Out at Menangle it has been brought to my attention that three First World War Honour Roll photographic montages have re-appeared after many years.
The honour rolls are framed photographs of local Menangle men who served during the First World War. Across the three framed montages there are photographs of 31 Menangle diggers.
Meaning of photographs
The Menangle photographs carry a special meaning and memory from the past. These individual portrait images are simple yet poignant reminder to today’s generations of the incredible loss of young men in the Great War.
The wartime photographs of Menangle men are a reminder of a less innocent period in Australia’s past. The men appear relaxed and without airs and graces. They look straight ahead without the weight of the world on their shoulders and carnage that lay before them.
A number of the Menangle men in the photographic montage were killed in action.
The National Archives of Australia has a webpage where it displays images of Australian diggers from the First World War. Many other libraries and galleries have similar collections, like the State Library of Victoria.
The website Camden Remembers has many photographs of local diggers from the First World War.
Menangle School of Arts
The Menangle framed photos were hanging in pride of place in the front rooms at the Menangle School of Arts for decades. The rooms were used as a library and meeting rooms.
The individual who originally organised the framed Menangle photographs certainly went to a large amount of effort and expense to put the photographic montages together.
The framed photographs were taken away for restoration when the hall was renovated and toilets added to the hall in the late 1970s.
The framed honour rolls montages recently re-appeared after many years.
The aim is to have the honour rolls restored and replaced in the School of Arts after the hall has had conservation work completed.
Menangle Honour Roll Photographic Montage No 1
Menangle Honour Roll Photographic Montage No 1
Ashford, A
Ferguson, JP
Hawkey MC, Major JM
Hawkey, FJ
Kemp, M
Macarthur Onslow, Captain AW
Macarthur Onslow, Lieut JA
McDonald, GL
McKnight, WL
Raymond, LF
Stark, J
Starkey, CC
Tulloch, C
Tulloch, R
Williams, JE
Menangle Honour Roll Photographic Montage No 2
Menangle Honour Roll Photographic Montage No 2
Gale, B
Hawkey, H
Heighington, HC
Mahoney, GE
Matthews, R
Murdoch, HT
Onslow Thompson, Lieut Colonel AJ
Price, GA
Menangle Honour Roll Photographic Montage No 3
Menangle Honour Roll Photographic Montage No 3
Buckman, S
Hancock, C
Hawkey, RJ
Macarthur Onslow, Brigadier General GM
Mahoney, H
Morris, W
Muir, RL
Starr. HA
List of Menangle diggers from honour roll photographic montages (alphabetic order)
Ashford, A
Buckman, S
Ferguson, JP
Gale, B
Hancock, C
Hawkey, Major JM
Hawkey, FJ
Hawkey, H
Hawkey, RJ
Heighington, HC
Kemp, M
Macarthur Onslow, Brigadier General GM
Macarthur Onslow, Captain AW
Macarthur Onslow, Lieut JA
Mahoney, GE
Mahoney, H
Matthews, R
McDonald, GL
McKnight, WL
Morris, W
Muir, RL
Murdoch, HT
Onslow Thompson, Lieut Colonel AJ
Price, GA
Raymond, LF
Stark, J
Starkey, CC
Starr. HA
Tulloch, C
Tulloch, R
Williams, JE
Menangle War Memorial Wall Plaque at St James Anglican Church Menangle
Inscription on memorial plaque:
IN MEMORIAM
CAPT A W MACARTHUR ONSLOW 16TH LANCERS YPRES
Lt COL A J ONSLOW THOMPSON 4TH BN AIF GALLIPOLI
CORPORAL R J HAWKEY 6TH AIF PALESTINE
SIGNALLER B GALF 3RD BATTALION AIF FRANCE
PRIVATE J E WILLIAMS 56TH BATTN AIF FRANCE
1914 – 1918
1939 – 45
Flt. Sgt J.D. PRATT R.A.A.F
Featured image:
Memorial Plaque, St James Anglican Church Menangle, Wall of Remembrance (B Peacock, 2018)
Camden History Notes 
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