Post Tagged with: "World War I"

Celebrating our nurses: the history of nursing in Victoria

Celebrating our nurses: the history of nursing in Victoria

May 12, 2023

Collections, Family matters:

International Nurses Day is celebrated on Friday 12 May – the anniversary of Florence Nightingale’s birth. In today’s blog we explore the history of nursing in Victoria and take a glimpse at the nurses featured in our collection.

Pigeon messengers of World War I

Pigeon messengers of World War I

July 22, 2021

Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights, Our stories:

It may be hard to believe today, but the humble pigeon played a heroic role as messenger in World War I, braving heavy artillery fire and poisonous gas to deliver messages between the front line and headquarters.

Voices from the Great War

Voices from the Great War

June 30, 2021

Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights:

Our Library has a vast collection of material relating to World War 1 including many original diaries and photographs. Two notable diaries were written by (Victor) Rupert Laidlaw and Alice Kitchin. Both were eyewitnesses to history and their diaries speak eloquently of their experiences, and reflect the horrors of the conflict.

“Mentioned in dispatches”: ways to research your military ancestors

“Mentioned in dispatches”: ways to research your military ancestors

April 18, 2019

Family matters:

Anzac Day is often a time when people think about the wartime experiences of their ancestors, and may contemplate researching them.

Five splendid workers of No 8 General, c 1917,  Traill is second from the right, MS 7975

Jessie Traill: An artist at war

November 29, 2018

Our stories, War:

During World War I Jessie Traill spent five years serving as a British Voluntary Aid Detachment. Her war experience is recorded through photographs, sketches, written accounts and letters to friends.

Remembering the Armistice, 100 years on

Remembering the Armistice, 100 years on

November 9, 2018

Our stories, War:

Guns on the Western Front fell silent one hundred years ago, at 11am on 11 November 1918, bringing to an end what we remember as the First World War. 

Armistice Day, corner of Collins and Swanston Streets, Melbourne 1918

Armistice Day captured in WWI diary

October 31, 2018

Our stories:

With the announcement of the World War I armistice on 11 November 1918, many soldiers felt both joy and disbelief. Stretcher-bearer Percy Samson captured it in his diary.

Piecing together the lives of soldiers

Piecing together the lives of soldiers

April 20, 2018

Such was life, War:

This ANZAC Day we remember some Bendigo soldiers who are included in the Vincent Kelly photographic archive.

Remembering Passchendaele – 100 years on

Remembering Passchendaele – 100 years on

December 4, 2017

Our stories:

The Battle of Passchendaele has come to symbolise the horrors of the Great War, largely due to the photographs taken at the time

Poetry of the pongo

Poetry of the pongo

August 8, 2016

Such was life, War:

‘Pongo’ was a term used by Australian troops in World War One to refer to the common foot soldier of the infantry battalions. The songs, stories, art and verses of the pongos tells us much about the Australian soldiers who fought in the Great War.