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.
RELAWM06263 Trench sign to Stinking FarmThe 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 13thField 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 13thField 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.
RELAWM00433 Remains of Hospital tent from Rest Gully‘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.
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
RELAWM15049.004 : Shoulder straps for 233rd Field Artillery Regiment, 37, 24 and 151 Fussartillerie (Foot Artillery) Battalions and 69th Field Artillery Regiment 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.
These boots are made for walking… too!
23 June 2010 by Dianne Rutherford.
1 Comment
Collection,From the collection,New acquisitions, Heraldry, Second World War
Version 1 and 2 right bootsLate last year the Memorial received a pair of Second World War escape and evasion (E&E) boots as part of a donation. We already held two pairs of 1943 Pattern E&E boots in the collection which were designed so that if an airman baled out or crash landed over enemy territory, he could cut away the suede upper with a concealed knife. This would turn his boots into ‘civilian’ style shoes to help him evade capture by the Germans. Neither pair held by the Memorial had their original knife (they often get separated from the boots), so I hoped this new pair might.
Hospital Ship Centaur
05 March 2010 by Dianne Rutherford.
4 Comments
Collection,From the collection,Personal Stories, Heraldry, Hospital Ship Centaur, Second World War, Technology
Model of the Hospital Ship Centaur, currently on display in the Second World War gallery.The Memorial holds a small, but important, collection associated with the sinking of the Hospital Ship Centaur, whose wreck site was discovered in December 2009.
Relics of the 16th Battalion at the Bloody Angle, Gallipoli, 1919
14 October 2009 by Dianne Rutherford.
5 Comments
Collection,From the collection, 16 Battalion, Casualties, Collecting, Heraldry
In January 1919 tattered pieces of uniform were found lying among the bones of the men of the 16th Battalion, who were killed trying to advance at the Bloody Angle on 2 May 1915. These items were recovered by Lieutenant William Hopkin James, who headed a small party to Gallipoli for the Australian War Records Section (the precursor to the Australian War Memorial). They arrived at Gallipoli in mid December 1918, and remained there until late March 1919. With the assistance of members of the 7th Light Horse Regiment, who were stationed in the area at the time, they collected items, and photographed the area. In February 1919 they were joined by the Australian Historical Mission, led by Official Historian C E W Bean.
Dr Phoebe Chapple: The first woman doctor to win the Military Medal
30 June 2009 by Craig Blanch.
15 Comments
Collection,Collection Highlights,From the collection,News,Personal Stories, First World War, Heraldry, military medal, People, Western Front, women in war
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.
These boots are made for walking…
14 April 2009 by Dianne Rutherford.
6 Comments
Collection,From the collection, Heraldry
Two pairs of flying boots in the Memorial's collection that could be converted to civilian shoes.Among the items held at the Memorial that were issued to air crew serving in Europe, are two pairs of very interesting 1943 Pattern escape boots. The boots were designed so that an airman downed in Europe could remove a small concealed knife and cut off the top section of the boot to reveal a civilian looking shoe.
The Indefatigable Florence MacDowell
05 March 2009 by Dianne Rutherford.
2 Comments
From the collection,Personal Stories, Heraldry, Nurses
Florence MacDowell in 1912 (from Private Records collection 2DRL/1138)Florence MacDowell was born in the mid 1870s, the daughter of Swanston Hay MacDowell and Kathleen Champ. She trained as a nurse at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, Victoria and the Queens Hospital in Adelaide, South Australia. She opened her own hospital called ‘Windarra’ at Toorak in Victoria, but later moved abroad, living mostly in Italy. She was staying on the Island of Elba in Tuscany when war broke out in 1914.
She made her way to England where she joined the British Red Cross. She worked as a Sister in their hospital at Vranatzka Banya in Serbia. In late 1915 and early 1916 the Serbian forces were overrun and retreated to Albania and Montenegro. Sister MacDowell evacuated from Serbia and eventually made her way back to England.
