That Darn Sock, a memorial to Yass soldiers, on display during Anzac Week 2015 on the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing. It will be on display again in Yass this Anzac Day. Photo: Cheryl Mongan.
A unique 35-metre-long sock, made by relatives, friends – and strangers – of Yass district soldiers fighting in The Great War will go on rare display this Anzac Day.
Known as That Darn Sock, the piece was the brainchild of life member of the Yass and District Historical Society, Dr Richard Reid.
With 100 names on the World War I Roll of Honour in the Yass and District Soldiers’ Memorial Hall, Dr Reid suggested, in the lead-up to the 80th anniversary of the Armistice of the Great War in 1998, that members of the public knit a “foot” length (12 inches) of sock for each of those named.
For both loved ones waiting at home and those serving overseas, knitting socks was more than just a matter of keeping feet warm.
For those at home, it was doing something constructive during the interminable wait that was war and for those in the thick of it, it was that little piece of connection with home.
Yass and District Historical Society spokesperson Cheryl Mongan said the concept of remembering the fallen in war came in various forms – “and here in Yass we have an unusual example of community participation in the creation of a unique memorial”.
Ms Mongan said leading up to the 80th anniversary of the Armistice of the Great War in 1998, the question arose: “What did people do in Yass while the war raged in Europe?”
“Supporting those at the Front was a prime concern for locals and knitting socks was very much part of the war effort,” she said.
“Keeping a soldier on his feet was all important. Trench foot acquired from the cold, wet muddy conditions in the trenches could see a soldier incapacitated in hospital if the condition went unchecked.
“Extra socks allowed soldiers to change wet socks for dry more often, fending off the unwanted condition.”
Ms Mongan said at home, women, and some men, spent their time knitting for the Red Cross or the Yass Boys’ Comforts Fund, which distributed socks, balaclavas, toiletries and other small necessities to troops in active service.
So in the months leading up to the 80th anniversary, Yass folk, from nursing home residents to relatives of the fallen to others with no connection to those named on the sock, started knitting.
The result was the 35-metre-long sock, the heel of which was expertly turned by the late Myra Hedges.
There was no khaki for this giant sock. Rather, knitters were encouraged to use their favourite colours.
On the sock, the names of those commemorated in order of their date of death, their battalion shoulder patch and where possible a photograph of them are marked.
Many of the names are still familiar in the Yass district today, including Buckmaster, Crago, Styles, Arthur, Clark, Cooney, Garland and Preece, with soldiers from the Light Horse Brigades to Army Service Corps represented.
To mark Anzac Day 2025, in collaboration with the Yass RSL Sub-Branch, That Darn Sock will go on display again – at the Yass Soldiers’ Memorial Hall on Anzac Day, Friday 25 April, from after the Dawn Service until 2 pm.
