POSTSCRIPT:
The Kangaroo on show to
a King
From Eve Chappell,
Research Coordinator of the Glen Innes Historical Society, a wonderful update
on the 12th Regiments mascot.
“The Petitt family came
from Pinkett, a property near Glen Innes.
When war broke out in 1914 the 12th Lighthorse Regiment
commanded by Lt.Col Percy Abbott left the New England town for Sydney. Before
they left the Petitt family gave the Regiment a kangaroo from their property as
a mascot, which was promptly named ‘Bill Petitt’.
“Bill” travelled with the
Lighthorse to to Sydney in April of 1915 and left for Egypt in June of the same
year.
The Lt Colonel later
commented in his diary about the rambunctious behaviour of the kangaroo. It quite often lay on the hatch covers
preventing the men from getting onto the deck.
It’s not certain of “Bill’s”
whereabouts while the 12th Regiment was fighting in Gallipoli but it
is assumed he continued onto England where he was photographed in 1916 at the Salisbury
Plains review by King George V.
At the end of the war “Bill”
remained in England and like most mascots more than likely ended up in a zoo.
This splendid photograph of the Royal Review of the troops on Salisbury Plains is on show at the Glen Innes Historical Museum.
Many thanks to Eve, and
when visiting the beautiful highlands of New South Wales be sure to drop into
the Beardies History House Museum and Research Centre situated on the Gwydir
Highway at Glen Innes.
This postscript to a previous blog is also updated in that original blog. To view click on the link below.
Robyn Mortimer
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