39th Battalion AIF 1916-1919

28/05/2026

Katamatite is a very small rural town between Numurkah and Yarrawonga in northern Victoria, Australia. 3 men of the 39th came from the area. It is rare that 39th men came from this area, as the majority of them came from Ballarat and district and western Victoria.
Many thanks to former 39th Association president Alan Jameson and current vice president Dave Howell for the booklet.

Factis Non Verbis - Deeds Not Words.

26/04/2026

26/04/2026

Anzac Day March Melbourne. It was a fine sunny day, plenty of marchers and spectators.

17/04/2026

AWM Last Post Service for Sgt Herman Frederick Bush.
Factis Non Verbis - Deeds Not Words

In the Last Post Ceremony for 17 April, we remember Sergeant Herman Frederick Bush who served Australia in the First World War.The Last Post Ceremony streams...

16/04/2026

Today the Australian War Memorial will honour 39th man Sgt 398 Herman Frederick Bush at the Last Post Service. Bush was killed in action 7th June 1917 and is remembered on the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium.
The service is broadcast live on Youtube from 4.30pm Australian Eastern Time.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKmio2JTTLpxC3gniK1f2IA

14/04/2026

Anzac Day in Melbourne arrangements for the 39th AIF.
Form up location is the same as last year. Flinders St east of Swanston St, south side, near the massed banners at the red rectangle. If you are coming please advise me. The more the better.
Please be in place no later than 1030am. Step off is scheduled for 11am but is often earlier if the March is ahead of time.
Look for the banner.
Tim
Factis Non Verbis.

14/04/2026

Anzac Day in Melbourne arrangements for the 39th AIF.
Form up location is the same as last year. Flinders St east of Swanston St, south side, near the massed banners at the red rectangle. If you are coming please advise me. The more the better. I believe we will cadets with us again this year.
Please be in place no later than 1030am. Step off is scheduled for 11am but is often earlier if the March is ahead of time.
Look for the banner.
Tim
Factis Non Verbis.

17/03/2026

Pte 272 Hugh Michael O'Rorke, 39th Battalion AIF.

Pioneer of Country Fire Authority Radio Communications.

Former Lake Bolac and Westmere resident, Hugh Michael O'Rorke was a pioneer in the development of CFA radio communications which today are an essential part of any fire fight and taken as a granted.
Here is Hugh's story.
Hugh Michael O'Rorke was born at Brim, Victoria in 1890 and arrived in Lake Bolac with his parents Hugh and Annie and his 7 siblings in 1906. The family had travelled from Brim in a wagon to take up land purchased under the 'Closer Settlement' scheme. The farm was located adjacent to Lake Bolac and so the property was named 'Lake View'.
Hugh farmed 'Lake View' with his brother Leo until he joined the 39th Battalion AIF in Ballarat in 1916.
His WW1 service in France was short after being gassed, then severely wounded during the 'Battle for Broodseinde Ridge' in October, 1917.
After convalescing in England he returned home and was discharged in 1918, married Dorothy Dunbar in 1919 and took up a Soldier Settlement block at Westmere which they named 'Killigrew'. The home still stands and is the first home on the left as you enter Westmere from Lake Bolac before the speed restriction signs.
In 1940 the Lake Bolac Bush Fire Brigade asked Hugh to purchase phone instruments which were placed at R A Austin's (Captain), R Hargreaves (Lt) at Lake Bolac and Hugh's home at Westmere.
In December 1946 the Wireless Institute of Australia said that amateur radio operators had the technical expertise and equipment needed to transmit the 'radio for fires'. The CFA were strongly against such a system but a 12 month trial began and the first Rural Fire Brigade Radio Transmission was made from Hugh's home at Westmere on December 19th, 1946 from VL3KJ on 572kHz. The idea was to operate mobiles at fires back to Westmere Base at 'Killigrew'. Hugh became known as the 'Chief'.
Hugh toured many parts of Victoria with Westmere Group members demonstrating Fire Radio. He even demonstrated their use in Western Australia in 1962.
Hugh was awarded the M.B.E. (Member of the British Empire) in 1955 in recognition of his pioneering work in Fire Brigade Communications and for his Public Service in the district. He became Chairman of the CFA from July 1958 to July 1959.
From humble beginnings in a room at 'Killigrew' the volunteer run Westmere Fire Brigades' Group has evolved into an organisation of 19 Fire Brigades with over 400 privately owned fire units. It covers an area of over 400,000 hectares (one million acres) in the Western District of Victoria - one of the most dangerous fire weather regions in the world.
Among his many interests was photography and we are fortunate to have many of the photos he took in the Bolac and Westmere area between 1910 and 1915 in our collection. Many of his photos have also been shared on the Western District Families page over the years.
Hugh passed away in 1962 and is buried in the Lake Bolac Cemetery. A truly great Australian!

The 39th Battalion's motto is well applied to Hugh -
Factis Non Verbis - Deeds Not Words
Mud Over Blood.

(Information Source - The O'Rorke chapter in a publication 'Settlers on the Shores', Edited by Karen McIntyre 2003.
My thanks to Hugh's granddaughter Lisa McCormick for sending through photographs for use in this post.)
Western District Families page.

18/02/2026

Today we remember the two 39th men who were prisoners of war during WW1.
They are Lance Corporal 4675 Reginald Henry Bolton and Pte 1350 Charles Richard Makeham.
Bolton, a civil servant, was from Sydney NSW and Makeham, a farmer, from Mysia via Boort, northern Victoria.
Bolton died from pleurisy in captivity and was buried near Cologne in Germany. He was reinterred after the war at St Roch Communal Cemetery, Valenciennes, Nord Pas de Calais, France.
Makeham was released after the war and returned home. He married however he sadly passed away at Swan Hill, Vic, in 1925.

Lest We Forget
Factis Non Verbis.
Mud Over Blood.

26/01/2026

Congratulations to Major Neil Leckie of Ballarat on being awarded the Order of Australia. Neil manages the Ballarat Rangers Military Museum and supported the 39th Battalion association in organising the centenary commemoration of the raising of the 39th Battalion in Feb 2016.

Neil is well known in Ballarat for his military-related activities and his involvement in various community groups. His connections include the Officer Training Unit Association, the Ballarat Ranger Military Museum, the National Servicemen’s Association of Australia Ballarat sub-branch, the Royal Victoria Regiment Association, the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute. The former Army Reservist who attained the rank of major was a volunteer firefighter and held various other positions with the Clunes CFA brigade, has been a cricket umpire, and has written several military history publications. He has already received several awards and official recognitions, and became a life member of the CFA in 2022. He is a battlefield tour guide for sites in Gallipoli and the Western Front, and has been a communications officer for CFA Region 15 since 2012.