All stories
The loyalties of the Irish
Joseph O’Grady
In the early hours of 25 April 1915, Private Joseph O’Grady, of the 9th Battalion, landed on Gallipoli. We don’t know how far Private O’Grady advanced that first day. Nor, in all probability, did he... » read more
A fellow Australian killed him
Allan Whittaker
Allan Whittaker, a waiter from Yarraville Victoria, was one of the first to enlist, one of the first to fight on Gallipoli and one of the first to be wounded. On the morning of the Landing, a Turkish... » read more
A useful citizen frustrated
Douglas Grant
Douglas Grant was one of around a thousand Indigenous Australians who served with the First AIF. But in many ways this was not his war. So-called ‘full blood’ Aborigines were not permitted to serve... » read more
A vast tide of grief
Frank Roberts
Garry Roberts’ son was killed at Mont St Quentin in September 1918. His first response was confusion, disbelief, and denial. And compounding the tragedy was that the war itself was so close to ending... » read more
Despite the darkness
Vernon Mullin
Vernon Mullin was 21 when he sailed for Gallipoli. He was shot and wounded during the Battle of Lone Pine. But worse was to come. Barely recovered, Vernon was ordered to return to his unit and take... » read more
Died of shell shock
Royce Baesjou
Royce Baesjou worked as a bank clerk and served part-time in the Western Australian Artillery Militia prior to joining up. A southern son of Empire, he believed—passionately—in England’s cause.... » read more
His own brand of broken men
As a young man Walter Bagenal was apprenticed in Bordeaux, the wine capital of the world. In 1894, he ventured to the other side of the world to the newly planted vineyards of the Emu Wine Company in... » read more
I hate the business of war
John Monash
John Monash was a soldier. He commanded Australian troops in Gallipoli, Belgium and France. He brought many of those men home. Under Monash’s guidance, some 160,000 men and women were repatriated to... » read more
My broken heart
Frances Edgeworth Somers
Today it is impossible to imagine Melbourne’s skyline without the Shrine of Remembrance. But to the generation that built Victoria’s state war memorial, its final form was far from inevitable. The... » read more
The man who died twice
David Bisset
David Bisset went to fight the First World War on two separate occasions. In 1915, the young ironmonger from Aberdeen enlisted in Brisbane and with the 59th Battalion fought at Tel-el-Kebir. Bisset’s... » read more
