All stories
Conscription by stealth
Giovanni Ferrando
Signor Giovanni Ferrando was a former consul for the Kingdom of Italy, a successful businessman, and twenty-two years an Australian resident. He volunteered for service in the early days of the war,... » read more
The boy soldier
Bernard Haines
Bernard Haines was one of Australia’s boy soldiers. The papers tell us he was 14 when he enlisted, 15 when they sent him to France, 16 when he was gravely wounded at the Battle of Baupaume. They... » read more
The Empire's bidding
James Ferguson
James Ferguson was a farmer from Midlands, Western Australia. He served as a trooper in the 8th Light Horse, saw savage action in the Middle East and, when Turkey sued for peace in 1918, expected to... » read more
The first to arrive, the last to leave
Rose Venn Brown
Rose Venn Brown was the first Australian woman to sign on for war work in France. She would also be the last to leave. When war broke out, Rose was working as the Assistant Registrar at Sydney... » read more
The man in the bath
Samuel Rolfe
Gas was one of the Great War’s greatest horrors. There were seventeen types of gas developed during the Great War. The Allies and the Germans competed for new ways to blind, choke, cripple and kill... » read more
A labour of love
William Knox
The son of a successful businessman, William Knox was raised at ‘Ranfurlie’, a stately home in East Malvern. Knox was educated at Scotch College, one of Melbourne’s most elite schools, and he gave... » read more
But for the grace of God
Joseph Bolton
Private Joseph Bolton fought in the Second Battle of Bullecourt, the AIF’s second attempt to break the heavily fortified Hindenburg Line. On the first day he was struck by a shell and on the second... » read more
Captain Charlie’s boozer
Allen Charlie Kingston
Allen Charlie Kingston commanded the Australian War Graves Detachment at Villers-Bretonneux. A Gallipoli veteran, Kingston had seen four years of war and supervised the recovery of hundreds of bodies... » read more
Gone to pieces
William Brown
William Brown enlisted when he was forty-three. Sent into the line, he suffered what they called ‘shell concussion’. Brown was trapped in the trenches for days on end, forced to drink water... » read more
Like a broken doll
Margaret Broadhurst
In the years before war took hold of the world, Margaret and Tom fell in love. On the eve of his enlistment, Tom proposed to Margaret with a diamond ring and their engagement was announced.... » read more
