Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Tom & Grace Quail settled in Wooroolin about 1912/13, in response to an ad in the Brisbane Courier for a steady man for a splendid opening for a Blacksmith.

Son, Will was 17 years old on their arrival in Wooroolin so already working as a Blacksmith with his father. Roy & Ruby were enrolled at Wooroolin School and were included in the Oct 1914 Concert organised by Queen Bond for the Patriotic Fund and are in a fabulous photo shared by Joyce Horne. Bert was just months old on arrival at Wooroolin and Annie was born in Aug 1915.
The Blacksmith shop was on Short Street – the land owned by HN Campbell but business run by Tom Quail. Two receipts found in discarded Council records dated 1920 and 1926 tell us that Tom Quail was originally a Blacksmith, Wheelwright and by 1926 the family had added Fruiterer & Tobacconist and Agent for Palings Insurance to their family run business.

On 28 Sep 1915 Tom Quail joined the Australian Army and left his wife and 5 children at Wooroolin. He served as a “Shoeing Smith” in France and Egypt, returning home to be discharged on 11 Jan 1918.

Life as a Shoeing smith during WW1 must have been tough and heavy work. 7 months after he arrived overseas Tom was hospitalised for 4 months with a double hernia. Farriers and shoeing smiths were needed to keep horses moving. The primary job was hoof trimming and fitting shoes to Army horses. This combined traditional blacksmith's skills with some veterinarian knowledge about the physiology and care of horses' feet. One of their less welcome tasks was the humane despatch of wounded and sick horses.
In the First World War 136,000 “walers” (the general name applied to Australian horses abroad) were sent overseas for use by the Australian Imperial Force and the British and Indian governments. One horse from the 136,000 made it back to Australia. Horses were needed to perform cavalry roles, but were also vital for moving supplies, equipment, guns and ammunition.
Conditions were severe for horses at the front; they were killed by artillery fire, suffered from skin disorders, and were injured by poison gas. Hundreds of thousands of horses died, and many more were treated at veterinary hospitals and sent back to the front.

In 1918, just months after his return from WW1, Tom & Grace Quail advertised in the Maryborough Chronicle for tenders to build a 6 roomed residence at Wooroolin. This is the home the Quail family owned and lived in Kate St in until about 1960ish when Will & his wife retired to Palm Beach at the Gold Coast.

Tom & Grace Quail were very involved in the Wooroolin development. Grace and her eldest son Will ran a Fruiter business in the mid to late 1920’s in Wooroolin in the café next door to the QN Bank. Tom Quail and George Lindholt built St Andrews Church in Short Street in 1921 and he was probably involved in the building of the Memorial Hall extension in 1928. Mrs Quail was very involved in the Ladies Guild at St Andrews Church.

Mr Quail had an air raid shelter at the back of his yard during the war (1940s). His son Roy served in the Middle East and Borneo. Whilstin Borneo he was awarded a “Mention in Despatched (MID)”. Roy served as one of the “Rats of Tobruk”, Bardia , Crete, and Kokoda in New Guinea in the 2nd /15th.

In 1948 Tom Quail, aged 78, proudly marched at the first Wooroolin Anzac Day parade and met with Sir Raymond Huish with others when the RSL was formed at Wooroolin in 1947.

Tom died in 1953, aged 82, and is buried at Memerambi Cemetery where he was joined by his wife a year later.