Wollomombi Brothers Lodge M.U.I.O.O.F. Great War Honour Roll

This war memorial is a timber honour roll for the First World War. It has an overall rectangular shape, with a classical carved pediment at the top. On the left and right sides of the centre panel are turned timber columns. At the base of the board is a simple timber stand. 

The roll lists the names of 17 members of the Wollomombi Brothers Lodge, of the Manchester Unity Independent Order of Oddfellows (M.U.I.O.O.F.), who served in the war. Their names are printed in gold on the centre panel. Three men are marked as 'Killed' and one as 'Died'. 

A branch of the M.U.I.O.O.F. was opened at Wollomombi in late August 1910. The Daily Telegraph, 2 September 1910, reported on the initiation of 19 candidates into the new lodge.

The Wollomombi Oddfellows Hall followed several years later, opening on 28 May 1915. It was in this hall the roll was unveiled at a "Grand Annual Social" on 16 September 1919 (The Armidale Chronicle, 2 June 1915; 10 September 1919). After the Second World War, the community raised money to purchase the hall and it was re-named the Sauer Memorial Hall, after the local Sauer family. Access to the memorial is restricted to the opening hours of the hall. 

Image credit: The above photograph was sourced from the chapter 'Memorials and War Service', by Graham Wilson, in the publication Wollomombi: between two bridges (Armidale Regional Council, 2018).