The Waler; a war horse
Walers became legendary with the Australian Light Horse for their feats of endurance and bravery on the battle field during WWI.
War
Death on the Pyramids
Some soldiers in Egypt during World War I were so taken by the pyramids, they decided to climb them, with tragic results.
First shot fired!
On 5 August 1914, the day Australians learnt of the declaration of war, the German trading ship SS Pfalz was just leaving Port Phillip Bay. The ship had originally planned… Read More ›
World War I poetry
From enlistment to conscription, to laments for the lost to our duty to England, war poetry spans all the hardship and reasoning of battle.
Samuel Figgis, librarian and soldier
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.
Greetings from the trenches: World War I postcards
Collection spotlights, Such was life, War:
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.
The Major Moon Collection
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 ›
From Ararat to the Dardanelles: World War I through newspapers
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 ›
World War I colour patches
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 ›
‘Death ballots’: Australia’s World War I conscription referendums
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 ›
