From:Rocky Hill War Memorial Museum
Name/Title5th Training Battalion AIF, No, 1 Camp, Fovant, March 1918
About this objectA framed black-and-white photograph depicting members of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) 5th Training Battalion. The image, taken in March 1918 was originally owned by Frederick Clyde Baxter, a Goulburn resident and pilot in the Australian Flying Corps (AFC), is a rare historical record of Australian soldiers training in England during World War I. The frame and photograph show signs of deterioration and will undergo conservation work.
The photograph in its original frame was made by Panora Ltd. of 60 Doughty Street, Bloomsbury, Central London, WC1N, it is marked No. 2250. This company was renowned for producing panoramic photographs of large groups of people. Negatives from before September 1968 have not survived. The image would have been taken by glueing together several photographic plates taken with the camera – by rotating it carefully on its tripod mount. People are arranged in a curve, rather than a straight line. This process can result in some blurring – this is unfortunate if this occurs across someone’s face, which it does in the case of this photograph. No names have accompanied this photograph and any identification of individual
Frederick Clyde Baxter, son of Henry Baxter (owner of Baxter Boots & Shoes, Goulburn, NSW, from 1855), enlisted for the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in May 1915. He embarked on HMAT Berrima and served in Egypt and France before joining the AFC where he trained in England and was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant in the 3rd Squadron. After the war, Frederick bought the framed photograph back to Goulburn. It was displayed and stored at JC Walsh & Sons, Solicitors in Montague Street, Goulburn for many years.
The 5th Training Battalion was formed on 8 November 1917 as part of the 2nd Training Brigade and was stationed at Fovant, on the Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England. Fovant was a key military training area during World War I for the AIF, accommodating up to 20,000 men in prefabricated huts with essential camp facilities such as a YMCA, a Post Office, and a cinema. This photograph was taken at Fovant Camp One.
The region also hosted a 600-bed military hospital and became a demobilisation centre post-war. The concentration of Australian depots and training camps in the area is reflected by the forty-three AIF burials in the graveyard at Fovant's 13th-century parish church of St George.
The area is also historically significant for its chalk regimental badges carved into a nearby hill, including the Rising Sun emblem of the Australian Commonwealth Military Forces, created by Australian soldiers stationed there.
MakerPanora Ltd
Maker RolePhotographer
Date Madec.1918
Period1914-1918
Place MadeThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Place NotesEngland, Wiltshire, Fovant, London
Medium and MaterialsWood
Paper
Nitrate
Metal
Cardboard
Glass
Gelatin silver print
Measurements1560 x 300 mm
Subject and Association KeywordsAustralian Imperial Force (AIF)
Subject and Association KeywordsThe Great War
Subject and Association KeywordsTraining Camps
Subject and Association KeywordsSalisbury Plain
Subject and Association KeywordsWiltshire
Subject and Association KeywordsChalk Downs
Subject and Association KeywordsFovant
Subject and Association Keywords5th Training Battalion
Subject and Association Keywords2nd Training Brigade
Subject and Association KeywordsFrederick Clyde Baxter
Subject and Association KeywordsPanora Ltd., 60 Doughty Street, Bloomsbury, Central London, WC1N
Object TypePhotograph
Object number2025.956
Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved
