Category Archives: Military

From Longreach to the Western Front – Kenneth Selby Henderson

Posted on by May 30, 2017

  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

Wheeler Project – Reflections

Posted on by December 30, 2016

Annie Wheeler’s index of Central Queenslanders serving in the Australian Imperial Force (A.I.F.) has enabled Genealogical Society of Queensland (GSQ) volunteers to document the lives of more than 2,700 Australian men and women who fought and died and World War I. Their service records, housed in the National Archives of Australia (NAA), show the diseases from which they suffered – scabies and diarrhoea, trench foot, venereal disease, influenza and tuberculosis – as well as the battle injuries that either killed … Continue reading

The Value of a Photo

Posted on by March 21, 2016

Last week I found a photo of my grandfather taken when he was 25 years old. I came upon him suddenly after an afternoon of searching. I felt a shock of instant connection as I saw family resemblances and recognised my uncles and my mother in his features. Even though he was not looking directly at the camera I could see a far away dreamy look, even a sadness, that startled me. It was a look that I instantly recognised. … Continue reading