RAOC Salisbury Branch visited the Australia Map

Thursday 5th march 20 members and friends from the Salisbury Branch met the village hall Compton Chamberlayne for a talk about the Map of Australia Trust

We were given the talk by Helen Roberts, founder the trust.

The Map of Australia badge is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and therefore protected by law. It was cut by Australian soldiers, belonging to the Australian Imperial Force, in early 1917. The badge features the outline of Australia and Tasmania, with the legend “AUSTRALIA” cut through the middle. The outline of the Map measures approximately 150 feet across and the lettering is 18 feet tall, so took some effort to make! References in letters and diaries refer to its creation as more of a punishment than a pleasure, but we have also found evidence that once created, it was often looked at longingly by men, perhaps when thinking of home. Chalk badges were cut at the nearby military camp at Fovant, and also at camps on the Salisbury Plain (Codford and Bulford) so it is probable that the Hurdcott Camp soldiers wanted to add their own badge to rival those.

After the talk we all retired to the Royal Oak, Swallowcliffe for lunch.

A big thankyou to Helen for the work she does in the trust and for giving us the talk. 2 members signed up to help with the cleaning work for mar and September time.

Within Compton Chamberlayne church a tablet to village members who fell in WW1., listed is a:

SSGT William Langdon Army Ordnance Corps