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Year 9: Australia in World War 1

WWI

2. Battles: Fromelles and the Somme

Over the course of the campaign both sides fired artillery shells by the tons (the most destructive weapon on the Western Front eg Howitzer), unleashed streams of machine gun fire (German Spandau vs British Maxim), sprayed chemical weapons, fire flamethrowers, and British troops deployed tanks for the first time. Four days of heavy shelling preceded the British infantry assault in the Somme sector. A thousand artillery pieces targeted a 25,000-yard stretch of the German line, the weapons ranging from trench mortars to 60-pounders and huge, 15-inch howitzers. In all, the British artillery fired 1.5 million shells in just four days.

DEFINITION OF 'TRAGEDY':
Merriam Webster Dictionary: Painful and intense fear, dread, or dismay An event causing great suffering, destruction, and distress, such as a serious accident, crime, or catastrophe.

Cambridge Dictionary: An extremely strong feeling of fear and shock, or the frightening and shocking character of something. 

DEFINITION OF 'HORROR':
Cambridge Dictionary: An intense feeling of fear, shock, or disgust, or the frightening and shocking character of something.

Dictionary.com: A lamentable, dreadful, or fatal event or affair; calamity; disaster. 

 
PRIMARY SOURCES
 

These articles are about general WWI weaponry, and DO NOT SPECIFICALLY RELATE to the Somme or Fromelles.

Cover Art 5 Minute History: First World War Weapons - Includes Artillery, Rifles and bayonets, Pistols, Machine guns, Grenades, Trench mortars, Flamethrowers, Gas, Armoured cars, Tanks, Mines, Airships, Fighter aircraft, Dreadnoughts, and Submarines.

Cover Art The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Weaponry - Includes Edged weapons, Handguns, Infantry rifles and Machine guns.

Cover Art The Britannica Guide to Inventions That Changed the Modern World - Includes Submarine (p. 284); Machine gun (p. 288), Assault rifles (p. 291); Tank (p. 294).

3. The Gallipoli Campaign

 ELEMENTS OF THE ANZAC LEGEND

From 'Discovering Australian History Stage 5, by Ken Webb, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, 2008.

4. Conscription

PRIMARY SOURCES

ONESearch Database Explorer

The ENTIRE collection of resources provided by the BBC Birtles Library can be searched on ONE single, powerful search platform, which retrieves print books, eBooks, database articles and websites. Click HERE for assistance.

Databases

When you are away from the campus you will need to login using the appropriate username and password - these were sent to you in an email from the Head of Library which you should have saved for when you needed to access databases from home.

Useful Documents to Help With Your Writing

Hints and Examples for Integrating Quotes into Paragraphs