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The First Anzac Day - Early Footage Sought

Search for footage and images

Few people know that the phrase 'Anzac Day' was first used for an event on 13 October 1915 in
Adelaide that aligned to the traditional Eight-Hour-Day (Labour Day) holiday.

That first Anzac Day was a fundraising endeavour to support the wounded soldiers. It included a
procession with soldiers marching but also such novel elements as two obsolete trams being crashed
and exploded into each other on Adelaide Oval in front of a crowd of 15,000.

Three films were shot on that day: (1) The Anzac Day Procession (2) Anzac Mash Bash Crash and (3)
Tramway Smash, almost certainly filmed by Harry (Henry) Krischock. They were screened at the
Adelaide Wondergraph Theatre and its counter-part, the Open-Air Pavilion from October 14 to 26
1915, then at Star Pictures in Hindmarsh 30 Oct - 2 Nov 1915 and possibly Lenard's Pictures in
Broken Hill on 28 Oct 1915.
The attached image shows the
Wondergraph advertisement, plus part of
the procession and the tram smash.

The First Anzac Day, a documentary being
made by Adelaide film maker, Ash Starkey,
has received a small grant from the ANZAC
Day Commemoration Fund but is largely
self-funded.
After talking with descendants and film
historians, and following much searching
through archives, including extensively in
the National Film and Sound Archive, none
of the Krischock footage has been located.
There are six photographs in the SA State
Library, and some newspaper images, but
that's all so far.

Other parts of the film could make use of
Australasian Gazette newsreels from 1910–
1920, particularly editions that feature
Anzac Day, Eight Day Hour parades,
Australians and WW1 troops leaving and
returning to Australia.

The NFSA does have those but the usage charges are high and the film needs minutes of footage, not
seconds.

Collectors can you help?
Any leads please contact Ash Starkey: ash@starkey.net.au or 0417 814 521.

Reel Deals - 11 - March 2014