Kevtoberfest #25 Gundagai and Holbrook
No matter how large or small, country towns and cities in Australia all have memorials commemorating past events. Many are war memorials with the names of long ago battles and those who served. Some recall explorers who passed by or local residents who achieved greatness. Others are either famous or a complete surprise, with a fascinating story to match.
Eight kilometres out of Gundagai is a memorial to the pioneers who journeyed west and settled in what would become the Riverina region. In the early days, supplies were transported from the coast to the inland by bullock drays. The routes were difficult and unpredictable and the bullock drivers, known as bullockies, took many risks to deliver their precious cargo on time. In the 1850s, an unknown poet penned the tale of “Bullocky Bill“, recording the hardships of life on the road for the bullockies and their faithful dogs.
The Dog on the Tuckerbox depicts the bullocky’s dog immortalised in the poem, loyally guarding his master’s food store. The statue was unveiled in 1932 and has become an iconic Australian symbol.
While the faithful dog is well-known, further south at Holbrook is another memorial much more unusual and not so famous – the upper section of an Oberon-class submarine. Why does a town so far from the sea have a connection with a submarine?
Until 1915 the town was known as Germanton but, with patriotism at a high during World War One, the decision was made to change its name. “Holbrook” was chosen to honour Lieutenant Norman Holbrook, a submariner with the Royal Navy. He had become an international hero after deeds of bravery in the Dardanelles earned him a Victoria Cross. In the years after the war, Norman and his wife Gundula visited the town three times. Following Norman’s death in 1976, she made a bequest to the town for a memorial to submariners in his name.
The submarine HMAS Otway, decommissioned after 26 years service with the Royal Australian Navy, was the perfect choice for a memorial. The funds gifted by Gundula were used to purchase the submarine’s upper casing, fin and stern and they were transported by semi-trailer to Holbrook. The submariners’ memorial and museum were established and opened in a ceremony in 1997, attended by Gundula Holbrook.
Today, Holbrook is known as “the Submarine Town”, even though it is more than 300 kilometres from the sea and no one drives past Gundagai without visiting the famous dog. Some memorials are far more interesting than others!
Love reading those stories from times past, even if it’s the nearer past!
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It’s great to honour special people and their stories.
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Yes, absolutely!
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How amazing that they honour the dogs with statues! I really am, as an animal lover, very impressed by that!
Peta
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It’s a wonderful statue, Peta.
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The dogs and their loyalty remind me of Greyfriars Bobby. A very fine memorial. My dad was a WWII submariner so that one resonates too.
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You would enjoy seeing the museum then, Andrew.
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It seems strange to find that submarine memorial so far from the sea. I guess they really liked Holbrook if the family wanted the memorial there. I love the bullocky’s dog and the story behind that. And I love the word bullockies. It sounds so Australian. 🙂
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The town was named after Norman so I suppose they had a special bond. Bullocky really is a unique Australian word.
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Well, I was aware of the faithful dog but not so much of the submarine history. Definitely out of the ordinary.
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It’s such an unusual sight as you drive into town. We knew it was there so we had to stop and investigate.
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Did you visit recently? I’m surprised that the hills in Gundagai are so green!
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This was at the start of October last year. They must have had a wet winter.
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Two of my favourite spots to visit when we drive up to Sydney. Love these two famous landmarks of ours. Xx
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We’ve stopped at the dog before but we hadn’t seen the sub.
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The sub is so cool. Love the bakery there too. 😉
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I didn’t see the bakery but we had a delicious lunch at the café in the submarine park.
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Those are two great stories. A submarine so far from the sea must be quite a sight to behold. 🙂
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Walking on the top really gives an idea of how narrow a sub must be inside. Submariner wouldn’t be my ideal job. But it was great to see it in the park.
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The life of a submariner would definitely not have been for me! A ship on top of the water, yes, but not one so narrow and with no windows and that spends most of its time under the water.
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It’s a ghastly thought.
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Good morning Carol! When you know the story behind it, the sub doesn’t seem so very out of place – but I can well imagine the bemusement of uninformed travellers! 🙂 I knew of Gundagai and the tuckerbox dog though – hashtag ‘feeling proud’ 🙂 We have the drovers faithful dog statue up in the McKenzie country. I so like to see the working dogs acknowledged, even today they are there faithfully serving and doing their work without complaint. Most enjoyable post!
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Thank you, Pauline. I think I’ve seen the drover’s dog. Is he near one of those beautiful lakes – I can’t remember the name right now.
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Yes, the statue overlooks Lake Tekapo. where there is also that old, gorgeous tiny wooden church ……
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Yes, that’s it. I could see the dog and the church in my mind but the name escaped me. I wrote a post about it.
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The name Gundagai instantly rang a bell and I recognised the dog – I have read about it on another blog recently. Can’t remember where! Interesting how things come around again.
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If you’re travelling between Melbourne and Sydney on the Hume Highway, you go right past the dog. He’s probably a popular topic on travel blogs. 🙂
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Nice piece of history. It is also interesting that there is a submarine in the next town over, Portsmouth, that is also a memorial – the Albacore. 🙂
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That is interesting. And I supposed Portsmouth is named after the one in England. And even more interesting is that Portsmouth is where Anthony Holbrook was born, in the suburb of Southsea. My dear friend lives there and we’ve been many times.
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Beautiful setting. Love the statue of the dog.
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That part of the country is very pretty.
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I’m getting a good series of history lessons from you!
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That’s good to hear, Yvonne. We were interested to learn about Norman.
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Oh man, I still haven’t seen the tuckerbox dog! I reeeeally want to! And Red Dog too.
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You’ll have to go to opposite sides of the country. This dog is in New South Wales and Red Dog is in Western Australia.
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What a fascinating story Carol, about the change of name and the appearance of a submarine so far inland! And I like the idea of the bullockie’s dogs!
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Glad you enjoyed this story, Denzil.
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That submarine is quite a sight, Carol. 🙂 🙂
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It’s even more impressive up on top, Jo.
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I have a photo of the dog with my granddaughter – taken many years ago by her dad. Never heard of the submarine though. Brings to mind a pub in Shropshire called The Kangaroo Inn – the origin of its name is not quite clear, though it is believed to be associated with the S.S. Kangaroo, an Atlantic cable runner. Why that should be used as the name of the pub many miles from the coast, who knows!
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That would make a good story if you can find out!
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Oh I didn’t know that was why they changed the name! 😀
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Neither did we until we read about it there. Norman must have felt very honoured.
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I have to say all of this is new to me. It would be great to explore these small towns across Australia.
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Many are not that interesting but some have little surprises.
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