Jeparit World War One German dugout

"The surprising discovery of a German dugout was made in the sandhills north of Jeparit in late May 1916.

The local police received word on Sunday, 29 May, of the existence of a German dugout believed to be occupied by escapees from the military internment camp at Langwarren, south-east of Melbourne, who had been on the run for the last 10 months.

To investigate the site, the police travelled by car 4 miles north of the township on the main Jeparit-Rainbow Road before they had to then walk half a mile across a field of stubble, an area of heavy sand riddled with rabbit warrens, and then had to force their way through thick scrub to locate the site, but the occupants had already fled when they arrived.

The site was well-concealed but commanded a view of the surrounding farmland for miles, including the main road and railway.

This discovery caused a sensation, and with the landowner’s co-operation, onlookers travelling across the district were charged one shilling to inspect the site, with the proceeds being donated to an appropriate patriotic cause.

Although its exact location has now been lost, the structure was described as similar to dugouts constructed by the Germans in the trenches of the Western Front in France and Belgium and was described as clean and comfortable.

The horizontal wooden entry door that opened on a sliding mechanism was well concealed in a clump of mallee scrub, revealing a ladder leading down into a room 7 feet deep, 10 feet long, and 8 feet wide. Four large pine uprights supported a roof constructed of cross timbers, over which cornsacks had been placed and covered with soil. The sand and clay excavated to make the chamber had been spread over a wide area to make it harder to detect, and the space immediately over the roof had been covered with scrub.

The walls were lined with timber from kerosene cases and hessian, and 3 tin funnels were in the roof for ventilation. Two hammocks made of bags were suspended from the central uprights and attached to the walls, and an improvised table and shelves made up the furnishings.

The room contained German newspapers from 1914, playing cards, candles, and empty beer bottles. The walls were decorated with a large amount of German writing, and a signboard inside the door stated, “Home of Deserter and Prisoner of War, 1916”, and "The recruiting officer Kaiser Bill der Grosse”. There was also an intricately carved resemblance of the Kaiser and a drawing of a German officer in uniform.

The room was clean and tidy, although carefully hidden around the site were remnants of rabbits, turkeys, and sheep that had been consumed as food.

The alleged residents, both with German heritage, were Max Langer, who had been arrested in July 1915, in Jeparit for failing to report his movements to the police, and Max Zimmerman, who was arrested for the same reason in Maffra and were interned at a camp at Langwarren from where they escaped together in August 1915.

Once free from the camp, they made their way to Jeparit, where Langer had previously worked and knew the area well. Here they believed that amongst the significant population of German settlers, they would find help to elude pursuit by the police. However, knowing that the appearance of unknown Germans in the town would arouse suspicion, they decided to hide until the coming harvest period by constructing a hiding place in the sand hills between Jeparit and Ellam to a design that they had seen while at Langwarren, which also resembled the dugouts in the German trenches on the Western Front.

While hiding, they survived by trapping wild birds and rabbits and venturing into the fields under cover of darkness to seek food. Evidence was found in the abandoned dugout incriminating several locals who had assisted the fugitives.

Once the usual surge of swagmen and itinerant workers arrived for the harvest, they could break cover without being too conspicuous and seek work on the local farms.

This plan worked well until Langer was re-captured at Katyil in mid-May, and soon after, Zimmerman believed that the police were closing in on him, so decided to travel to Melbourne and gave himself up at Victoria Barracks several weeks later."

From the 'Dimboola Courier' 27 June 2023

Describing The Dry

As we did previously with 'The Dressmaker' posts, have endeavoured to find some of the locations used in the filming of 'The Dry'

A greener Beulah on Google Earth

 The opening shots of the approach to Kiewarra are from along the Birchip-Rainbow Rd coming into Beulah from Beulah East, with all the GEB silos & stacks, and the hay-bale storage.

St Joseph's

The funeral was shot in Banyena, at St Joseph’s Catholic Church where the mourners really do walk down the approach lane to the Banyena Hall for the Wake.

Banyena Hall

The Cemetery is the Beulah Cemetery, like the opening scene, on the Birchip-Rainbow road to Beulah East.

Entrance to the Beulah Cemetery

 

The old Hopetoun Primary School building

The schools are both in Hopetoun - the Primary school scenes at the old Primary School, and the High School photos at the P-12 College.

Hopetoun High School, now  Hopetoun P-12 College

 

Minyip's Club Hotel

There are a few hotels - the 2-storey red-brick Hotel with the rooms upstairs is the Club Hotel in Minyip, previously well-known from when it figured in the Flying Doctors tv-series. The hotel in the Kiewarra street scenes is the Victoria Hotel at Beulah. The interior dining room shots look a lot like the dining room of Royal Mail Hotel in Warracknabeal (unconfirmed).

Victoria Hotel taken from Taverner Street, Beulah

The salt pan or lake where Luke's body is found is the salt depression on the old Pearce land adjacent to the Dimboola-Rainbow road, just where the road has a couple of sweeping bends as it crosses the railway line, north of Jeparit.

The salt lake from the Dimboola-Rainbow Rd

A FilmVictoria video of the making & the locations of 'The Dry'.

Fourth of July -1918

Today, the fourth of July 2018, marks the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Hamel which was one of the most significant Australian actions of the First World War. It is well knows not only as a decisive victory, but for the contribution by Australian Lieutenant General John Monash who was commanding the Australian Corps for the first time, and it was the first occasion that United States and Australian soldiers had fought alongside one another.

Many Wimmera volunteers were amongst the more than 7,000 Allied infantry that took part (fewer than 3,000 were front-line soldiers) and were also amongst the 1,400 casualties who were either killed or wounded.
This battle was fought in and around the town of Le Hamel, (near Villers-Bretonneux & Peroone) in northern France, aiming to straighten out a bulge in the British line, and for Monash it was also an opportunity to test the tactics he believed could be used on a larger scale in future offensives.
Drawing on more than three years’ experience in wartime command, and the lessons of past successful actions by both sides, Monash devised a combined arms assault co-ordinating artillery, tanks, aircraft and infantry.

The attack was planned in intricate detail to last for 90 minutes, and the battle was a stunning success taking just 93 minutes for the Australians and Americans to achieve all their objectives. The time taken for the battle was a success in itself as many battles on the Western Front during World War One lasted much longer than planned and few achieved all the planned goals.
Along with the main action at Hamel, a diversionary attack was undertaken to the north east near the village of Ville-sur-Ancre to disguise the main attack and disrupt the ability of the Germans to counter attack.
 
Peter FitzSimons' book on the battle is available as a book or audio, while John Laffin's "The battle of Hamel"  argues that while Australian leadership was first demonstrated at Gallipoli, it came of age at Hamel.
A number of soldiers involved in the battle came from Horsham and the Wimmera. One of the volunteers who fought on this day one hundred years ago was Private Percival Roy Penglase, one of five sons of Mr Alfred Penglase of Jeparit who had enlisted and were at that time all serving in Europe.
Much of this information from the Dimboola Courier's article

What's old is new again

Sir Robert Menzies was known for his 'The Forgotten People" speeches, credited with helping the Liberals return to power.
The speech rapidly acquired the fame for which it continues to be remembered and invoked. Shortly after it was delivered, it was printed and circulated as a pamphlet by Robertson & Mullens of Melbourne. The next year, Angus & Robertson published a selection of the addresses under the title The Forgotten People and Other Studies in Democracy.

Now, 75 years after the event, it has been reprinted complete with the old style cover.
"The forgotten people : and other studies in democracy" is a collection of essays broadcast weekly by Menzies in 1942. Some of them deal with matters of permanent interest while others are dated by passing events. They have represent a political philosophy which emerged in the changing currents of war.
'From the standpoint of a true patriot and in the spirit of man to man, Mr Menzies examines, in The Forgotten People, many of the problems arising from our present state of war. With moving frankness and sincerity he stresses both the rights and the duties of the people and of Parliament. He states clearly what our position is, what our aims are, and the part that every citizen must play if the war is to be won. He looks toward the future, the post-war world, and shows how we must work and plan to-day to combat the dangers that will inevitably beset to-morrow. He examines the meaning and achievements of democracy; he analyses the implications of President Roosevelt's four freedoms; and he upholds the dignity and the rights of the 'forgotten people', the middle classes, the 'backbone of this country.' This valuable series of talks clarifies our problems and their solution and, while not attempting to lessen the gravity of our present position, glows with confidence that the democratic principle shall prevail.'

Robert Gordon Menzies was born to James and Kate Menzies on 20 December 1894 in Jeparit. His birth was in a room at the back of his father's general store where the family lived.

The land around Jeparit was gradually being cleared of virgin scrub for wheat growing, and money was scarce. James Menzies carted supplies with a horse and wagon to the outlying farms, but it was difficult to make the business pay in such a small pioneering community and many farmers were given food on credit until their next harvest came in.

 Family photo taken on the bank of the Wimmera River - James Menzies with (from left) sons Les, Frank & Robert, wife Kate and daughter Isobel. Miss Annie Drendel is seated at left - from the Jeparit & District Historical Society

In 1899 at the age of four and a half, Robert commenced school at Jeparit. The Menzies children began their education at the first Jeparit school - No. 2988 - in a small timber room that had been shifted to the township from Dimboola North School No. 1875 (formerly Woolshed) in 1894.Robert and sister Isobelle left Jeparit in 1905 to join brothers, Les and Frank, living with their grandmother in Ballarat. They attended Humffray Street State School in 1906.

 

Tarrying at Tarranyurk

Prompted to share a couple of bridges in flood.
The previous photos of the old Tarranyurk Bridge on the "Bridges in floods" post were taken in March 2008 and April 2011.

The Wimmera River swirling into the Old Tarranyurk Bridge (Dimboola Courier)

These are from the Dimboola Courier and were taken on Tuesday 20th September 2016, as the flood peak moves towards Jeparit.
Hang in there Tarranyurk! 

The partially collapsed deck of the bridge, the current bridge is to the left (Dimboola Courier)

Began this post on 22nd September, but now updated, so it was possible to add a few more flooded old bridges taken on 24th.

Firstly - Antwerp, the flood peak had moved on from around Antwerp, but evidence of the higher level was apparent with debris still piled up against the old bridge deck, which as shown is only just above the water level. 

<< The new & old Antwerp bridges

Below the old bridge with its missing span, from the previous flood in 2011.

Both Tarranyurk bridges

Arriving at Tarranyurk, the flow of the river was evident, with little whirlpools and frothy spume whipped up around the piles.

  The bridge deck at Tarranyurk  >>


Moving on to Jeparit - the peak had again been and gone, onto Lake Hindmarsh. 
The waters had only reached part-way up the cross-members of the trestles.

Above & below - Jeparit

The flow of time

As the rains come tumbling down, people's thoughts turn to the river.
This piece is from the Dimboola Courier: 

The first natural flow in the Wimmera River since 2012 flowed past Antwerp earlier this week and had progressed northwards to a point beyond the Tarranyurk bridge by Friday evening 12th August.

Wimmera Catchment Management Authority said the natural flow peaked at 468 megalitres a day at Lochiel.
Prior to this event the river had dried up to the point where it was just a series of stagnant waterholes linked by stretches of dry riverbed with only the weir pools at Dimboola and Jeparit holding any significant quantities of water in the lower reaches of the river.

The old Antwerp Weir in April 2016 (Dimboola Courier)

The weir, August 2016 (Dimboola Courier)

The only man made structure on the river between the Antwerp and Tarranyurk road bridges is the old Antwerp weir (pictured above) which was constructed of timber and stone in 1903 to create a more permanent body of water for the local community. The weir pool became the venue for the annual Antwerp rowing regattas in the following years.
It is unclear when it was no longer required and fell into disrepair, but a significant amount of the structure still remains.
Proposals were put forward in the early years of last century to construct a similar structure near Tarranyurk to provide a water supply for that area but this never built.
This series of photographs were taken in the vicinity of the Antwerp weir both this week and back in April and they highlight this structure in the dry and with the water flowing. 

The weir in 1903 (SLV)

The historical photograph, taken in 1903, compares with the one below, taken recently from a similar location to show the changes over the last century. The most obvious being the regrowth of trees around the weir itself.

The Antwerp weir in August 2016 (Dimboola Courier)

The water arrived at Jeparit a day later, and will now flow into Lake Hindmarsh. The last inflow into the lake was as a result of the 2011 floods.

The Jeparit Weir, August 2016 (Dimboola Courier)

The last time that the lake itself flooded was in August 1956. At Jeparit, the Wimmera River rose and forced Lake Hindmarsh to burst its bank near Four Mile, when the inflow overwhelmed the ability of Outlet Creek to cope with the huge volume, and was further  compounded by the wind and waves forcing the water towards the south. Hundreds of acres of wheat crops were affected, several roads were cut, two families were forced from their homes and 30 others were threatened.

The old Jeparit road bridge in 1956, from the north bank (L. Hounsel)

The historic photograph shows the water up to the corbels of the old road bridge over the Wimmera River.The photo below shows the struts and pilings visible below the corbels.

The old Jeparit road bridge in November 2007, from the south bank

Historic images live again

Had a visit from a family who normally use the Mobile Library, and who had a couple of historic items they wished to have copied.

Firstly was a 70s vintage photo of Eddie Jaensch's original home, near Pepper's Plains. The structure was built primarily from kerosene tins. The ingenious building lined with flattened kero tins also has a row of tins to catch the rain from the galvanised iron roof where there was no spouting.
The ubiquitous re-use of readily available materials such as kerosene tins was a feature of many rustic structures on farms across the Wimmera.

Shed with rude timber poles and flattened kero tins

In addition to the photo, which the library scanned and printed for them, the family had a small strip of microfilm sent to them from the State Library of Victoria. The mircofilm was a page from an old edition of the Jeparit newspaper with an article on the history of the beautiful Edwardian Yurunga Homestead at Rainbow. Again the Library was able to copy them a full size print of the article complete with a picture of the building.

Yurunga homestead

Railways - Yaapeet line

The Dimboola yards in 1964 (from "C.R.S.V.)

The Yaapeet line is a grain-only branch line from the west side of Dimboola, it was converted from board to standard gauge at the same time as the Melbourne to Adelaide line. The Yaapeet line re-opened (66kms to Rainbow) for grain only transportation in February 2012, though trains bypass the disconnected Arkona, Tarranyurk, Ellam and Pullut sidings. This is following the January 2011 floods which severely damaged the line near Jeparit.

Washaway between Jeparit and Ellam (W.V.R.G.)

Arkona now just a silo site. It opened in 1905 as Katyil, and was re-named Arkona in 1912.

Arkona's platform mound opposite the silos

Antwerp a temporary garage for grain hoppers.

Tarranyurk

The site of Tarranyurk's railway buildings

Jeparit the extension to Jeparit opened in June 1894. The government approved the Jeparit to Albacutya section in September 1898. Jeparit was also the junction of the Yanac branch line. It had a large goods yard, but now the buildings have been removed and just the silos and platform mound survived.

A couple of sleepers mark the Jeparit platform

Ellam just a silos site.
Pullut just a silos site.

Goods train leaving Rainbow for Dimboola, 1966 (from "Patterns of steam")

Rainbow In November 1899 the railway to Albacutya terminated at Croajabrim (renamed Rainbow in 1900). The station had a turntable and large yard. A diesel railcar passenger service ceased in January 1954. Now only murals show what the Rainbow station looked like, the station building and platform have been removed. Rainbow is now the terminus for the grain transportation.

Rainbow goods yard in 1920 (from Museum Victoria collection)

The now deserted Rainbow goods yard (V.R.S. photo)

End of the line - Yaapeet (V.R.S. photo)

Albacutya
Yaapeet the intention in 1913 was to terminate the line at Nypo, but the terminus was further on at Turkey Bottom (it was renamed Yaapeet in June 1914). The line loops to the siding now, with the silos and the mound where the platform was.



Further information and photographs at

 Victorian Railway Stations and Shane McCarthy's "Patterns of steam"and John Sargent's "Country railway stations Victoria" series

Railways - Yanac line

The rail motor leaving Yanac for Dimboola in 1975 (from "C.R.S.V.)

Before the Yanac line was built, farmers had to cart their bagged wheat in wagon loads to towns on the main line forming huge stacks. A top-grade bag-lumper could handle 2,500 bags (over 200 tons) a day. In an effort to develop the area north of Nhill, a government expedition  explored the Mallee country to Cow Plains (now Murrayville) in 1908, then lobbying by the secretary of the Lorquon Railway League - James Menzies (father of Sir Bob) to the Railways Standing Committee saw construction of the Jeparit to Yanac line commence. The Yanac line branched west at Jeparit, skirting the southern shores of Lake Hindmarsh, with stops at
Detpa

The concrete silos at Detpa were built 1938-39

The line reached Lorquon in December 1912, where it terminated before the extension to Netherby and Yanac. Below in 1971 - the guard uses the party line phone to tell train control how they are progressing, while the driver does the brakes.

Lorquon (from VR.net)

The abandoned Lorquon sampling shed

  
Construction of the extension to Netherby began in May 1915, and it was officially opened in May 1916, in its heyday it boasted a waiting room, goods shed, weighbridge, stock yards, a large crane, and 3 gangers homes. Wheat was stacked in bags until silos were built in 1938 and bulk handling took over. In 1984 all staff were transferred, the houses shifted, all buildings demolished and the platform removed - the line nearly closed, despite a large harvest requiring the construction of an open bunker for 17,000 tonnes of wheat.

Netherby shed and silos

Yanac station building, 1975 (from "C.R.S.V.)

Yanac the line was extended to the terminus at Yanac in June 1916. The last passenger service ran about 1950, later the station was unstaffed and the station utilised for just grain and super-phosphate. In 1984 a tender was let for the line's removal, and it officially closed in December 1986.

Activity at Yanac in 1971 (from "VR stations & stopping places")

End of the line - the buffers at Yanac

Further information and photographs at

Neville Gee's "VR stations and stopping places" and John Sargent's "Country railway stations Victoria" series and Mark Bau's VR.net site.