Australians in the First World War

The two soldiers on the right are wearing the colour patch of Victorian soldiers in the 40th Infantry Battalion. This battalion fought at Passchendaele and the Somme. Photograph from the collection of David J. Knox (1875-1960), who was attached to the Y.M.C.A. during the First World War. 

This order of service is from a Service of Intercession held a few months after the beginning of the war. It contains prayers for soldiers, sailors, nurses, and for peace.

The three chevrons on his lower sleeve indicate three years of military service. He wears the breeches and feathered slouch hat of the Light Horse regiment. From the D.J. Knox collection. 

Two photo albums held in the Samuel Marsden Archives provide a unique pictorial record of the activities of the 8th Infantry Training Battalion AIF, stationed in Wiltshire during 1916 and 1917. They were taken by Cecil Green, who survived the war, returned to Australia and built a house in Croydon.

The purpose of the camp at Hurdcott was to train soldiers so they could add reinforcements to the troops on the battlefields in France and Belgium. The neat rifle ranges and trenches were sorely inadequate preparation for the chaos and mud of the Western Front. The 8th Training Battalion supplied reinforcements to the AIF, however by 1917 the death toll in France was so high that as many trained troops as possible were sent to the Western Front.

The soldiers stationed at Hurdcott cut out a ‘chalk badge’ in the ground, in the shape of Australia. This badge is currently being restored by the Map of Australia Trust.

Soldiers wearing the feathered slouch hats and leather gaiters of the 5th Australian Light Horse Regiment, stationed in Palestine from 1918-1919. Photograph from the collection of David James Knox, who was working with the Y.M.C.A. during the First World War. 

Order of service from a Service of Thanksgiving, held soon after Armistice Day. It contains prayers of commemoration for fallen soldiers, and prayers of thanksgiving for peace.

This negative seems to have been exposed twice, resulting in a ghostly overlay that is almost an accidental memorial of lost soldiers. From the D.J. Knox collection.