Blackboy Hill, Western Australia

Blackboy Hill, Western Australia is the name of the an ANZAC memorial and the locality now absorbed into Greenmount, Western Australia.

Anzac Day

The main annual event at the site are the Anzac Day commemorations.

The sunset service and the dawn service - as well as an all-night vigil - are maintained by the Bilgoman District of the Scout Association of Western Australia - and the RSL

Military Camp

The reason for the memorial was the military camp within this location which had large numbers of troops who left to serve at Gallipoli and other locations in the First World War. It was also used extensively by the 2nd AIF and other Australian Military Forces in World War 2.

During the First World War troops were transported to the adjacent Helena Vale Railway station and marched across to the camp, so as to not interfere with the working of the Eastern Railway. [ Edmonds, Jack (editor) (1976) "Swan River colony : life in Western Australia since the early colonial settlement, illustrated by pictures from an exhibition mounted by West Australian Newspapers Ltd. as a contribution to celebrations for the state's 150th year" Perth : West Australian Newspapers, 1979.ISBN 0909699208 -p 45 - "Into camp' - first recruits marching into camp ] The camp and its adjacent structures were on the hill that is now utilised by the St Anthony's Primary School and Church, and Greenmount Primary School.

The Anzac memorial is on a segment of ground that is between the two primary schools. It is maintained by the Mundaring Council, and has a committee that oversees management of the site.

Most of the original site is now covered by housing development, but up until this began in the early 1990s, remnants of the army camp and many associated rubbish pits were visible.

Quarantine Station and later

At the end of WW1, around April, 1919, the Imperial forces camp was turned over to the Health department to act as a fever hospital, treating Spanish Flu.

In the 1930's unemployed relief workers utilised the camp area [ Edmonds, Jack (editor) (1976) "Swan River colony : life in Western Australia since the early colonial settlement, illustrated by pictures from an exhibition mounted by West Australian Newspapers Ltd. as a contribution to celebrations for the state's 150th year" Perth : West Australian Newspapers, 1979.ISBN 0909699208 - page 64,and 65 - stating 5,000 men were present in 1930 ]

Railway Station

Also Blackboy Hill was a named railway stopping place between Bellevue and Swan View between the 1940s and 1960s. It did not exist during the first world war as a stopping place for troop movements.

References

Further reading

* De Burgh, H. C.(1983) "Blackboy Hill commemoration site, Perth, Western Australia" Perth, W.A. H.C. de Burgh, 1983.
* (2007) "History of Blackboy Hill".- "the Gallipoli memorial was erected in 1958, designed by Ean McDonald, which has been subsequently added to". Chariot Apr. 2007, p. 29,

Newsletter

* "Camp chronicle : the soldier's paper".Midland Junction [W.A.] : Camp Chronicle, 1915-1918.
* Battye Library catalogue notes that it was - "Printed and published by the "Camp Chronicle Printing Works", Helena Street, Midland Junction, Perth, Western Australia for the proprietor, Herbert James Lambert. Includes special edition of issue no. 1 on blue cloth; presented to Lt. Col. J.S. Battye, Camp Commandant of the Blackboy Hill training camp".