Queensland Recruiting Committee

On 28 May 1915, a meeting was held at the Brisbane Town Hall, chaired by Brisbane mayor George Down, to discuss ways to encourage able-bodied men to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force to fight in World War I. The decision of the meeting was to create the Queensland Recruiting Committee, the first recruitment committee established in Australia.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20034098|title=EVERY MAN WANTED.|date=29 May 1915|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=17,899|page=5|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=16 March 2016}}{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article176907435|title=Every Man Wanted.|date=21 June 1915|newspaper=The Telegraph|issue=13,285|location=Brisbane|page=2|edition=SECOND|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=16 March 2016}} Unlike in other states, the Queensland Recruitment Committee was not a government organisation but rather an independent and privately funded organisation with volunteer members.{{Cite web|url=http://www.garlandmemorial.com/machinery-of-recruiting-march-1916/|title=Machinery of recruiting|website=The Canon Garland Memorial Society|access-date=2016-03-09}}

The immediate actions of the committee were to take advantage of a march down Queen Street the following day by establishing two temporary recruiting booths, one in front of the Town Hall and one in front of the Brisbane General Post Office. The committee also decided to establish a permanent recruiting booth in Queen Street.File:An appeal from the Dardanelles - will they never come?.JPGThe initial belief of the committee was that their role was primarily one of education; young men would enlist if they understood the issues at stake and the need for their service. Local recruiting committees were also established in local government areas and other committees were formed to support the war effort, e.g. the University of Queensland had a University War Committee.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article177925544|title=Recruiting.|date=16 July 1915|newspaper=The Telegraph|issue=13307|location=Brisbane|page=6|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=16 March 2016}}

In October 1915, the Queensland Recruiting Committee become a sub-committee of the Queensland War Council when the council was established in September 1915.

File:For Queensland's Honour - Queensland Expects that Every Man will Do His Duty.JPG

As part of the education campaign, the committee commissioned cartoons for use in newspapers, posters for railway stations and a set of lantern slides which would be shown each day at the 20 picture theatres operated by Birch Carroll & Coyle.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20044719|title=QUEENSLAND RECRUITING COMMITTEE.|date=17 July 1915|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=17,941|page=6|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=16 March 2016}} The committee also distributed promotional material developed in other states, sending several hundred copies of Victorian poster "Will They Never Come?" to every Queensland town.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article177926315|title=Men are Wanted.|date=20 July 1915|newspaper=The Telegraph|issue=13310|location=Brisbane|page=5|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=16 March 2016}} Another educational initiative was the publication of a 16-page booklet entitled "For Queensland's Honour: Queensland expects that every man will do his duty", providing a mix of motivational and practical information (rates of pay and training) for potential recruits. It also includes an additional verse added to the national anthem of God Save the King as follows:

God save our splendid men

Send them safe home again

God save our men

Keep them victorious

Patient and chivalrous

They are so dear to us

God save our men.

File:Bowen Boys State School Honour Roll.tiff

The committee was also involved in holding recruitment meetings of various kinds and coordinated with local recruiting committee to provide inspirational addresses by prominent citizens.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article177926223|title=Men are Wanted.|date=20 July 1915|newspaper=The Telegraph|issue=13310|location=Brisbane|page=5|edition=SECOND|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=16 March 2016}} Religious leaders of all faiths were also asked to appeal for volunteers to enlist as part of religious services.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20041296|title=AN APPEAL IN THE SYNAGOGUE.|date=23 July 1915|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=17,946|page=8|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=16 March 2016}} The committee asked each Queensland school to maintain a roll of honour listing those former pupils and teachers who had enlisted.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20027072|title=QUEENSLAND RECRUITING COMMITTEE.|date=30 July 1915|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=17,952|page=8|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=16 March 2016}}

File:StateLibQld 1 51028 Recruiting train stopped at Emerald during World War I.jpg]]

In August 1915, five trains were borrowed from the Queensland Government to use for a country recruiting drive with school children to be given a holiday on the day the train came to their town. Each train was fitted out as a recruiting depot with a doctor and a recruiting sergeant as well as carrying politicians and members of the Queensland Recruiting Committee to give speeches. At each town, the local mayor organised for people to attend the recruiting rally at the station as the train arrived. The trains travelled to destinations such as:{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20050500|title=SPECIAL TRAIN ARRANGEMENTS.|date=2 August 1915|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=17,954|page=10|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=16 March 2016}}

• Brisbane to Roma and Charleville
• Brisbane to Goondiwindi
• Brisbane to Bundaberg and Gladstone
• Rockhampton to Longreach
• Townsville to Charters Towers and Cloncurry

stopping at many smaller towns along the way and taking a number of branch lines along the route.

The committee also took action on reasons why men might be reluctant to enlist. The committee had a campaign to get employers to commit to re-employing any staff members who enlisted and to otherwise give priority to employing returned servicemen.

In October 1915, the committee organised for the first recruiting film to be shown in Queensland, which showed the conditions in which recruits would live and was hoped would convince those who may have listened to the "anti-recruiters" misrepresenting the conditions.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20064528|title=QUEENSLAND RECRUITING COMMITTEE.|date=19 October 1915|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=18,021|page=10|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=16 March 2016}}

File:Australia has promised Britain 50,000 more men.JPG

File:StateLibQld 1 88324 Dungarees marching along Queen Street, Brisbane, 1915.jpg

In November 1915, the committee organised a snowball march, the March of the Dungarees, from Warwick to Brisbane.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article82797296|title=THE MARCHING RECRUITS|date=17 November 1915|newspaper=Warwick Examiner and Times|issue=4790|location=Queensland, Australia|page=5|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=16 March 2016}} The march began at Warwick with 28 men and followed the Southern railway line through Toowoomba, Laidley, and Ipswich to its destination in Brisbane, gathering 125 recruits along the way. Despite the strong support for the march shown along the route by the townsfolk, the Brisbane Courier expressed disappointment in the overall numbers of men recruited, given the high recruitment expectations demanded by the Australian Government. However, the Courier praised those who had enlisted through the march as "splendid" "high-spirited patriots" in contrast to the "lethargic" "craven" "slackers" who were able to enlist but did not heed the call.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20072000|title=THE "DUNGAREES."|date=1 December 1915|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=18,058|page=6|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=2 March 2016}}

On 26 November 1915, the new Prime Minister, Billy Hughes, promised Britain 50,000 more soldiers.{{Cite web|url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/ARTV00021/|title=Australia has promised Britain 50,000 more men|website=Australian War Memorial|access-date=2016-03-16}} Towards the end of 1915, the Australian Government initiated a war census. Every man between the age of 18 and 44 had to send their reply by 1 March 2016.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20077716|title=THE CALL TO ARMS.|date=1 March 1916|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=18,135|page=7|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=23 March 2016}}

File:World War I recruiting sergeants in Brisbane Queensland 1916.tiff

By early 1916, the Queensland Recruiting Committee was seeking new ways to attract recruits. Recruiting sergeants were appointed to many country districts.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20076286|title=RECRUITING OPERATIONS.|date=19 January 1916|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=18,099|page=3|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=23 March 2016}} The committee also advertised that it would arrange for a recruiting sergeant and military band to attend for any local "patriotic entertainment".{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20052717|title=RECRUITING SERGEANTS AND MILITARY BANDS.|date=28 January 1916|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=18,107|page=8|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=23 March 2016}} Recruiting sergeants were either returned servicemen or older men (ineligible for military service) with enlisted sons, to demonstrate their personal commitment to military service during the war.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20060924|title=QUEENSLAND RECRUITING COMMITTEE.|date=9 February 1916|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=18,117|page=7|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=23 March 2016}}

It was hoped that holding Anzac Day ceremonies in Queensland on 25 April 1916 (the first anniversary of the Gallipoli landings) would encourage recruitment.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20103315|title=QUEENSLAND RECRUITING COMMITTEE.|date=7 April 1916|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=18,167|page=7|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=16 March 2016}} The committee initiated a public meeting in Brisbane to form a local Anzac Day committee to organise the event and, following the success of that meeting, decided to contact mayors in every town to establish a local organisation committees to conduct some suitable public meeting to mark the occasion. Although the Queensland Recruiting Committee allowed the local committees to make their own arrangements, they stipulated that the day should focus on the commemoration of fallen soldiers and the honouring of those serving and that there should be no fund-raising. They also asked that all people should stand for a minute's silence at 9pm throughout the state. The committee also called on all religious denominations to mark the day with an appropriate religious service.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20077640|title=ANZAC DAY.|date=1 March 1916|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=18,135|page=4|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=23 March 2016}} One of the local initiatives was the Cane Beetles March, a snowball match from Bartle Frere to Cairns, arriving in time to take part in the Anzac Day march in Cairns.

In March 1916, it was decided to allow the enlistment of men born within the British Empire but whose fathers were born in enemy nations if the local recruiting committee were unanimous in attesting to the loyalty of the recruit.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20086191 |title=RECRUITS OF ENEMY ORIGIN. |newspaper=The Brisbane Courier |issue=18,138 |date=4 March 1916 |access-date=23 March 2016 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}}

The Queensland Recruiting Committee was tasked with processing the war census returns in Queensland. Many men and women volunteered their time to help process the returns and organisations donated space and refreshments and small gifts of thanks for these volunteers.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20086354|title=CLASSIFICATION OF ENLISTMENT CARDS.|date=4 March 1916|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=18,138|page=5|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=23 March 2016}} To encourage frank disclosure, all those involved in processing the returns had to sign a document pledging strict secrecy. However, there was some concerns created in relation to whether the Queensland committee or the local committee should process the replies. Some local committees felt they would have a better understanding of local situations; others did not want the workload. Meanwhile, the Queensland committee believed that some men would not wish their circumstances to become known to other local people.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20075357|title=THE RECRUITING CENSUS.|date=18 January 1916|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=18,098|page=8|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=16 March 2016}} By March 1916, 113,00 war census returns had been received from the 140,000 expected and up to 70 volunteers a day were working on classifying the returns.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20054996 |title=QUEENSLAND RECRUITING COMMITTEE. |newspaper=The Brisbane Courier |issue=18,152 |date=21 March 1916 |access-date=23 March 2016 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}}

File:StateLibQld 2 72759 Anzac Day procession through the streets of Brisbane, 1916.jpg

After the Anzac Day ceremonies, the committee launched three large recruitment rallies in Brisbane, in the belief that men would more ready to enlist after that day of reflection.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20101731|title=RECRUITING ACTIVITY|date=26 April 1916|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=18,182|page=4|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=23 March 2016}}

By May 1916 the Queensland Recruiting Committee had created a centralised and cross-referenced filing system. This filing system provided the Committee with detailed records of 120,000 eligible males in Queensland and used a classification system to show availability in terms of family responsibilities, work commitments and other factors.{{cite QSA Image|24595|Report dated 22 May 1916, Queensland War Council Minute Book No. 1.|2 March 2015}} This enabled recruitment to be much more focussed, enabling the committee to initiate follow-up enquiries to those who might be eligible to serve by local recruiting committees and recruiting sergeants.

In June 1916, the committee organised a march of school children in Brisbane on Friday 9 June, accompanied by school bands and the singing of patriotic songs by the children, while distributing handbills urging enlistment.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20131264|title=SCHOOL CHILDREN AS RECRUITERS.|date=3 June 1916|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=18,215|page=5|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=23 March 2016}} Over two thousand children from 19 schools participated having between them over 9,500 of their fathers, brothers, uncles and cousins already enlisted.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20099627|title=TO-NIGHT'S RECRUITING MARCH.|date=9 June 1916|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=18,220|page=8|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=23 March 2016}} However, only 10 men enlisted at the recruitment station that night. Despite the effort going into recruitment activities, fewer recruits were coming forward with some country districts reporting no new recruits and many local recruiting committees doubting they could meet their targets of volunteer recruits; increasingly the discussion turned to the possibility of conscription.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20128066|title=RECRUITING IN THE NORTH.|date=19 June 1916|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=18,228|page=9|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=23 March 2016}}{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20096854|title=MARYBOROUGH WAR COUNCIL.|date=27 June 1916|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=18,235|page=7|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=23 March 2016}} It seemed that "nothing but compulsory service would bring in the shirkers".{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20123674|title=NORTHERN CENTRES.|date=11 July 1916|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=18,247|page=7|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=23 March 2016}} By July 1916, Queensland recruitment was at 250 men per week, a third of the level of only two months earlier. Also, some districts such as Lowood which had a strong German heritage were running short of eligible "Britishers".{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20101867|title=RECRUITING CONFERENCE.|date=12 July 1916|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=18,248|page=7|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=23 March 2016}} In July 1916, the enlistment of men with fathers born in enemy countries was further relaxed to allow enlistment if a majority of the local recruiting committee would attest to their loyalty (rather than a unanimous opinion).{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20092908|title=MEN OF ENEMY ORIGIN.|date=22 July 1916|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=18,257|page=5|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=23 March 2016}}

File:National Council of Women, Brisbane Town Hall, September 1915.jpg by the National Council of Women in furtherance of their scheme for obtaining a register of women willing to undertake work of any kind in connection with the war, September 1915]]

On Monday 14 August 1916, the Queensland Recruiting Committee convened a conference of local recruiting committees in Brisbane.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20138673|title=RECRUITING CONFERENCE.|date=11 August 1916|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=18,274|page=6|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=23 March 2016}} The committee's filing system had identified approximately 30,000 single fit men who should be able to enlist.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20093501|title=SINGLE MEN IN QUEENSLAND.|date=27 September 1916|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=18,314|page=7|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=23 March 2016}} But in September 1916, it was announced that Queensland recruitment had fallen even lower being roughly one-seventh of the increasing levels demanded by the Australian Government.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20099265|title=QUEENSLAND RECRUITING.|date=2 September 1916|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=18,293|page=6|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=23 March 2016}}{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20134936|title=QUEENSLAND RECRUITING COMMITTEE'S APPEAL.|date=4 September 1916|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=18,294|page=8|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=23 March 2016}} A poll of the local recruiting committees showed 95% recommended conscription.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20121787|title=EMPHASISING THE POSITION.|date=8 September 1916|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=18,298|page=7|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=23 March 2016}} However, the Queensland Government declared it was opposed to conscription. Although some members of the Queensland Recruiting Committee were strongly in favour of conscription, the committee did not take an official position on conscription either way. Indeed, it was unclear if their role as a subcommittee of the Queensland Government's War Council allowed them have an independent position.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20125070|title=QUEENSLAND RECRUITING COMMITTEE.|date=29 September 1916|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=18,316|page=7|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=23 March 2016}} The committee was also concerned that the growing public debate on conscription was distracting attention from the need for ongoing recruitment.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20134532|title=WILL FIGHT HUGHES.|date=12 September 1916|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=18,301|page=7|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=23 March 2016}} Nonetheless, in the anticipation of conscription being legislated by the Australian Government, the Committee wrote to major employers asking them to consider which men in their employment might be most likely to be called up for service and encouraged them to contact the National Council of Women of Queensland see how women might be employed to make up for the conscripted men.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20096220|title=CIRCULAR TO EMPLOYERS.|date=15 September 1916|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=18,304|page=7|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=23 March 2016}} If employers were to "devote a little time to instruct female workers", the committee felt they could undertake work in offices, retailing, and manufacturing.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20122405|title=ORGANISING WOMEN.|date=18 September 1916|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=18,306|page=4|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=23 March 2016}} It also advised local recruiting committees (who were not subordinate to the Queensland War Council) to prepare to campaign for conscription.

File:Queensland State Archives 3042 Portrait of The Honourable Thomas Joseph Ryan Premier of Queensland c 1912.png

Meanwhile, Premier T. J. Ryan was subject to ongoing criticism that he had not enlisted himself despite being a man of suitable age. In discussing the completion of his war census card in January 1916, Ryan "hedged" his answer saying "there is great room for difference of opinion as to the best way to serve the Empire".{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article188051730|title=A PREMIER HEDGING.|date=22 January 1916|newspaper=Darling Downs Gazette|issue=7815|location=Queensland, Australia|page=6|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=30 March 2016}} In March 1916, when Ryan addressed a recruiting railly in Rockhampton urging men to enlist, a heckler in the crowd called out "I will go with you tomorrow" to which Ryan responded "I am prepared to go tomorrow" and claimed he had indicated his willingness to serve on his war census card.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article83668004|title=OUR STATE PREMIER|date=8 March 1916|newspaper=Warwick Examiner and Times|issue=4836|location=Queensland, Australia|page=5|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=30 March 2016}} In August 1916, when pressed on his willingness to enlist, Ryan deflected the question suggesting that the proof was to be found in correspondence between him and the Queensland Recruiting Committee, but that the committee would have to agree to the release of the correspondence.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article176427472|title=Legislative Assembly.|date=24 August 1916|newspaper=The Telegraph|issue=13,652|location=Brisbane|page=9|edition=SECOND|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=30 March 2016}} Later in early October 1916, Ryan defended himself by producing a letter dated 18 March 1916 from Andrew Thynne, as chairman of the Queensland Recruiting Committee, withdrawing Ryan's call-up letter due to "the importance of your duties as Premier of the State and of your intended visit on public business to England".{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article176712078|title=PREMIER AND ENLISTMENT.|date=30 September 1916|newspaper=The Telegraph|issue=13,684|location=Brisbane|page=2|edition=SECOND|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=30 March 2016}} However, Thynne presented a different version of events in which Ryan had approached Thynne to get his call-up withdrawn because of the impending visit. In Thynne's view, now that the visit was completed "There is nothing now that I know of to prevent Mr Ryan from enlisting".{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article181082280|title=MR. THYNNE REPLIES TO MR. RYAN.|date=2 October 1916|newspaper=Daily Standard|issue=1193|location=Queensland, Australia|page=4|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=30 March 2016}} Ryan then accused Thynne of "wilfully misrepresenting" their conversation.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article214825000|title=WILFUL MISREPRESENTATION.|date=3 October 1916|newspaper=The Evening Telegraph|issue=4705|location=Queensland, Australia|page=5|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=30 March 2016}}

Although it was constitutionally possible for the Australian Government to have introduced conscription, it was a controversial move to do so in the face of considerable opposition demonstrated by the public and politicians. Therefore, the Australian Prime Minister, Billy Hughes, decided to hold a plebiscite on 28 October 1916 to obtain a symbolic mandate from the Australian people. On Wednesday 4 October 1916, Hughes came to Brisbane to speak in support of the conscription plebiscite at the Exhibition Hall.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20093290|title=HONOUR OR DISHONOUR?|date=5 October 1916|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=18,321|page=7|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=23 March 2016}} On Sunday 15 October 1916, the Queensland Treasurer, Ted Theodore, spoke at Warwick opposing conscription, saying, amongst other things, that voluntary recruitment had only failed because of "the incompetency and blundering mismanagement of the Queensland Recruiting Committee who had discouraged voluntary enlistment".{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20095241|title=MR. THEODORE IN WARWICK.|date=16 October 1916|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=18,330|page=8|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=23 March 2016}} The committee requested Theodore withdraw or explain his remarks, pointing out that, as a member of the Queensland Cabinet, he would have received regular briefings on the work of the committee yet had never raised any concerns.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20127045|title=QUEENSLAND RECRUITING COMMITTEE.|date=19 October 1916|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=18,333|page=7|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=23 March 2016}} Furthermore, the work of the committee had been praised by the Federal Government including the Governor-General who described the committee as "the finest organisation of its kind in the Commonwealth".{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article176364461|title=For Conscription.|date=17 October 1916|newspaper=The Telegraph|issue=13,698|location=Brisbane|page=3|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=30 March 2016}}

The outcome of the conscription plebiscite was a majority "No" vote, meaning voluntary recruitment had to continue. However, how that was to be achieved was unclear to the recruitment committees.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1621706|title=TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1916.|date=21 November 1916|newspaper=The Argus|issue=21,940|location=Victoria, Australia|page=6|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=30 March 2016}} The Federal Government decided that recruitment should be coordinated directly by the Federal Government with a hierarchical structure of local committees, state committees and a federal committee all under the direction of a Federal Director-General of Recruitment, Donald Mackinnon.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article155059799|title=AUSTRALIA AND THE WAR|date=2 December 1916|newspaper=The Age|issue=19,251|location=Victoria, Australia|page=12|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=30 March 2016}} Although it was noted that the existing Queensland recruiting arrangements were already arranged in this way,{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article215506246|title=The New Recruiting Scheme.|date=11 December 1916|newspaper=Daily Mail|issue=4283|location=Brisbane|page=4|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=30 March 2016}} the federal scheme involved the creation of a new Queensland State Recruiting Committee chaired by Captain George Macdonald Dash and the Queensland Recruiting Committee was to "retire" after passing on information on the methods they had used for recruitment.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article176367915|title=Recruiting Scheme.|date=11 December 1916|newspaper=The Telegraph|issue=13,745|location=Brisbane|page=8|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=30 March 2016}}{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article176375389|title=Recruiting Campaign.|date=13 December 1916|newspaper=The Telegraph|issue=13,747|location=Brisbane|page=2|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=30 March 2016}} Mackinnon thanked the Queensland Recruiting Committee for the "great zeal" it had shown.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article215511903|title=IMPORTANT CONFERENCES.|date=13 December 1916|newspaper=Daily Mail|issue=4285|location=Brisbane|page=8|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=30 March 2016}}

On Thursday 14 December 1916, the Queensland Recruitment Committee held its final meeting, in which its members offered their services in any way that might assist the new committee.{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article215504632|title=STATE 'RECRUITING.|date=15 December 1916|newspaper=Daily Mail|issue=4287|location=Brisbane|page=7|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=30 March 2016}}

File:StateLibQld 1 55124 Andrew Joseph Thynne.jpg

The initial members of the committee included:

• File:Canon David John Garland - in uniform.tiffAndrew Joseph Thynne (chairman), a Member of the Queensland Legislative Council and a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Queensland Volunteer Defence Force{{Cite web|url=http://blogs.archives.qld.gov.au/2014/02/28/recruitment-and-enlistment/|title=Recruitment and enlistment|last=Queensland State Archives|website=Stories from the archives|access-date=2016-03-15}}
• Colonel Robert Albert Moore
• Colonel Albert Edward Halstead
• Colonel John Francis Flewell-Smith, commander of the 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen in the Boer War
• Colonel Henry Venn King
• Arthur Whittingham, a Member of the Queensland Legislative Council
• Alexander James Gibson, Professor of Engineering at the University of Queensland
• George Down, Mayor of Brisbane
• Peter Balderston Macgregor, Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
• Robert Christian (Bob) Ramsay
• Thomas Brown

Later members included:

• Canon David John Garland, an Anglican clergyman and an Australian Army chaplain, who joined the committee in June 1915 as honorary secretary{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article179893608|title=RECRUITING CAMPAIGN.|date=21 June 1915|newspaper=Daily Standard|issue=770|location=Queensland|page=5|edition=SECOND|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=16 March 2016}}
• John Adamson (Minister for Railways){{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20017079|title=WHAT THE QUEENSLAND RECRUITING COMMITTEE IS DOING.|date=29 July 1915|newspaper=The Brisbane Courier|issue=17,951|page=9|via=National Library of Australia|access-date=16 March 2016}}
• Herbert Hardacre (Minister for Lands)
• G. H. Seabrook
• Harry Diddams, alderman and former Mayor of Brisbane
• Sir Robert Philp, former Premier of Queensland
• Sir Alfred Cowley, former Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
• G. Gray
• W. P. Devereux

{{reflist|2}}

• {{Citation | author1=Queensland Recruiting Committee | title=Queensland Recruiting Committee Records, 1914-1918 | date=1914 | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/203843417 }}

• {{Citation|title=For Queensland's honour: Queensland expects that every man will do his duty|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/9906183|date=1916|author1=Queensland Recruiting Committee|access-date=16 March 2016}} — full text available [http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/291978 online] via the State Library of Victoria
• {{cite archive |first= |last= |item=Letter 21 July 1915 |type= |date= |series= |file= |box= |collection=Queensland Recruiting Committee Records |repository= |institution=State Library of Queensland |location= |item-url=https://hdl.handle.net/10462/comp/3689}}
• {{Cite web |title=Information and Instructions for Local Recruiting Committees and Recruiting Sergeants Issued by the Queensland Recruiting Committee, Brisbane (OM71-41/235) |website=State Library of Queensland |date=21 July 1915 |url=https://hdl.handle.net/10462/comp/3738 |hdl=10462/comp/3738 |hdl-access=free}}
• {{Citation|title=War census: handbook for public guidance in filling up war census cards|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/26664835|date=1915|author1=Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics (Australia)|publisher=Melville & Mullen|access-date=30 March 2016}} — full text available [http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-36283798/ online]

Category:Military recruitment in Queensland in World War I