Friday, September 25, 2020

Beautiful sea kissed St Kilda welcomes the British Fleet

In November 1923, the Royal Navy Special Service Squadron embarked from Plymouth on a trip around the Empire. The Squadron consisted of two battle cruisers, the Hood and the Repulse, and five light cruisers, the Danae, Dauntless, Delhi, Dragon and Dunedin.  Their first stop was Sierra Leone followed by other ports in Africa, over to India, Penang and Singapore and then south to Fremantle, the first of eight Australian ports and then onto New Zealand and Fiji. This was the first naval cruise around the world since 1882 (1) and was a reminder of the kinship of the British Empire to its outlying dominions and that after the Great War, Britannia was still the Mistress of the Seas (2)


Visitors on Princes Pier, waiting to tour the Delhi, during the visit of the British Fleet.
Photographer: Allan C. Green, State Library of Victoria Image H91.108/356 http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/27798

The fleet arrived at Port Phillip Heads at dawn on Monday, March 17, 1924 and in a triumphal procession (3) accompanied by hundreds of water craft made their way up the Bay. The Hood, Repulse, Delhi and Danae moored at Princes Pier, the Dunedin at the  Town Pier at Port Melbourne, and the Dauntless and the Dragon at Victoria Dock (4).


The Danae at Princes Pier
This is from an album of photographs connected to various families including the Gilmour and Penhalluriack families (5). Photo supplied by Isaac Hermann.



The Hood, Repulse, Delphi and Danae at Princes Pier, March 24, 1924.
Public Records Office of Victoria - Melbourne Harbour Trust Commissioners, 
Progress of the Port of Melbourne - Lantern Slide 62 (the image has been cropped).

On the Tuesday, March 18, St Kilda was honoured by a visit of the Admirals and other dignitaries. Meticulous planning had been undertaken for  this event by the town Clerk, Mr F. W.  Chamberlin (6).  St Kilda historian, J.B. Cooper, had this praise for him: So skilled was Mr Chamberlin in organising events for Royal and Vice Regal welcomes that Royalty itself has been graciously pleased to speak, in after years, of the welcomes at St Kilda as ones that could not have been better organsied anywhere in the British Empire (7).

The planning had began at a St Kilda Council meeting held on Monday, January 21, 1924 when Cr Unsworth moved a motion That, in order to commemorate the visit of the British Fleet to Melbourne during the month of March, 1924, a St Kilda Gala week be arranged from the 17th March to the 22nd March inclusive or such other week as will fit in with the date of the proposed visit; that the co-operation of all the citizens, patriotic bodies, clubs, business people, entertainment proprietors be sought to make the proposed St. Kilda Gala week a fitting recognition of this most important event, and that the Mayor be empowered to call a meeting of citizens with a view to making the necessary arrangements (8).  Cr Taylor seconded the move.  Cr Clarke said a small committee should be appointed to draw up a programme, even though the Mayor, Cr Allen, said the Town Clerk, will no doubt do most of the work (9).

The motivation to host the fleet was twofold. Cr Unsworth said St Kilda was an ideal city and the only one that could lay itself out to have a gala week in honour of the the visit of the British Fleet and Cr Taylor said that it was the least they could do....to show their gratitude to the Jack Tars (10) who had done so much for them during the war (11).

St Kilda welcomes Vice-Admiral Field and senior officers on March 18, 1924.
Visit of the British Special Service Squadron from J.B. Cooper's History of St Kilda (12).

Tuesday, March 18 was a day of sunshine and early Autumnal mildness (13) when Vice-Admiral Sir Frederick Field and senior officers arrived at St Kilda pier in the Vice-Admiral's pinnace at 11.00am (14). In beautiful sea-kissed St Kilda (15) they were greeted by the Town Clerk and then presented to the Mayor, Cr Allen, and a number of speeches were made. There were two thousand children from the three local state schools, Brighton Road, Elwood and St Kilda Park, who had each been given a small Australian flag to wave. A choir of 700 children from the schools sung Rule, Britannia and the National Anthem, accompanied by the St Kilda City Band.  The choir master was the head master of Brighton Road, Mr H. E. F. Lampe (16). The day had been declared a public holiday and this ensured a good crowd, estimated at 30,000 (17).


This photograph of the Palais Pictures and Palais de Danse, St Kilda, was taken, I believe on March 18, 1924, the day St Kilda welcomed the British Fleet. The film showing at the Palais Pictures was The Cheat with Pola Negri which had a short run from March 17 to March 19 (18).  The sign under the Palais Pictures lettering says 'St Kilda's Hearty Welcome... British Fleet'. There are many children in the photo, perhaps they are some of the 2,000 children from the local state schools who gave the Vice- Admiral and the senior officers a hearty welcome.
The Palais Picture Theatre and Palais de Danse, St. Kilda. SK 0992. 
Image courtesy of Port Phillip Collection.

But this was not the only event in St  Kilda as Mr Chamberlin had planned a gala week, which had started the night before. The Age had a comprehensive report of the activities of the Tuesday night: Men, women and children came by train, tram, bus, motor car, and every other conceivable form of conveyance, each of which was crowded to its utmost capacity. People hung on to the sides of tram cars or stood, several deep, in motor buses, but once they reached St. Kilda they plunged into the fun and forgot all about the trials and troubles of getting there until it was time to get back home again. 

The Esplanade itself was a struggling mass of humanity under a blaze of myriads of colored lights.... and every side show and amusement place added its quota of vari-colored lights. In the band stand, which had been artistically decorated, a band played catchy melodies that set the feet of the sailors and their newly-made friends itching to dance. A few could not resist the temptation to dance in the street, but most of the others found their way to one or other of the palais de danse, where men in uniform were admitted free. The  scene at the Wattle Path Palais was a particularly brilliant one. A large number of officers and men accepted the invitation of the management to free dancing, and all appeared to be enjoying themselves to the full. At no time did any of the tars seems to have any difficulty in finding an abundance of partners. 

Luna Park, with its many side shows and attractions, was the rendezvous of hundreds of the men of the fleet. They tackled, the scenic railway, the "big dipper" and other thrills with shouts and whoops that left no doubt as to how they were enjoying the fun. At all the other places of amusement the scene was equally gay and care-free. Sailors and citizens joined in fun and frolic. There was much laughter, shouting and joking, but through out the evening the fun was harmless. St. Kilda's welcome will undoubtedly serve to place that city 'on the map' as far as the visiting sailors, at least, are concerned (19). 

The activities went on throughout the week and the Saturday was a day of water sports and activities including yacht, dinghy and motor boat races and exhibitions of diving and aquaplaning (20). The Gala week finished off with a bang with a fireworks display from 8.30 pm which concluded at 10.00am with a grand illumination of the sea front (21).

The week was an outstanding success, the Prahran Telegraph described it as St Kilda's triumph (22).   Vice-Admiral Field wrote to the Mayor of St Kilda thanking the Council and mentioned that the facilities which you gave, particularly to the Petty Officers and men of the Squadron, enabled those who had only a few hours leave to obtain real enjoyment and meet friends who were pleased to welcome them within a very short distance of their ships. The Vice-Admiral also wrote that We were all greatly impressed by the opportunity St. Kilda affords for healthful recreation and amusement, and we wish you and the people of St. Kilda all success and prosperity in the future (23). 

The Prahran Telegraph summed up the week - How the sailors would have been welcomed if there had been no St. Kilda, we do not know. They would have had a poor time compared to the time they have had...The hospitality of St. Kilda has been of the most generous and lavish description, and nothing has been too much to do to give the bulk of the sailors innocent pleasures (24).

Acknowledgement
Thank you to my research colleague, Isaac Hermann, for alerting me to the photograph of the Palais Picture Theatre and Palais de Danse, St. Kilda and to Sandy Khazam, Team Leader Arts and Heritage, City of Port Phillip for kindly supplying me with the photograph. Isaac also provided me with some research and realised that the photo of the warship from the Gilmour and Penhalluriack album (see footnote 5) was actually the Danae and that it was taken during the visit of the fleet in March 1924. 

Trove list: I have created a list of newspaper articles on the visit of the Fleet, mainly relating to St Kilda, you can access it here.

Footnotes
(1) The Sydney Sun, November 28, 1923, see here. There is also detailed Australian itinerary on the Naval History Society of Australia website, here
(2) Cooper, John Butler The History of St Kilda from its first settlement to a city and after 1840 - 1930, v. 2 (St Kilda City Council, 1931), p. 307. 
(3) The Age, March 18, 1924, see here
(4) The Argus, March 19, 1924, see here
(5) My research colleague, Isaac Hermann, came across this album and supplied this photograph for me. I have written about the Gilmour and Penhalluriack here   http://victoriaspast.blogspot.com/2019/12/australian-farmers-centre-draft.html
(6)  Frederick William Chamberlin, City of St Kilda Town Clerk. According to his obituary he was born in England, arrived in Victoria in 1881, appointed assistant Town Clerk in 1897 and became the Town Clerk on  May 1, 1913.  Mr Chamberlin died suddenly on October 11, 1934 when he collapsed outside the Town Hall on his way to a Council Public Works Committee meeting. He was 62 years old.  You can read his obituary in The Argus, here and The Age, here.
(7) Cooper, op.cit., p. 306.
(8) The Age, January 22, 1924, see here.
(9) The Prahran Telegraph, January 25, 1924, see here.
(10) Jack Tar - a nickname for sailors - Jack being the generic name for a 'common man' (such as 'Jack of all trades') and tar coming from tarpaulin, a canvas made waterproof with the application of tar. Source: Royal Museums Greenwich, see here
(11) The Prahran Telegraph, January 25, 1924, see here.
(12) Cooper, op. cit. - photo opposite page 306. 
(13) Cooper, op. cit, p. 307.
(14) Cooper, op. cit, p. 307.
(15) Prahran Telegraph, March 21, 1924, see here.
(16) Herman Ernest Franz Lampe. He retired from the Education Department after fifty years of service in March 1926. You can read a report of his retirement in the Prahran Telegraph, here.
(17) Reports in the Prahran Telegraph March 21, 1924, see here and The Age, March 19, 1924, see here
(18) Pola Negri in The Cheat - interesting choice of film given the sailors were away from their wives and girl friends and perhaps succumbed to the temptations of the flesh, while they were in the various ports. The other film on through St Kilda Gala Week was What Fools men are.

Prahran Telegraph, March 14, 1924 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/19668377

(19) The Age March 18, 1924, see here.
(20) The Herald, March 22, 1924, see here.
(21) The Age, March 22, 1924, see here
(22) Prahran Telegraph, April 4, 1924, see here.
(23) The Herald, March 28, 1924, see here.
(24) Prahran Telegraph, March 21, 1924, see here.

No comments:

Post a Comment