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Behind the 4000 returned
men who could march in Sydney's first Anzac Day in 1916 came
50 car loads of those who could not.
The Herald photographer
caught the moment perfectly as women rattled money tins, street
urchins chased loose pennies and a big but subdued crowd watched
as car after car rolled down Macquarie Street filled with maimed
but smiling soldiers.
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We reproduce it today as part of our centenary of Herald photography,
using the original 21.5 centimetre by 16.5 centimetre glass
negative in our archives. The detail is such that it could be
enlarged to billboard size without loss of clarity.
"There was pride
in the faces of the men, and tears in the eyes of the women
as the little groups went by; for in every group, almost, a
man was to be seen without an arm, or with shattered features,
or limping painfully with a stick," the Herald said. "Little
parties of girls gathered at different points … and threw
flowers over the passing soldiers. There was abundant evidence
that the latter appreciated the attention."
Later hundreds of
returned men were taken to recruiting stations throughout the
city and suburbs. Each man had pledged to secure at least one
new soldier.
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Helping hands .... wounded soldiers, urchins and women collect
money for the Red Cross |
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"Many answered the call, but many still held back,"
the Herald said. "At one point a Gallipoli man with one
arm missing failed in the task he had set himself - not a man
responded. He was no orator; he relied on the arm that was missing.
'Australia was there!' he cried. 'Look at me. I have lost an
arm and can fight no more, but I tell you what, boys - if I
had my arm back I'd be over there again. Now I want someone
to take my place - who will volunteer?'
"No one answered.
The call was made in vain. Tears came into the soldier's eyes.
'No one?' he said. No one."
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