Category Archives: WW1

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

The Price of Loyalty – Both sides of the line at Fromelles

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‘Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important…They don’t mean to do harm but the harm does not interest them..or they justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves.’ T.S. Eliot Australia’s national identity – strong, free and independent – had its genesis in the British values of individual freedom and parliamentary democracy. When Britain called upon its Empire to fight in the Great War of 1914-18, Australia responded with … Continue reading

The Battle of Fromelles – 19-20 July 1916, Australia’s darkest day

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And all this madness [WWI], all this rage, all this flaming death of our civilisation and our hopes, has been brought about because a set of official gentlemen, living luxurious lives, mostly stupid, and all without imagination or heart, have chosen that it should occur rather than that any one of them should suffer some infinitesimal rebuff to his country’s pride – Bertrand Russell For many Australians, Australia’s contribution in the Great War is defined almost entirely by the Anzac … 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

Treasures in the Trove – October 2015

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The Middle Eastern sun beat down on my head, its powerful warmth seeping through my shoulders, stinging my nose and cheeks.  My eyes were continually adjusting to the glare as I walked row upon row, line upon line, of the graves lying in the British Military Cemetery on Jerusalem’s Mount Scopus.  The imposing entry gates are made of wood and the local limestone that is sometimes a yellow cream or dusty pink hue depending on the time of day and … Continue reading