Stories 1 - 10
At breaking point
Frank Wilkinson
Frank Wilkinson, a farmer from Banyena in Victoria, sailed off to war in 1916. He served in Egypt, contracted pneumonia in France and was nursed for gunshot wounds in England. Gunner Frank Wilkinson... » read more
My grief condemns me
Mervyn Higgins
From the day his son Mervyn was killed in Sinai to the moment of his own death twelve years later, Justice HB Higgins set out to remember. It was not just the ornate Celtic cross he erected over the... » read more
The hardships of war
Peter Rados
Private Peter Rados was one of the first men to enlist and one of the first to vanish on Gallipoli. His body was not recovered until long after the war. Peter Rados almost certainly died a prisoner... » read more
No prospect of it ending
Rachael Pratt
Born in Munbannar, Victoria, Sister Rachael Pratt was one of the first Australian nurses to enlist. She tended to the sick and wounded in Egypt, on Lemnos and in hospital ships within sight—and fire—... » read more
This striking case of courage and devotion
Hilda Williams
In October 1918, HMAT Boonah sailed out of Fremantle harbor. She carried a cargo of over 1,000 soldiers, all destined for the battlefields of Europe. The Boonah was the last such troopship to leave... » read more
With due care
Alexander McKinnon
Alexander McKinnon was born in Charters Waters in the Northern Territory. He worked as a station hand before enlisting for war in 1916. Alex was one of thousands of servicemen of Indigenous descent—... » read more
A deeply damaged man
Noble Black
An office boy from Leichardt NSW, Noble Black embarked for war in 1916. He served in the Field Artillery, was badly gassed and witnessed the horrors of war. Black was one of thousands of shell shock... » read more
That Australian girl
Lizzie Armstrong
Raised in a comfortably well-off family in Sydney, Lizzie Armstrong was strong, independent and resourceful. Determined to do her bit for the war effort, she sailed to Britain, trained as a... » read more
Weary hours and days of pain
Harold Candy
Harold Candy was wounded at Pozières in 1916. He was wounded a second time at Le Hamel, as the allied armies struggled to turn back the German advance. Invalided home after a gas attack, Harold Candy... » read more
