The story goes that an English lad, brought up on the land on his father’s farm, was sent to town with a load of hay. This young horse and cart driver wasn’t looking where he was going and so he managed to tip the load into a ditch. His father said “George is no farmer and to the city he shall go”. So young George was sent to London and became a draper. The lad was George Williams who, with eleven of his fellow drapers, began an association in London on June 6, 1844. The association was the Young Men’s Christian Association – the YMCA. [1]

Over 70 years later, with the outbreak of WWI, this organisation would become an integral part of the war effort through sustaining the morale of young men who faced the greatest challenge of their lives, lives which in many, many cases were tragically cut short. Like the war itself, the story of the YMCA stretched over many continents and many countries where the war was fought and from where young men came. This paper, however, will focus on impact of the YMCA and its WWI effort in one sending area of Australia, the state of NSW.

The Founding of the Sydney YMCA

The YMCA had an uncertain start in the colony of NSW when in June 1853, a letter appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) encouraging the formation of a YMCA along the lines of that which existed in Great Britain and in Melbourne.[2] In September 1853, the YMCA prospectus was published on the front page of the Sydney newspapers.  It advised that the YMCA was to be under the Presidency of John Fairfax and with no less than 18 clerical vice presidents. Their presence was designed to indicate the support of the protestant Christian churches (there were no Catholic priests listed) and to show that the new organisation would be no threat to them. The motivation for forming the organisation was:

the great want observed to exist here by many persons who are anxious for the moral and intellectual advancement of this country and felt especially by young men who earnestly desire to keep pace with the march of the mind in our Fatherland, seems to be the absence of those helps and guides, and means of improvement, which seek an apparatus as the present Association is calculated to afford.[3]

The organisation was officially inaugurated in Sydney, with its first public meeting on October 5, 1853, and with a lecture given by the Rev George King.[4] It was the arrival of Sharp Hutchinson Lewis and his appointment as Secretary that proved to be critical to the survival of the YMCA at this stage of its life. In London and before coming to Australia, Sharp had been secretary of the Bloomsbury branch of the YMCA and was a close friend of George Williams, the founder of the Association.  Upon arriving in Sydney and on the day of his disembarkation in June 13, 1854, he found the group meeting in a room at the corner of Pitt and King Streets and enrolled himself as a member.[5] Sharp was disappointed that it was a weak and struggling concern and it was obvious to him that it needed in its secretary ‘somebody with more time to spare’.[6] The ‘somebody’ who had the time and the knowledge, and as importantly the youthful enthusiasm, was Sharp Lewis who became Secretary in July 1855. Lewis’ first-hand knowledge of what was being done ‘at home’ led the YMCA to get new premises and to seek to interest prominent people in the work.[7] As Sharp Lewis explained in the third annual report ‘the YMCA … consists essentially of a band of young men who, having themselves felt the love of Christ, desire to extend the knowledge of Him among their companions and young men generally’.[8] The Association was overtly protestant in orientation having been ‘established on the most catholic principles, comprehending every branch of Protestant Christianity’.[9] It involved two groups of men, those who ‘give reason to believe that they are truly converted men’ and those who, ‘Christian or not’, subscribe to the reading room. The subscribers could also attend the various ‘self-improvement’ classes on subjects such as elocution, French, photography and Latin as well as lectures on subjects as diverse as ‘the claims of Christianity’ and Geology.[10]

The progress of the Association was slow and continuous, but by August 1861, the movement had waned and closed its rooms in George Street and by 1863 the YMCA was virtually defunct. Its library of some 1,700 books, many of a self-improving nature, was sold.[11] The residual funds of the Association were held by its Trustees in the hope that meetings might commence once again.[12] While large meetings were not held at this time nor public lectures given as before, the embers of the work remained.  The young men who had originally formed the association,[13] such as Benjamin Short, Walter Buzacott, Sharp Lewis and William F Newman,[14] continued to hold regular monthly morning breakfasts on the last Sunday of the month and by the end of 1869 there were attempts to again revive the work,[15] and the members of the former YMCA agreed to hand over their funds to the new YMCA.[16]

By January 1871, the YMCA was again seeking rooms to establish its work[17] and in April it held a public lecture, given by Rev John Graham, on ‘the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures’.[18] A room was secured in the Temperance Hall, Pitt Street, and served as a reading room and meeting place where classes on various subjects were held.[19] The YMCA had survived its near-death experience and once again began to grow.

Over the next few years the activities of the YMCA prospered with increased classes, lectures and membership. By 1877, a full-time employee was needed and David Walker was approached. In January of 1878, he became the full-time General Secretary, a position he retained until 1902, and with the guidance of Walker and his energetic endeavours, and with the help of others such as John Kent, the YMCA entered a period of vigorous growth and development. This stabilized the YMCA and allowed it to extend its work, which was spiritual, social and self-improving, until it became an effective and far-reaching Christian ministry which benefitted many young men.

The War Work of the YMCA

By the time WWI came the YMCA was, around the world and in Sydney, a vigorous and effective organisation and like the rest of Australia was ready to serve the Empire. Andrew Fisher, the Australian Prime Minister, had said that Australia would rally to the Mother Country “to help and defend her to our last man and our last shilling.”[20] The YMCA had decided it would be part of this effort and where the Australian men went they would go as well.

The work of the YMCA among soldiers began long before WWI. In America, it came to prominence during the Civil War and in the difficult period of the reconstruction after hostilities ceased by helping to re-incorporate the soldiers into ordinary civil life. During the Russo-Japanese war the YMCA provided letter writing material for Japanese soldiers. This earned for the YMCA the personal financial support of the Emperor and the support of Admiral Togo for their efforts. Yet this work did not yield the results for which the evangelical YMCA hoped as:[21]

The Japanese used the YMCA as an instrument for war work in the Russo-Japanese war and also domestically to control the morals of Japanese youth. However, the Christian mission fell out of the YMCA during this time; Japan would not be a Christian nation.[22]

During the Boer War, the British and Australian associations rendered service both in the home camps and on the field in South Africa.[23] Here the British YMCA provided some 20 representatives who were later to become known as YMCA Secretaries.[24] In Australia, the YMCA was present in the Boer War recruiting camps in Sydney. Wherever the YMCA was, a tent was erected and religious services were held each evening. The tent had various facilities to serve the troops, reading material, writing equipment and an opportunity to relax and talk. [25]

These engagements with the military were on a small scale, but were preparatory for the work that the YMCA would do in WWI. They demonstrated to the YMCA

leadership, as well as to the military leadership, that in the event of a great war there would be a significant opportunity and role for the YMCA. So when compulsory military training came into force in Australia[26] a permanent organisation was established within the YMCA to meet the needs of the men in the camps. At the beginning of August 1914, when it seemed likely that Great Britain would enter the war, the YMCA was able to notify the military authorities that they could be counted on in the event of war. So when the first voluntary recruits marched into camp, such as at Sydney, Cootamundra and Dubbo, the most prominent feature in centres was the big YMCA marquee.[27]

In WWI there were three voluntary organisations that followed the Australian troops at home and overseas and they had three distinct objects in view. The Red Cross was to care for the sick and wounded. The Australian Comforts Fund[28] undertook the free distribution of comforts to the AIF. To the Australian YMCA was allotted the task of ‘catering for the recreational, social, and moral welfare

of the soldier’.[29] In order to do this the YMCA set up tents and huts in local recruitment areas as well as overseas camps and in the war zones. They had appointed YMCA secretaries who ran these tents and huts as well as accompanying the soldiers on the ships that transported the troops to war. By mid-1916, 53 secretaries had been appointed for service with the Australian troops in Egypt and at the front. The secretary appointed to a troop ship would transport a lot of equipment with them when they went overseas: stationery, reading material, sporting equipment, games, gramophones, baby organs and much more.[30] While the YMCA sought to place secretaries on all troop ships where this was not possible the YMCA placed on board equipment for the use of the men.[31]

The aim of the Australian YMCA throughout the war was to promote the social welfare of the soldier and to provide him with huts and other rendezvous where, beneath the sign of the Red Triangle, he was enabled temporarily to put aside military duties, profitably spend his leisure hours, and receive such entertainment as would relieve his mind from the stress of war.[32]

The symbol of the YMCA was the red triangle which stood for its belief in an ‘equilateral man’ of Spirit, Mind and Body with the red symbolising sacrifice.[33] The military value of the YMCA was morale. A Red Triangle hut allowed the soldiers to sit in relative comfort, use its writing paper to send letters home, attend the cinema, concerts or lectures, have a cup of tea and a chat and find in it a break and a distraction from the war. This was a tangible contribution to the war effort. The YMCA was an international organisation, and the Sydney YMCA was just one branch, so the extent of the work undertaken by the YMCA was vast as they sought to be present wherever the troops were to be found. As one mother said of her son:

When the war broke out … he went to the Crystal Palace for his training, and the YMCA was there. He was drafted out to Gallipoli and to his amazement he found the YMCA on the Peninsula. He was wounded and sent to Suez where once more the YMCA was a great help to him, and yesterday … I received a letter from him from Alexandria saying he was convalescent and spending the whole of his spare time in the central building of the Association.[34]

Funding the YMCA War Effort

The financial cost to the YMCA of their service to the troops within Australia and overseas was enormous. In 1916, for instance, it was expected to exceed £100,000 (approximately $9 million current value).[35] The funding for this effort was not provided by the government, but was provided by the YMCA through the raising of public financial support. The YMCA became the channel for the great generosity and commitment of the Australian people. Prime Minister Andrew Fisher had said that Australia would be committed to the war to its last shilling and although it never got to that situation the general public’s support of the YMCA war effort was costly, widespread and sacrificial.

The Australia-wide YMCA financial appeal in 1915/16 for work abroad with the Australian Imperial Forces had been for only £25, 000. The NSW quota was £10,000 for work in Egypt and £2,000 for work in NSW.[36] By March 1916, it was realised that this original estimate of £25,000 for this work would be totally inadequate. Indeed, the work abroad was increasing so rapidly that it was hard for the YMCA to keep track of it. It advised that ‘the public must not be surprised if our appeals for money are large and continuous’[37] and indeed appeals were such that some wit dubbed the YMCA the ‘Young Men’s Cadging Association’.[38] The YMCA told the public that ‘we will guarantee to spend every penny sent us as a sacred trust for the good of Australian soldiers’.[39] They were believed and the support from the public came and the NSW appeal raised £41,837 (approximately $3.8 million current value).[40] The YMCA offered to provide a secretary for every transport leaving Australia and this offer was accepted by the Defence Department. In 1916, it was thought that with a total Australian Army of 300,000 this would mean that at least 60 secretaries at the front would be needed.[41]

By January 1917, however, it was reported that there were some 110 Australian YMCA secretaries involved in overseas war work:  24 in Egypt, over 50 in France and

upwards of 30 in England.[42]  The funds raised in 1916 were clearly inadequate so it was decided that the primary fund raising effort was to be the Red Triangle Day to be held on June 1, 1917, with a NSW target of £50,000.[43] As a result, there was a widespread effort by the citizens of NSW to raise the money. Concerts[44] were held, donations came from the rich[45] and not so rich, amounts large and small were made, companies donated profits[46], school children saved pennies[47] and other organisations fund raised and contributed to the total. By August, the collection had totalled £159, 000, of which sum 75% was allocated to overseas work and the rest for work with soldiers in Australia. G Mason Allard, Chair of the YMCA Citizens’ Committee, said this was ‘a great result … to the honour of the YMCA and to the glory of the Master whom we serve.[48] By January 1918, the amount had reached £191,000 ($15 million current value).[49]  The result of Red Triangle Day was seen by the YMCA as a ‘magnificent endorsement by the public of New South Wales of the YMCA service to the AIF in the local camps, the troopships, the overseas camps of training, and at the front.” [50]

With the cessation of hostilities in 1919, there was the danger that the public would reduce its support of the YMCA believing that its task was done. The churches and their leaders, including the moderator of the NSW Presbyterian Church, sought to counteract this view and bolster support for the work of the YMCA and so published this statement:

On behalf of the churches and Christian agencies of this State we desire most heartily to commend the good work of the YMCA Naval and Military Department to the sympathy and support of the public … the return of our soldiers is a great opportunity for a kindly and helpful Christian service. To meet the situation the YMCA has secretaries on board the returning troop-ships who look after the men’s social welfare and organise recreation … unless support is forthcoming, however, we understand it will be necessary to discontinue some of the work, and to restrict its operations generally – a result that can only be fraught with loss and possible injury to not a few of the brave fellows to whom civilisation owes so much.’[51]

The need for demobilisation funds was great as it cost the YMCA £300 (approximately $21, 000 present value) to equip every troopship that set sail for Australia and there was a ship leaving each day to return home.[52] Once more the public rallied and supplied funds, but nowhere near enough which meant that the YMCA expenditure of £21,000 (approximately $1.5 million present value) per month on demobilisation work could not be sustained and various services needed to be discontinued.[53]

As is always the case in major endeavours, the YMCA was not immune nor exempt from criticism by disgruntled individuals. Some criticism arose from those with poor experiences with the YMCA during the war and some from ignorance of its role. One returned soldier, who acknowledged some failures on the YMCA’s part in its service, rather fairly said that he would make no public criticism of the YMCA for

I know, after years of campaigning, that one percent or two per cent inefficiency on the part of the Australian YMCA is balanced by 98 or 99 per cent efficiency, and that the Red Triangle must be judged on the general record of its service … Did the Australian YMCA make things any more comfortable and decent for me over there than would have been the case had no soldiers’ huts been placarded with the Red Triangle? I can only find one answer – that the Australian YMCA did bring a measure of comfort and pleasure to the digger, and, in my judgement, did a remarkably fine bit of work.[54]

While the percentages quoted may have been up for debate the sentiment expressed was, to most people of the time, fair and balanced. Perhaps the words of one soldier sum up the nature of the criticisms of the YMCA’s war time effort when he said ‘A man having complaints against the Australian YM must indeed be a chronic grouser’. [55]

What was the impact of the work of the YMCA and did it advance its objectives?

Arthur Yapp, who was General Secretary of the National Council of YMCA’s, tells the story of an Australian officer who sauntered into a YMCA in France and said “I think you YMCA people will make a religious man of me before the war is over.” “What do you mean?” said the secretary. “Well,” said he “I have never had any use for religion, but at the battle of (name omitted) I felt down and out. I didn’t care much if the Boche killed me. I had had nothing to eat for days – when suddenly a YMCA man appeared, heaven knows where he came from, but he was there right enough, and he handed me a good hot drink, a packet of biscuits and some cigarettes. Yes,” he said “I believe you YMCA men will make a religious man of me before you have finished.”[56]

In a letter home to his family in the New England area of NSW, a soldier wrote of the YMCA;

Well, it would fill a book a dozen times over to make a record of all the good they have done out here. We have one of their representatives attached to this regiment. He runs a kind of canteen, and when there is a scrap on you will always find him poking about with a bag on his shoulder. This bag is the most wonderful thing I have ever seen. From a needle to an anchor can be had from its depths and just about the time you’re on your last cigarette he will poke his head around a corner and throw you a packet, saying; care for a smoke, lad?” I can safely say there were times here when life would have been unbearable, were it not for the YM, as we call it. Yes, it is ‘hats off’ to the YM every time. They are splendid. … I don’t think the association will find us wanting in gratitude after the war. Personally, I intend becoming a life member if I can. [57]

Another soldier writing home, as reported in NSW country newspaper, said:

The YMCA had a tent and post office of their own. Some excellent concerts were held in the tent at times. What the YMCA had done for the soldier in this war can hardly be estimated, and will never be known. They have seen to the soldiers in camp, board ship, and on the field; their work is deeply appreciated by the soldiers.[58]

Or this account from the Western Herald (Bourke, NSW),[59] but carried also by many (28) country newspapers, which shows the breadth and length to which the YMCA went to be helpful.

Yapp was conscious that a casual observer, after visiting a YMCA hut and seeing its activities, could come to the conclusion that the YMCA was doing a great social work, but that it was not much as a religious force.[60] It is true that the social work side of the YMCA, though it was at times very trying and had some physical dangers for its secretaries near the front, was easier for the secretaries to do and easy for others to see. This had its value as it led the soldiers to redub the YMCA “You Make Christianity Attractive”.[61] In seeking to serve in this way the YMCA was reflecting a Christ-like character which was an important thing for an avowedly Christian organisation to do. The more spiritual side of the work was to be seen in its one-to-one talks with individual soldiers and particularly in its worship services, which were sometimes conducted by a padre, but other times conducted by the secretary. Yapp recounts one such service conducted by a secretary and something of its impact:

It was a simple little service and did not take more than ten or fifteen minutes from start to finish. There was an opening hymn, one of the old familiar ones, that took the lads away back to the homes of their childhood. A short passage of scripture was read, followed by a few straight but sympathetic words of exhortation and a brief closing prayer. That was all, and the same thing no doubt took place in hundreds of centres the same night. Prayers over and the “King” sung the leader came down from the platform where a young Private greeted him and shook his hand till it hurt saying, “I  want to thank you for giving me a new vision of a God I once knew.”[62]

Along with the protestant churches, the YMCA put great store by the Bible and its efficacy in bringing about a spiritual engagement and conversion to personal faith and trust in Christ. So they were keen to propagate its contents in its worship services, but also in promoting the work of the Pocket Testament League (PTL). The YMCA and the PTL had had a close association ever since the PTL’s formation in the United States in connection with the Chapman/Alexander missions. The YMCA co-operated with various missions that came to Australia which also promoted the membership and work of the league. In essence the League sought to get people to read the bible believing that this act alone could bring men and women into the saving presence of the God of whom the bible spoke. It was a cause of much comment in the press when 10,000 troops on the Salisbury Plain, England, a large military encampment, joined the PTL and agreed to carry their Testament and read a chapter a day. Over 3,000 also declared their acceptance of Christ a result, in part, of a representative of the PTL spending five days travelling from YMCA tent to YMCA tent holding Gospel meetings and distributing testaments.[63] At home, too, soldiers were given testaments, the Broken Hill YMCA reported that it gave pocket testaments to the soldiers as they were leaving by train for a military camp in South Australia.[64]

On the field Bible studies were also held. R. O. Clarke, the Australian YMCA Supervising Secretary in Egypt, reported that in the YMCA hut there were provided cool drinks, a concert and a writing room, where there were run impromptu concerts, lantern lectures and cinema shows, but

here too, the mid-week service with an average attendance of 300; on Sunday afternoon a Bible class … the customary Sunday programme – 6:30am Mass (R.C.); 7:30am Non-conformist service; 11-12 refreshments sold; 2-3 Bible Class; 4-5 refreshments; 6:45-8, song service; 8-9., refreshments.[65]

The YMCA was a Christian Association, but it welcomed every enlisted man. Men of any religion, every religion, and no religion at all were equally welcomed and it sought to give to them respite and recreation and while doing so it tried not to forget its evangelical mission. As General Secretary Yapp said

At the same time we can never forget that the greatest need of every man amongst the millions we serve in our huts, is that he should have a Friend who will never fail him nor forsake him, who will stand shoulder to shoulder with him in his fierce fight with temptation in camp or city, will be with him in the trenches, in the firing line, as he goes over the parapet, or even into the dread “Valley of the Shadow,” and there is only One who can thus meet every need of every man, and that One is the strong Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the best Friend, the truest Comrade we can have.

We often fall far short of our aim, alas, but the primary aim of the YMCA always has been, and is, to lead men to a saving knowledge of that Friend.[66]

After the war the YMCA continued to serve, but it had begun to lose its focus. The reason that the YMCA in Australia, at least, lost this vital evangelical connection with the Christian faith which was responsible for its founding is to be found in the decline of the evangelical Christian faith post-World War 1.

The YMCAs of Australia today state that their Mission is to work together from a base of Christian values to provide opportunities for all people to grow in body, mind and spirit. The following are their Christian values:[67]

• The whole person, consisting of a body, a mind and a spirit each of which is of equal importance.
• The dignity and intrinsic worth of all people regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, belief or other difference.
• Diversity of people, communities and nations.
• Equality of opportunity and justice for all people.
• Healthy communities based on relationships between people which are characterised by love, understanding and mutual respect.
  

  YMCA Service: At Home and Abroad

• Acceptance of personal responsibility.

Good as these values are they lack that which Yapp, the wartime General Secretary of the YMCA, saw as the abiding primary aim of the YMCA which was ‘to lead men to a saving knowledge of’ the strong Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the best Friend, the truest Comrade we can have.[68]

At the conclusion of the war the YMCA received, as it had during the war, considerable praise and gratitude for its efforts. In the Great War it had sought to serve and it had done its duty by God, King and Country as best it could under very difficult circumstances and for this it deserves to be commended and remembered.

Dr Paul F Cooper, Research Fellow, Christ College, Sydney

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The appropriate way to cite this article is as follows:

Paul F Cooper. The Sydney YMCA and World War I. Philanthropy and Philanthropists in Australian Colonial History, November 22, 2015.  Available at https://phinaucohi.wordpress.com/2015/11/21/the-sydney-ymca-and-world-war-i/‎

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[1] Daily Advertiser (Wagga Wagga, NSW), May 27, 1916, 5.

[2] YMCA in Melbourne dates from 1844.

[3] SMH, October 8, 1853, 1.

[4] SMH, October 8, 1853, 4.

[5] SMH, December 29, 1920, 10.

[6] SMH, December 29, 1920, 10.

[7] SMH, December 29, 1920, 10.

[8] Empire (Sydney, NSW), August 28, 1856, 2.

[9] SMH, September 27, 1853, 1.

[10] Empire (Sydney, NSW), August 28, 1856, 3.

[11] Sydney Mail, June 6, 1863, 2.

[12] Sydney Mail, May 21 1870, 5.

[13] Sydney Mail, Nov 19, 1870, 5.

[14] Evening News (Sydney, NSW), June 28, 1894, 3.

[15] SMH, December 31 1869, 5.

[16] Sydney Mail, May 21 1870, 5.

[17] SMH, January 21, 1871, 12.

[18] SMH, April 10, 1871, 1.

[19] Empire (Sydney, NSW), December 10, 1872, 3.

[20] The Argus (Melbourne, Vic), August 3, 1914, 14.

[21] Daily Observer (Tamworth, NSW), May 31, 1917, 1.

[22] Sandra Katzman. Review of Davidann, Jon Thares, A World of Crisis and Progress: The American YMCA in Japan 1890-1930. H-US-Japan, H-Net Reviews. February, 1999.

URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=2777

[23] The Age (Melbourne, Vic.), October 8, 1949, 8.

[24] The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld.), May 12, 190, 2.

[25] SMH, January 15, 1902, 10.

[26] This became law in 1911 but was only for service within Australia.

[27] Daily Observer (Tamworth, NSW), May 31, 1917, 1.

[28] Early in World War I local women’s groups in Australia began working to provide tobacco, cakes, puddings, condensed milk, sugar, biscuits, newspapers and other ‘luxury’ items to supplement the Australian soldier’s army rations. The Australian Comforts Fund (ACF) was established in August 1916 to co-ordinate the activities of the state based patriotic funds, which were established earlier in World War I. Mainly run by women, they provided and distributed free comforts to the Australian ‘fit’ fighting men in all the battle zones. The ACF sent care parcels to Australians serving overseas, including letters, periodicals, extra clothing, food, tobacco and other ‘comforts’. Socks were urgently needed, since soldiers could not wash or dry their socks in the mud and cold of the trenches, and Australian women knitted tens of thousands of socks. In the winter of 1916 alone the ACF provided 80,000 hand-knitted pairs of socks. In part these activities expressed Australian women’s desire to take an active role in World War I. It ceased operation on April 10, 1920. http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-563480

[29] Facts and figures concerning Y.M.C.A. war service, 1918, 1.  This booklet is to be found in the Australian National Library FERG/3534. It would appear that the YMCA found it necessary to publish such a booklet in order to defend its reputation and to encourage continued public and financial support after the conclusion of the war.

[30] Cootamundra Herald (Cootamundra, NSW), April 7, 1916, 2.

[31] SMH, May 3, 1916, 12.

[32] Facts and figures, 1.

[33] Daily Advertiser (Wagga Wagga, NSW), May 27, 1916, 5. Yapp 19.

[34] Arthur K Yapp, The Romance of the Red Triangle (New York: Hodder & Stoughton, 1918), 45. Yapp was during the war, the General Secretary of the National Council of YMCA’s.

[35] SMH, July 22, 1914, 14.

[36] SMH, February 1, 1916, 8.

[37] SMH, March 8, 1916, 14.

[38] Daily Advertiser (Wagga Wagga, NSW), May 27, 1916, 5.

[39] SMH, March 29, 1916, 10.

[40] £41,836/18/5. SMH, December 30, 1916, 13.

[41] SMH, March 8, 1916, 14.

[42] Wellington Times (Wellington, NSW), January 18, 1917, 3.

[43] SMH, May 4, 1917, 8.

[44] Northern Times (Newcastle, NSW), August 30, 1917, 4.

[45] Wealthy individuals such as Mrs George Harris, Ultimo House, donated £350 to build a YMCA hut. Mrs Harris’ hut was at the Mudros Rest Camp, Lemnos. SMH, January 28, 1916, 8.

[46] Shareholders of the  North Coast Co-operative Co Ltd at Byron Bay voted £500 to the YMCA Fund The Richmond River Express and Casino Kyogle Advertiser (Casino, NSW), June 19, 1917, 2.

[47] Leader (Orange, NSW), September 20, 1918, 6.

[48] SMH, August 4, 1917, 14.

[49] SMH, January 29, 1918, 6.

[50] SMH, January 29, 1918, 6.

[51] SMH, July 12, 1919, 16.

[52] SMH, May 24, 1919, 18.

[53] SMH, July 10, 1919, 7.

[54] Northern Star (Lismore, NSW), August 21, 1919, 2.

[55] The Grenfell Record and Lachlan District Advertiser (Grenfell, NSW), September 16, 1919, 4.

[56] Yapp, The Romance of the Red Triangle, 124.

[57] Daily Observer (Tamworth, NSW), October 2, 1917, 1.

[58] Wellington Times (Wellington, NSW), August 24, 1916, 2.

[59] Western Herald (Bourke, NSW), February 13, 1918, 2.

[60] Yapp, The Romance of the Red Triangle, 188.

[61] National Advocate (Bathurst, NSW), December 28, 1916, 1.

[62] Yapp, The Romance of the Red Triangle, 177

[63] The Methodist, March 20, 1915, 5.

[64] Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW), October 12, 1916, 3.

[65] The Maitland Daily Mercury (Maitland, NSW), August 31, 1916, 2.

[66] Yapp, The Romance of the Red Triangle, 187-188.

[67] http://ymca.org.au/who_we_are/Pages/Mission.aspx

[68] Yapp, The Romance of the Red Triangle, 187-188.