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Those who regularly read the AWM blog might remember the Valentine’s Day blog post about a mysterious love letter from a young French woman to her soldier sweetheart.

This letter, and the mystery that surrounds it, created lots of interest. With the help of an enthusiastic member of the public, and her wonderfully helpful relative in France, we have since found a few more details about Marthe and her letter.

Marthe and her family were evacuated from Armentières, on the French/Belgian border, to Saint-Sulpice-Les-Feuilles during the First World War. Armentières was destroyed during the war and rebuilt afterwards.

It was in Saint-Sulpice-Les-Feuilles that Marthe met her sweetheart. However, the identity of Marthe’s sweetheart and his fate remain a mystery. The two never married as he rejoined his battalion and never came back to her. Marthe’s nephew heard the story from his father but the family cannot recall his name after all these years. However, enquires continue and I’ll do another blog post if any more information turns up.

Marthe’s letter will be on public display as part of the Memorial’s Of Love and War exhibition opening in December.

The Australian War Memorial will join other institutions, including the New York Public Library and the Brooklyn Museum, for the worldwide exhibition Common Ground.

 Voting for Common Ground closes on 16 September, so now is the last chance to vote for photographs, including those shared on Flickr by the Australian War Memorial.

 Voting is open to everyone with a Flickr account, for all images from Commons on Flickr. The most ‘favourited’ images, as voted by the public, will be simultaneously projected around the world by participating institutions on the weekend of 2 and 3 October.

 The Australian War Memorial is pleased to be participating, with the projection screening in the Orientation Gallery on 2 and 3 October.

 Vote now for the Australian War Memorial at http://commonground.eastmanhouse.org/ 

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Further information:
http://www.awm.gov.au/flickrcommons/meetup.asp

http://www.flickr.com/groups/flickrcommons

9 September 2009

Today I was out at our Conservation and Storage Annex showing journalists through Big Things In Store to get the word out about the event this Sunday.

WIN Television filming the artillery collection

The team has done a great job moving objects and creating walkways ready for Sunday so visitors can get a closer look at our Big Things. This year, will be a special chance to see the Dingo Scout Car’s components, because the different parts are spread out in the workshop ready for the conservators to start their work.

A view of some the aircraft on display

My personal favourite this time would have to be our robot. Known as “Jeffery the Robot” after its inventor, this small remote-controlled robot is a protoype that never made it to production. It was designed to deliver small charges to destroy the enemy’s barbed wire and bunkers without endangering troops.

The team has been busy preparing, so if you’re still unsure of what to do with Dad on Sunday, head out to Big Things In Store.

Big Things In Store
Australian War Memorial Conservation and Storage Annex
Callan Street, Mitchell ACT

12pm – 4pm.
Entry by donation.

Closed flat footwear is required for entry. No large bags, tripods, monopods.

P.s. Did you know the Australian War Memorial is on facebook, flickr and twitter! Don’t forget to share your photos from Big Things In Store with us.

On the 19^th November 1941, Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney II was lost, with all hands, off the coast of Western Australia after engaging with the German raider HSK Kormoran. The discovery in March 2008 of the final resting place of the Sydney and the Kormoran attracted much attention. Understandably, there has been much discussion over the circumstances surrounding the loss of the Sydney; however the story of the Kormoran’s Commander, Theodor Anton Detmers, and that of his crew, continued long after the battle. Almost a week after the sinking of the Kormoran, Detmers was picked up in a lifeboat along with other crewmen. Brought to Australia as a prisoner of war, he and several of his countrymen were detained in Dhurringile Prison Camp, Victoria. It was not long before the Commander and his countrymen had formulated a plan to escape their fortress using a hand-drawn map of Australia’s east coast, now held by the Australian War Memorial.

Group portrait of German Officer prisoners of war (POWs) interned at Dhurringile. Detmers is in the front row, third from left. 030185_05

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The 31^st of July 2009 will mark the end of Operation CATALYST. CATALYST began on the 20^th of March 2003 and defined the role of the Australian Defence Force in assisting multinational forces in the stabilization and security of Iraq. It also involved ADF support in the implementation of the country’s recovery programs.

Boatswains Mates, HMAS Parramatta, 2009

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Phoebe Chapple (1879-1967) Image courtesy of the State Library of South Australia. B 25677/34

Phoebe Chapple was always going to be someone special. She grew up in a family of high achievers. Apart from her father, Frederic Chapple, who was headmaster at Prince Alfred College Adelaide, five of her seven siblings held university degrees: Alfred a lecturer in engineering at St John’s University Cambridge; Ernest, another Cambridge graduate at Jesus University and president of the Fresher Debating Society before taking up a position in Rangoon, Burma; Harold a surgeon at Guy’s Hospital in London; Marian an arts graduate from the University of Adelaide; and Fred, another doctor. However, Phoebe stood apart even in such accomplished company.

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The digitisation of the whole series of Australian Imperial Force (AIF) war diaries from the First World War, (Official Records series AWM4), recently passed the 400,000 image mark.   Included in the 400,000 images are all the available diaries for the Australian Flying Corps, (AFC) .  Digitised versions of the diaries are being regularly uploaded to the Memorial’s website as they are completed. 

The AIF war diaries are an invaluable resource for anyone researching a particular unit and sometimes contain unexpected windows into the daily experience of war.  A revealing example of this is contained in the appendices to the AFC diaries titled ‘Combats in the Air’.  These documents detail personal accounts of aerial combat recorded in the immediate aftermath by the participants.

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The Netherland’s national archives, Nationaal Archief, has recently completed a research project: Afscheid van Indië (Separation from Indonesia), which includes the web publishing of over 175,000 pages of digitised records. The site tells the story of the separation of the Netherlands from its former colony of Indonesia during the 1940s. This turbulent decade in the history of the Netherlands is told through the use of archival material sourced from three continents including the collections of the Australian War Memorial.

nationaal-archief

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The Simpson Prize students have now been back in Oz for just over two weeks  – enough time to re-adjust and reflect on our experiences.   Here are some thoughts from most of the gang.  This is the final blog entry, so thanks to those who have followed the experiences and for any year 9 or 10 students interested in applying to this year’s competition, you can see what sort of experience the winners have on their trip.

Istiklal St tram

  

Istanbul evening

Megan Prouatt

After eleven days of sharing an experience, and getting to know such an awesome and unique bunch of people as the ones that attended the Simpson Prize Trip 2009, it’s sad being separated by our different states.  On top of that, I’m missing our after dinner intense games of spoons and the other card games Andrew taught us, although most of those surpassed my intelligence anyway.

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