FATHERS WITHOUT SONS

Image: Melbourne, VIC in 1942. Members of the Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen Fathers Association and members of the sister association watch reverently as Mrs S. J. Powell places a wreath on the stone of remembrance in the shrine, assisted by Mr F. H. Bromle.

Today, the Soldiers and Sailors Fathers Association is long forgotten. Yet the men in that organisation played an important role in supporting the Anzacs returning from the Great War 1914-1918. The Association started during the First World War to help veterans coming back home. It campaigned for proper medical care, employment, housing, pensions and recognition of veterans and it raised funds for war memorials.

Melbourne, Vic. 1944-07-25. Councillor G. H. Kilborn,
President of the Malvern Branch of the Sailors, Soldiers
and Airmen’s Fathers Association, examining a replica
of the Shrine of Remembrance which was constructed
by Mr J. Martin, Mr A. A. Jack and members of the
Malvern Branch of the Association.

Memorials
In 1920 the Soldiers and Sailors Fathers Association in the Victorian town of Bairnsdale started raising money for a local memorial for the town. Two years later thanks to their efforts the Governor General Lord Foster unveiled an elegant pylon with a bluestone base with the names of men and women from the district who served in the Great War. The memorial remains the focal point of modern day Bairnsdale.

Membership
Joining the Association was straightforward. In July 1920 the Riverina Grazier newspaper reported plans to set up a branch in the Hay District. The paper announced any man who was a father; stepfather or father by adoption of a sailor, soldier or nurse who was accepted for active service between 1914 and 1918 was eligible to join. A Women’s Auxiliary was also created for women who wished to support the Association.

Mental Institutions
The issues for many fathers were personal. At the Association’s national conference in 1923, one delegate complained about how veterans were treated in mental institutions. Melbourne’s Argus newspaper reported:

“Strong objection was taken to returned soldiers in the Repatriation Mental Hospital at Mont Park being made subject to the control of the Lunacy department or taken to any lunatic asylum. One delegate complained of the absence of any system of segregation. His son, he said, had been in that hospital for a long time but was dissatisfied with the environment and had escaped. The son became a successful wheat buyer.”

The Association had branches across Australia and was active well into the 1920s. During the Second World War it re-formed as the Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen’s Fathers Association. Next Father’s Day as we remember veteran dads spare a thought for the fathers of the Great War devoted to helping the returning Anzacs.