visitors from all over the world.  There is value in old photos.  Your help could make a planned book on Splendour Rock even better.  I am after photos of Jack Cummings as the Convenor of ANZAC Day Dawn Services.  Jack started the current series of an annual Dawn Service at Splendour Rock but it is a tragic tale.

Around 1990 Jack lead his first Dawn Service as a member of the (ex) Nepean Bushwalking Club.  He did so each ANZAC Day until his tragic death in 2001.  Now 2001 was not a good year for the Cummings family as on Christmas Day their family home and hence many bushwalking records were destroyed as a bushfire engulfed the town of Warragamba.

I am also after photos of something that is easy to overlook.  You camp on Mt Dingo but do you take photos of it?  Photos of camping on Mt Dingo before an ANZAC Day Dawn Service would also be appreciated.

Photos must be of the highest possible resolution.  All photos that are used will be acknowledged but (of course) not all photos will necessarily be used.  The aim is diversity in photos so please look through your old photo albums for relevant photos.  The more to choose from the better.

This small memorial raises many questions.  Who were the fallen bushwalkers?  Who cast the plaque and how / when was it installed?  Which bushwalker found this site and why was it chosen for the memorial?  When were Dawn Services held and do we have any old programs?  Who were the bushwalkers who served in WWII and returned?  What was the “Bushwalkers Service Committee”?  What about the “MATES” memorial?  The planned book by Michael Keats and I will answer these and many other questions with a wealth of information about this memorial plus several other memorials in the immediate area.  Hence, it should become a valuable reference for any bushwalker.  The story of Splendour Rock and the other memorials is a fascinating part of the history of bushwalking.

Coast and Mountain Walkers (CMW) have provided many excellent early history photos.  Other clubs must also have photos.  I am keen to balance this CMW contribution with more diversity.

Send your scanned photos to history@bushwalkingnsw.org.au

Splendour Rock Memorial 1948

Places of Pride – Australian Register of war memorials

By on 4 December, 2020 in Bushwalking history

Splendour Rock Memorial 1948

Splendour Rock is a special place that remembers bushwalkers from Clubs of Bushwalking NSW (BNSW) killed during WWII with that wonderful phase “THEIR SPLENDOUR SHALL NEVER FADE” and it seems that it is getting better known outside Australia.  Bushwalkers / walkers who go to Splendour Rock, in the Wild Dog Mountains of the Blue Mountains, are rewarded with an amazing wide vista of the southern Blue Mountains from Kings Tableland in the east to the Blue Breaks and Lake Burragorang (southwards) then finally to Kanangra Walls in the west.  Splendour Rock was chosen for its location but also as a bushwalkers war memorial so it does require a bushwalk to access it.

In 2014, on behalf of BNSW, I had Splendour Rock placed on the register of NSW war memorials maintained by the State Library of NSW.

From an incomplete series of visitor logbooks in the State Library of NSW we can see that Splendour Rock has always attracted bushwalkers, Scouts and others.  It is just not groups from NSW but groups from within and outside Australia (not just Europe).

Similarly, “Places of Pride” is a virtual register of war memorials from all over Australia maintained by the Australian War Memorial (AWM in Canberra) as it aims to keep the memory alive of all Australians who died in past conflicts.

Recently, again on behalf of BNSW, I added Splendour Rock to this virtual list, of Australian war memorials, maintained by the AWM.

See https://placesofpride.awm.gov.au/memorials/263171

Entries on Places of Pride are more concise than the State Library of NSW register so a link was added back to the BNSW website for more information on the thirteen (13) fallen bushwalkers remembered and so consequentially to the State Library of NSW register of war memorials.

Splendour Rock is obviously a little different and probably unique in Australia and NZ.  In the Places of Pride text box for information on Splendour Rock I had to stress that access was only possible via a bushwalk.  The registration process with Places of Pride required a location given as a decimal latitude and longitude.  Since, the interactive map could not find a recognised road it suggested that access was possible via a dirt road.

Splendour Rock is now remembered as both an Australian “Place of Pride” as well as a NSW war memorial.

Keith Maxwell.

Honorary Historian BNSW

Chardon Award 2020

By on 30 August, 2020 in Awards & Recognition, Bushwalking history

The Chardon Award was established in 2017 to recognise bushwalkers who have made a significant contribution to bushwalking or Bushwalking NSW (BNSW).  They had to be more than well known in their own club.

Harold Chardon was the bushwalker in 1932 who called the bushwalking clubs together to form the (now) BNSW as part of the campaign to save Blue Gum Forest.

The pattern each year has been to recognise a past bushwalker plus a very much alive bushwalker.  Hence, two bushwalkers were recognised with the 2020 Chardon Award at the Bushwalking NSW (BNSW) AGM on 18 August.  See the notes below for comments on these worthy recipients; Brian Walker and Belinda Keir.

BRIAN WALKER

Snippet from the Bushwalker – Vol. 32 #2 Autumn 2006

The above drab comment that Brian Walker was at least Secretary (1991) and President (1996) of Confederation does not give credit to the energy he brought to Bushwalking NSW (BNSW).  As Public Officer the NSW Federation of Bushwalking Clubs became “Confederation” inc (incorporated, with the legal role of obligations and safeguards that brings).

In 1993 Brian excited Sydney newspapers from his sighting of a missing light plane across a valley in Kanangra Boyd National Park.  “An Eventful Weekend“ (of this find) was the lead story of the November 1993 (Vol. 19 # 2) Bushwalker newsletter.

My last memory of him is on the exit of the Harbour Bridge when he went by on a recliner bicycle in a ‘Sydney Cycle’ event.  A cheery hello as always.  He was a friend to many in Confederation and his sudden passing left many walking friends in shock.  Shortly afterwards CMW held a wake in his honour at a member’s holiday cabins in Blackheath.

Brian Walker is a worthy recipient for the 2020 Chardon Award to honour his memory.

BELINDA KEIR

Belinda Keir has made a serious contribution to safety of bushwalkers from years of volunteer instruction in St John Ambulance First Aid to members of Bush Search and Rescue NSW (BSAR), bushwalking clubs, Scouts and the general public.

From 2003 onwards she has also served as a First Aid Officer at BSAR NavShield.  As such, she was an important part of the safety team that included NSW Ambulance Paramedics.

Belinda is a past active member of Sutherland Bushwalking Club and was an enthusiastic S&R volunteer during 1980s.  Hence, she responded to many S&R Callouts.  At that time Sutherland BWC was a strong supporter of S&R and would often supply a team of strong walkers whenever NSW Police had asked for assistance.  Through this volunteer service Belinda also become a good friend.

 

 

Belinda is pictured at centre with members of Sutherland Bushwalkers at a first aid training course she delivered  in 2005

 

 

Since well before 2000 Belinda was instructing in First Aid both at Senior / Provide First Aid plus Remote Area First Aid (RAFA) and is still instructing in First Aid.  The First Aid link on the BNSW website is for courses taught by Belinda on behalf of St John Ambulance.

The practical teaching methods of Belinda have helped to raise the level of First Aid knowledge within bushwalking clubs.  Hence, Bushwalking is now a safer activity from this training and her role as NavShield First Aid Officer.  Belinda Keir is a worthy recipient of the 2020 Chardon Award.

Keith Maxwell.

Learn more about the Chardon Award

Bushwalkers were there to (in WW2)

By on 30 August, 2020 in Bushwalking history

75 years ago there was genuine relief on two special days in 1945. On May 8 it was all over in Europe, VE day.   “Victory in Europe” – Hitler was dead and Australians serving there could come home.  Then, 15 August marked VP or VJ Day – “Victory in the Pacific” (or over Japan).  Thus, Australians serving in this theatre of war could also come home but the fate of some bushwalkers on active service was unknown as they were POWs (Prisoners of War).

World War 2 (WWII) was a different war for Australia compared to WWI.  The enemy was at our doorstep in New Guinea and nearby islands with multiple bombing raids on Darwin and other towns of the top end.  New Guinea was more than the Kokoda Track as the Japanese proved difficult to dislodge from many outposts.

At least 172 bushwalkers, men and women enlisted to meet this threat.  Our small nation of 7 million eventually had over 950,000 citizens in uniform.  Bushwalkers were spread through all three services of army, navy and air force.  Sadly, some bushwalkers were lost or became POWs in the ill-fated defence of Singapore with its surrender on 15 February 1942.

All POWs were not accounted for until well towards Christmas 1945 when finally, the bushwalking clubs could do a final count of their losses.  Thirteen (13) bushwalkers would never return to join their families and bushwalking friends.  The thirteen were remembered with short biographies in the 1946 Bushwalker annual magazine but what about a permanent memorial to honour their memory?

While we now know that these bushwalkers are remembered at Splendour Rock this initially was not an obvious choice.  A memorial park was even considered on Narrow Neck.

When Splendour Rock was dedicated on ANZAC Day 1948 access to this site was much more difficult than today.  However, the bushwalking clubs had chosen well.  Splendour Rock is unique.  There is nothing quite like it elsewhere in Australia or NZ to honour fallen bushwalkers (trampers).

So, 2020 is an appropriate time to update existing information on these fallen bushwalkers.  In 1945, the NSW Federation of Bushwalking Clubs (now Bushwalking NSW) was far smaller than today so their loss was keenly felt.  Some special bushwalkers never came back.

Take a moment to view this revised file here of these FALLEN BUSHWALKERS then reflect – “LEST WE FORGET”