The trams that took the diggers to war, by Jim Gainsford

Shire residents will be transported back to the days of World War I when the Sydney Vintage Tramway Festival is held at Loftus on Sunday, February 28.

The Sydney Tramway Museum is hosting the festival to commemorate the role of the NSW tramways in World War I.

Trams played a vital role in the preparations for the war including transporting diggers from military camps at Moore Park, Centennial Park and the Randwick Rifle Range to the wharves at Circular Quay and Woolloomooloo to sail off to the battlefields of Gallipoli and the Western Front.

Important role: Sydney ambulance trams Nos 31 and 44, built in 1915 to carry sick and wounded soldiers from ambulance ships berthed at Woolloomooloo to the military hospital at Randwick. Picture: Sydney Tramway Museum.

Trams played a vital role in the preparations for the war including transporting diggers from military camps at Moore Park, Centennial Park and the Randwick Rifle Range to the wharves at Circular Quay and Woolloomooloo to sail off to the battlefields of Gallipoli and the Western Front.

This article appeared in the Community section of the leader.com.au 19/02/2016:

https://www.theleader.com.au/story/3739522/the-trams-that-took-the-diggers-to-war/