Image right: During the short stay of his train at Strathfield, Lord Allenby listened to a grateful address from the Junior Red Cross. The Sun 18 January 1926 p.16 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/224065222
When Lord and Lady Allenby visited Sydney during January 1926, their train stopped at Strathfield where they were greeted by members of several Junior Red Cross groups, including the Flannel Flower group of Enfield. After serving on the Western Front, Field Marshal Edmund Allenby had led the British Empire’s Expeditionary Force against the Ottoman Empire during World War I. He later served as High Commissioner in Egypt from 1919 to 1925.
Lady Allenby (left) and members of the Junior Red Cross at Strathfield Station. The Sun 18 January 1926 p.16 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/224065222
The Junior Red Cross Society was established in Australia in 1914 by Eleanor MacKinnon who became honorary secretary to the State division of the Australian branch of the British Red Cross Society shortly after war was declared in August 1914. Using the idealism and generosity of children to relieve suffering and distress, she founded the world first Junior Red Cross and remained its honorary director until 1935.
Branches were set up around Australia to support soldiers, and the children of soldiers, as well as other children in need. Often these branches were formed at public schools. With the assistance of an auxiliary, young members were trained in home nursing and first aid as well as raising funds for convalescent homes. Although most members were girls, boys also participated.
Jean Cameron from Balmoral Beach read an address to Lord Allenby during his brief halt at Strathfield on 18 January 1926 on behalf of all Junior Red Cross members.
‘We, the children of the Junior Red Cross, have the honour to welcome you to New South Wales. Many of us are children or relatives of the men you led to victory, and almost the whole of our work is done for the children of those who died during the Great War, or who have returned home sick and shattered, and not able to care for their families.
We are glad that your efforts led eventually to peace, and we pray that peace may be preserved among the nations of the world.
We hope that your stay among us will be a happy one, and that when the time comes for you to leave us you will carry away pleasant memories of our land.’ [1]
To which Lord Allenby replied that it would be one of his most pleasant memories.
The Sun 25 August 1926 p.10 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/222726660
Locally, the Junior Red Cross was very active with several branches established. In Strathfield during May 1926, Miss O’Brien of Keira provided her grounds in The Boulevarde for a garden gymkhana, ably assisted by Miss Addie Lawson. Numerous competitions were held and more than £15 was raised.[2] In August that year 140 players, including many interstate representatives, took part in a tennis tournament at the Strathfield Recreation Club, raising another £25.[3] The Honorary secretary was then Miss Katherine Sevier of Albyn Road, Strathfield.[4] During 1927 the Strathfield group raised money for the milk fund, providing milk to the children of soldiers, as well as organising a bridge and mahjong evening.[5] A successful dance in the Strathfield Town Hall during September 1931 added another £34 to their fundraising.[6]
Daily Telegraph 12 May 1927 p.28 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/245747391
The Homebush Junior Red Cross Circle held a successful tuck shop during November 1929, raising £10. Half of this sum was forwarded to the Cudgelo Seaside Home at Ramsgate with the remainder being spent on material to make garments for the children of sick and disabled soldiers.[7]
Large pageants were often held in the Sydney Town Hall with fancy dress competitions included. The Flannel Flower Junior Red Cross group of Enfield was successful in winning an award in 1924.[8]
The Sun 29 June 1924 p.22 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/223400680
Eleanor MacKinnon died in 1936.[9] By this time, the Junior Red Cross had spread to more than 40 countries.[10] The Sydney Morning Herald reported that ‘she realised, in her far-seeing way, that the fate of the world lay in the hands of the children who were growing up. They only could prevent future wars, or if wars and disasters had to come, they would be the workers of the future.’[11]
Red Cross nurses and Junior Red Cross collecting for Western Suburbs Hospital on a William Bright furniture removal truck, c.1929. Ted Hood.
Courtesy State Library of NSW
Junior Red Cross, 10 July 1935. Courtesy State Library of NSW
After World War II in 1947, 1710 food parcels and 10 cases of clothing were sent by the NSW Junior Red Cross to the British Red Cross for distribution to children in distressed areas.[12]
By 1950, Australia’s Junior Red Cross membership numbered 300,000.[13]
By J.J. MacRitchie
Local Studies Advisor
References
[1] The Sun 16 January 1926 p.4 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/224073496
[2] The Daily Telegraph 11 May 1926 p.2 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/245769796
[3] Sydney Morning Herald 30 August 1926 p.5 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/16335661
[4] Sydney Morning Herald 9 August 1926 p.4 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/16312764
[5] Sydney Morning Herald 3 October 1927 p.3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/16408146
[6] Sydney Morning Herald 7 September 1931 p.3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28037836
[7] Sunday Times 24 November 1929 p.21 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/131623809
[8] The Sun 29 June 1924 p.22 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/223400680
[9] Jacqueline Abbott, 'MacKinnon, Eleanor Vokes (1871–1936)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mackinnon-eleanor-vokes-7398/text12863, published first in hardcopy 1986, accessed online 28 April 2026
[10] The Land 7 February 1936 p.23 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/104226922