The A.E.F.: With General Pershing and the American Forces – Audiobook
THE A.E.F.: WITH GENERAL PERSHING AND THE AMERICAN FORCES – AUDIOBOOK By Heywood Broun (1888 – 1939) In 1917, the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) arrived in Europe to fight alongside the […]
People dropped whisky into their noses to treat Spanish flu. Here’s what else they took that would raise eyebrows today
PEOPLE DROPPED WHISKY INTO THEIR NOSES TO TREAT SPANISH FLU. HERE’S WHAT ELSE THEY TOOK THAT WOULD RAISE EYEBROWS TODAY We’re researching COVID-19 in a fast-paced world with new data becoming available all the […]
First World War Centenary Prose Collection Vol. III – Audiobook
FIRST WORLD WAR CENTENARY PROSE COLLECTION VOL. III – AUDIOBOOK By Various. This collection of non-fiction and fiction pieces is the third volume commemorating the First World War. The majority […]
First World War Centenary Prose Collection Vol. I – Audiobook
FIRST WORLD WAR CENTENARY PROSE COLLECTION VOL. I – AUDIOBOOK By Various This collection of non-fiction and fiction, with its companion poetry collection, commemorates the outbreak of the First World War […]
The Australian Flying Corps, 1917–18
THE AUSTRALIAN FLYING CORPS, 1917–18 By 1917, the men of the Australian Flying Corps’ No. 1 Squadron had been fighting in the Middle East for almost two years. Now Australia’s airmen […]
Australia’s Great War in the air
AUSTRALIA’S GREAT WAR IN THE AIR In January 1911, the Australian government announced its intention to form a flying corps to support the Army. Over the next few years men […]
1917: our costliest year at war
1917: OUR COSTLIEST YEAR AT WAR A century ago, in early 1917, Australian troops had already seen heavy fighting, on Gallipoli in 1915 and even more on the Western Front […]
Walking with the Diggers
WALKING WITH THE DIGGERS The Centenary Commemoration of the Great War continues to unearth real treasures from our military history, none more mesmerising than this Exhibition of photographs taken by […]
The German naval threat in the Indo-Pacific 1914–15
Among the flood of centenary anniversaries and commemorations, one that slipped past without comment was the destruction of the German cruiser Konigsberg in East Africa on 11 July 1915. Although less well-known […]
After Jutland: the North Sea operations of 18–19 August 1916
One of the Great War’s abiding myths is that the German High Sea Fleet never emerged again after the Battle of Jutland to face the Grand Fleet until the ignominious […]
‘Cheese-eating surrender monkeys’? It’s time to give the French Army the credit it deserves
When marking the centenary of the terrible events of 1917, some of the most devastating of World War I, it is perhaps understandable that the British have focused their attention […]
‘I want to scream and scream’: Australian nurses on the Western Front were also victims of war
The revival of interest in Anzac since the 1980s has depended in part on the repositioning of soldiers as victims. We rarely celebrate their martial virtues, and instead note their […]
Who were we fighting at Gallipoli?
In the annual discussion of the Gallipoli campaign Australians are subjected to a variety of hyperbole and parable as commentators and reporters offer up the same old chestnuts for want […]
Peter Weir’s Gallipoli 40 years on: deftly directed and still devastating
With the release of the first-world-war film Gallipoli in 1981, director Peter Weir could finally shrug off the nickname he had laboured under since making his first films: “Peter Weird”. Idiosyncratic work like Homesdale […]
In their own words: letters from ANZACs during the Gallipoli evacuation
Just five days before Christmas, in the early hours of Monday December 20, 1915, the last Anzac troops left Gallipoli in what Australian historian Joan Beaumont called an “elaborate game of deception”. […]
The Somme: The German perspective
By Dr Robert T. Foley. How do Germans view the Battle of The Somme? This article explores reactions to the most famous battle of the First World War. Shortly after […]
The Long Tail of the First World War
Fallen Empires and Civil War By Caitlan Hester The popular view of the First World War is that it ended with Armistice in 1918. But the end the First World […]
Jutland: Why World War I’s only sea battle was so crucial to Britain’s victory
By Andrew Lambert, King’s College London. Modern understanding of World War I is dominated by the immense human cost of the war on land with its trenches, artillery and machine […]
A short, sharp history of the bayonet
By Peter Monteath, Flinders University. Even the sound of a bayonet could be frightening. The audible whetting of blades in the enemy’s trenches could puncture a night’s rest with premonitions […]
Fake News, Misinformation and Propaganda Throughout History
By Madison Moulton Fake news has become a popular buzzword. However, the phenomenon is not new. Before the invention of the printing press, and even before the popularisation of ‘objective’ […]
Neutrality At All Costs: The Netherlands in WW1
By Fergus O’Sullivan World War 1 was a conflict that engulfed entire continents and swallowed up whole generations of men. It is the cause of trauma that has stayed with […]
A Period of Change: Global Events in the Lead Up to WWI
The history of the lead up to WWI is undoubtedly dominated by Europe. European powers understandably take centre stage, given their influence on the start of the Great War. However, […]
General Sir John Monash as a Military Commander
General Sir John Monash, Australia’s premier Great War commander. Monash commanded the 4th Australian Brigade at Gallipoli, the 3rd Australian Division AIF, and finally the Australian Corps in 1918.
How Romania’s WW1 Gamble Paid Off Spectacularly
The Great War was a major turning point for virtually all European countries, but not too many of them enjoyed a positive outcome. Although it took two years for Romania to enter the war and another two for the conflict to reach a conclusion, the result was an unlikely unification of its historical lands and the beginning of the most prosperous period in the nation’s history.