The Anzac Centenary has highlighted many aspects of Australia’s participation in WWI. It is also an opportunity to remember all Australians and their families who have served in wars since, including those serving today.

In WWI 300,000 Australians served, 60,000 died and a further conservatively estimated 90,000 suffered physical and/or psychiatric war injuries. These injuries often translated into serious lifetime disabilities. Many died directly as a result, soon or sometime after the war. Many carried burdens of trauma so unique to war, their quality of life was significantly compromised, despite near average longevity.

Finally at home, returned servicemen were given peace and care. That care and lifetime support rested primarily with their loved ones. The mothers, wives and even sisters and daughters delivered this service, quietly and uncomplainingly with little or no recognition, for sometimes many decades after the war.

A group of women have formed an association called ‘Women Caring for Veterans of War Inc.’ (WCVW). They have sought to give these forgotten civilian heroines some belated recognition and commemoration. WCVW is comprised of wives of (mostly Vietnam War) Veterans and can easily relate and empathise with the plight faced by these WWI veterans women and their families, in much harder times. It is a timely reminder too, that the impact of war today has the exact same consequences and this is not just of historical interest.

WCVW have commissioned, completed and will now erect a life-size statue of a civilian woman, circa 1918, to commemorate the enduring sacrifice women relatives made in caring for WWI Veterans. It will be placed in Victory Gardens, Ascot Vale on the prominent corner site of Epsom and Langs Roads. The dedication Ceremony is planned for the 29th August 2015 at 11am. The statue will co-exist nearby to a long standing WW1 memorial to the Fallen of the area. If you live in the local community, or are going to the Races or the Royal Melbourne Showgrounds, stop by and pay her your respects.

WCVW wish to gratefully acknowledge Grants received from the Commonwealth Government, Anzac Centenary Local Grants Program through the Federal Seat of Melbourne and from the Anzac Centenary Community Grants Program, Victorian Veterans Council and for the unstinting support of the Moonee Valley City Council.

Today, 100 years since the first 40 nurses arrived on the island on Lemnos, ready to care for the wounded men of the WWI Gallipoli campaign, the Lemnos Gallipoli Memorial will be unveiled.

The memorial commemorates the role of the Greek island of Lemnos in Australia’s ANZAC story and is dedicated to the Australian nurses and soldiers who served there during the Gallipoli campaign in 1915, to the 148 Australian soldiers who remain buried there and to the local Lemnian community who supported them.

The Memorial has been created by Australia’s pre-eminent commemorative sculptor, Mr Peter Corlett, OAM. Mr Corlett has created some of Australia’s most endearing and moving commemorative sculptures, such as Weary Dunlop in Melbourne’s Domain gardens, Cobbers at Fromelles in France, the Bullecourt Digger in France, Simpson and his Donkey 1915 in Canberra and the Australian Light Horse Memorial at Beersheeba, Israel.

Join us for the unveiling will take place at 11am today at Foote Street Reserve in Albert Park.

Event information

During the centenary year of the ANZAC landing in Gallipoli, Victorian Opera presents Remembrance, a moving tribute in story, song and image. Written and directed by acclaimed Australian author Rodney Hall, Remembrance spans six chapters – enlistment, embarkation, training, landing, trench warfare and homecoming. One of Australia’s best known operatic tenors, David Hobson joins eight of Victorian Opera’s talented young artists as they create a series of moving musical portraits against the backdrop of archival footage, accompanied by a chamber orchestra and community choir.

Learn more

As part of the Centenary of the First World War, the Jewish Museum of Australia presents True Jews and Patriots: Australian Jews and World War One, an exhibition featuring intriguing untold stories of Australian Jewish experiences of the Great War. The exhibition investigates the contributions and legacies of Jews who enlisted and considers the social context that motivated their participation and the devastating impact of war on the Australian Jewish community, through the stories of people who were there.

Learn more

“We can read the statistics, the first-hand accounts, and the many books that have been written about the Somme, but if you were not there, you could not possibly understand. Empathy is impossible because the Somme was so beyond human experience as to be beyond human comprehension.”

An excerpt from Victoria at War by Michael McKernan – available at the State Library of Victoria.

Greg Stephens, of Following the Twenty-Second, has published a case study using the 5th Reinforcements 22nd Battalion that enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force in July 1915, combined with previously published literature, to capture the demographics of an Australian Infantry Battalion during the Great War.

“Following the great recruitment drive, thousands of men march into recruiting halls across the country. Using the 5th/22nd as a case study, discover the demographics – age, marital status, profession, and rank – of a typical unit in the AIF during WW1.”

Read more and follow the 22nd

The Nurses Memorial Centre, in association with the Australian Legion of Ex-Servicemen and Women, are pleased to advise that the following scholarships and awards are available for study in 2016.

These prestigious scholarships and awards given by the Nurses Memorial Centre and the Australian Legion of Ex-Servicemen and Women range in value from $1,500 to $20,000 per scholarship.

Applications open 1 July and close 31st August 2015.

Visit the website at www.nmc.org.au for further information and to complete an online application.

As part of the Anzac Centenary, each student at St.Patricks PS, Stratford, was asked to research a person either within their own family tree, a friend, local soldier or a well-known person who was involved in a military campaign. The students were encouraged to include information such as occupation and age prior to enlistment, enlistment town, place of service and more. On completion of the project, each entry was laminated ready for display on the school fence to form a public gallery, telling the stories of some of the men and women who served their country in a time of war. The gallery was prepared by school staff and parents, who attached the projects to the perimeter fence. White crosses bearing the names of Stratford residents who served in World War One were placed at ground level, and crocheted poppies, along with other pictures of symbols or rituals of ANZAC Day also formed part of the gallery.  The following is a sample of some of the projects presented by the students. Keep an eye out for an in-depth showcase of the work, coming to the Anzac Centenary website soon.

Victorian Collections is a free, easy to use, online cataloging system that is available to all types of collecting organisations throughout Victoria.

2015 Victorian Collections Workshop Dates

Please click on a workshop date below to book in for the workshop session.

21 July 2015 | Melbourne Museum
21 July 2015 | Melbourne Museum
11 August 2015 | Phillip Island
25 August 2015 | Warrnambool
14 September 2015 | Melbourne Museum
11 November 2015 | Federation University, Mt Helen Campus
24 November 2015 | Melbourne Museum

2015 RSL Sub-Branch Workshops

The Victorian Collections training program for RSL Sub-Branches provides training to ensure that war-related memorabilia continues to be preserved, photographed, digitised, catalogued, and made accessible to the public.

June 2015 | Clayton RSL Sub-Branch Victorian Collections and Digitisation
4 August 2015 | RSL Memorabilia Seminar, Anzac House
12 August 2015 | National Vietnam Veterans Museum, Phillip Island Reach your Audience: Visitor Experience and Funding Strategies
14 August 2015 | Frankston RSL Sub-Branch Exhibition Planning and Practical Skills
20 October 2015 | Caulfield RSL Sub-Branch Reach your Audience: Visitor Experience and Funding Strategies
12 November 2015 | Daylesford RSL Sub-Branch Exhibition Planning and Practical Skills
September 2015 | Fairfield RSL Sub-Branch Victorian Collections and Digitisation
23 September 2015 | Running Rabbits Military Museum, Belgrave Reach your Audience: Visitor Experience and Funding Strategies

Visit Following the Twenty-Second  to follow the lives of an Australian Infantry Battalion.

The lives of 154 men of the 5th reinforcements of the 22nd Battalion will unfold 100 years on as we follow their journey through the Great War. We will find out who they are, when they enlisted, when they sailed, where they fought, who died, who was wounded, who received military honours and in some cases who had a brush with authority. We will see a picture develop from their service and unit records that tells a story which will be representative of many of the units and brave men from Australia that enlisted.

Visit the website for more information and to follow the Twenty-Second for yourself.

www.anzac-22nd-battalion.com