The Australian War Memorial in Canberra tells us that since the opening of the Memorial in 1941, the First World War Galleries have undergone several major changes. The modernised galleries now occupy the entire west wing of the Memorial’s ground level.
Australia in the Great War is the Memorial’s new permanent exhibition on display in the First World War Galleries; these new galleries will be officially launched on 22nd February 2015. The timing is perfect. During 2014, the world marked 100 years since the start of the war in Europe. On 4th August 1914, Britain declared war on Germany; on 10th August 1914, volunteer recruiting began in Australia. And on 25th April 1915, British, Australian, New Zealand and French troops made their pre-dawn landing on the Gallipoli peninsula via small ships.
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147 x 234 cm
Battle of Ypres in Passchendaele which took place in July 1917
Australian War Memorial, Canberra
Australia in the Great War is the Memorial’s new permanent exhibition on display in the First World War Galleries; these new galleries will be officially launched on 22nd February 2015. The timing is perfect. During 2014, the world marked 100 years since the start of the war in Europe. On 4th August 1914, Britain declared war on Germany; on 10th August 1914, volunteer recruiting began in Australia. And on 25th April 1915, British, Australian, New Zealand and French troops made their pre-dawn landing on the Gallipoli peninsula via small ships.
Septimus Power
Bringing up the guns147 x 234 cm
Battle of Ypres in Passchendaele which took place in July 1917
Australian War Memorial, Canberra
The exhibition presents the story of Australia in the First World War chronologically, covering all major theatres of operations - the Western Front, Gallipoli, Egypt, Palestine and the war at sea. The events taking place on the home front and the immediate and enduring legacy of the war are also included. Visitors will be able to examine and integrate a wide variety of items from this enormous collection, including dioramas, paintings, photographs, film, letters, diaries, uniforms, medals and weapons.
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Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey, May 1915.
Photo of five soldiers sitting on the road up to Plugge’s Plateau.
Australian War Memorial, Canberra
Ten Australian artists, who happened to be living in Britain before WW1 broke out, were commissioned as officers and asked to create drawings and paintings in European war zones. This scheme was administered by the Australian High Commission in London, with official war correspondent Charles Bean as adviser. The ten artists appeared in a group portrait by George Coates (see below).
Examine 2 of those ten artists. Septimus Power (1877–1951) was appointed an official war artist in 1917 and attached to the 1st Division Australian Imperial Force in France. Bringing Up The Guns was a large painting that was completed in 1921. Power depicted a team of six horses struggling through the mud, pulling the gun carriage with a heavy gun. The horses and soldiers were from the 1st Australian Imperial Force, 101st Australian Battery, and were taking part in the Battle of Ypres in Passchendaele in July 1917. The battlefield had become churned by the unceasing bombardments.
Power was commissioned for a second time in August 1918 where he was asked to do large paintings depicting the Australian Light Horse campaigns in Palestine.
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The Hall of Valour honours all Australians who received the Victoria Cross
Ten Australian artists, who happened to be living in Britain before WW1 broke out, were commissioned as officers and asked to create drawings and paintings in European war zones. This scheme was administered by the Australian High Commission in London, with official war correspondent Charles Bean as adviser. The ten artists appeared in a group portrait by George Coates (see below).
Examine 2 of those ten artists. Septimus Power (1877–1951) was appointed an official war artist in 1917 and attached to the 1st Division Australian Imperial Force in France. Bringing Up The Guns was a large painting that was completed in 1921. Power depicted a team of six horses struggling through the mud, pulling the gun carriage with a heavy gun. The horses and soldiers were from the 1st Australian Imperial Force, 101st Australian Battery, and were taking part in the Battle of Ypres in Passchendaele in July 1917. The battlefield had become churned by the unceasing bombardments.
Power was commissioned for a second time in August 1918 where he was asked to do large paintings depicting the Australian Light Horse campaigns in Palestine.
Australian War Memorial, Canberra
Another artist was George Washington Lambert (1873-1930). In 1917, he was approached by both the Canadian and Australian governments to work as an official war artist. The Australian High Commission in London wanted him to go to Palestine so, attached as an honorary lieutenant to the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) who were then fighting the Turks, he left London in December for the Middle East. During the train crossing through France and Italy, Lambert made sketches of the passing landscape through the window. These were the first of dozens of drawings produced during 1918, many of them portraits of the officers and men who were based in Egypt and Palestine. I have published some of his completed war paintings in an earlier post.
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Australian official war artists, 1916-1918 by George Coates, 1920.
124 x 105 cm.
The artists standing l-r: (Sir) John Longstaff, Charles Bryant, George Lambert, Henry Fullwood, James Quinn, Septimus Power, Arthur Streeton,
seated back l-r: Will Dyson, Fred Leist,
front: George Bell.
124 x 105 cm.
The artists standing l-r: (Sir) John Longstaff, Charles Bryant, George Lambert, Henry Fullwood, James Quinn, Septimus Power, Arthur Streeton,
seated back l-r: Will Dyson, Fred Leist,
front: George Bell.
Australian War Memorial, Canberra