From Bank to Battlefield
Staff Profiles
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- Staff Profiles
- Battle Profiles
- Branch Profiles
Corporal Walter Harry MacQueen, a bank clerk with the Commonwealth Bank's Head Office, was the first Sydney-based member of staff to enlist, signing up on 16 August 1914 (just days after the proclamation of war). By the end of the war, a total of 206 Commonwealth Bank officers had made the same decision to serve. Some of them didn't survive, others suffered injuries that could never be overcome while the lucky ones somehow picked up the pieces of their old lives after the hostilities were over. The mixed fate of these Bank staff who saw active service was a reflection of the war's brutality as well as an acknowledgement of their courage, tenacity and resourcefulness.
Battle Profiles
Centenary of the First Battle of Bullecourt, 11 April 1917
Branch Profiles
At the height of hostilities during World War I, just over half the staff from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia's (CBA) Hobart Branch had enlisted. As the Reserve Bank descended from the central banking division of the Commonwealth Bank, we honour the staff from the Hobart Branch and share their story. Read more.
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