On the eve of Australia’s military engagement at Gallipoli during World War One a stowaway soldier was found on board a troopship bound for the war front at the Turkish-controlled Dardanelles. In the grey dawn of 13th April 1915 as the 5,807 ton twin-screw HMAT SEANG CHOON (HMAT A49) steamed away from Alexandria on Egypt’s coast, … More Headlong into War: A Stowaway Soldier
A ‘Dead Man’s Penny’ is just one of the few mementos John Thomas Chettle’s family have as a keepsake of their Australian soldier who fought in the Gallipoli Campaign during World War 1. Like some 8,709 other Australian soldiers Private Chettle never made it home. Melbourne realtor Mark Wood said his grandmother … More They were only boys: WW1 Private Thomas Chettle 3rd Rfts 14th Battalion
A postcard written by Private James Booley in August 1915 from the Dardanelles was sent to reassure his sister back home that he was okay, but instead it ended up being this Gallipoli soldier’s final farewell. The quaint little ‘Deakin English Canned Fruits’ postcard contains no details of battle because James’ little sister Jean … More Gallipoli soldier’s final postcard home
Rod Gilbert’s search for his great-uncle’s war experience has finally put a name to one of the soldier faces in my grandmother’s mystery World War 1 photo. ‘Finding Private Gilbert’ is Rod’s search for Leslie Raymond Talbot Gilbert, an English lad of 17 years who answered Australia’s call to arms. According to Les Gilbert’s war … More Family search for Private Gilbert
Private #511, D Company, 12th Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 1st Division ALL AUSTRALIAN BRIGADE Just two years after being rescued from a horrendous fire in the Mt Lyall mine in Tasmania, my grandfather’s brother John Joseph Hannaford Williams was among the first to sign-up to serve in the World War 1. John was a Ballarat boy, … More AIF Private #511 – John Joseph Hannaford Williams
Jim Booley didn’t come home from the first World war. Seventy years later his sister Jean started into tears when asked what happened to Jim. She fetched a handkerchief and drying her eyes turned and put the kettle on. ‘I was just a little girl’ she said plaintively. ‘I didn’t get to say goodbye.’ Jean sat … More The Booley Boys at War
