About 250 returned soldiers and sailors with about the same number of relatives attended the civic reception provided by the Mayor, Cr Richard Gill and councillors at Port Melbourne Town Hall on the afternoon of 5 Dec 1918.
The reception and the ‘smoke concert’ to be held later that evening were the work of the Anzac Reception Committee that had been…
Some three thousand people gathered along the roads leading from the New Railway Pier (Princes Pier) on the morning of Saturday 23 November 1918 to welcome the first contingent of returned soldiers.1
Barriers along the route restricted the roadway to 12 feet to allow the cars carrying the soldiers to proceed to the city.
At the foot of the pier, two strong…
Barely a week after the home leave for the original Anzacs had been announced, the Minister for Defence, Senator Pearce sanctioned the appointment of a special committee to take charge of arrangements for a fitting welcome for the returning men.1
Local authorities were encouraged to make their own local arrangements and Mrs Suffolk, Honorary Secretary of the Port Melbourne Women’s Welcome…