Cane Beetles March

The Cane Beetles March was a snowball march in April 1916 in North Queensland, Australia, to recruit men into the Australian Imperial Force during World War I at a time when enthusiasm to enlist had waned after the loss of life in the Gallipoli campaign. The march began at Mooliba on 20 April 1916 with 4 men and ended in Cairns 60 kilometers later with 29 recruits.

Following Britain’s declaration of war on Germany on 4 August 1914, Australia and the other members of the British Empire were also at war. The first Australian to perish on the Western Front was Lieutenant William Malcolm Chisholm of the Lancashire Regiment, who died in the Battle of Le Cateau in France on 26 August 1914. Closer to home, Australian troops secured German New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago in September–October 1914. Australians landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey on 25 April 1915. By October 1915, Australia had lost 7,279 men in the Gallipoli Campaign and thousands more were wounded. Although Australian troops were withdrawn from Galipolli by 20 December 1915, more recruits were needed in the Middle East and on the Western Front.

The Cane Beetles March appears to have been the initiative of the Cairns Recruiting Committee. The origin of the name is not clear, but the Gordonvale Recruiting Committee disliked the name given that the cane beetle was the greatest pest to the local sugar industry. However, they were prepared to overlook the name in order to focus on "the brave fellows who have responded to the call of duty and are going forth to fight the battles of the Empire and to uphold liberty, freedom and justice".

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