On Friday 1 October 1943, in the pouring rain, six hundred Australian and New Zealand forestry troops, en-route from England to their home countries, were given the unique honour of marching in a ticker-tape parade, with fixed bayonets down Broadway in New York.
It’s said to be the only occasion that armed foreign troops had marched through an American city since Independence.
They were officially welcomed by Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia at City Hall, New York City. Speaking to the many female onlookers, La Guardia pronounced them “as manly a group as he’d ever seen”.
Mayor La Guardia asked the men to convey to the people of Australia and New Zealand the city’s assurance of cooperation in the war effort.
After the reception, the soldiers were taken on a shopping and sightseeing trip that took in the Yankee Stadium in New York City where they saw a NY Yankees Versus Chicago White Sox baseball game. Then a reception held at the historic 7th Regiment Armory, also in New York City.
The Australian contingent was the “Australian Forestry Group” an element of the Second Australian Imperial Force raised for forestry duties. Its constituent units were established in 1940 and 1941 in response to a request from the British Government for foresters to work in France. After the fall of France, the three Australian forestry companies were sent to the United Kingdom. The group headquarters was raised in July 1941. The foresters worked in northern England and Scotland and had a secondary military role.
The Australian Forestry Group returned to Australia via the United States in 1943, and its three companies later served in the Northern Territory and New Guinea.
Photos: https://raevictoria.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Forestry_Group_UK
Victoria’s Forests & Bushfire Heritage 