THE foyer of the Inverell Times has become a museum of World War I history to anybody who comes through the doors.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Times front office staff Lisa Hilton and Felicity Reeves have been busy compiling Throwback Thursdays for about a year, but the pair, with a lot of work from Lisa, have been focussed hard on Anzac Day since January.
There is a special Throwback planned for this Thursday, but in the meantime, the two have papered the entry and foyer with articles and images about Inverell’s ANZAC history.
"We had a look through what we already had, and decided that we needed more, so we went through every edition of the newspaper, the April editions, just to try and find stories," Lisa said.
Lisa photographed or scanned countless articles and photographs, but said the thing that struck her was the public coverage by both The Inverell Times and The Inverell Argus which once faced each other across Otho Street. Each paper placed a billboard in front of the offices to keep people up-to-date.
“And the cables would come through with the war information, and they’d actually hand-write out the cables and pin them to these billboards,” Lisa said.
“At night-time, they’ve even brought in lanterns so that people could go read what was happening.”
Lisa and Felicity agreed one event gave them the goosebumps.
“On the night, at 11pm, when the war ended, the church bells and the fire brigade bells all rang,” Lisa said.
On the night, at 11pm, when the war ended, the church bells and the fire brigade bells all rang.
- Lisa Hilton
“And all the people just came downtown to see what it was all about,” Felicity said.
“And saw the word ’peace’ on the billboard. So there was a big party in the street,” Lisa added, and both women shared a little shiver of emotion.
The two have also come across the original accounts of some of the more well-known figures from the First World War.
“Like the fellow (Samuel Rolfe) that ended up in the oil bath. We found his original stories in here as well,” Felicity said.
“So it’s just been really interesting, finding all that information and other photos that we’ve just come across that have been just incredible.”
The display of the news and later accounts of family and contribute images are on display in the entrance of The Inverell Times this week and next week. Everyone Is welcome to stop and have a look during opening hours, 8.30am-5pm.