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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. 

 
The Somme - From 'Evidence of War: The First World War Through Sources', by Anne McCallum.
The Somme - From '1914-1918: The World at War', by Carolyn O'Brien and Alan Merritt
The Somme - From 'Heineman Outcomes History', by Robert Darlington and others. Scanned under licence.
Was Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig a hero, or the 'Butcher of the Somme'? - From 'The First World War', by Andrew Wrenn.
History.com: The Battle of the Somme
BBC: WWI - Why was the first day of the Battle of the Somme such a disaster? 
History.com: Why was the Battle of the Somme so deadly?
Australian War Memorial: The Battle of the Somme 95 years on 
National Army Museum: Battle of the Somme
First World War.com: Battles - The Battle of the Somme 
The Examiner UK: Why the Battle of the Somme was probably the worst ever British military disaster 
The Imperial War Museum: What happened on the first day of the Battle of the Somme? 
The Imperial War Museum: What happened during the Battle of the Somme?
Open Learning: Winning lessons? 
Long Long Trail: British artillery bombardment before the infantry attack on the Somme
Scientific American: New technology for 1916 - tanks
History.com: Tanks introduced into warfare at the Somme
Experiences on the Western Front: Battle of the Somme
Statista: Artillery and heavy guns used by the British forces during the first Battle of the Somme in 1916
War is Boring: The Battle of the Somme Began With Britain’s Biggest Artillery Barrage
Somme 100: Weapons of the Somme
Scientific American: Artillery on the Somme 1916

 

PRIMARY SOURCES
Lloyd George on the Battle of the Somme
Battle of the Somme (Diaries, letters, photographs, and maps from the Imperial War Museum)

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Australian War Memorial: The Battle of Fromelles
Australian Geographic: Centenary of the Battle of Fromelles
Sir John Monash Centre: Fromelles - Australia's Worst 24 Hours
Australian War Memorial London: Disaster at Fromelles
The Australian: Fromelles - Night of Disaster
Anzac Portal: Battle of Fromelles 19-20 July 2016
ABC News: Fromelles and Pozieres - A look back at 2 of Australia's bloodiest WWI offensives
The Bellingen Shire Courier-Sun: The disaster of Fromelles
Australian Family Stories: The Fromelles disaster
State Library of Victoria: Actions in France - Scroll down to the section on Fromelles.
Sydney Review of Books: Into the jaws of the monster - Fromelles and Pozieres, 1916 - Scroll down to the discussion of the Battle of Fromelles (paragraph 7).
Experiences on the Western Front: The Battle of Fromelles - Includes discussion of technology.
Australian War Memorial: Disaster at Fromelles
ABC-Net: Battles of Fromelles and Pozieres
ABC: Fromelles - Life in the Trenches of Hell - Radio program.
ABC-Net: Fromelles - An Australian Tragedy - Radio program.
Fromelles - From 'Broken Nation: Australians in the Great War', by Joan Beaumont. Scanned under licence.

 

PRIMARY SOURCES
Sydney Morning Herald: Digger's Fromelles letters reveal pride and horror of battle, 100 years on
Sydney Morning Herald: 'Dear Mother, I lost all but my life'
Australian Parliamentary Library: The Western Front - Scroll down to the section that says 'Battles: Fromelles'.

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

Gallipoli and the Australian legend - From 'Analysing Australian History', by Ken Webb. Scanned under licence.
Gallipoli and the Australian Legend - From 'Australian History and Citizenship', by Mark Anderson and Paul Ashton. Scanned under licence.
The Anzac Legend - From 'Nelson History 3: Australia and the World in the 20th Century', by Jo Eshuys, Vic Guest, Robyn Bowman, Brendan Burgess, Stephen Kimber and Keith Hallett.
The Anzac Legend - From 'Heineman Outcomes History', by Robert Darlington and others. Scanned under licence.

History Alive 9 - Chapter 8: World War 1 - From Darlington, R. (2012) History Alive 9. Wiley: Milton. (Use Ctrl + F to find 'Anzac legend')

Sydney Morning Herald: Success, Not Failure is the Real Anzac Story
National Archives of Australia: The Social Benefits for Australia originating from the Gallipoli Campaign
History and Geography Assignment Help: The Gallipoli Campaign was a Success for the Allied Forces in WWI
Anzac Day Commemoration Committee: The Spirit of Anzac
Australian War Memorial: Anzac Spirit
Anzac Portal: Great Debates - The Anzac Legend
ANZAC Portal: The Anzac Legend
ABC News: Why does Gallipoli mean so much?

Image below: Elements of the Anzac legend - From 'Discovering Australian History Stage 5, by Ken Webb, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne, 2008.

4. Conscription

Conscription - From 'Discovering Australian History Stage 5', by Ken Webb. Scanned under licence.
Conscription - From 'Analysing Australian History', by Ken Webb. Scanned under licence.
Conscription - From 'Evidence of War: Studying the First World War Through Sources', by Anne McCallum. Scanned under licence.
The Conscription Debate - From '1914-1918: The World at War', by Carolyn O'Brien and Alan Merritt.
Conscription - From 'Nelson History 3: Australia and the world in the 20th Century'. Scanned under licence.
Conscription - From 'A Changing Destiny: Australia in the 20th Century', by Bruce Brown and Sylvia Morrissey. Scanned under licence.
Conscription - From 'Heineman Outcomes History', by Robert Darlington and others. Scanned under licence.
The conscription crisis - From 'Australia's war 1914-18', by Joan Beaumont.
Encyclopedia 1914-1918: The Result
University of Queensland: The Australian conscription debates 1916-1917
Anzac Portal: Conscription Debate in Australia in WWI
National Museum of Australia: Conscription referendums
Museum of Australian Democracy: Billy Hughes at War - The Conscription Debate
State Library of NSW: Australia's Conscription Debate
SA Education Department Essay: The Conscription Debate
Australian War Memorial: Sources - the Conscription Debate
State Library of Victoria: The Conscription Issue in Australia
Qld Anzac Centenary: A divided nation - Conscription in 1916
Old Treasury Building: Propaganda and the conscription debate
ABC-Net: Why did Australians say 'no' to military conscription 100 years ago?
State Library of South Australia: Conscription During WWI

Centenary of the first conscription referendum by National Library Australia (audio fiie 50 mins long)

 
PRIMARY SOURCES
Australian War Memorial: Sources -The conscription debate
State Library of Victoria: Conscription

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