Do you know anything about the war years in Towamba?
MAX. Yes. There used to be a V.D.C., a Volunteer Defence Corps used to be here.
Stationed here?
MAX. Yes. They were the farming community around here. There was........ they used to call him Captain.......Pax Sawtell (spelling) and what was the other one's name....he used to come down from the Monaro and train us. I can't remember his name but the two of them used to come down and train us here and I was the baby. I was the youngest in the V.D.C.. I was only twelve or thirteen and our job was to....they always reckoned the Japanese would land at Twofold Bay and we was to move all the stock up to the Monaro, burn everything behind us, then as luck had it, it didn't happen. But then 1945 the war ended, in '46 they had a welcome home for the returned soldiers. They had a sports day over here in Boller's paddock, which was Darcy Parker's paddock and the first wood chop that I ever chopped in was at that particular time. Then they had a big dinner in the hall that night for a welcome home party for the soldiers. That was 1946. I had two uncles on the Sawers side, no three uncles in the war, yes. One uncle, he died a prisoner of war on the Burma railway and the other two didn't get out of Australia. Then Laurie Beasley had a bad knee and they kept him around the mess house nearly all the time. He hated that. Gordon Beasley who ended up here where Terry Knight lives, that was Jack's brother, he went to New Guinea and then there was Alf Tasker and Rufie Lucas, he was Alf's brother-in-law. He lived out at the back of 'Elmgrove' at 'Daisy Hill', then there were three Clements'....... Gordon, Verner, and Ronnie, then there was Les Mitchell, he died a prisoner of war. Mary Mitchell, (Lower Towamba) well her husband's brother died a prisoner of war. Pud, as we used to call him, Gordon was his right name but he always had Pud, he died a prisoner of war on the Burma railway.
Why did they go?
MAX. Well, the thing about it was for a lot of them, work was a big problem for them at that particular stage. That's right, Athol Greer, he was another feller that went. Well, when he joined up and Gordon Beasley, they were ring barking timber at Craig & Mostyn's lease down there.
Where's that?
MAX. Out the back of 'Log Farm'. It's state forest now but Craig & Mostyn was the wattle bark company and they had this lease taken up from the Forestry. They were ring barking all the green timber to let the wattle grow. Athol used to suffer from dog wood itch, so he said, 'That's it, I'm going to join the Army!' Him and Gordon Beasley and Normie Carragher all left the job out there and joined up.
*** Excerpt from Max Sawers' interview in 'The Forgotten Corner Interviews'.

The first and second world wars had a noticeable effect on the Towamba district in that the young men who went away to fight were the labour force of the valley. They were the farm labourers, the milkers, the future survival of the valley way of life.
The wars gave these isolated young people a glimpse of the outside world and for those who returned, life was never the same. Many left again to make a life for themselves outside the valley.
Arthur Beasley, put his age up to go to the first world war and down when he enlisted for the second; fighting in the desert and in Europe. He returned from the second war and lived the rest of his life in Towamba.
The loss of the young population - those who died overseas and those who returned and later left the district - changed the way of life in the valley that had remained virtually unchanged since pioneering days.

LINKS :

World War 1 recruiting drive. Outside the Towamba Wine Saloon.
Note Towamba's first bridge in background.
No date (but pre 1919)

Opening of the Towamba War Memorial. c.1924 on its original site opposite
St.Pauls Church of England.

	Magnet July 25, 1936 WYNDHAM Mr. L. Watson has returned from Sydney where he went for treatment of his war wounds which were causing trouble. Laurie was not able to work, but got very little satisfaction from Military Hospital authorities.
Laurie Watson (sitting) and Peter Sawers. WW1


'Dodge' Unknown Photo courtesy Jean McPaul	(No christian name) Targett Photo courtesy Jean McPaul

Peter and Arthur Sawers Photo courtesy Jean McPaul	Peter Sawers Photo courtesy Jean McPaul

Dick Farrell. Died Sandakan, Borneo, aged 44. Photo courtesy Jean McPaul	Peter Sawers.

Arthur Whitby. Photo courtesy Jean McPaul	Charles Robinson. 1916 Photo courtesy Jean McPaul

Cliff Sawers Photo courtesy Jean McPaul	Cliff Sawers Photo courtesy Jean McPaul

Verner Clements	? Mitchell