Introduction and links to day by day blog posts on newspaper reports about the route of the Coo-ee March
Route of Coo-ee Recruitment March (Daily Telegraph, 16 Oct. 1915)
The 320 miles (515 km) “Coo-ee” recruitment march left Gilgandra with 25 marchers on Sunday, 10th October, 1915, stopping in each town and village along the route to be welcomed by local officials and members of each community, and to hold recruiting speeches to increase their ranks, and arrived in Sydney on Friday, 12th November, 1915 with its numbers increased to 263 marchers. This march started a snowball of other similar recruitment marches in late 1915 and early 1916.
The Sydney Morning Herald (13 November 1915, p. 20) reported the following official figures ‘of the men who actually signed on (after medical examination), between Gilgandra and Sydney:- Gilgandra, 35; Dubbo, 13; Wongarbon, 12; Geurie, 6; Wellington, 31; Stuart Town, 1; Euchareena, 1; Molong, 4; Parkes, 5; Orange, 19; Millthorpe, 2; Blayney, 11; Bathurst, 17; Glanmire, 1; Yetholme, 1; Wallerawang, 3; Lithgow, 19; Blackheath, 2; Katoomba, 11; Leura, 1; Lawson, 10; Springwood, 5; Penrith, 4; Parramatta, 27; Ashfield, 22; total, 263’.
Following is the route and timetable of the march: Sunday, Oct. 10, Balladoran ; Monday, Oct. 11, Eumungerie ; Tuesday, Oct. 12, Mogriguy ; Wednesday, Oct. 13, Dubbo ; Thursday, Oct. 14, Wongarbon ; Friday, Oct. 15, Geurie ; Saturday, Oct. 16-Sunday, Oct. 17, Wellington ; Monday, Oct. 18, Dripstone ; Tuesday, Oct. 19, Stuart Town ; Wednesday, Oct. 20, Euchareena ; Thursday, Oct. 21, Boomey ; Friday, Oct. 22, Molong ; Saturday, Oct. 23-Sunday, Oct. 24, Orange ; Monday, Oct. 25, Milthorpe ; Tuesday, Oct. 26, Blayney ; Wednesday, Oct. 27, Bathampton ; Thursday, Oct. 28, Bathurst ; Friday, Oct. 29, Yetholme ; Saturday, Oct. 30-Sunday, Oct. 31, Wallerawang ; Monday, Nov. 1-Tuesday, Nov. 2, Lithgow ; Wednesday Nov. 3, Little Hartley ; Thursday, Nov. 4, Mt. Victoria ; Friday, Nov. 5, Katoomba ; Saturday, Nov. 6-Sunday, Nov. 7, Lawson, Monday, Nov. 8, Springwood ; Tuesday, Nov. 9, Penrith ; Wednesday, Nov. 10, Parramatta ; Thursday, Nov. 11, Ashfield ; Friday, Nov. 12, Sydney.
An account of the march on a day by day basis has been posted in this blog. It is based mostly on articles from The Farmer and Settler, which were provided by Stanley E. Stephens, who was the son of the editor of this newspaper sent to be the official correspondent to cover the march, and who also joined the Coo-ees as a recruit at Gilgandra.
Clicking on one of the links below will take you to that blog entry. You can then click on the links at the top of each page to the day before and/or day after’s entry, or otherwise click on the DAY BY DAY ACCOUNT tab to return to this page.
Day 1, Sunday, 10th October, 1915, Gilgandra to Balladoran →
Day 2, Monday, 11 October, 1915, Balladoran to Eumungerie →
Day 3, Tuesday, 12 October, 1915 Eumungerie to Mogriguy →
Day 4, Wednesday, 13 October, 1915, Mogriguy to Dubbo →
Day 5, Thursday, 14 October, 1915, Dubbo to Wongarbon →
Day 6, Friday, 15 October, 1915, Wongarbon to Geurie →
Day 7, Saturday, 16 October, 1915, Geurie to Wellington →
Day 8, Sunday, 17 October, 1915, Wellington →
Day 9, Monday, 18 October, 1915, Wellington to Dripstone →
Day 10, Tuesday, 19 October, 1915, Dripstone to Stuart Town →
Day 11, Wednesday, 20 October, 1915, Stuart Town to Euchareena →
Day 12, Thursday, 21 October, 1915, Euchareena to Boomey →
Day 13, Friday, 22 October, 1915, Boomey to Molong →
Day 14, Saturday, 23 October, 1915, Molong to Orange →
Day 15, Sunday, 24 October, 1915, Orange →
Day 16, Monday, 25 October, 1915, Orange to Millthorpe →
Day 17, Tuesday, 26 October, 1915, Millthorpe to Blayney →
Day 18, Wednesday, 27 October, 1915, Blayney to Bathampton →
Day 19, Thursday, 28 October, 1915, Bathampton to Bathurst →
Day 20, Friday, 29 October, 1915, Bathurst to Yetholme →
Day 21, Saturday, 30 October, 1915, Yetholme to Wallerawang →
Day 22, Sunday, 31 October, 1915, Wallerawang →
Day 23, Monday, 1 November, 1915, Wallerawang to Lithgow →
Day 24, Tuesday, 2 November, 1915, Lithgow →
Day 25, Wednesday, 3 November, 1915, Lithgow to Hartley →
Day 26, Thursday, 4 November, 1915, Hartley to Mount Victoria →
Day 27, Friday, 5 November, 1915, Mount Victoria to Katoomba →
Day 28, Saturday, 6 November, 1915, Katoomba to Lawson →
Day 29, Sunday, 7 November, 1915, Lawson →
Day 30, Monday, 8 November, 1915, Lawson to Springwood →
Day 31, Tuesday, 9 November, 1915, Springwood to Penrith →
Day 32, Wednesday, 10 November, 1915, Penrith to Parramatta →
Day 33, Thursday, 11 November, 1915, Parramatta to Ashfield →
Day 34, Friday, 12 November, 1915, Ashfield to Sydney →
1915 Coo-ee March 