The Large Technology Conservation Section are currently working on five aircraft for the upcoming First World War exhibition “Over The Front” due to open in November 2008.

The Albatros D.Va was last restored in the mid 1960s and there are a number of areas which need attention.

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Crashes and fires were everyday hazards for the First World War flier. Second Lieutenant Frederick Gulley suffered both when trying to land his aircraft in England on 17 October 1918. Gulley was on a cross country flight and struck a post whilst attempting to land in a field close to Tidworth Barracks, Wiltshire. In the resulting fire Gulley’s clothes, harness, face and hands were burnt. He was taken to Tidworth Hospital with superficial burns to his face, neck and both hands, including all fingers. 

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Local historian and biographer Jennifer Horsfield will talk about Rania MacPhillamy, who served as a member of the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) in Egypt and Palestine during the First World War. MacPhillamy helped Alice Chisholm to set up canteens in Port Said, Kantara, Jerusalem, and Rafa, and was awarded an OBE for her work. She was remembered with great affection and admiration by the men of the Australian Light Horse.

Sunday, March 23, 2008 at 2:00 pm
For information and bookings, phone (02) 6243 4473
Location: Research Centre

You can read an article by Jenny Horsfield about this extraordinary woman and her work in the Desert Campaign on this blog: Here

An exhibition on animals in war will open at the Memorial in February 2009. A is for Animals will explore a range of themes relating to animals during times of war. The exhibition will explore stories of the Light Horse; the donkeys, camels, horses and other creatures used to transport soldiers and equipment; the pigeons used to carry messages; the dogs who have located injured soldiers and tracked the enemy, and the many and varied animals adopted as mascots and pets. Additionally the exhibition will consider the unwelcome animals in war, such as insects, rats, wild elephants and jungle dwellers, which can make life difficult or even dangerous. read on

Ian Jones’ revised edition of “A Thousand Miles of Battles” is now available from our shop (here). It was first published in 1987, but last year a new revised edition was released by ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee (Queensland) Inc.

Ian wrote and co-produced the film The Lighthorsemen and there is an excellent action shot included in the book (p.115) from the film’s scene covering the charge at Beersheba. The book also uses many of the same images we have highlighted in our exhibition and many others I’d like to have used if we had more space. These include AWM B00277 and AWM P03631.087 (see below).

If you want a well produced and written illustrated contemporary history of the Light Horse then it is currently very hard to go past this book.

First World War ‘war birds’ will have their covers restored ready for display at the Australian War Memorial tomorrow.

A special team of French vintage aircraft experts will tomorrow make the ‘last stitch’ of their conservation work on rare First World War aircraft, or ’war birds’ as the aircraft are affectionately known. The war birds are progressively being ‘clothed’ as part of the restoration process, in preparation for the upcoming exhibition, Over the Front.

The most complex work is fitting new camouflage fabric to the German Albatros and Pfalz war birds, which are both over 90 years old. The specialist French conservators are teaching Australian War Memorial staff the use of original techniques and materials to recreate the original design faithfully over the coming months.

Opening at the Memorial in late 2008, Over the front will include five original First World War aircraft:

• Three Australian aircraft- Se5a; Avro 504K trainer and Airco DH9.
• Two rare German fighter planes – an Albatros and a Pfalz

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I received an email today from Charles Kenny of Essex in the UK. He has given me permission to post it here and I’ve put in some relevant links where I could.

Reading about your exhibition, I thought you might be interested in a little known connection.

The Bartlett brothers, Stephen and Alfred S., both pearlers of Broome (W.A.), enlisted together in the 10th Light Horse Regiment in May 1915, and embarked from Freemantle on HMAT Anchises in September. They saw plenty of action. Alfred was recommended for a bravery award at Rafa in January 1917 but sadly died of wounds that April and is buried in Gaza. Steve soldiered on in the great ride to Damascus, and then to patrolling the Delta. After the war he settled in England and became an author, writing under the name of Gurney Slade. read on

Just a year after the end of the First World War, and only a decade after the short first powered flight in Australia, a twin-engine Vickers Vimy, with a crew of 4, flew from England to Australia.  This 1919 exploit exemplified the progress in world aviation. During the First World War there were men who had never before seen an aeroplane or driven a motor car, who had learned how to fly.

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In March 1919, four months after the war was over, the Australian government announced that it would give a £10,000 prize for the first successful flight from England to Australia. Despite the obvious dangers, this appealed to some airmen, not yet discharged, who were awaiting repatriation home. There were plenty of war surplus aircraft available and six crews eventually took part. However only two crews finished. The winning team was the brothers Ross and Keith Smith and their mechanics James Bennett and Wally Shiers, flying a Vickers Vimy two-engine former bomber. They embarked from England on 12 November 1919 and reached Darwin on 10 December – a journey of 28 days. Both Ross and Keith were immediately knighted while Sergeants W. H. Shiers and J. M. Bennett, the mechanics, were commissioned and awarded Bars to their Air Force Medals. The £10,000 prize money was divided into four equal shares. read on

It is not unusual for servicemen and women to carry with them good luck charms while on overseas service. However one particularly superstitious serviceman was Aircraft Mechanic 2nd Class Henry James Marston, of No. 3 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps (AFC). Marston wore a wrist chain with an identity tag and three lucky charms – a boomerang, a black cat and a doll.

The boomerang entitled ‘I Go To Return’ is an obvious choice, and may have been bought by or given to Marston before leaving Australia. The choice of the “lucky” black cat is similarly obvious. The silver FUMSUP charm (a play on “thumb’s up”), was a popular motif in Britain during the First World War and also appeared on souvenir china and postcards. The head appears to be made of wood “touch wood” and has a four leaf clover impressed into it. The tiny glass eyes often seen in other examples are missing.  Marston’s mother’s details and address are engraved on the reverse of the identity disc.

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