The marchers have been walking, riding horses and driving trucks and tractors along the old roads all the way from Wagga Wagga to Campbelltown (a distance of more than 520km) to re-enact the ‘Kangaroo March’ which took place in December 1915 with 88 men.

Once the marchers reached Campbelltown, the contingent of men had swelled to 220 with many of them enlisting either in their hometown or in the nearest regional centre.

Many of the soldiers were still in their late teens and were embarking on a journey to a war they had never experienced before.

Some would never return home, either wounded or killed in action on the battlefronts of the Western Front in France and Belgium and some in the Middle East.

You may remember we featured an article on September 14 about Wagga Wagga men Graham Brown and Neil Hughes and their waler horses Des, a 12 year old Australian stock horse and Bubba, a 7 year old ex-pacer who only left the track a year ago.

Mr Hughes arrived in Parkesbourne aboard Bubba and was greeted enthusiastically by the villagers, with some asking him lots of questions about Bubba and about his role in the Kangaroo March reenactment.

He spoke to Town and Country Magazine about his experiences.

“My uncle Bert served in World War One and took part in the Kangaroo March, so I’m doing this reenactment to keep his image and memory alive,” Mr Hughes said.

“Uncle Bert was just the right age when he enlisted and went on to serve on the fronts in Gallipoli and everywhere else except for Beersheba in Palestine.

Also, a lot of my family went on to serve in World War 2 as well. 

I guess this march is just my way of contributing to the service my family gave to their country and King.

I often get a bit teary whilst walking along. 

But I cannot fault the organisers of this great march- they’ve put a huge amount of effort into the logistics of it all. 

The camaraderie of the marchers has been absolutely beautiful, and we have often been singing and chatting away whilst walking along.”

Wagga Wagga Kangaroo Marcher’s funny memory

Wagga Wagga man Mike Fitzgerald recalled a funny story about his father Edward, who enlisted at the age of 19 and embarked on the march from Wagga.

When Edward first tried to enlist he failed his medical due to the realisation that he was blind in his right eye.

But, not to be deterred he did another eye test when the march reached Goulburn and managed to ‘cheat’ his way in.

“Dad was asked to cover his left eye with his left hand and then read off the chart, which he managed to do OK,” Mr Fitzgerald said.

“But he was clever, because when asked to do the same with the other eye, he just covered his left eye again, but this time with his right hand!”

Mr Fitzgerald recounted that Edward came home from the war not wounded but with bronchial problems and with ‘trench foot.’

“Dad often found it unbearable whenever someone would drape a blanket over his feet in later life thanks to the trench foot,” he said.

“But when he returned from the war he worked as a bricklayer for 30 years.

Unfortunately he was cruelly taken away from us in a car accident in 1949.”

The Kangaroo March departs Goulburn today for the nearby town of Marulan and then onto the Southern Highlands villages of Tallong, Wingello, Penrose, Bundanoon and Exeter. 

They will stop in Moss Vale over the October Long Weekend (Friday October 2-Monday October 5) and pass through Bowral and Mittagong, pausing to reflect at the Bowral Cenotaph on the Monday.

The marchers hope to arrive in Campbelltown on Saturday October 10 after a massive five week journey.

For more information on the Kangaroo March Reenactment, visit www.kangaroomarch.org.au and follow the links.