With Armistice Day coming up at the Carilion on November 11 as well as the World War Two Exhibition at the Bathurst Showground early next year, Bathurstians will have the opportunity to mark both world wars.
OUR image this week is for part one of the story of Herbert William "Bert" Bettles who went off to the Great War. He is pictured in a photographic studio in his newly issued uniform - how young and proud he looks.
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Private Bettles enlisted at Newnes near Lithgow on July 16, 1915, where his father was living.
After enlistment Bert travelled by steam train to Sydney for his medical and received a favourable report. He was aged 18 and was a labourer at Newnes. His assigned AIF Army number was 3249.
Bert was issued with just some of his uniform and no rifle as few were available when he first enlisted.
Equipment was very short at this time of the war as Australia was definitely not ready to equip large numbers of military units.
After the most basic of training, part of which was at the Sydney Showground, Bert learnt that he would be one of the reinforcements for the 2nd Infantry Battalion AIF. These volunteers learnt to march, how to use a bayonet in close contact, and other training exercises depending on how long they waited before leaving Australia.
Living in tents was not a new experience for Bert but it was for many others. Before leaving Australia Bert was issued with a .303 Short Magazine Lee-Enfield rifle and bayonet.
Definitely the most distinctive item of these Australian soldiers' apparel was their slouch hat worn with the left-hand side brim turned up and the hat badge on the upturned underside of the brim for parades.
More of Private Bettles' kit arrived just before these ill-trained recruits sailed from Sydney on A14 troop ship HMAT Euripides on November 2, 1915, with his uncle, Laurence John Bettles, travelling down to Sydney to see him off.
Bert's troop ship convoy was protected by Australian Navy cruisers and they had a short stopover in Albany in Western Australia to take on supplies and post their last letter from Australian shores to their loved ones. The convoy then proceeded via Colombo to Egypt.
The second phase of their military training took place onboard whilst on the ocean bound for the UK. After arriving in England these volunteers soon found out what military training was all about. The British Army had the system down pat as the NCOs and Warrant Officers ranted and raved at these "uncouth convicts"'
Originally the village of Pokesdown had been a separate township, however, by the time Bert arrived during World War One it was part of Bournemouth in southern England. The Pokesdown Railway Station, opened in 1886, was the hub area and Bert and Rosie would have travelled by train.
Bert most likely would have stayed in camp most of the time but could have stayed with Rosie's parents prior to their marriage or in one of several local hotels available for servicemen. Alternately Bert may have stayed at a local Youth Club converted to billet soldiers during the Great War.
The establishment was open all day with cheap meals provided for servicemen, both in and out of uniform, as well as hold activities each day.
Bert learnt about platoon movement, rifle maintenance, living in the field, hygiene, basic signalling, basic field first aid, types of grenades and throwing them, how to use his gas mask and respirator, how to cut and get over barb wire entanglements and one hundred and one handy hints to help keep himself alive.
They practised "digging in" and dug their own fox holes and a trench and how to fill and place sandbags. What had to be done when taking prisoners as well as field manoeuvres, bayonet practice and combat within the trench.
