WINTON TO BRISBANE

Feautured Image: Gladstone troop train.

Gladstone RSL Sub Branch honourED the Anzac Centenary with a re-enactment of a troop train journey from Winton to Brisbane.

The Sub Branch received $40,000 from the Queensland Government to re-enact the rail trip which took five days.

The troop train departed from Winton on 20 April 2015 carrying 225 people dressed in period costume.

It stopped in Longreach, Emerald, Rockhampton and Maryborough before arriving in Brisbane for the Anzac Day Service on 25 April 2015.

In 1914 Army officers advised the ladies of Cairns whose menfolk were travelling by troop train and on foot that:

“The men who had gone to the front from Cairns would be provided with uniforms and equipment, but after much marching they would feel the need of a good pair of socks."

"Here was an opportunity for the ladies of Cairns to assist by making socks for the soldiers who had gone away in response to the call of duty.”