The outbreak of World War I in 1914 brought a sharp halt to further immediate improvement, as the whole of the residents threw themselves into whatever way they were best able to do their share.
The forbears of some of them had served in the Crimean War and the much smaller Sudan War. Some had themselves served in the Boer War and the Boxer Rebellion, but all realised that this new conflict was of a totally different nature and that the attainment of victory would be a long and arduous job.
Some 1,140 of the younger residents voluntarily enlisted for Service overseas. The Mosman Red Cross was outstanding, so much so that their leader was honoured with an M.B.E. decoration. So too, was Mrs. Bennett White (Meta Hayter), organiser of a Concert Troupe of young girls to be known as “The Cheer-ohs”. This band of versatile entertainers in the four years of War and eight years afterwards, raised no less than a sum of £55,000 for the various patriotic and repatriation funds.
On the cessation of the War, the residents got back to their Civic and Public affairs, and set about them with their old vigour, fortified with the unbounded energy of the Returned Service-men themselves. Many and varied were their activities to complete the Mosman that had been left to them and for which they had fought. The Anzac Memorial itself is typical of their endeavours.
– Carroll, Jack & Mosman Historical Society 1953, The settlement and growth of Mosman, Mosman Historical Society, Sydney
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