Our World War I collections contain many stories – the personal accounts found in diaries, maps that document the progress of the war, newspapers and ephemera that reflect what was happening on the home front, life captured through the photographer’s lens
In the early 1920s, an exhibition of war photographs toured Australia, attracting crowds and enthusiastic reviews. Many of the photographs had been taken by Australian servicemen and were enlarged and coloured at Colarts Studios.
One hundred years after troops landed at Gallipoli, the Library commissioned five professional photographers to document how the people of New South Wales spent 25 April, 2015.
During the First World War nearly 7000 ‘enemy aliens’, mainly of German and Austro-Hungarian origin, were interned in camps in Australia. The Library’s collection of papers of ‘enemy aliens’ interned in Australia during WW1 contains around 40 handwritten diaries written by internees.
The issue of conscription – compulsory enlistment for military service, particularly for overseas service – has been and remains a contentious issue in Australian life.
It was a six-week journey by sea from Australia to Egypt and after the excitement of enlistment, training and farewells some feelings of boredom were inevitable among the troops.
Students consider a number of accounts of the Battle of the Wasser from different primary sources and consider what effect this event might have on the Anzac legend.
Through analysis of a collection of sources related to the lives of Alan and Dene Fry, students consider the motivation of soldiers to enlist and fight in WWI, and the impact of the war on the families left behind.
Students explore, recognise and appreciate the history of their local area by examining remains of the past and considering why they should be preserved.
Students examine World War I diary extracts, pictures, photographs and written sources to locate and describe the nature of warfare on the Western Front.
Students locate and sequence the places where Australians fought in WWI. They examine sources to understand the nature of warfare during the Gallipoli campaign.
Our diaries are rich in contemporary detail and emotion, both documenting and providing insight into significant events and the minutiae of daily life.
The Library began collecting the personal diaries and correspondence of men and women who served in the First World War soon after the Armistice was declared in November 1918.