Portrait of a leader

WWI hero, Lieutenant General John Monash sitting for his portrait in the studio of the artist James Qui. Picture courtesy of the Pictures Collection, State Library of Victoria.

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Roslyn McDonald tells the story of her grandfather Albert Zante Claude Winters and his brothers Hiram and Arthur – all three men served in World War I.

Albert Zante Claude Winters, number 873, signed up under the name Albert Winters – he did not want anyone to think he may be German. Two of his brothers also served in the war. Arthur Frank Russell Winters, number 1526, suffered from shell shock. Hiram Joseph Winters (pictured below), number 6430, sadly died of wounds received in action in France. 

Boys come over here – you’re wanted.

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At the start of WWI, Australian women were called on to form themselves into branches of the British Red Cross Society – Victorian women responded with great eagerness.  Soon Victoria had the greatest number of Red Cross branches and the greatest number of members.

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Letters from the front line.

A member of the 2nd Battalion, France, c1915. Picture courtesy of the Australian War Memorial.

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Victorian Coalition Government invests $6 million to honour the Anzac Centenary

Minister Drum has announced that the Coalition Government will be committing an
additional $6 million to support Victorians to commemorate the Centenary of the First World War over the next four years.  Activities will include:

• Sending eighty Victorian students to travel to Anzac Cove at Gallipoli to attend the 2015 ANZAC Day Dawn Service
• a community information and engagement program, to enable communities all across the state to participate actively in the Anzac Centenary;
• upgrade of facilities and visitor experience at Point Nepean, from which the first shot of the war was fired on 5 August 1914;
• support for the First Shot commemoration ceremony, to take place on the Peninsula next to Fort Nepean on 5 August 2014; and
• a major event in August 2014 at the Melbourne Town Hall, to commemorate the mass meeting in 1914 to support the war effort.

Read the full media release

In the line of duty.

An unidentified injured soldier – Port Melbourne September, 1915. Photo courtesy of the Australian War Memorial.

See WWI in Pictures at the Image Gallery.

Victorian Students Commemorate Lemnos’ Contribution to Australia’s Anzac Story

An important milestone in Greece’s build up to the Centenary of Anzac in 2015 occurred last month. For the first time an official delegation of Victorian school students was welcomed to the northern Aegean Island of Lemnos to appreciate its connection to Anzac.

The students took part in the annual Anzac commemorative service conducted at East Mudros Military Cemetery, which was held on 7^th April. 

Read the full article

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The HMAT Devanha  lifeboat, which carried soldiers of the 12th Battalion and 3rd Field Ambulance into Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915, will arrive at the Shrine of Remembrance this Sunday, 4 May at 9.30am.

The Devanha, on loan from the Australian War Memorial, will arrive for installation in the First World War (1914-18) Gallery. The Galleries will open to the public in November 2014.

The image above depicts the Devanha landing boat in the First World War (1914-18) Gallery. The Devanha will be displayed in front of the colonnade that surrounds the Crypt and will be set into an area of dropped floor with underlighting and theatrical multimedia effects. © Cunningham Martyn Design 

Read more about the Galleries of Remembrance project.