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CENTENARY OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR, 1914 - 1918

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The Oxford English Dictionary and the First World War

Posted on June 16, 2014 at 5:28 AM

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The Oxford English Dictionary have published a magnificent timeline replete with

detailed information panels

for

100 WORDS THAT DEFINE THE FIRST WORLD WAR

Splendid reading

and

excellently researched

THANK YOU

OED

Gallipoli Service 2015

Posted on February 16, 2014 at 10:27 PM

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According to Breaking News Reporter Judith Ireland "Thousands make last-minute decision to go for Anzac centenary tickets"

Even though the ballot has been open for some months now, last minute applications flooded in, even on the closing day.

See a detailed 1915 map here

Indigenous servicemen honoured in 2014 Sydney Festival

Posted on January 13, 2014 at 4:09 AM

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BLACK DIGGERS

"To mark the eve of the centenary of the First World War, Sydney Festival presents a work of significance, scope and monumental ambition, in a world premiere event at Sydney Opera House.

Directed by Wesley Enoch and written by Tom Wright, Black Diggers uncovers the contribution of First World War Aboriginal Diggers, following their exceptional stories from their homelands to the battlefields of Gallipoli, Palestine and Flanders.

An all-male, all-Indigenous cast will evoke these heroic men, largely unknown to history."

Click here for more about the Sydney Festival this January

Theatre unearths Australia's shame

We need theatre where history fails: 'Black Diggers' shows Australians as the lesser Anzacs

Deborah Stone

click to read on artsHub

Back History - ANZAC DAY 2013 - A Public Acknowledgement

Source Credit NITV News

First published April 25, 2013 and updated on Aug 26, 2013

Indigenous soldiers have been remembered in a ceremony in Canberra and in the streets of Sydney's inner suburb of Redfern, amid calls to better recognise Aboriginal diggers' contributions.

By NITV News

"Amongst non-Indigenous Australians, the service and sacrifice of Torres Strait Islanders and Aboriginal men is very much unknown", said Gareth O' Connell from the ATSI Veterans and Services Association at a ceremony in Canberra.

Indigenous Australia's contribution to the nation's security has been present at every conflict from the colonial forces through to the current operations in the Middle East.

In his address to the Canberra gathering, Gary Oakley from the Australian War Memorial called for a greater recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander contributions.

"This country owes the Torres Strait Islanders a great debt. Out of all the places in Australia, during WWII, the Torres Strait Islanders put the most volunteers to the service. Over 95 per cent of the male population was in uniform. That is phenomenal".

Debate over presentation of history by comedians

Posted on January 10, 2014 at 11:13 PM

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"Black Adder" and its ilk are definitely not suitable for schools according to UK Education Secretary Michael Gove.

Professorial historians agree with this main thrust saying that there is plenty of other much more suitable material available for dissemination in schools.

However Cambridge historian Professor Richard Evans also attacked Mr Gove’s interpretation of the war, saying he was ‘peddling his own political myths’.

Professor Evans said: ‘He wants to argue Britain was fighting for democracy but he has obviously forgotten that Britain’s main ally was Tsarist Russia – a despotism far greater than anything in the Kaiser’s Germany'

'You also have to remember that only 40 per cent of adult men had the vote in Britain.

'The war was a very complex set of circumstances and it is wrong of Mr Gove to reduce it to patriotic tub-thumping that we should support the soldiers.

'Of course no one wants to belittle their heroism and self-sacrifice, but we have to look at the war in the round and the long term.’

STORY CREDIT and Read more at:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2533619/History-dons-Gove-ban-Blackadder-Great-War-comedy-not-documentary-schools-argue.html#ixzz2q3iD4Gst

The Emden and HMAS Sydney - an Australian perspective by Mike Carlton

Posted on November 10, 2013 at 3:45 PM

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"On the morning of October 4, 1913, Sydney Harbour was lined with thousands of Australians eager to catch their first glimpse of the Royal Australian Navy.As the battlecruiser HMAS Australia, cruisers Melbourne, Sydney and Encounter, and destroyers Warrego, Parramatta and Yarra sailed into the Harbour for the first time, it marked a key moment in Australian defence history.The Royal Australian Navy, long years in the making, had arrived to make its mark."

Mike Carlton, journalist and historian, gives an Australian perspective on the battle which took place on November 9, 1914 in his book "First Victory 1914" published by Random House -

http://www.randomhouse.com.au/blog/10-facts-about-hmas-sydney-and-its-part-in-the-first-world-war-1912.aspx

And at last month's International Fleet Review in Sydney Harbour, HMAS Sydney lV took a major role in the Naval centenary commemorations - the differences between the 1913 vessel and its current namesake are examined by Lincoln Archer and Daniel Franklin -

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-04/hmas-sydney-then-and-now/4996474

Image courtesy Australian War Memorial and Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:HMAS_Sydney_1914_AWM_EN0194.jpg

V C RECIPIENTS TO HAVE SPECIAL PAVERS IN UK

Posted on August 5, 2013 at 6:20 AM

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Victoria Cross recipients will be central to the United Kingdom commemorations of the centenary of WW1.

There will be a national competition for the design of commemorative paving stones and these paving stones will be laid in the hometowns of all those in the United Kingdom who were awarded the Victoria Cross.

The VC is the highest decoration for bravery under enemy fire.

Full details can be found here

http://www.1914.org/news/victoria-cross-recipients-at-heart-of-uk-governments-centenary-plans/

MEMORIAL PARKS

Posted on July 15, 2013 at 7:36 AM

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Sometimes when taking an unexpected turn around a corner, or going down a path not walked before, a quiet spot of contemplation near a war memorial will be revealed.

It was just one Saturday in the wintry sunshine that I happened upon such a monument which had been erected by the Mitcham RSL.

Beyond this imposing memorial with its lists of names, of those who fell and of those who returned, children could be observed playing in the distance, families wheeling prams, dogs held on leads - all experiencing the freedom sought for and won by those who went to war on behalf of their country.

The memorials listed on the following link are specific to the conflicts of WWl http://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/conflict/ww1

LOST AND FOUND MEDALS

Posted on June 29, 2013 at 7:47 AM

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Sometimes, to everyone's distress, war service medals can be lost or stolen. These important items, the record of a service history, mean so much to all concerned.

Sometimes however there is a good ending to a "Lost Medals" story and here is one such story from the DISS EXPRESS.

The Diss Express is an English newspaper that covers a 500-mile square circulation area on the Norfolk/Suffolk border. The paper was founded by Mr Abbott in November 1864 as the Diss Express and Norfolk & Suffolk Journal.

Diss man reunited with grandad’s lost medal

Published on 03/06/2013

A Diss man has been reunited with his grandfather’s lost wartime medal following an appeal in the Diss Express.

The 1914-1915 Star Victory medal, a First World War campaign medal, was found by chance in Diss by passer-by Adam Spriddell on the pavement near Louie’s Lane and Factory Lane.

After the Diss Express featured the lucky find, John Gintner got in touch to say it was his grandfather’s medal and had been stolen during a burglary at his mother’s house.

The medal was awarded to Diss man Reginald William Sturman, who saw service as a bombardier in northern France with the 15th Siege Battery, which later became part of the 2nd Army.

Norfolk-based military researcher and battlefield guide Steve Smith investigated for the Diss Express but said Mr Sturman’s personal war record had not survived having been destroyed by a fire during the Blitz in the Second World War.

However, as part of the 2nd Army, he said Mr Sturman would have seen service in some of the heaviest fighting on the Somme in 1916 and at the 3rd Battle of Ypres, known as the Battle of Passchendaele, in 1917.

Both battles have come to symbolise the First World War for their catastrophic and futile loss of life and the appalling conditions endured by soldiers.“Siege batteries were deployed behind the front line, tasked with destroying enemy artillery, supply routes, railways and stores,” Mr Smith said. “The batteries were equipped with heavy Howitzer guns firing large calibre shells in a high trajectory.”

Mr Gintner was pleased to be able to reunite the Star medal with his grandfather’s other wartime medals, which had also been taken during the burglary but were found soon after.

Although his grandfather survived the war, he was sadly killed in a road accident in 1933 when he was run over by a van.

Steve Smith is happy to offer advice to people researching relatives’ wartime histories.

See www.memorial-tours.org.uk

Full credit for this story goes to -

http://www.dissexpress.co.uk/news/latest-news/diss-man-reunited-with-grandad-s-lost-medal-1-5148404

CENTENARY PROGRAMME UPDATE UK & NZ

Posted on June 10, 2013 at 9:05 AM

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Partners and funds are also being allocated in the UK and in NZ to explore, conserve and share WW1 heritage.

Many commemorative projects are now in progress.

The commemorations have been designed to encourage a wider knowledge of how WW1 shaped the world we live in today, as well as deepen our present-day understanding of the men and women of the period - whether they were at the front, or at home.

WW1 - Nieuport biplane fighter. (Haut-Rhin, France 1917) by Paul Castelnau