The rainfall in the area between those two places in the first two months of 1906 was reckoned to be between 14 and 18 inches (roughly 356 to 457 mm) with consequent overflowing seen in the area's creeks and rivers. The Western was far from an exception to this, and the photograph at right shows what became of some of the town's buildings. In 1909, the telephone reached Winton and by October, it had 34 subscribers. By May 1911, improvements were being made to the post office to set the telephone exchange apart in its own section because it was becoming a "large and important branch". Indeed, there were then also plans to expand the exchange with the addition of a further switchboard to handle an expected 50 more subscribers. On Sunday 16 August 1914, Winton's townsfolk met at the Shire Hall to form a patriotic committee to recruit volunteers for the military to go and fight in the First World War, which had broken out less than three weeks earlier. Five hundred and eighteen men and women from Winton and the surrounding district served in that war, and their fallen comrades' names can now be found on Winton's war memorial on Vindex Street, outside the Shire Hall. Winton's contribution of personnel to the war effort was proportionally one of Australia's highest, and 101 of its townsmen fell in the Great War, including a farmhand from nearby Bladensburg Station named Colin Morgan-Reade, who fell at Gallipoli on 30 May 1915. His story served as a focus during Winton's observance of the centenary of that campaign in 2015. In 1916, the North Gregory Hotel burnt down for the second time. In 1918, the Royal opened, and is still in business today. It is an outdoor cinema, one of only a few left in Australia. In 1920, a new company was founded, Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited (now known as Qantas Airways), and for a while, it was headquartered in Winton. In 1927, Winton got electricity. This "electric light scheme became an accomplished fact" in January of that year, and by December, it had some 160 subscribers. As a business, it was only breaking even, and so it was hoped that there would be more subscribers in the New Year. The project's initial cost was £12,000. The Prime Minister also came to visit that year. On 2 August 1927, Mr. Stanley Bruce and his wife landed on a flight from Longreach in Winton.