Read the Stories
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Peace medals (or medallions) were issued to all Australian schoolchildren in 1919. They commemorated the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on 28 June 1919, which formalised the Armistice of 11 November 1918.
Aftermath 2019
Facing Australia (Karen Donnelly, Tony Nott and Raimond de Weerdt)
This work was created in response to the themes of this exhibition.
Film 18 minutes 24 seconds
1931
S. Templeton, Walter Taylor
This book lists the women and men of Albury and region who served in the First World War. It is handmade, decorated and illustrated.
In German (Don’t Mention the War)
2019 Jacqui Schulz
10 minutes 3 seconds
Returning home from battlefield service was a difficult prospect for many veterans of the First World War. However, support from family, friends and social networks helped many to live long and productive lives.
Frank Ainsworth Pickup was born in Windsor, outside of Sydney, in 1898. He came from a large family that included ten siblings, and two cousins who lived with them. He began a career as a public servant in 1915, at age 17.
The Riverina town of Holbrook is one of over 90 Australian places to change its name during the First World War because of its German associations.
The end of the First World War signalled the beginning of a new series of challenges. But first, there was celebration.
At 11 am (European time) on 11 November 1918, the Armistice with Germany formally came into effect. After more than four years of fighting, it signalled the end of a war that many had thought would be over in a matter of months.
The Royal Australian Navy’s Submarine Squadron was honoured in 1986, and again in 1992, with a formal ceremony awarding the unit Freedom of Entry to the town of Holbrook.
The unique connection between the inland farming town of Holbrook and the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Submarine Squadron was further cemented in 1986, and again in 1992, when submariners were given Freedom of Entry to the town.
A local Henty farmer’s invention revolutionised the world’s grain industry.
After the First World War, the second Industrial Revolution was in full swing. Advancements in technology enabled the widespread adoption of systems such as the telegraph and the construction of rail networks. This period also saw many innovations in manufacturing and the establishment of the machine tool industry.
2019 Jacqui Schulz
1 minute 45 seconds
Bruce Taylor shares the story of his Uncle Gordon and his talking cockatoo.
Military nurses were an essential part of the war effort, and their wartime experiences continued to impact them emotionally and professionally throughout the remainder of their lives.
While Australian women supported the war effort in many capacities (including as farm workers, drivers, interpreters, civilian doctors, and cooks) and in any number of volunteer roles (knitting, assembling care packages, recruiting and fundraising), only nurses were permitted in the armed forces.
The end of war does not mean peace. It is simply the end of the destruction of the battle. Every story of war includes a chapter that almost always goes untold – the story of the AFTERMATH, which day by day becomes the prologue of the future. The war changes people. A soldier would certainly say: ‘I was there and I returned as a changed person.’
Despite the blatant discrimination they faced at home, around a thousand Aboriginal volunteers joined with European Australians in fighting in support of the British Empire during the First World War. They served in a range of capacities, mostly in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), where they were treated equally to their fellow soldiers.
Australia’s railwaymen played an important role in operating railway lines for the Allied war effort in Europe, as well as in fighting on the front line.
The outbreak of the First World War saw large numbers of Australian men rushing to enlist in the war effort.
Many small regional towns were heavily dependent on the railways for their economic prosperity and growth.
From the mid-1850s, the railway system expanded at a rapid rate within Australia, particularly in the colonies of New South Wales and Victoria. The railways linked the separate colonies and had a direct impact on the phenomenal growth of population and prosperity in regional Australian towns. Culcairn is one of those towns that was significantly impacted by the great railway expansion of the 19th century.
Just as the war ended, the world faced a new threat. Spanish Influenza would kill more people than had died in the war.
Spanish Influenza was first observed in the United States in January 1918. It spread quickly across the world, aided by modern transportation and the huge numbers of soldiers and others trying to return home after the war. Estimates vary, but the influenza is thought to have killed at least 30 million people – possibly more than 50 million – worldwide. Despite extensive quarantine measures in Australia, 15,000 people died and around 40 per cent of the population were infected.
It was my pleasure to create for this important aspect of Riverina history – the aftermath and consequences of World War One in relation to the collective journey of our Indigenous Soldiers.
It is the first time I have incorporated various mediums in a body of artwork. I thought it apt to approach my work not only with a personal insight of having a dozen or so members of my family who served in wars over time, but to feel intrinsically the best way to educate through visual art, the connection that unites us all as Australian living on the same land and country.
