Brooweena and Woocoo Shire in World War I

The original offices of Woocoo Shire Council, formed in 1914 when World War I broke out, are now the Broowoona Early Settlers Museum where you can discover a wonderful variety of objects and paraphernalia from the war and about life in the country. The shire boasted an active branch of the Red Cross Ladies Auxiliary, which provided comforts to the men on the front to supplement their rations, including tobacco, biscuits, and even socks. The branch also organised carnivals to raise funds for the war effort, enabling the purchase of a field ambulance that was sent to the Western Front in France and Belgium.

Brooweena’s War Memorial – a statue of a soldier erected by the residents in late 1922 – was originally placed outside St Mary’s Church of England and relocated to the Woocoo Historical Museum grounds in 1992. The pedestal is of a style not found elsewhere in Queensland and bears the inscription, “On fame’s eternal camping-ground”, supporting the 39 local men who enlisted.  A set of plates recording 43 men and women from the district who served in WWII has been added to the soldier statue and the adjacent Brooweena Historical Village has a display of military paperwork, helmets, buttons, binoculars, rifles, posters, and photographs donated by the families of local men who served.

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