WWII era 'Aussie Boys' signed sheet music

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Allan & Co. Pty. Ltd.

1939

Overview

World War Two era patriotic Australian music score to the march 'Aussie Boys: the Regimental Marching Song of the 2nd A.I.F.' The words and music were composed by Private T.H. (Thomas Hector) Norman who is one of over seventy Australian Army soldiers to have signed the sheet music. The signatures are mostly located on both covers with a few at the top of the centre pages.
The graphic on the front cover shows an Australian blue ensign flag unfurled in vibrant blue, red and white colours. On the right of the flag is an oval greyscale portrait of Pte T.H. Norman in uniform and slouch hat playing his accordion. The text 'AUSSIE BOYS' is written across the top in black letters on a cream background.
The area surrounding the flag is in a lighter blue and contains several greyscale images of various military motifs. These include a formation of three biplanes, a soldier wearing his tin hat and holding his rifle with bayonet attached, a large warship, a tank and a group of soldiers marching.
The publisher's details are printed in cream letters on a black rectangle in the left lower corner. The price is written in cream on the body of the tank on the lower right.

The central pages have the music and words printed in black on a cream background. There is a dedication and information about copyright and the publisher printed at the top and bottom of the pages.

The back cover features a large advertisement for another Allan & Co. Pty. Ltd. publication relating to Walt Disney's 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'.

Historical information

Thomas Hector Norman (also known as Tommy Norman) was born on 27 August 1905 in South Melbourne. He gave his occupation as a cook when he enlisted with the 2/2 Field Ambulance on 31 October 1939 and was assigned the service number VX5542.
He was discharged on 27 March 1940. being considered unfit for the duties of his Corps. His army career lasted 150 days at Puckapunyal during which he was absent without leave a number of times. It does date the signed sheet music to within this time frame.

74 of the men who signed the sheet music have been identified and many served in the same battalions - 2/2 Field Ambulance and other Australian Army Medical Corps units, various infantry battalions and the Australian Army Service Corps, among others. They all enlisted between 20 October and 7 December 1939 and did their initial training at Puckapunyal.

Quite a few of the 74 were discharged early in 1940 like Tommy Norman, perhaps being found unsuitable for military service. Several went on to serve and become prisoners of war, while at least 7 are known to have died.

According to the National Film and Sound Archive, Thomas Hector Norman was an Australian composer, lyricist, and vocalist connected to vintage Australian light music and recordings. He was active as a songwriter and performer around the mid-20th century and authored works such as the 1925 waltz song 'In my little bark canoe' and recorded material via National Film and Sound Archive holdings like 'Johnnie's in town' (a tribute to pioneer aviatrix, Amy Johnson).

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-119-RoW01070

Item type

Artefacts

Autographs

Collectibles

Ephemera

Music Scores

Personal Effects

Themes

Social History