All stories
Whatever time they had left
Adam Wardrop
Adam Gladstone Wardrop was a horse driver from Mackay in Queensland. In 1916, he saddled up one last time, rode to Rockhampton and enlisted to serve in the Great War. Wardrop left his young wife... » read more
Introduction
These stories mark the Centenary of the Great War (1914-18). Officially, Australia's war dead numbered 80,000. Around one in five served overseas. But the real number of casualties can never be... » read more
The ugliness of Anzac
Mary Booth
‘Anzac’ meant everything to Mary Booth. A patriot and imperialist at one and the same time, she helped to create the legend we live with today. Dr Booth founded the Soldiers’ Club in Sydney, a... » read more
Ending & Acknowledgments
Ending, acknowledgments and image sources for 100 Stories. » read more
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
