CHAPTER 16 Bountiful Years
‘Australian soldiers will remember the excellent impression created in Egypt in 1915, by the high quality Australian wines and brandies supplied to hospitals, convalescent homes and hospital ships in Egypt and along the Mediterranean littoral.’ – Country Life and Stock and Station Journal, Sydney, 1924
A fter World War I, soldier settlement schemes were established around the country to develop productivity and build new lives for returning soldiers. However, in an all-too-common cruel twist, Aboriginal men, although enlisting to serve at a higher rate than the general population, were not eligible for land under these settlement schemes. South Australia’s McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, the New South Wales Riverina district, and Western Australia’s Swan Valley all became models of this settlement initiative. Queensland’s Granite Belt also became an important soldier settlement, but it would only come to prominence as a wine region 45 years later. Nonetheless, many wine companies participated by buying fruit and finding markets, although it was tough going in the end. At the Australian Viticulture Congress in 1921, Oscar Seppelt noted, ‘During the war, the production of potable spirit in Europe ceased entirely, and the price of matured stocks which were licensed for consumption reached an unheard-of level. These high rates stimulated the demand for Australian brandies, for instance,
PREVIOUS PAGE: Mourning nurses in a funeral procession for Edith Williams, night superintendent for 22 years at Adelaide Hospital, South Australia, 1919. [SLSA PRG-280-1 -20-166]
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