“No one who came in contact with Major Appleford could fail to recognize her as a leader of women. Her sense of duty, her sterling solidity of character, her humanity, sincerity, and kindliness of heart set for others a very high example.” The woman pictured below in Melbourne in 1944 is the incredible Alice Appleford, nee […]

On this day 100 years ago, three Allied ships were sunk in the Dardanelles campaign by Ottoman minefields. The French warship Bouvet struck a mine at 13:54, sinking within minutes and killing 639 crewmen. Around 16:00 HMS Irresistible hit a mine ­– 150 crewmembers were killed, but the majority were spared. HMS Ocean was next […]

The stray poodle in the photograph below was found in a French village by the men pictured. They fed it some bully beef and it stayed with the 50th Battalion as a mascot. Following Armistice, they smuggled the dog back to England inside a base drum as units had been told to leave mascots behind. When […]

This is a sad excerpt from the #WWI diary of Alice Ross-King, courtesy of the Australian War Memorial. March 7, 1915 Lost a pneumonia – Such a fine lad of 24. He told me in the morning that when he left Sydney he did not know that his people were coming over here – but […]

It is estimated that 8 million horses died during the four years of war – more than 136,000 of them were from Australia. Horses were targeted by both sides to weaken their enemies. In particular, the German Navy fired at ships laden with horses and donkeys, which led to thousands of animals dying in the […]

‘In the mopping up after the German counterattack, it was discovered that the battalion’s twin brothers, Ina and Clement Moore of Ballarat, had both been killed. They had been born on the same day, they enlisted on the same day, and they died on the same day. Both men, the one an engine-driver, the other […]

Continuing with our theme of #WWI nurses this month, the shoes and veil pictured belonged to Staff Nurse Eliza Rowan. Eliza was born in Nagambie, Victoria in 1885. Both her parents were born in the early days of colonial Melbourne. She completed her nursing training at Perth Public Hospital (now Royal Perth Hospital), and came […]

On this day 100 years ago, the battle of Neuve Chappelle began at 7:30am with a 35-minute artillery bombardment from the British, supported by the Indian Corps. When the fighting ceased on 13 March, the 7,000 British and 4,200 Indian soldiers had been either killed or wounded. Image courtesy of the Remembrance Trails

On this day 100 years ago, the German Zeppelin LZ 36 pictured had its debut voyage. It went on to complete 74 reconnaissance flights over the North Sea, and dropped a total of 5,683 kg of bombs during four raids on England.

The majority of women actively and officially serving in World War One were nurses – between 2,500 and 3,000 Australian nurses served overseas – in England, Europe, India, Egypt and at Lemnos, Greece where the wounded from Gallipoli were treated. Australian tolerance for high temperatures made Australian nurses particularly popular in Egypt and India. Women […]