First Annual Report of The British Centre
Printer
Butterfield & Lewis Pty Ltd
Date1945
Object number00040493
NameBook
MediumPaper, ink, leather
Dimensions280 x 230 x 5 mm
ClassificationsBooks and journals
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Peter Smith
DescriptionThe British Centre was set up by the Australian Comforts Fund in 1945 to provide relief for servicemen at home and abroad. The centre was staffed by over 4,000 volunteers, provided 1,200 beds and at times 6,000 meals per day. This book is the illustrated First Annual Report and Balance Sheet of the Centre. It contains details relating to the first year of operation, including photographs of events and a handwritten autographed list of the inaugural Administrative Committee.HistoryHaving been under 'American occupation' since 1942 many Australians were delighted to see the British Pacific Fleet in their harbours. The people of Sydney raised £A200,000 by public subscription to build The British Centre staffed by over 4,000 volunteers and which provided 1,200 beds and at times 6,000 meals each day.
Originally housed on the second floor of 321 Pitt Street, Sydney, the British Centre was set up as a branch of the Australian Comforts Fund - which itself had been formed in World War I to provide comfort at home and abroad for Australian servicemen. When the Pitt Street premises - opened in January 1945 - became too full, the overflow were accommodated firstly next door at the YMCA and then in February by the erection of a large marquee in Prince Albert Park, Railway Station.
A purpose-built British Centre was built in Hyde Park North and opened on 22 February 1945. Voluntary workers staffed the Centre and the Women's Australian National Services (WANS) worked a roster of 350 to work four shifts every first, third and fifth Sundays and provide hostesses for the dancing - which was held every night.
By June 1946 the need for the Centre was all but gone as the British Fleet left our waters. The Centre was carefully deconstructed for re-erection in 1956 as the Hornsby Hospital Maternity Ward. Only a few reminders of the Centre remain at the hospital today and nothing at all in Hyde Park.SignificanceThis book offers a record of the life of servicemen on the home front and the daily running of the British Centre during its first year of operation. The centre provided a much needed place for servicemen to recuperate, rest and socialise.
