In August 1914, a young Samuel Figgis joined the Victorian Public Library as a library assistant, just after the outbreak of the Great War. Less than a year later he died on the beaches of the Dardanelles on his 20th birthday.
In 1916, Corporal Thomas O’Halloran sent dozens of embroidered souvenir postcards from the front lines in France to his father, wife and three children back home in Castlemaine.
Major Arthur Moon was an Australian surgeon and POW in the Tamuang and Chungkai camps during World War II. He worked alongside Sir Edward (Weary) Dunlop and performed up to… Read More ›
Over 70 Victorian newspapers covering 1914 to 1918 are now freely available on Trove, the digitised Australian newspapers website. These titles have been digitised to support the commemoration of the… Read More ›
Colour patches were worn on Australian soldiers’ uniforms to show which unit they belonged to. For men in the infantry battalions, the colour on the upper part of their patch… Read More ›
On 28 October 1916 the first of two controversial conscription referendums was held in Australia. Military training for men between 18 and 60 had been compulsory since 1911, but the… Read More ›
Kristallachnacht (also known as ‘The night of broken glass’, 9-10 November 1938) was a major escalation in the persecution of the Jews in Germany by the Nazi government. Nearly 100… Read More ›
‘Well I have been to gay Paris and all I can say is it is wonderful…Melbourne is like the smallest of bush towns compared with it, wishing that dear old… Read More ›
