As three quarters of a century has passed since I first saw the light of day, I have often thought it may be of interest to the people of your town and district if I tell a few memories of the conditions and events which took place when I was a boy in that locality.
I first went to school at the mature age of 5 years at Lower Homebush. The headmaster at that time was Mr. P. J. Smith. I went there for a few years, when for some reason or other my parents decided to send myself and older brother to the school at Upper Homebush, where a Mr. Green was headmaster. In those days a carnival in aid of charities used to be held every year in Avoca, and these were a wonderful event for children and no doubt for grownups also.
At one of these I remember the star attraction was a battle or sham fight between a force of red Indians and a company of white soldiers. The red skins were men from Moonambiel district and the whites recruited from the Homebush area.
Great ingenuity and much labour were required to make the uniforms and equipment for these men. The uniforms were made of hessian and strips torn from red blankets were used to sew on trouser legs, coat collars and caps. These latter were made from round shallow tins, which had once contained fish. They were held on the men's heads by chin straps, which held them at a jaunty angle. Guns mostly the muzzle loading variety and the "cannon" was made by a local tin smith. It was a tube about a foot in diameter, 6 feet long, fastened between a pair of cart wheels and painted black. If a shotgun was placed in this and discharged it made a quite a satisfactory bang. Every evening for two or three weeks the children used to get a lot of enjoyment watching the men drilling on the local cricket ground at Homebush.
A local school teacher, Mr. Eugene Flynn, wrote the words for a patriotic song set to a good tune and called it "The Homebush Field Artillery". Here is the chorus:
Ya Ha! the moonambiels, Ya Ha! the moonambiels,
You thought you led with faces red.
You held the winning card.
Ya Ha! the moonambiels, Ya ha! the moonambiles,
You'll get a surprise if you kick up a noise in our backyard.
When the long a waited day for the carnival arrived a party of small boys, including myself walked the 5 miles (I think it was) to Avoca. I remember one of the lads, who was quite a capitalist, paying the large sum of 3d. for a packet of Cameo cigarettes, which we decided to sample in a large drain pipe.
The battle in the Showgrounds was a most realistic affair, with plenty of firing of guns and cannon, which the "Indians" tried to capture, and there was much smoke and the smell of gunpowder. Much to our joy the Indians lost the fight and Homebush's artillery celebrated their victory in song.
On another occasion a sham fight between Boers and British took place there, but I do not remember where the "armies" came from.
When I was 10 years old my father, who was police constable was transferred to Moonambiel and I got to know some of the men who played the part of the redskins. I might add that their attire was mostly made up of old blankets and feather head dressed for which local geese and roosters had to make a sacrifice, while the "Indians" had to have their faces and arms painted red for the battle.
E. T. Daly August 4, 1965