The Most Awful Day in Our Lives [was: Mont St. Quentin]
  Tram Gunzle

On the morning of Friday 13th September 1918, John Garibaldi (Garry)
Roberts had breakfast with his adult daughter at the family home, 21
Hastings Road, Hawthorn East (number 17 these days). His wife Roberta
(Berta) was already at their weekender hobby farm - "Sunnyside" in South
Sassafras (later renamed Kallista), roughly half-way between Belgrave
Railway Station and Mount Dandenong, with their younger son Bert. Like many
Melbourne families at that time, their eldest son Frank was in France -
fighting in the trenches. The morning post had arrived, and included a
letter from Frank which he had written eight weeks previously; after
sharing this with Gwen, Garry left for work.
Most likely, Garry would have taken a short walk to Riversdale Road, and
then proceeded to the corner of Glenferrie Road, about a mile all told -
hardly an arduous task for an accomplished bush walker such as he; from
there he could obtain a penny fare on the Hawthorn Tramways Trust electric
car, which gave him the right to transfer to the HTT Power Street tram at
Hawthorn Depot - this second electric tram connected with the Bridge Road
cable tramway, a legacy route from when the Trust took-over the Melbourne
Tramway & Omnibus Company's horse tram line. As an officer of the Melbourne
Tramway Board, successor to the MT&OCo, Garry would have not only had free
travel on both the cable and horse trams whilst going to and from work, but
he would have previously had to walk only to the corner of Auburn Road - a
distance of just over half a mile - where the horse tram terminated.
Perhaps during inclement weather, he would have permitted himself the small
luxury of catching the Hawthorn Trust tram to and from Hastings Road, for
an extra penny each way.
Upon reaching the Spencer Street terminus of the Richmond cable tram line,
it was a very short stroll to the tramways Head Office at 673 Bourke
Street, where he was, as J.G. Roberts, the Chief Accountant. Upon reaching
his office, Garry found a telegram waiting for him, which he opened to read
the following:
"I regret to inform you that London advises your cablegram of the 14th
August addressed to 6874 Roberts as being deliverable owing to the addresse
being killed in action stop"
News of a loved one passing away is always heart-breaking, but to receive
it in such a 'by the way', almost callous manner, was absolutely
devastating. Immediately leaving work, he sought information first from the
Red Cross in Market Street, and then from Victoria Barracks in St Kilda
Road - where his worst fears were confirmed. Back in Hawthorn, Gwen opened
the front door to one of the most dreaded sights of the Great War - a
clergyman on the doorstep; a friend who had happened to visiting her (one
of Frank's former school teachers) was fortunately on hand, and apparently
helped her to catch a train before midday so as to connect with the 1.30pm
down goods from Upper Ferntree Gully [thanks for the timetable David !],
which would have arrived at Belgrave some twenty minutes later. Her three
mile walk to Sunnyside would seem terribly long that afternoon.
Frank's young bride, Ruby, and infant daughter Nancy (whom Frank had never
met), were at Warwick Farm - Ruby's parent's place not far from Sunnyside;
it was Ruby's father George who received the melancholy telephone call from
Garry. Not long afterwards, Berta appeared at Warwick Farm, having walked
over from Sunnyside, only to encounter the distraught Ruby. Returning to
Sunnyside, Berta told young Bert that his older brother had made the
ultimate sacrifice.
Probably emotionally exhausted, Garry returned to the family home in
Hawthorn, arriving within an hour of Gwen leaving. The next train with
connections to Belgrave did not leave Camberwell Station until 6.58pm; He
would not arrive at Belgrave until 8.41pm, well after dark - one would hope
that someone could have been at the Station to give Garry a ride home, but
by then the whole family would have been virtually inconsolable.

A disconsolate story, but not unique for that era - except for the detail
in which it has been documented; I gratefully acknowledge the use of
information from "Men of Mont St Quentin: Between Victory and Death" by
Peter Stanley (with some corrections), and timetable information from David
in Avenel.

Relevance to TDU ?
- Garry Roberts, joined MT&OCo 1885, retired from M&MTB as Manager, Cable
System, 1923
- Bert Roberts, M&MTB Engineer, friend of many tram enthusiasts in the
1950s and 1960s
- C.J. Dennis, who wrote "The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke" at Sunnyside,
under the patronage of Garry & Berta and to whom he dedicated the work. The
Roberts were patrons of Australian artists, and used their farm as a type
of artists retreat/colony; to cater for these guests, Garry obtained
omnibuses (from his employers) which had been superseded by cable trams and
electric trams, and used them as sleep-outs.

X=X=X

[image: image.jpeg]
[image: image.jpeg]
[image: image.jpeg]
[image: image.jpeg]
[image: image.jpeg]
[image: image.jpeg]
[image: image.jpeg]
[image: image.jpeg]

Show full size
image  |  446W x 498H  | 27.2 KB |  
Show full size
image  |  320W x 319H  | 19.63 KB |  
Show full size
image  |  1171W x 851H  | 113.58 KB |  
Show full size
image  |  1114W x 621H  | 81 KB |  
Show full size
image  |  2048W x 1204H  | 702.65 KB |  
Show full size
image  |  268W x 400H  | 26.28 KB |  
Show full size
image  |  704W x 528H  | 35.55 KB |  
Show full size
image  |  676W x 960H  | 102.13 KB |