'Australian YMCA with the AIF' banner : YMCA Headquarters, Aldwych Theatre London

Large square, red cotton banner with a slightly curved lower edge bordered with a heavy gold and white cotton fringe. A large white cotton map of Australia, with a tiny Tasmania squeezed in at the bottom, is appliqued to the centre of the banner. Appliqued dark blue cotton sateen letters above and below the map read, 'AUSTRALIAN/ WITH THE AIF'. A large representation of the YMCA badge is superimposed over the map, also in appliqued cotton sateen. It takes the form of a red inverted triangle, with a dark blue horizontal bar across the centre bearing 'Y.M.C.A.' in white.

In 1917, the Australian YMCA entered a contract to rent the Aldwych Theatre in London. The Aldwych Theatre was located on Aldwych, at the corner of Drury Lane, in the heart of the West End, and was a relatively new venture, built in 1905 as one of two theatres bordering The Waldorf Hotel; the other was the Waldorf Theatre, built on the opposite corner, at Catherine St. Both theatres were ornately decorated in the Georgian style and the street they stood on, The Aldwych, was a relatively new, prestigious cresent which connected to the Strand at both ends. Australia House was another important construction added to Aldwych, where it joins The Strand; its building commenced in 1912, but wasn't finished until 1918.

The Aldwych Theatre specialised in plays and muscial comedy; in 1911, it hosted the first performance in England of Chekhov’s play, "The Cherry Orchard". When the Australian YMCA rented the theatre in 1917, however, its intention was to provide a YMCA centre with accomodation, food and refreshments, entertainments, concerts, music and activities for Australian troops in the heart of London. It also hosted members of the Australian Munition Workers Club. Managed by Mr L. Jenner and Mr G. J. Wells, (both Australian YMCA officers - Jenner had managed the YMCA Soldier's Rest Home at St Kilda, while Wells, a dentist from Kyneton, served as secretary of the Australian YMCA in London), the complex could house up to 2,000 troops and was the Australian YMCA's largest centre during the First World War. Local female staff were employed to service the centre, and the YMCA was able to take advantage of the excellent facilities - kitchens, counters, private rooms and of course a spacious theatre - which the Aldwych possessed. When the YMCA relinquished the space in 1919, all the female employees were presented with the "Aldwych Theatre Service Medal", in recognition of their services (see REL24323, for example).

"The Queenslander" newspaper of 1 March 1919 noted that the annual rent cost the YMCA 6,000 pounds, adding that the Aldwych "is the only first class metropolitan theatre in the world which is free to soldiers as a social centre. About 2,000 men use it each day, while an average of 600 dinners and 1000 non-ration and other meals are served, while from 1000 to 1500 seats are occupied at each evening performance." Its hours were 9:00 am until 11:00 pm.

Existing photos of the Theatre during its YMCA days between 1917 and 1919 show it heavily patronised by Australian troops - image H01210, for example, shows a tight knot of Australians posing on the footpath outside the theatre entrance. Image H01255 reveals that the facade of the theatre was clad in large, storey-high billboards above the foyer entrance, decorated with the YMCA logo, the Australian Coat of Arms, and painted illustrations of Australian diggers against a map of Australia, accompanied by phrases such as "For The Boys in Khaki and The Boys in Blue" and "Australian Boys Are Here!".

This banner was recovered from the Theatre after its closure by the Australian War Records Section. It has been suggested that the presence of a heavy fringe along the base of the banner may indicate that it was constructed from the Aldwych's theatre curtains.