Blog
WWI letters & diaries at the Memorial.
18 April 2011 by Sue Jamesion.
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Collection,Family history,News,Personal Stories, Commemoration, First World War, Private Records, WWI Centenary
As the Memorial gears up for WWI Centenary commemorations, AWM cataloguer & indexer, Sue Jamesion, begins work on a diary from 1914, 3DRL/6061One 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 22nd 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)
95th Anniversary of Gallipoli Campaign
23 April 2010 by Nicholas Schmidt.
1 Comment
ANZACS online,Collection,From the collection,New acquisitions,News,Personal Stories, Gallipoli, Private Records, Research Centre
This ANZAC Day marks the 95th anniversary of the start of the Gallipoli campaign, when tens of thousands of British, French and Dominion troops landed on the Turkish coast.
To acknowledge this anniversary, the Australian War Memorial’s Research Centre is displaying previously unseen original letters and diaries relating to the campaign. The Research Centre’s collection is a rich source of records that tells the story of Gallipoli in the words of those who experience it.
The display is titled Gallipoli Landings and reminds the visitor that few of those Australians who served on the peninsula landed in that initial wave of 1,500 men from the 3rd Infantry Brigade. Many experienced their own ‘landing’ in the hours, days and months that followed, while others, including nurses, served on the ships and islands off-shore. Despite great efforts over eight months and the loss of many lives, little progress was made. The ANZACs were evacuated in December 1915. By January 1916, the last British troops had been withdrawn from their positions at Cape Helles, and the campaign abandoned.
The varied experiences of those who served at Gallipoli can be seen in the letters, diaries and private papers from the Memorial’s Private Records collection. The Memorial began collecting wartime letters and diaries during the 1920s and continues to collect the private records today.
Love Letter Update for Valentine’s Day
13 February 2010 by Nicholas Schmidt.
6 Comments
Collection,From the collection,News,Of love and war,Personal Stories, Exhibition, Of Love and War, People, Private Records
It has been a year since the first blog entry went up about Marthe Gylbert and her letter. In this time, with the help of some very generous people, I have been able to discover much about Marthe and her wonderful love letter. If you have not seen the previous blog entries, they can be found here and here.
Marthe‘s nephew Jean Marc Gylbert has been very helpful and interested. He has provided much information about his family and his aunt although some part of the story remains a mystery even to him. This blog is based on information Jean Marc Gylbert has provided.
Marthe was born on the 24th April 1901 to Louis and Marie Louise Gylbert. She was the fourth child in the family of six children, two of whom died while very young. The family came originally from Nieppe, a village about 3 km from Armentières, on the left bank of the Lys River. Jean Marc Gylbert describes the family as ‘very poor’ with Marthe’s father working as a farm labourer and her mother employed as a servant.
Marthe met her Australian sweetheart in Armentières not Saint-Sulpice-les-Feuilles as I said before in my previous update. Armentières had been briefly occupied by the Germans, in October 1914, but was taken back by the British, who occupied the village until the 10th April 1918. Amongst the troops in Armentières were Australians and this is when Marthe appears to met her ‘Darling Little Sweetheart’.
Christmas cards
23 December 2009 by Kerrie Leech.
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Collection,Collection Highlights,From the collection, Private Records
At Christmas time most people take the opportunity to stop and think about family and friends and pass on their greetings and well wishes by means of the traditional Christmas card. The Memorial holds an interesting collection of Christmas cards – different types, various shapes and sizes, and from all conflicts. One of our earlier and more unusual Christmas cards can be seen below. read on
WWI – For this Sydney family it was “on for young and old”.
18 March 2009 by Sue Jamesion.
23 Comments
From the collection, First World War, People, Private Records
When Leonard Walter Jackson of Neutral Bay joined the AIF on the 6th of August 1915, he must have been one of the youngest Australians ever to enlist in our military services. Using the assumed name Richard Walter Mayhew, and claiming to be an 18 year old orphan, young Leonard, who was born on 27th August 1901, was actually 13 years 11 months and 10 days old on the day he “signed up”.
Len’s older brother, Harry Melville Jackson, had enlisted in the AIF in January 1915 and another brother, Dudley Jackson, also joined up in August 1915. When their father Joseph, a veteran of the Sudan campaign of 1885, realised what his 13 year old son had done, he took the unusual step of enlisting himself, to follow his young tear-away to Egypt and keep a watchful eye on him. Joseph, not surprisingly, also had to lie about his age – he claimed to be 44 years and 11 months old, when he was actually 52!
When the eldest of the Jackson boys, Harry, died whilst a prisoner of the Germans in August 1916, from wounds received at Pozieres, Joseph admitted to the military authorities that he was overage for active service, and that his son Leonard was serving without his parents’ permission and was underage. (By this time, father and son had been serving side by side in the 55th Infantry Battalion since early 1916). To quote a letter written by Dudley Jackson MM in 1964, “[When my father] heard of my elder brother’s death…he decided in fairness to my mother to go back to Australia.” Both Joseph and Leonard were discharged, and returned to Australia aboard HMAT Ulysses in March 1917.
On 4th March 1918, ‘Richard Walter Mayhew’ again enlisted in the AIF, this time claiming his age was 21 years 3 months. A photograph of ‘Richard’ is held by the State Library of NSW.
Private records held in the Australian War Memorial’s collection which were used to uncover the story of Leonard Walter Jackson, include 1DRL/0379 and 3DRL/3846. Relevant service records can be found online through the National Archives of Australia.
Valentine’s Day Love Letter
13 February 2009 by Nicholas Schmidt.
13 Comments
Collection,Exhibitions,News, Of Love and War, Private Records, Valentine's Day
The Memorial recently acquired a mysterious letter. It is beautifully written and decorated, but we don’t know much about it. It seems it was written by a French woman to her sweetheart, and we assume he was Australian, as the letter ended up in Australia. We do not know who they were, but we do know that the letter was written on 25 August 1918 and was sent from Saint-Sulpice-les-Feuilles in France. The writer, Martha (or perhaps Marthe) Gylbert, obviously missed her soldier, and went to a great deal of trouble to decorate the letter. It seems that the two were engaged to be married, as the letter ends with the words (almost obscured with kisses) “wife to be very soon”.
First page of a letter written in France in 1918. PR03970read on
Olympian digger
08 August 2008 by Kerrie Leech.
5 Comments
Collection,From the collection,Personal Stories, First World War, Private Records
Studio portrait of Tom Richards in 1917 (from Gold, mud 'n' guts by Greg Growden).With Olympics fever upon us, I was prompted to look through the Memorial’s collection to see what material we held on Olympians. One collection in the Private Records area caught my eye. It was created by Lieutenant Thomas James Richards, MC who won a gold medal for rugby at the 1908 London Olympics. Before joining the Army, Richards played rugby first in Queensland, then in South Africa and England. read on
The battles of Coral & Balmoral: May-June 1968
12 May 2008 by Mal Booth.
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Collection,From the collection,Personal Stories, Official records, Private Records, Technology
Forty years ago, in May/June 1968 Australian soldiers fought their largest, most sustained and arguably most hazardous battles of the Vietnam War. Units of the 1st Australian Task Force (1ATF) confronted regimental-sized formations of the North Vietnamese regular army in fierce actions around Fire Support Patrol Bases (FSPB) Coral and Balmoral in what was then known as Bien Hoa province. The location of FSPBs Coral and Balmoral are marked by blue symbols on this satellite map.
Representatives of the units involved in the battles have established the National 40th Coral and Balmoral Anniversary Committee, which is coordinating commemorative events in Canberra and Townsville starting on 12 May 2008. More information can be found on the DVA website.
The first of the battles occurred at FSPB Coral when massed enemy units attacked the base in the early hours of 13 May 1968. Australian units withstood heavy enemy attacks during which a mortar platoon and two gun positions were partly over-run. The Australians drove off the enemy after fierce close-quarter actions. The battle lasted over two hours. The task force suffered 11 killed in action and 28 wounded. In one mortar platoon five soldiers were killed and eight were wounded from a total strength of 18 men. One howitzer and two mortars were damaged. The enemy left 52 dead strewn throughout and around the fire support base.
Mother’s day message from a crew member of HMAS Sydney
07 May 2008 by Kathryn Hicks.
4 Comments
From the collection,News,Personal Stories, Private Records
When searching through the Memorial’s Private Records collection this item was found. read on
Second Lieutenant F. T. D. Gulley, No. 6 (Training) Squadron, AFC
17 March 2008 by Amanda Rebbeck.
2 Comments
Aircraft 1914 - 1918,Collection,Personal Stories, First World War, Heraldry, Private Records, Training
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.
