Category Archives: Australian Imperial Forces (A.I.F.)

If only I had known

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Gold Coast – January 2019 Recently my two older cousins and I were reminiscing about our paternal grandfather and the Sundays we spent at our grandparent’s house during the 1950s. We laughed about running through the house, remembering how we had to jump over the sills that lead onto the side veranda, making sudden noises and laughing and yelling as we went. These were activities that we cousins had been given strict instructions not to do.  None of the adults … Continue reading

Violet Jane Stirling (1886 –1964) – A First World War Nurse

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This is my first blog for GSQ and I thought I would share my passion for family history and combine it with my research on Queensland First World War nurse.  This is the story of Violet Stirling who joined the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) and was a nurse with the AIF Violet Jane (Jean) Stirling was the eldest child of James Thomas Stirling and Annie Porter. She was born in North Branch on the Darling Downs on 24 June … Continue reading

From Longreach to the Western Front – Kenneth Selby Henderson

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  1914-15  England and France are in conflict against Germany and Austria in northern France and Belgium – the Western Front. The war is deadlocked. The Gallipoli campaign, conceived by Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill, is an attempt to break the deadlock by invading Turkey through the Dardanelles to reach Constantinople (Istanbul), establish a supply route to Russian troops fighting the Germans on the Eastern Front. 1915-1916  The Gallipoli campaign fails – poorly executed, the defensive capabilities and determination of … Continue reading

Captain Fred – Unmasked

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My last blog was about Captain Fred Rhodes, master mariner, WWI veteran, journalist and author.  I called him a man of mystery because I could find no photograph of him.  I didn’t look hard enough… To recap: after a stint as an infantryman in the A.I.F. (NAA 6858), Fred accepted a commission in the British Naval Reserve (Admiralty 340/115/35). He served on a destroyer for the remainder of WWI and was discharged with the rank of Captain, a title he retained … Continue reading

Captain Fred’s War

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One hundred years ago World War I was in its third year. Thousands of Australian soldiers were fighting for Britain against Germany and the Austro-Hungarian empire. Newspapers published reports from the frontline and lists of casualties that told of the horrors of war. Recruiting posters encouraged men to enlist, to keep hope alive in the trenches and at home. A soldier blinded by a shell burst wrote a poem calling to ‘the lads back home’ to join the fight:-   … Continue reading