Blog

Stinking Farm Trench Sign

06 December 2011 by Dianne Rutherford. 3 Comments
Collection,From the collection, Battles, First World War, Heraldry, Western Front

My name is Romy Turner. I am a work experience student from Canberra Girls Grammar School at the Memorial for this week. As part of my work experience I had to research an item, a trench sign, from the Memorial’s collection.

The trench sign ‘To Stinking Farm & Currie Ave’ was collected during the First World War by Lieutenant Colonel John Basil St. Vincent Welch, whilst he was serving as part of the 13^thField Ambulance in Belgium. Welch arrived in Marseilles on 13 July 1916 as a member of the Australian Field Ambulance. He was appointed the commanding officer of the 13^thField Ambulance and was stationed around the village of Messines, which would be the site of the Battle of Messines 11 months later. Stationed at Kandahar Farm, Welch assisted in this battle, tending to the wounded as they came back from the front and organising the transportation of the men further back the line to the field hospitals. read on

Hospital Tent at Rest Gully Gallipoli

02 December 2011 by Dianne Rutherford. 2 Comments
Collection,From the collection, First World War, Gallipoli, Gallipoli Mission, Heraldry, hospital

My name’s Sean Limn, and I’ve been doing work experience at the War Memorial for the past week. One of my tasks whilst at the Memorial was to research a collection item, a piece of an old tent found at Gallipoli in 1919. The tent piece was found at Rest Gully, and is from a hospital tent left during the evacuation in December 1915. The tent was left behind as part of the ruse  to prevent the Turks from realising that an evacuation was taking place.

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An ancient Babylonian souvenir?

15 July 2011 by Dianne Rutherford. No comments
From the collection, Antiquities, First World War, Mesopotamia, Souvenirs

One of the more unusual items to be found in the Memorial’s collection is the item shown above. It was purchased by an Australian soldier, Eric Keast Burke, while he was serving with ‘D’ Troop, ANZAC Wireless Squadron in Baghdad, Mesopotamia in 1918-1919 and was originally identified  as a piece of an ancient Babylonian cuneiform tablet.

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WWI letters & diaries at the Memorial.

18 April 2011 by Sue Jamesion. 4 Comments
Collection,Family history,News,Personal Stories, Commemoration, First World War, Private Records, WWI Centenary

With the Centenary of the Great War of 1914-1918 only a few years away, staff in the Research Centre at the Australian War Memorial are busily working on a variety of special projects aimed at supporting the Australian community’s commemoration of this momentous occasion. 

One such project involves the re-cataloguing and in-depth indexing of the Memorial’s remarkable Private Records collection from WWI.

The AWM holds over 5,000 personal records from the First World War, mainly letters and diaries written by Australian men and women on active service. While earlier cataloguing for these personal records provided an index of such things as the unit with which the collection’s maker served (e.g. 8th Light Horse Regiment), and the places in which he served (e.g. Gallipoli), the new standard of Private Records cataloguing involves far more detailed description.  Many more subject headings (like ‘mud’, ‘camels’, ‘prisoners of war’ and so on) have been added to the online catalogue record of individual collections, as well as biographical information about the collection’s ‘maker’ – information previously only available on a paper file.  To get an idea of what I mean, take a peek at 2DRL/0481 – (papers of Lt John Alexander Raws & Lt Robert Goldthorpe Raws, both of the 23rd Battalion, AIF.)

As a family historian myself, I feel the most exciting aspect of this project is identifying individuals named in letters and diaries.  I record the name of every person mentioned in each collection, even if the reference is only very brief.   This ensures these names are made ‘searchable’ on the Memorial’s online catalogue. 

It’s wonderful what these references can bring to light.  Take for example the case of 1120 Private Leonard Arthur Thomas Beggs of the 22^nd Battalion…from his official war service record, he would appear to have been less than a model soldier – but just look what his commanding officer had to say about him in a letter home from Gallipoli.

“[N]ot forgetting Beggs, a terrier of a chap, will do anything. Put up entanglements under fire, work…on sandbags at night, scout round for provisions for us at the beach, my word he’s the one to find the illicit canteens…He’s a real scout and will do anything to oblige us”. –
1DRL/0554 (papers of Captain Louis Carl Roth, MC, 2 Pioneer Battalion & formerly of 22 Infantry Battalion, AIF)

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The Bicycle in Warfare

23 March 2011 by Ally Roche. 1 Comment
Collection,From the collection,News, First World War, Frontline troops, Technology, Western Front

The bicycle is a machine that we can all relate to, it’s a common denominator.  Be that early childhood memories of the first ride down that steep hill, the freedom to go distances that would be problematic on foot or that flat tyre at the most inconvenient time.

Today, bike technology has changed dramatically from the bikes that were being used in the First World War.  No carbon fibre frames or dual suspension shock absorbers, gears – what were they?  And the AIF Uniform was the standard Cycling Corps apparel, no Italian lycra for our boys as the photograph below demonstrates. This photograph was taken in c1915 at Broadmeadows, Victoria of six members of the Australian Cycling Corps with their bicycles prior to deployment overseas.

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‘Our Hero We’re Proud of Him’ : Patriotic Crochet in the First World War

04 March 2011 by Dianne Rutherford. 1 Comment
Collection,From the collection, First World War, Handicrafts, Heraldry, Home Front, Textile

Filet crochet was a popular craft before and during the First World War. Women would make decorative or functional items for the home such as tray cloths, milk jug covers, tea cosies, tablecloths and cushion covers. They also made decorative items for clothing, such as crochet lace collars or cuffs. During the First World War patriotic military themes were popular. Images such as ships, flags, soldiers and medals, along with slogans such as: ‘Success to the Allies’, ‘God bless our brave boys’, ‘God bless our khaki boys’ and ‘Our hero we’re proud of him’ were available.

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Sir John Monash’s German Shoulder Strap Collection

04 January 2011 by Dianne Rutherford. No comments
Collection,From the collection, Battles, First World War, Heraldry, Western Front

 

Among the items collected by Sir John Monash during the First World War are over 200 German shoulder straps worn by men who fought against the AIF in 1918. Single shoulder straps were routinely removed from dead or captured Germans for intelligence purposes so the  identity of German units opposing the Allied forces could be established.

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Discovering Private Walker: Using new technologies to catalogue old relics

19 November 2010 by Dianne Rutherford. 1 Comment
Collection,From the collection,Personal Stories, Battles, First World War, Gallipoli, Roll of Honour

There is a mess tin on display in the Gallipoli gallery that is rusted and full of holes. It was found over 90 years ago scattered with dozens of other pieces of kit around the Lone Pine position at Gallipoli in January 1919 by staff from the Australian War Records Section.

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Seven years bad luck? Making periscopes on Gallipoli

15 October 2010 by Dianne Rutherford. No comments
Collection,From the collection, First World War, Gallipoli, Technology

When the Gallipoli campaign quickly bogged down into trench warfare, there were not enough periscopes available to allow Australian and New Zealand soldiers to look over the parapets at ANZAC without being shot.

Luckily the soldiers do not appear to have been superstitious as to fill the gap improvised periscopes were made by breaking shaving mirrors or mirrors taken from transport ships and attaching them at an angle to lengths of wood.

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Historically significant diaries of C.E.W. Bean are now online

09 November 2009 by Robyn Van Dyk. 1 Comment
Collection,News, Digitisation, First World War

The notebooks, diaries and folders created by Charles Bean during and after the First World War have immense historic value and are considered to be one of the most significant records created by a single Australian. The collection includes 286 volumes of diaries and historical notebooks recorded by Bean at the time and often at the front line. The diaries are firsthand accounts of the war and offer a unique perspective due to Bean’s status as official correspondent. read on