Australian Great War Association | Non-profit organisation

Australian Great War Association

Phone: +61 430 303 667

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25.01.2022 AGWA Moments. Lasting moments in Australia's dedicated WW1 reenactment group. Times may seem bleak at the moment, but carry on and try to be cheerful.... Great times will come again. AGWA members are a happy group who never miss an opportunity for a laugh. Please check out our internet page if you like. www.agwa.org.au

24.01.2022 AGWA MOMENTS Just about everyone with a military historical interest in the state of Victoria knows about the large WW1 training camp at Broadmeadows. Not many people know that there was a training camp set up in September 1916 at Altona, near the beach. It was situated between Bayview and Millers Roads, South of the railway line. It was set up with approximately 1400 uniformed and civilian personnel with the concept that if the Parliamentary Bill was passed to force cons...cription of men, Broadmeadows would not have the room to cater for their training. The camp was closed in November after the bill was not passed. It was thought to be good location as there was a train line to Melbourne as well as bay-steamer pier. The 8th Light Horse also bivouwacked at Altona in November 1914. The color photo shows AGWA members on the pier on Anzac Day 2020. Also interesting is that Altona is named after Altona near Hamburg in Germany.

21.01.2022 Continuing our French theme during this week of Bastille Day, todays book suggestion is "Under Fire" by Henri Barbusse (1873-1935). First published in French in 1916 as "Le Feu". Barbusse, then 41, enlisted in the ranks in the French Army as a volunteer at the outbreak of war. He served for months in the trenches in Artois and Picardy until he was invalided out of the army with lung damage caused by an explosion. He re-enlisted twice more, initially as a stretcher bearer befo...re finally being discharged unfit at the end of 1915. This book, "Under Fire" is a novel closely based on his time in the trenches and is noted for its brutal, gritty realism. The book had a wide readership for many years and Barbusse was regarded as a major chronicler of the Great War. Barbusse dedicated his book "To the memory of comrades who fell by my side at Couy and on Hill 119. January, May and September 1915". Recommended See more

18.01.2022 AGWA Moments. The scrap of war. In 2017 AGWA members attended the Western Front Of the many things that amazed us, one aspect was the sheer volume of war debris that has been (and still is) unearthed. ... As well as what naturally rises to the surface. On display on the tables (in the photos) is some of it at the brilliant Great War Museum in Peronne. According to the information board there, 500 tonnes of unexploded ordinance is disposed of in France each year. They say that they will be doing this for another 200 years! Wikipedia has the tonnage at 900 per year in France. The locals advise that approximately 2 farmers a year die from hitting an unexploded shell with a plow. Approximately 260 Belgian farmers have died since the war in the Ypres area. Most of the time if farmers find unexploded ordinance, they put it near a power pole and the Army come by and take it everyday. To we Aussies living so far away, it is hard to imagine. However, as one museum curator said, "The frontline may have been 500 kilometres long but it was only about 3 kilometres wide" At the Tommy Museum in Villers-Bretonneux, they had a massive pile of deactivated 18 pounder shells. To give some perspective, an information board said "In the first day of the 2nd battle of the Somme, the 1st Australian Division alone fired 16,000 shells". In the owner's private collection, he has a stack.of items farmers have dug up. (Like a Webley revolver still cocked etc.) Each piece is interesting as it was either owned by a human or handled by one. Each piece tells a story. At one battlefield near the La Boisselle crater, AGWA members found an unexploded Mills bomb. It was just sitting on the surface. A stick was placed in the ground there to alert the farmer. French pensioners do the rounds of farms & buy whatever scrap pieces (Helmets, bayonets, scrapnel balls, bits of shells, etc) the farmer finds and sells them to roadside dealers and museum shops. The land is very fertile, making it valuable for successful farming. Life goes on, like it did before the war.

17.01.2022 AGWA Moments AGWA members doing what we do well. Recreating actions that portray what our Aussie ancestors did 100+ years ago. Be it fighting or caring for others.... We reenact to keep their 'timeline-stories'' in the public's eyes.

17.01.2022 AGWA MOMENTS "The value in obtaining original period publications" Part 1 of 2 Immense value can be obtained as a "Living historian" in finding original publications, maps and documents from WW1. Three AGWA members were walking along the Seine river in Paris, about this time 3 years ago. It was a lovely sunny afternoon.... All along the river were second hand sellers, with items on tables. All were selling products of a particular theme. They were all selling old books, magazines, postcards etc. It was interesting, as there was not a great mass of boring stuff from the 1980's & 90's but much older items. An AGWA member approached a lady that had a semi-permanent shop. In broken French he asked if she had anything on WW1. 'Maybe magazines?' The lady said she'd never been asked for such items before, but she stopped, thought for a minute and walked out back of the shop. She came back with a box of L'Illustration French magazines from WW1 era. These are large A3 size pictorial magazines. The AGWA member bought a handful but should have purchased the lot. Some of the pictures, paintings and photos are amazing. One such story will be covered in Part 2 of "The value of original period publications "

17.01.2022 Todays book suggestion is "Australia and New Zealand, VOICES of the FIRST WORLD WAR", edited by Scott Forbes, published in 2014. The book is described as a commemorative collection of letters, diaries, songs, poems and images chronicling the Australian and New Zealand experience, overseas in action and on the home front during the war. The book is a masterful combination of words and images transporting the reader not just into another time but also offering another way of seeing the world of 1914-1918. Highly recommended.

17.01.2022 This weeks book suggestion is "Soldiers and Gentlemen: Australian Battalion Commanders in the Great War 1914-1918" by William Westerman. The book examines the background, role and conduct of Australian commanding officers during the First World War. These officers held the highest positions of power in their battalions but had no say in the higher conduct of the war and took the same risks as junior officers on the battlefield. Theirs is the story of the challenges of military leadership and this is an important book for anyone interested in the service of these remarkable men. Recommended.

13.01.2022 Today, 14 July is Bastille Day. In September 2017 four members of AGWA with other Australians visited the battlefields of the Western Front in France and Belgium where Australian soldiers served in the Great War. They also attended commemorative services honouring the memory of those who defended France and Belgium. To mark Bastille Day we have published below a selection of photographs taken on that trip.

13.01.2022 WW1 Monuments to those who served & fell in rural Australian Towns this year. Please feel free to share pictures you have of memorials you've seen.

13.01.2022 AGWA Moments This photo has to be displayed on it's own to honour its significance. AGWA members stand on a destroyed German bunker on Hill 60 in 2017.... The location was dramatized in the movie 'Beneath Hill 60'. It's a story where Australian Miner/soldiers took over tunnels previously dug by Canadians. They managed a huge underground bomb under German lines and exploded it. The plan being to create a breach in the Germans front line, thereby enabling a break out. At the site, a small creek bed has unusual whitish rocks. On further examination, the rocks are pieces of concrete from a German bunker that had been totally obliterated. In an odd quirk of fate, the photo was taken by a Canadian visitor who's Grandfather fought on the frontline facing Hill 60.

13.01.2022 Hi everyone , I hope you are all well under the circumstances . I have another item for you to look at . A stretcher bearers WW1 water bottle . Note the size difference to standard water bottle , they also have a small tin cup that sits on top held on by the leather strap . These are rarer than the standard water bottle . And can fetch good money . I hope you liked the latest personal item for you to look at . Take care everyone

12.01.2022 AGWA Moments. Moments in the history of our military reenactment / commemorative organisation. AGWA members go to great lengths to be authentic as possible. ... AGWA has released our great new internet website. This has been recently completed with many hours work by our Secretary and web designers sympathetic to our cause. http://www.agwa.org.au Please feel free to explore our Website. As we are volunteers, we welcome new members and donations.

10.01.2022 We are pleased to announce the launch of our NEW website. Complete with galleries, useful resources and links. Take a look ! www.agwa.org.au

09.01.2022 Todays book suggestion is "Her Privates We" by Frederick Manning ( 1882-1935), an Australian's account of the Great War as a member of the British Army. Manning was born in Sydney and moved to London in 1903. In 1915 he joined "the Kings Shropshire Light Infantry" and served as a Private and then Lance Corporal on the Somme. Manning was later comissioned, serving in Ireland. This fictionalised account of his life in the trenches as a private soldier was considered one of the most realistic, truthful and important books to come out of the war. Recommended.

09.01.2022 AGWA Moments. Something a little different for AGWA Moments this week. We like to blend a mixture of presentations on what the group is about. Many of the members are militaria collectors and military history enthusiasts.... Presented tonight are a series of photographs on an interesting Australian Army Officers tunic from WW2 uncovered last year. The Officers tunic was made in Ballarat. It was missing only the rank insignia. The WW2 era insignia was of the 23rd Australian Army Garrison Battalion, which managed the German and Italian Prisoners of war at the Murchison Camp in Victoria. The Officer proudly wore his WW1 insignia ( A smaller scale version) of his unit; The 2nd Light Horse Field Ambulance For your interest

08.01.2022 AGWA MOMENTS Difficult times these days mates, however, there is always hope of better things to come. The theme of these photos of AGWA reenactors is - The war is over! Time for different adventures.

08.01.2022 AGWA Moments. Whilst in Belgium members enjoyed locally made beers with famous names. Australians are so welcome in the WW1 Western Front area by the Belgian and French locals.... Please enjoy our fantastic new website. http://www.agwa.org.au Thank you to all our regular visitors to this page.

05.01.2022 AGWA Moments. AGWA members do their best to give an accurate depiction of battle in the terrible Great War. One can read many accounts (And look at photographs) of all the suffering experienced by the soldiers. It will never be as shocking as living it.... We will remember them. Lest We forget. Frontline action scenes of reenactment battles

04.01.2022 #OTD Lieutenant Joseph Maxwell, VC, MC and Bar, DCM On the 3rd of October 1918, Lieutenant Joseph Maxwell performed an act of extreme heroism whilst fighting at Buaurevoir-Fonsomme during WWI. By the end of WWI, Maxwell was only 22 and was the second most highly decorated Australian soldier of the war, having been awarded the Distinguish Conduct Medal (DCM), Military Cross (MC) and Bar, and the Victoria Cross. Joseph Maxwell was born on 10 February 1896 at Annandale, Sy...Continue reading

03.01.2022 This Tuesday, 14 July is Bastille Day. In honour of the National Day of France, AGWA will be presenting material with a French WW1 theme this week. The top photograph depicts Fench troops enjoying well earned leave at the seaside around 1917. The greatcoat was a standard item of French uniform worn in pretty much all weathers. The French Army helmet was considered so stylish that the soldiers often wore them as hats, even when on leave. The French officer standing by the So...pwith Snipe is a reenactor dressed in the uniform of the French Air Service. The soldier wearing the brassard with the Geneva (Red ) Cross is of course a medic, one of those brave men who risked their lives to go out onto the battlefield unarmed to help the wounded and with only their red cross armband to protect them. France lost around 1,327,000 dead in the First World War. See more

02.01.2022 Todays book suggestion is "The Tommy's Handbook" by Neil R Storey, published by The History Press in 2014. Neil Storey is a historian who specialises in the impact of war on British Society. The book is a collection of extracts from WW1 British Army Training manuals and much of the material presented would also have been used by the AIF. Topics covered include webbing equipment, foot and rifle drill, field tactics, trench construction, gas attacks, placing of Vickers guns, fi...eld communication, cooking, treatment of casualties, handling prisoners of war, marching songs and bugle calls (with sheet music). A fascinating 187 pages which also includes reproductions of period advertisments for food, field clothing and equipment. This is a book for those interested in the details of army life and the day to day routines of soldiers on the Western Front in the Great War. Recommended. See more