Author Archives: FFFAIF

What's new at NAA?

The National Archives of Australia is currently hosting an exhibition, in Canberra, entitled Shell Shocked: Australia after the Armistice. NAA describes the exhibit as exploring how the community dealt with the lingering effects of the war over the next 20 … Continue reading

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*Federal Govt Plans

Photo: Villers-Bretonneux CWGC Cemetery [Ray Hudson] The Federal Government of Australia recently released information on its proposed plans for the commemoration of the sacrifice and achievements of Australians on the Western Front. The following media release was issued by the … Continue reading

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*FROMELLES FROST

The mayor of Fromelles, Hubert Huchett, has captured the winter on the Western Front in the following photos. The Australian Memorial Park, Fromelles, can be seen dusted in snow. The Cobbers Statue photo portrays a clear picture of the conditions … Continue reading

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Christmas Truce.

The first Christmas of The Great War on the Western Front provides a story of how, in the midst of the destruction caused by a war waged on a 600 mile front using the industrial mechanisation that produced machines guns … Continue reading

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Joyeux Noël

Screening on ABC 1 National Television on Sunday evening, 21 December is Joyeux Noël. The film depicts, through the eyes of French, British and German troops, the 1914 Christmas Truce on the Western Front. The film was written and directed by … Continue reading

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Christmas Greetings

Photo: Christmas Postcard sent from Australia 1915 [Munro Collection] Throughout 2008 this, the official Website of The Families and Friends of the First AIF Inc has been updated on a regular basis. The number of times the www.fffaif.org.au site has … Continue reading

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*Gallipoli Evacuation

Gallipoli Evacuation Begins From the 8th to the 20th of December 1915, a total of 90,000 allied troops were evacuated from the Gallipoli Peninsula. Brigadier General Monash wrote about the upcoming evacuation, in a letter he planned to post after … Continue reading

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*In Flanders Fields

The 8th December 1915 edition of the English magazine Punch published for the first time the moving poem In Flanders Fields written by Canadian doctor, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae. The poem was written by McCrae the day after he witnessed the … Continue reading

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*Connecting Spirits

Young Aussies on the Western Front A group of young Australians from South Australia are presently visiting the Western Front Battlefields of World War 1. The group comes from Meningie Area School and Birdwood High School and are part of … Continue reading

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AIF arrive in Egypt.

Ninety four years ago, on 3rd December 1914, the First AIF disembarked at Alexandria, Egypt, after sailing from Albany Western Australia four weeks earlier. The postcard below shows the Australian troopships travelling through the Suez Canal on their way to … Continue reading

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