Year 10 - Humanities: History - Australians at War

Signaller Ellis Silas of the 16th Battalion, Australian Imperial force, was the only artist to paint and sketch actual battle scenes showing Australian soldiers in action at Gallipoli. With his mates he went ashore at Anzac Cove in April 1915 and for the next month he witnessed the terrible carnage at Gallipoli whilst performing his duties as signaller in the thick of the fighting, until he was wounded and had to be taken by hospital ship back to Egypt. The words and sketches of Ellis Silas give us a brilliant and moving eyewitness picture of what it was really like at Gallipoli in 1915. John Laffin has written an introduction and notes for the modern reader to this book which was first published in 1915 under the title Crusading at Anzac.

This book is intended to provide both practical touring information for the independent traveller to Gallipoli, and a guide to the amazing First World War Anzac battlefields. It includes detailed information on the key sites at Gallipoli, including recommended routes, optional walks and drives, maps, digital images, original art work and even sound files to download on to your MP3 player. Information and suggestions on accommodation, transport, restaurants, entertainment and sight seeing are also provided to enable you to plan your holiday and make the most of your time on the Peninsula. There is even a section on touring Istanbul should you have a few days spare. Written by a serving Australian Army officer with over 30 years soldiering experience, and now an historian with the Australian Army History Unit, Lieutenant Colonel Glenn Wahlert presents a unique view of the campaign and of the key events that occurred on the ground. He guides you through walks along Monash Valley and up to Quinn's Post, one of the most dangerous places at Gallipoli; places you in the light horse trench at The Nek and talks you through that fateful charge in August 1915; before directing you to some of the most beautiful sites and lookouts that witnessed so much carnage more than 90 years ago. The Anzac area of Gallipoli is well preserved and unique, as battlefields go. While large slices of where the British and French fought have been returned to farmland or villages, the rugged, steep cliffs that both surprised and challenged the waves of Australian and New Zealanders in 1915 remain largely untouched. It is still common to trip over a piece of shrapnel, find bullets and cartridge cases sticking out of the dirt and, sadly, even uncover human remains. There is so much to see that the unwary traveller is likely to miss half of the key locations (such as the lovely Shrapnel Valley and Shell Green Cemeteries and the magnificent views from Plugge's Plateau) and waste time wandering aimlessly. So much happened in those eight months of the campaign that a quick drive around the area cannot do it justice or give the visitor a true feel for what happened here.

World War II - the greatest conflict Australia has ever experienced, and the only war that united almost all the population in the effort to win. This is the story of how, for Australia, World War II began as a battle far away and turned into one that brought war to the shores of the nation. Australian soldiers, sailors and airmen fought for the defence of Britain in Europe, the Middle East and north Africa from the moment war was declared in 1939. Then, in late 1941, the focus of our conflict moved close to home as the Japanese juggernaut rolled across Asia and the Pacific. They were seemingly unstoppable, until a tenacious group of Australian soldiers finally brought the Japanese to a halt at Milne Bay and Kokoda while the Allied navies inflicted their first defeat in the Coral Sea. This book tells the story of how a nation was mobilised to defend the homeland, and how industrial production grew to supply the needs of war and support more than 600?000 personnel in the Army, RAN and RAAF. World War II was a time when bravery and determination were the norm, when new alliances were formed, and when Australia discovered again just what it was capable of.