KOOKA’S, KOALAS AND
KANGAROOS
AND A KING THROWN IN
FOR GOOD MEASURE
Life down under is lived to a far different pace than in other parts of the
world. On a global scale we start our day in an upside down position and we
never really catch up to our northern cousins.
It’s a bit of a head to toe existence where night up there is day down
here, and even the seasons are out of kilter.
Aussies too have a
different, more casual approach to life;
some might even say it’s an irreverent snubbing of strict protocols that
other countries in the northern hemisphere seem to follow so slavishly. You disagree?
You have only to look
at Australia’s three “K’s” –the Kookaburra, Koala and the Kangaroo. The kookaburra sounds like no other bird on
earth, its raucous laughter is enough to raise the dead:
Then there is the koala, as cuddly looking as a bear, but it isn’t – neither cuddly nor a bear:
And the kangaroo – what other animal in the world has a long and very strong tail that doubles both as an extra leg and a leaning post.
Then there is the koala, as cuddly looking as a bear, but it isn’t – neither cuddly nor a bear:
And the kangaroo – what other animal in the world has a long and very strong tail that doubles both as an extra leg and a leaning post.
While the kookaburras
and kangaroo’s spend their days hopping and flying about with seemingly
boundless enthusiasm, their koala neighbours just flop about on high branches,
at peace with the world and oblivious to all around them (helped along I might
add with a sleep inducing diet of
eucalyptus leaves).
Sometimes I feel these
contrary traits are even mirrored in our own human persona.
***
As you can see I’m a
sucker for cute and unusual photos of our feathered and furry friends,
especially when they’re interacting in a downright un-animal way with human
counterparts.
This old photo is a
perfect example; a kindly policeman in outback Queensland circa 1921 caring for
a juvenile kangaroo with an injured arm.
It brought to mind an
earlier story about the bushfires and the singed and weary koala accepting help
from a fireman…
A similarly kind act repeated
a year or so later during exceptional heatwave conditions in South Australia by
a passing cyclist coming to the aid of another furry little fellow desperately
in need of a drink…
I couldn’t resist
including a photo for those who read the story I wrote some time ago about the Fastest Kookaburra in the World. The
hero of that story could easily have been this one sharing a fence with a red
breasted cockatoo, or galah as it’s commonly known in Australia. It’s hard to know why we call this bird a
galah…it’s a term more often used in Australia as a derogatory way to describe
a foolish person… you’re a nutcase!… you’re a galah!
It’s rare to see the
two species sharing a photo frame, though the body language speaks reams –
they’re not close buddies.
***
Back in the early days
many an orphaned Joey, (as baby kangaroos are known) found their way into
caring human households where they soon became family pets. So it wasn’t all
that unusual to find early 1900’s photo albums including backyard snaps of our
Aussie icons interacting with their human counterparts…
Family shots of a back
yard tea party, daughters of a household in their Sunday best posing with their
latest playmate, and a quick snap of a barefoot miss showing her pet Joey how
best to hold his drink bottle.
***
Tales soon began to
spread about strange animals native to a faraway island tucked way down south
between the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Firsthand accounts
abounded about curious man size creatures that hopped rather than walked and
carried their babies hidden in pouches.
It wasn’t surprising that by the end of
the 19th century circus and tent show entrepreneurs had discovered
the publicity value of Australia’s boxing Kangaroo’s.
Soon pretend sparring
partners were shaping up against full sized big reds and eastern greys, taking
advantage of an inborn trait that just came naturally…and still does back home
in outback Australia where full grown ‘roos put on regular displays of male
superiority.
Though how and why this
particularly large and bewildered kangaroo was snapped strutting his stuff in London’s
Piccadilly Circus is a mystery only the long deceased photographer could
possibly explain.
***
OFF TO WAR WITH A KOALA
IN TOW
The era is WW1, the
location is Egypt and I have to wonder how on earth this Australian Army
Corporal managed to conceal a young koala on board a troop ship destined for
the Middle East.
But then again concealment possibly wasn’t
necessary.
The Corporal’s furry
companion just may have been his Infantry Battalion’s official mascot, their
lucky charm in the face of adversity… which suggests a heavy degree of naivety
on the part of the Generals and Commanders of the day.
With the outbreak of
the Great War in 1914, a worldwide conflict said at the time to be the ‘war to end all wars’, patriotic fervour
was at its highest. Such was the urge
to don the uniform young men everywhere were enlisting in droves, some
youngsters even altering birth certificates, adding years to their tender age.
For some the lengthy
voyage to the battle fields of the northern hemisphere was a huge adventure, an
extension of their school boy pranks.
“Hey Mum”, some would write home, “the trip across was beaut and we even had a couple of kangaroo’s on board the ship”.
And while some
suspicious Mums at home might have wondered if the lads were telling porkies, maybe to reassure the folk at
home, unbelievably to us now, they were telling the truth.
At the start of the
Great War in 1914 such was the urge to identify with home many Australian
fighting units transported their animal mascots with them to Egypt, the jumping
off point for the Middle East part of the world wide conflict.
The little kangaroo, above
in the first photo set against the Pyramids at the Australian army base at Mena
Camp, was the 10th Infantry Battalion’s much pampered mascot… while
the little koala shown awaiting embarkation for overseas duty was photographed
with fellow volunteers wearing a mini version of the slouch hat complete with
emu feathers.
Some of these mascots
even made it to England where this juvenile kangaroo is shown with a nurse at
the Australian Auxiliary Hospital in Harefield.
The nurse wasn’t identified but the kangaroo’s name was listed as
Jimony, regimental tag number unfortunately not included.
By WW2 the novelty of
mascots travelling overseas had either waned or been frowned upon by those in
authority though a few still managed to slip through the lines.
Arthur Clifton, shown
here with a kangaroo smuggled aboard a transport for Malaya in 1941, enlisted
in the 2/19 Infantry Battalion in 1940, disembarked in Singapore and went
missing in February of 1942. His
kangaroo companion suffered a similar fate.
***
It’s easy enough for us
in the 21st Century to frown upon the young men of long ago who took
these hapless national icons to war.
Opinions and attitudes change with time.
Instead of criticising we should perhaps put ourselves in their places,
imagine the fear they tried so hard to quell, the small comfort they sought at
the sight of, and contact with a living, breathing part of home.
At the start of this
story I promised four ‘K’s’, kookaburras, koalas, kangaroos and a King - King
George 5th…
Perhaps the greatest
honour for our boys at the front and a little kangaroo far from the familiar
warmth of his Australian homeland was this 1916 review of Australian troops by
King George V on the cold and wintery field of Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire.
The review was captured
on film by British Pathe, the occasion a proud one for our soldiers and their
kangaroo mascot. Soon after this film
was taken many of the fine young men standing at attention would cross the
English Channel enroute for the war fields of France.
And many would not
return.
***
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 photo courtesy of the Glen Innes Historical Museum | 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.
***
Robyn Mortimer…
With thanks and
recognition to the unknown photographers of long ago.
Links to previous blogs...
Fastest Kookaburra in Australia:
Straddie
flood-drought-bushfire
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