A New Threat

Just as the war ended, the world faced a new threat. Spanish Influenza would kill more people than had died in the war.

Spanish Influenza was first observed in the United States in January 1918. It spread quickly across the world, aided by modern transportation and the huge numbers of soldiers and others trying to return home after the war. Estimates vary, but the influenza is thought to have killed at least 30 million people – possibly more than 50 million – worldwide. Despite extensive quarantine measures in Australia, 15,000 people died and around 40 per cent of the population were infected.

Private Hector Hicks from Albury had enlisted on 9 September 1918 and was part of the last intake of soldiers from New South Wales. He departed Sydney on the Medic on 2 November 1918, but died of Spanish Flu just a month later, on 30 November. He was buried in the Quarantine Station cemetery at North Head, Manly. Albury dental mechanic Percy Edwards had also been on the Medic, and died of influenza and bronchial pneumonia on 1 December.

Quarantine camps were established around Australia, including at Albury Sports Ground and Wodonga Racecourse. The disease dealt a cruel blow to a world already on its knees from the war, with up to 10 per cent of sufferers dying. It was particularly likely to affect adults up to 40 years of age.

When the first Australian case appeared in Melbourne in early January 1919, the NSW government closed the border to Victorians on 30 January. However, the border closure had limited impact. Police were stationed at the Union Bridge, but people could simply move between Albury and Wodonga by crossing the river. Local hospitals experienced shortages of beds as the number of cases rose. In August 1919, 27 patients were hospitalised in Albury with the flu. The pandemic was over by the end of the year.