Western Front - World War I and Australia - Research guides at State Library of New South Wales One of the most important battlegrounds in the war was the Western Front in Belgium and France, an area that ran almost 700 kilometres in length. The Australian Imperial Force moved to France early in 1916 and by July were heavily engaged in battle. By the end of the year about 40,000 Australians had been killed on the Western Front. Infantry marching ahead in single file to the front lineDigital order number: a479011 References Diaries and letters written on the Western Front Many of our diaries and letters cover a number of Western Front battles. Fromelles Wesley Paul ChoatChoat was a private in the 32nd Battalion and was taken prisoner during the Battle of Fromelles. The Somme Offensive – Pozières and Mouquet Farm, France Eric Roy ClarkeClarke was the Company Sergeant Major, Australian Army Service Corps, 4th Divisional Train. Bullecourt, France Albert Richmond ComptonCompton served in the 13th Battalion, 4th Reinforcement at Gallipoli and in France. Messines, Belgium ebooks
BBC iWonder - How did World War One's battle in the skies change warfare? Viewpoint: 10 big myths about World War One debunked 25 February 2014Last updated at 15:45 GMT Much of what we think we know about the 1914-18 conflict is wrong, writes historian Dan Snow. No war in history attracts more controversy and myth than World War One. For the soldiers who fought it was in some ways better than previous conflicts, and in some ways worse. By setting it apart as uniquely awful we are blinding ourselves to the reality of not just WW1 but war in general. 1. Fifty years before WW1 broke out, southern China was torn apart by an even bloodier conflict. Although more Britons died in WW1 than any other conflict, the bloodiest war in our history relative to population size is the Civil War, which raged in the mid-17th Century. 2. In the UK around six million men were mobilised, and of those just over 700,000 were killed. In fact, as a British soldier you were more likely to die during the Crimean War (1853-56) than in WW1. 3. Front-line trenches could be a terribly hostile place to live. 4. 5. Continue reading the main story
1916: Australians in France Anzacs in France, 1916 In the early months of the First World War, great European armies manoeuvred and clashed on a colossal scale, while in Australia a small volunteer force – the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) – was preparing to join in the conflict. But instead of going to Europe these Australians were diverted to Egypt and, with New Zealanders, were formed into the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC). The Anzacs’ initiation to battle came in a seaborne invasion of the Turkish Gallipoli peninsula, beginning on 25 April 1915. Australians were thrilled by the stories of their troops’ exploits in action and recruiting surged; but it all came to nothing, and after eight months of combat, this ill-fated enterprise was abandoned. Next year, in early 1916, the Australian divisions finally joined the British army in France and Belgium. The AIF on the Western Front By now the AIF was a much larger force. Fromelles Brigadier General H.E. Pozières Five Victoria Crosses were won.
Homepage - Footballers United World War II : Documents World War II : Documents Agreement Between the Governments of the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the Provisional Government of the French Republic on Certain Additional Requirements to be Imposed on Germany; September 20, 1945 Agreement Between the United Kingdom and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics : July 12, 1941 Agreement for the Provisional Administration of Venezia Giulia; June 9, 1945 Agreement Relating to Prisoners of War and Civilians Liberated by Forces Operating Under Soviet Command and Forces Operating Under United States of America Command; February 11, 1945 Allied Control Commission in Hungary; January 20, 1945 Anglo-American Mutual Aid Agreement : February 28, 1942 Armistice Agreement with Bulgaria; October 28, 1944 Armistice Agreement with Hungary; January 20, 1945 Armistice Agreement with Italy; September 1943 Armistice Agreement with Rumania; September 12, 1944 Atlantic Charter British War Blue Book F.
Life in the trenches As the northern hemisphere winter approached in 1914, the British and French forces had consolidated positions. Allied forces had prevented the Germans from reaching two key objectives: Paris and the port of Calais. In general, the Germans had the higher ground on the Western Front, their trenches and dugouts were better protected and better prepared. German strategy became defensive early in the conflict as they realised they would have a hard enough time holding the ground they had won early in the war in Belgium and France. The stalemate had created a corridor stretching up and down Europe the same distance as Melbourne to Sydney. Troops would serve time in the front or ‘firing line’ for four day spells and then return to support trenches and then to the villages behind the lines where they were billeted The front line was only lightly manned to ensure that soldiers could not be killed in a sudden bombardment or attack.
BBC iWonder - How was The Lord of the Rings influenced by World War One? Home Women in War: Propaganda and Reality Students will look at some propaganda posters from the First World War portraying women in different roles. This will be used to start students thinking about what women did in the war. They will go on to read a text describing the portrayal of women in war propaganda and to consider the effect of this propaganda using modal verbs in the past. Students will then read some different facts and experiences of women and share these together in order to discuss how the propaganda differs from the reality. By the middle of the war, it was increasingly difficult to maintain the Army’s front-line strength. Topics: The role of women during the First World War; wartime propaganda Level: B1/B2 Time: 90 mins Aims to develop students’ lexis around propaganda, and provide an opportunity to use itto develop students’ awareness of modal verbs in the past and to give practice Materials: PowerPoint PresentationStudent worksheets
WW1 Battlefields of the Western Front The long line of battlefields that makes up the Western Front runs through a wide variety of landscapes in south-west Belgium, north-eastern and eastern France. The battle lines wind their way across the countryside from the sand dunes and flat, reclaimed sea level land on the Belgian coast in the north, to the mountain peaks at 1,400 metres (4,500 feet) above sea level in the Vosges mountain range at its southern end. From a geographical point of view the range of landscapes on which the Western Front battlefields were established include sand, clay, chalk and rock, rivers, canals, valleys and cliffs, ridges and mountains, plains, forests and swamps. Map of the 1914-1918 Western Front Battlefields The grey shaded areas on the map illustrate the battlefield areas of the 1914-1918 Western Front from its northern end on the Belgian coast to the village of Pfetterhouse on the Swiss frontier at its southern end. Belgian Wallonia: Liège, Namur and Mons Back to Western Front Map>> Antwerp