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Events

21 February 1917

By February 21, 2017November 20th, 2018No Comments
  • Orange telegraph operator, Hubert Joseph Irwin, is killed in action in France
  • The Leader reports the death of 26 year old Francis Bootle. Another Orange Soldier Gone
  • Orange sends a further 1250lbs (567 kilos) of jam to Sydney for soldiers abroad. This is in addition to the 950lbs (431 kilos) dispatched on 5 February. Red Cross Society
  • The Leader publishes the 273rd Casualty List
  • Private Henry Paul James sends news from France to his parents in Millthorpe. This is his fifteenth letter he has sent home, and the first that his parents have received. Soldiers’ Letters
  • Private G Hind writes to Orange East Public School student, Doris Dunbar, to thank her for her Christmas gift. A Grateful Soldier
  • The Orange Girls’ Friendly Society holds the first of a series of fortnightly fundraisers for soldiers at the front. Girls’ Friendly Society
  • Sam Whitmee of Millthorpe describes his Red Cross work in the United Kingdom. Sam spends his days gathering information about the wounded, dead or missing soldiers from the Orange district, which he conveys to anxious family and friends. He describes his voyage to England, with the constant threat of torpedoes, and how the long for “an Australian sun” in the bleak English winter. Mr Sam Whitmee – His Experiences In England