Studio portrait of new recruits Arthur Harry Gray (later Corporal), Richard Edmund Arthur Gray ...

Studio portrait of new recruits Arthur Harry Gray (later Corporal), Richard Edmund Arthur Gray and David John Denny at the Military Training Camp located at Goulburn showground, in Goldsmith Street, New South Wales. The uniforms worn by the men are the khaki variant of the normally blue cotton drill training jacket, which is the first uniform issued to a new recruit. It was usually issued with matching trousers but these men are wearing Australian Imperial Forces uniform breeches and puttees. Written in pen and ink on the reverse of the print is “Billy Hughes Camp.” It is possible that the three men were “Hughesiliers.” Hughesiliers were men who, under Prime Minister Billy Hughes government, were sent into training camps between 1915 and 1916. These men had not enlisted for service yet, but were trained in preparation for conscription to pass through the Federal Governments referendum. As the referendum did not have a successful outcome, compulsory conscription did not pass. No evidence has been found that Richard Gray and David Denny ever voluntarily signed up for service.