Blog
-
Highlight on official records of the First World War: AWM352 Miscellaneous records of the 2nd Pioneer Battalion, AIF, 1914-18 War
Thursday 31 March 2016 by Craig Berelle.
![AWM352 [7]](/web/20160408110716im_/https://www.awm.gov.au/sites/default/files/styles/media_thumbnail/public/AWM352 7.jpg "AWM352 [7]")
Highlight on the official records of the First World War is a centenary program of posts highlighting those records created 100 years ago, whythey exist and how we can help make these essential records available for research purposes. AWM352 [7] Function and Provenance A Pioneer Battalion was created for each division in the AIF (Australian Imperial Force). On 10 March 1916, the 2nd Pioneer Battalion (Western Australia) was formed in Egypt. …
-
ANZAC Connections: Centenary digitisation project
Monday 21 March 2016 by Stephanie Hume.
The Australian War Memorial is currently undertaking a project to create a comprehensive digital archive of the ANZACs and their deeds, and of the wider Australian experience of war, through the digitisation of collections held by the Memorial. The collections are selected from our extensive archive and reflect the experiences of Australian servicemen, nurses, and civilians during the First World War, not just well-known personalities. This …
-
The Famous Military Costume Comedy Company, The AUSSIES!
Tuesday 15 March 2016 by Dianne Rutherford.
Concert parties were one of the ways soldiers were able to entertain themselves during the war. They were created on board troopships, within units, divisions, prisoner of war camps, training and convalescent camps. One example was the Perham Stars who later became known as The Aussies. The Perham Stars (later called The Aussies), c 1918. P11238.001 The Perham Stars was established…
-
Highlight on official records of the First World War: AWM48 - High Commissioner's Office, London, registry files, 1914-18 War
Friday 11 March 2016 by Craig Berelle. 2 comments
Highlight on the official records of the First World War is a centenary program of posts highlighting those records created 100 years ago, whythey exist and how we can help make these essential records available for research purposes. Function and provenance In 1924, Mr T H E Heyes was appointed Australian Representative to the Historical Section (Military Branch) of the Committee of Imperial Defence. His major task was to examine Imperial war …
-
The Adventurous Maud Butler
Monday 7 March 2016 by Dianne Rutherford. 2 comments
In 1915 Maud Butler was a young 18 year old with a bit of an adventurous streak, who wasn’t happy with the type of contribution society decided young ladies could and should make to the war effort. She came to notoriety in the press for her attempts to disguise herself as a soldier and stowaway to Egypt. Maud Butler in uniform (but with the black boots that helped give her away) on her first …
-
The mystery comforter
Thursday 3 March 2016 by Eleni Holloway. 4 comments
We need your help! Do you know what a comforter is? We would like to hear from you if you have any information about how to arrange this knitted comforter from the First World War. The Memorial acquired this hand-knitted wool comforter in 1981. It was worn by Sergeant Leslie Wilson Thompson during his service on the Western Front with 22 and 24 Battalion. He enlisted for service on 6 April 1915 and returned to Australia in early April 1919. It is…
-
Welcoming home HMAS Sydney from the Gulf War, 1991
Friday 26 February 2016 by Dianne Rutherford.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the end of the Gulf war on 28 February 1991. One of the Australian vessels who served during the Gulf War was HMAS Sydney IV. On 3 December 1990 HMA ships Sydney and Brisbane arrived in the Persian Gulf to relieve the Adelaide and Darwin as part of Operation Damask. They participated in surveillance and boarding operations and after Operation Desert Storm began, Sydney was assigned to the escort screen …
-
Royal Australian Navy records of the First Gulf War – End of the War
Thursday 25 February 2016 by Stuart Bennington.
![First page of AAP bulletin for the Navy 28 February 1991 – AWM386 [12/4 Part 1]](/web/20160408110716im_/https://www.awm.gov.au/sites/default/files/styles/media_thumbnail/public/Scan of page from 12_4 Part 1 2_Page1_Image1.jpg "First page of AAP bulletin for the Navy 28 February 1991 – AWM386 [12/4 Part 1]")
25 years ago the First Gulf War was coming to a very rapid conclusion. After months of build-up and months of CNN wheeling out their latest expert for the hour in their 24 hour coverage, the world had stood tensed waiting for something to happen. On 17 January it all finally started, with an aerial bombing campaign which gave CNN no end of images to play over and over. It all built towards an inevitable crescendo, when on 24 February the ground …
-
CDT3 Report of Proceedings First Gulf War
Friday 19 February 2016 by Stuart Bennington.
Report of Proceedings front cover A very recent acquisition for the Memorial from the SeaPower Centre is the Reports of Proceeding of Clearance Diving Team 3 (CDT3) during the First Gulf War. Reports of proceedings are usually a set of monthly reports of the goings on of a particular ship or establishment in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). This one is different in being arranged as a sort of scrap book covering the whole of the deployment of …
-
Highlight on official records of the First World War: New Guinea campaign records, 1914-18 War
Monday 15 February 2016 by Craig Berelle.
Highlight on the official records of the First World War is a centenary program of posts highlighting those records created 100 years ago, whythey exist and how we can help make these essential records available for research purposes. Function and provenance AWM33 is a series of records relating to the military occupation of German New Guinea by the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force during 1914-1921 and to the writing of The …
