Kookaburra's Reception at the Town Hall, 1916
The Kookaburras at Gulgong - street decoration
The Kookaburra March
Although there were ten Recruiting Marches during World War 1, only two of them commenced from the same region. These were the 'Cooee March' which left Gilgandra on Sunday 10th October, 1915 and arrived in Sydney, 535 kms away on Friday 12th November, 1915; and the 'Kookaburra March' which commenced at Tooraweenah on Wednesday 12th January, 1916 and ended at Bathurst on Thursday 3rd January, 1916, a distance of 378 kms. After leaving Tooraweenah, the Kookaburras marched through Yarragrin, Mendooran, Boomley, Cobbora, Dunedoo, Craboon, Birriwa, Tallawang, Gulgong, Mudgee, Havilah, Lue, Rylstone, Kandos, Clandulla, Ilford, Running Stream, Capertee, Ben Bullen, Portland, Meadow Rat, Yetholme and finally to Bathurst. They started with 25 recruits and ended up with 92 enrolees. After marching via Boomley, from Mendooran, the Kookaburras on their fifth day from the start of the March from Tooraweenah reached Cobbora on Monday 17th January, 1916.
The Mudgee Guardian of the day quoted that the 43 Kookaburras were a fine stamp of men and were delighted with the fine reception they had been given at Cobbora. Mr. Barry Weeks, a resident of Coonabarabran later commented that the Kookaburras marched 22 to 24 kms a day. The men were well fed, as residents along the way provided cooked turkeys and fowls for them. Although four men promised to enlist at Cobbora, only one joined the March there. He was E.W.G. Marsh who was born near Stroud, NSW. As the Marchers left Cobbora. they were presented with a tame kookaburra bird by a local boy.
Source: Heritage Inventory Sheets Cobbora and Coolah 2019
