18 September 2008 by Di Rutherford.
Exhibitions, From the collection, News, Technology
An example of an observation post disguised as a tree. This one was used by Australian troops during the Battle of Messines on 7 June 1917 at Hill 63.
Since first blogging about the Memorial’s German observation post camouflage tree (called a “Baumbeobachter” by the Germans, literally meaning “tree observer”) I have had a chance to take some photographs of parts of the tree I thought I would share, especially as some features may not be visible once the tree is fully assembled and on display. read on
19 August 2008 by Amanda Rebbeck.
Aircraft 1914 - 1918, Exhibitions, News
A new permanent exhibition, Over the Front: the Great War in the air, will open on 28 November 2008 at the eastern end of ANZAC Hall. The story of military flight and aerial combat during the First World War will be brought to life through the Memorial’s collection of five original and extraordinary aircraft and an exciting sound-and-light show.
Australians played a distinct part in aviation’s remarkable advances during the war. Four squadrons of the Australian Flying Corps flew above the Western Front in France and Belgium and over the Middle East. Training squadrons operated in Britain.
The exhibition will continue the Memorial’s tradition of presenting dramatic and instructive displays. It will pay tribute to the young men who fought in flimsy machines of wood, fabric and wire, risking their lives for dominance of the skies and in support of the ground operations below.
Two Bristol Fighters of the Australian Flying Corps c. 1918 B02209
read on
19 August 2008 by Amanda Rebbeck.
Aircraft 1914 - 1918, Exhibitions
John White is a Senior Curator in the Australian War Memorial’s Military Heraldry and Technology Section. He is currently working in Exhibitions and leads the Over the Front exhibition team.
Peter Burness is Concept Leader in the Australian War Memorial’s Exhibitions Team and is the Concept Developer for the Over the Front exhibition. He recently worked on another Memorial exhibition, To Flanders Fields, 1917. A link to the blog for that exhibition can be found here.
Jamie Croker is a Large Technology Conservator and is managing the Conservation work being carried out on the Memorial’s First World War aircraft collection.
Andrew Pearce is a Large Technology Conservator at the Australian War Memorial. He is working on the conservation of the Memorial’s First World War aircraft collection.
Amanda Rebbeck is an Assistant Curator in Military Heraldry and Technology. She is currently working in Exhibitions on the Over the Front exhibition team.
12 May 2008 by Mal Booth.
Exhibitions, Lawrence of Arabia and the Light Horse, Catalogue, Our exhibition
Lawrence of Arabia and the Light Horse: catalogue cover
Our exhibition catalogue has now sold out. You can, however, now download a pdf file of the catalogue and get this printed yourself.
29 April 2008 by Mal Booth.
Exhibitions, Lawrence of Arabia and the Light Horse, Our exhibition, The Light Horse
I realise this is short notice, but we just filmed a short segment on the charge at Beersheba (31 October 1917) in the exhibition this afternoon. It should run on SBS World News Australia, from 6.30 to 7.30 pm. It is being run in conjunction with a story about the dedication of the new Australian Light Horse Memorial at Beersheba by the Israeli President Shimon Peres and the Australian Governor-General Major General Michael Jeffery in Israel on 28 April 2008.
You can read further reports here and here.
28 April 2008 by Janda Gooding.
George Lambert: Gallipoli and Palestine Landscapes, Exhibition
The Lambert exhibition has just opened at the Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery and will be on show there until 25 May 2008. Toowoomba has a long relationship to the Australian Light Horse units so it is particularly appropriate that the opening should coincide with ANZAC Day. Throughout his tours in Palestine and Gallipoli, George Lambert was guided by Light Horse veterans of key events such as the Gallipoli landing, Romani and Beersheba.
‘Lieutenant General Sir Harry Chauvel’ 1918 by George Lambert ART02734
The Australian War Memorial has many pencil portrait sketches Lambert made of the Light Horse men he travelled with. This sensitive sketch of Lieutenant General Henry (Harry) George Chauvel GCMG, KCB (1865-1945) was made on 15 February 1918 during Lambert’s first tour of Palestine as an official war artist. At this time Lambert was travelling with the ANZAC Mounted Division around the Ayunkara / Richon le Zion area.
‘Brigadier General William Grant’ 1918 by George Lambert ART02770
Lambert also made a sketch of Brigadier General William Grant CMG, DSO (Bar), MID when he travelled to Belah in March 1918. Grant commanded the 11th Light Horse (a largely Queensland regiment) at Romani. While in Belah, Lambert attended the Divisional Sports day and made several sketches of the participants and events.
For those able to attend, there will be a special floor talk on ‘George Lambert, the Light Horse and Palestine landscapes’ presented by Assoc Prof Christopher Lee of the University of Southern Queensland at the Toowoomba Gallery on 11 May 2008.
18 April 2008 by Mal Booth.
Exhibitions, Lawrence of Arabia and the Light Horse, Chauvel, Our exhibition, The Light Horse
My colleague Robyn Van Dyk and I have probably taken well over 1,200 people on guided tours of the Memorial’s current special exhibition Lawrence of Arabia and the Light Horse. As ANZAC Day 2008 approaches it is interesting to reflect on which Light Horse images have resonated most profoundly with our visitors. This week, I also took some veterans from the Vietnam War through the exhibition. They had served in the battle for Fire Support Patrol Base Coral in May 1968 and I asked them which images had a special meaning for them.
So, I’d like to draw attention to several images, each of which has something to reveal about the ANZACs involved in the campaign from the defence of the Sinai in 1916 through to their great ride to Damascus in late 1918. (This will probably take at least two posts.)
Lieutenant General Sir Harry Chauvel of the Light Horse
James McBey, Lieutenant-General Sir H. G. Chauvel, KCB, KCMG, 1918, oil on canvas, 53.3 cm x 38.1 cm, Collection of the Imperial War Museum (ART 2471), London; gift of the artist, 1919In 1916, after the Gallipoli campaign, the Australian Light Horse brigades remained in Egypt and, with the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, were formed into the ANZAC Mounted Division under the command of Major General Harry Chauvel. Light Horsemen were hardy, self-reliant and independent minded. They could shoot straight and ride well. Harry Chauvel was no exception and his soldiers knew it.
He emerged from the First World War as one of Australia’s most effective and widely respected generals. It was Chauvel who issued the order to charge at Beersheba in the third and successful attack on the Gaza defensive line of the Turks. His able and dynamic command spearheaded the British advance through Palestine in 1917 and 1918, and projected it through Damascus to the northern Syrian border and the final capitulation of the Turkish forces.
James McBey, a British official war artist, has captured this very candid image of Chauvel as the commander of the Desert Mounted Corps in Homs at the end of the campaign in mid-October 1918. He is shown proudly wearing his slouch hat and the emu plumes worn by many Light Horse regiments. Chauvel looks older than his 53 years, but appears very much to be a man in the moment. By this stage he was responsible for thousands of Turkish prisoners, hospitals over-flowing with wounded soldiers and others struck by serious diseases including typhoid and malaria, and for restoring order in the large cities like Damascus that were suffering from the chaos that followed the Turkish withdrawal. Chauvel was shocked by this portrait: I think he probably hadn’t realised how much the war had aged him. He wrote to his wife in London that the painting was drying in his hotel room and he expected that it would give him night mares. read on
17 April 2008 by Andrew Pearce.
Aircraft 1914 - 1918, Collection, Conservation, Aircraft Conservation
Upon removal of the fabric from the upper mainplane it was discovered that an extensive number of the ribs were damaged.
Shattered ribs in upper mainplane. Note timber reinforcing panels nailed to rib faces.
Work has been underway to repair this damage and give the wing much of its original strength.
read on
11 April 2008 by Andrew Pearce.
Aircraft 1914 - 1918, Collection, Conservation, Aircraft Conservation
The Memorial has been able to gain access to substantial amounts of the original fabric, which was removed from the Albatros during the 1960’s restoration with the exception of the rudder and the ailerons. Significant analysis of this material has been carried out in order to determine the correct details for fabric colours, panel widths and orientations, seam widths, rib stitching and the dimensions of rib tapes. read on
04 April 2008 by Mal Booth.
Exhibitions, Lawrence of Arabia and the Light Horse, AUDIO TOUR OF THE EXHIBITION, Our exhibition
These tours are advertised elsewhere on our website, but just in case you’ve not seen them, either Robyn or myself are running tours of the exhibition at 10.45 am on the following dates:
14, 21, 24 and 27 February
5, 10, 12, 19 and 26 March
2, 9, 16, 23, 24* and 30 April
7, 14, 21, and 24 May
They usually last around an hour, unless we get carried away. Of course you can always download the audio tour and bring it with you on an MP3 player.
* Please note: the tour scheduled for 24 April has now been delayed by 30 mins and will now commence at 11.15 am. Mal
