© 2018 Greg & Sylvia RAY

World War 1

Read more about the article “Enemy aliens” in Australia in World War 1

“Enemy aliens” in Australia in World War 1

It was not a good thing to be German in Australia in 1914. The outbreak of the First World War meant that anybody with German heritage was instantly under suspicion of disloyalty, and it wasn't long before many were rounded up and placed in internment camps. A copy of a 1914 letter from the Newcastle branch manager of the Bank of Australasia, William Miles Coverdale, shows how closely people with German links were being scrutinised by authorities. Mr Coverdale was required by the War Precautions Act 1914 to report to his head office on any suspicious…

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Read more about the article Kodak’s “autographic” vest pocket camera: a hit with Great War soldiers

Kodak’s “autographic” vest pocket camera: a hit with Great War soldiers

From time to time, in my search for interesting old photos and negatives, I used to find negatives with writing on one edge that, when scanned, looked like this: Hospital ship, Egypt. Taken in 1919 by a returning Australia soldier aboard the transport ship Plassy, using a Kodak autographic vest pocket camera. . I wondered about them, until one day I bought an odd little old camera that had a strange opening flap on the back cover, and a cute little pointed stylus. This was, I discovered, an "autographic" camera. The principle was that you could…

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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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