History of Wagga Wagga - Federation and War

Federation and War

At end of the nineteenth century, Wagga Wagga, like most of rural Australia, was proud of its ties to imperial Britain and volunteers from Wagga Wagga enlisted in military units sent to imperial conflicts such as the Mahdist War in Sudan in 1885 and later in 1899 the Second Boer War in South Africa. Notwithstanding the strength of these ties, demonstrated by the enthusiastic celebrations of Queen Victoria's jubilee in 1897, national sentiment was rising in Wagga Wagga.

Along with most of the Riverina region, the majority of Wagga Wagga residents supported the federation of the Australian colonies, in large part due to the prospect of free trade across colonial borders. Many addresses by visiting politicians supporting Federation were held in front of large crowds in Wagga Wagga, often from the balconies of various hotels. From 1898, a group of residents promoted Wagga Wagga for consideration as the site of the future national capital due to its location equidistant from Sydney and Melbourne and its ample water supply. Despite the bid's lack of success, in the 1899 referendum Wagga Wagga residents voted strongly in favour of federation.

The start of World War I once again lead to many men from Wagga Wagga and the surrounding area volunteering to serve King and country. The town was the starting point of the "Kangaroo March", one of a series of snowball marches conducted in New South Wales during the war where groups of recruits would march toward Sydney and appeal to men in the towns along the route to join them and enlist in the Australian Imperial Force. 88 recruits left Wagga Wagga on 1 December 1915, farewelled by a large crowd and to the accompaniment of a band. The marchers included John Ryan, who later won the Victoria Cross for his actions in the Battle of the Hindenburg Line in 1918. Along the way, the march stopped in towns such as Junee, Cootamundra, Murrumburrah and Yass and finished at Campbelltown with over 220 recruits. The local Rugby league football team, Wagga Kangaroos, chose its name in commemoration of the march. The two bitter conscription referendum debates in 1916 and 1917 exposed deep divisions in Wagga Wagga society with the respectable and mostly Protestant farmers, graziers, businessmen, and professionals generally in favour of conscription while the anti-conscriptionist tended to be Catholic and working class. Both referendums were narrowly defeated nationally, with Wagga Wagga voting for conscription in 1916 and against in 1917.