© 2018 Greg & Sylvia RAY

Great War

Read more about the article Pozieres 1916: hell on earth under shellfire

Pozieres 1916: hell on earth under shellfire

This is an excerpt from our book, The Hunter Region in The Great War. After the slaughter of Fromelles, where the Australian 5th Division had been critically weakened in a failed “feint”, the main British attack on the Somme awaited an Australian contribution. The British attack had gotten off to a bad start. The artillery bombardment before the infantry attack didn’t do the damage the British generals had hoped for, so casualties on the British side were extremely heavy. About 20,000 died on the first day, with many more wounded. But the British, committed to trying…

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Read more about the article Some of Australia’s Great War “trophy guns”
German trophy gun and Boer War memorial at St Kilda, Victoria, January 20, 1937. Photo by Bevis Platt.

Some of Australia’s Great War “trophy guns”

With assistance from David Pearson, of the Australian War Memorial As The Great War of 1914-1918 ground to its end on the European continent, many countries decided they’d like to collect and take home officially captured trophies of their victory. That’s not surprising, considering the enthusiasm with which many individual soldiers had collected unofficial souvenirs of various kinds throughout the entire war. Many German prisoners, for example, complained bitterly of being forced to hand over personal belongings to some of their captors. Watches, field glasses and similar items were particularly at risk of being “souvenired” and…

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Read more about the article Great War treasures of Newcastle’s Christ Church Cathedral
Newcastle's Christ Church Cathedral in June 1979. Photo by Doug Brown

Great War treasures of Newcastle’s Christ Church Cathedral

From our book, The Hunter Region in The Great War The Church of England played an important role in Australia and no less in Newcastle at the time of the Great War of 1914-1918. People turned to their church leaders to help them see and understand moral dimensions to great events and they gathered as congregations to share good times and bad.While many churches across the Hunter retain relics of the Great War, the collection in Newcastle’s Christ Church Cathedral is almost certainly the most significant. Part of The Warrior's Chapel. Photo by Sylvia Ray The…

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