INVESTIGATION 7
What can we learn about the experiences of our school or local
community and its people during the Great War?
Advice to teachers
This investigation explores three sets of experiences during the Great War: those of your school, local community, or former
students or teachers. The approach to each exploration is intentionally different, and you may undertake one or all with your
students.
1.
You are encouraged to read the Background information as context before you commence your research or work with students.
2.
To guide your explorations, you may use or adapt the questions earlier in this resource, or devise entirely new questions. You
may also draw on sources from other investigations in this resource or from the CD-ROM.
3.
You may choose to use Research guides 7.1 and 7.2 which provide ‘source and resource examples’ and ‘locations’ as guides
to what may be available to help you and students. (If you and your students require support in completing Research Guide 7.1,
a complete set of indicative examples for Victoria is available on the CD-ROM.)
4.
You may use Research guide 7.3 as a ‘model’ for investigating the experiences of past students or locals from your own school
or local community. The guide looks at what happened to the Dennis family of Perth, Tasmania, and the Perth State School
and local community, featured across this resource. Alternatively, if there are insufficient sources for local investigations, you
may use the worksheet ‘as is’.
5.
Use Research guides 7.4 and 7.5 to prepare a case study of the experiences of teachers who enlisted in the states. (Territory
examples are limited.) Students can present their findings as an essay, poster or collage of primary and secondary sources.
Alternatively, you may use the guide as a ‘model’ for investigating the experiences of a teacher from your own community.
Background information
Academic and popular writers have researched extensively Australia’s experiences of the Great War.
Much research has focused on the battle fronts, generating biographies of selected men and fewer women who experienced such
places half a world away. Some historians’ fresh approaches and the growing national interest have been mutually supportive; and
recent contributions to the literature have included gender, Indigenous, multicultural, non-combatant and global perspectives.
Much literature has also focused on the home front where Australians did not escape the war’s horrors and were significantly
affected in different ways: they lived daily with anxiety for distant family members and friends; they experienced trauma, often more
than once, associated with news of the wounding, illness or death of loved ones; and, they endured interruptions to their daily lives
when the lives of others around them were affected.
The dislocations to life on the Australian home front were, however, less devastating than for nations where the home front and
battle front co-existed, especially in some European countries where towns were damaged or destroyed by war. The Australian
home front generated and preserved extensive records, official and unofficial, on many aspects of the war. These records, the nonmilitarist tendencies of most Australians-despite their interest in Great War battle fields and Anzac Day-and Australia’s relatively
short history in non-Indigenous terms have encouraged research on the home front, resulting in numerous publications.
Published amongst these have been selected aspects of the wartime experiences of Australian government and non-government
school communities. Some social historians have incorporated the contributions of such schools in general works on the war but
have often only provided numbers of enlistees, details of ‘famous’ enlistees, vignettes and brief overviews of quaint fund-raising and
comforts-making. Feminist social historians have barely, if at all, investigated the experiences of women teachers from any system
or sector, despite education being one profession where they had a higher representation than most, including during the war.
Significantly, the wartime experiences of Australian education departments as single entities remain largely uninvestigated in depth
although selected elements have been addressed as journal articles, chapters or small sections of larger histories. This inattention
is surprising considering the huge role of such institutions in influencing the attitudes and experiences of hundreds of thousands of
Australians in their formative years. The nature and extent of primary sources related to education departments, individual schools
and teachers’ careers varies markedly in government repositories and private collections across the nation.
However, sufficient primary and secondary sources may be located to make teachers’ and students’ investigations of all types of
schools and local communities both illuminating and engaging. The following pages outline what sources may be found, where, and
how they may be used.
AWM REL41899
INVESTIGATION 7
What can we learn about the experiences of our school or local
community and its people during the Great War?
Learning activities
Tuning in
Learning about a school or local community that existed during the Great War
1.
Individually, in pairs, in small groups or as a class, decide what you would like to learn about your school or local community
and its people (locals, former students and former teachers) during the Great War. You may write your own questions or adapt
questions elsewhere in this resource.
2.
a)
b)
List the sorts of sources you believe you would need to help you answer your questions.
If you have completed earlier investigations, add to your list the sorts of items you have already encountered, for
example, ‘school magazines’.
3.
a)
Compare your list with Research guide 7.1. It provides broad examples of the sorts of sources that may be available in
your school, local community, larger state or territory repositories, or nationally, in hard copy or online.
Think about examples of each. Complete the table.
b)
4.
Aside from the sources that may already exist in your school, where else would you expect to find useful items for your
research?
5.
a)
b)
Compare your list in Question 4 with Research guide 7.2, and add to your list any
additional ideas.
Plan how you will obtain the sources you need, conduct your research and present your findings.
Learning about past students of another school and local community
What happened to the Dennis brothers of Perth State School and their Tasmanian community as a consequence of the Great War?
If your school and local community did not exist during the Great War or there are not enough records, you may investigate what
happened to the two former students of Perth State School: Archibald George Dennis and Roland Horace Dennis. Both were
older brothers of Edith, Dorrie, Bessie and Lloyd Dennis of Perth State School Tasmania, featured across this resource.
1.
a)
b)
If you have not already done so, consult the sources across this resource belonging to the Dennis family (Intro.3, 1.4, 1.6,
2.6, 5.1, 5.11 and 6.12), also for Tasmanian government school education (1.3, 1.8, 1.9, 2.1, 2.2, 2.11, 4.2, 4.6, 5.2, 5.3,
5.10, 6.2, 6.6 and 6.10) and complete the Source Analysis Worksheet on page 18.
Resource guides 7.2 and 7.3 may assist your research.
Tuning in continued
2.
Plan how you will obtain any additional information, then conduct your research to form answers to the above question.
Notes: Archibald George Dennis died for a reason not commonly considered when thinking of deaths related to the Great War.
Roland Horace Dennis’s name is not always spelt correctly in records: sometimes his names are spelt as ‘Rowland’ or ‘Harris’.
Edith Dennis’ mother was also called Edith Dennis (identified in Source 7.3 as Mrs Edith Dennis, to distinguish her from her
daughter, Edith).
Learning about teacher-enlistees of another school and local community
What were some of the experiences of Australian teachers who served overseas?
If your school and local community did not exist during the Great War or there are not enough records, you may investigate what
happened to one or more teachers from your state who served overseas.
1.
Consult Research guide 7.4 that offers some names of teachers, preliminary details and questions. You may prefer to write
your own questions.
2.
Research guides 7.1 and 7.2 may also help you identify the sources you need, and where to find them. Plan how you will obtain
any additional information then commence your research.
Going further
1.
Present your research findings to other students or members of your local community.
2.
Discuss or debate one or both of the following quotes by historians.
‘To study war is not to glorify or condone it.’
Arthur Marwick, War and Social Change in the Twentieth Century: A Comparative Study of Britain, France, Germany, Russia
and the United States, Macmillan, London, 1974, p. 224.
‘[A]wareness of war makes us value peace.’
Jane Ross, ‘The Myth of the Digger in Australian Society’, in Hugh Smith, ed., Australians on Peace and War: Proceedings of a
Conference on Perspectives on War and Peace in Australian Society, Australian Defence Force Academy, Sydney, New South
Wales, 1987, p. 101.
3.
List three things you now know about the Great War or your school
or local community that you did not know before.
AWM REL39132
Research Guide 7.1: School and local history sources and resources
Types of school and local history sources and
resources
Secondary sources on Australia’s and other
nations’ experiences of the Great War
State-based histories including references to
the war
Regional histories
Local community histories
Education Department general histories
Education Department histories related
specifically to the war
Teachers’ training college histories
Individual school histories (Catholic,
Government, Lutheran, Private, Quaker,
other)
Education Department magazines for
teachers
Education Department magazines for
students; also used in some Private and
Catholic schools
Individual schools’ or teachers’ training
colleges’ magazines
Government school inspectorial district
magazines
Examples belonging to our State or Territory,
school or local community
Widely used textbooks used in each type of
school at the time
Books known to have been read and used by
teachers in each school type during the war
Books of a general kind for young readers,
published and read during the war in each
school type
Teacher biographies or auto-biographies
Biographies of significant others
Archival sources
Military histories
War memorials and honour boards in schools,
Returned Services’ League buildings and
memorial buildings in local communities
School honour books
Personal sources
Other
Research guide 7.2: Locating historical sources
Australian Dictionary of Biography
http://adb.anu.edu.au
Australian National Museum
of Education
http://www.canberra.edu.au/centres/anme
Australian War Memorial
http://www.awm.gov.au
Archives (national, and state/territory offices)
National Archives of Australia
http://www.naa.gov.au
Offices and Reading Rooms
http://naa.gov.au/about-us/organisation/locations/index.aspx
Mapping Our Anzacs
http://mappingouranzacs.naa.gov.au
World War I War Service Records
http://naa.gov.au/collection/explore/defence/service-records/army-wwi.aspx
Northern Territory Archives Service
http://artsandmuseums.nt.gov.au/ntas
Public Record Office of Victoria
http://prov.vic.gov.au
Queensland State Archives
http://www.archives.qld.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx
State Records Authority
of New South Wales
http://www.records.nsw.gov.au
State Records of South Australia
http://www.archives.sa.gov.au
State Records Office of Western
Australia
http://www.sro.wa.gov.au
Tasmanian Archive and Heritage
Office
http://www.linc.tas.gov.au
Historical Societies (state/territory peak bodies)
Canberra History
http://www.canberrahistoryweb.com
Historical Society of the Northern Territory
http://www.historicalsocietynt.org.au
History South Australia
http://history.sa.gov.au
Royal Australian Historical Society (New South
Wales)
http://www.rahs.org.au
Royal Historical Society of Queensland
http://www.queenslandhistory.org
Royal Historical Society of Victoria
http://www.historyvictoria.org.au
Royal Western Australian Historical Society
http://www.histwest.org.au
Tasmanian Historical Research Association
http://www.thra.org.au
Libraries (national, state/territory and tertiary)
National Library of Australia
http://www.nla.gov.au
Trove
http://trove.nla.gov.au
Northern Territory Library
http://artsandmuseums.nt.gov.au/northern-territory-library
State Library of New South Wales
http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au
State Library of Queensland
http://www.slq.qld.gov.au
State Library of South Australia
http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm
State Library of Tasmania, the
Tasmanian Archive and Heritage
Office, Adult Education and online
access centres
http://www.linc.tas.gov.au
State Library of Victoria
http://www.slv.vic.gov.au
State Library of Western Australia
http://www.slwa.wa.gov.au
Returned and Services League
of Australia State Branches
http://www.rsl.org.au/About-Us/State-Branchs
School archives and histories
Older schools may have school archives or published histories.
Check through schools’ alumni groups or through local community papers
to find other school war-related information.
Guides to school history research
Geoffrey Burkhardt, Australian School Centenary and Jubilee Histories:
A Select Bibliography, Magpie Books, Angaston, South Australia, 1995.
Geoffrey Burkhardt, Researching Australian School Records: A Guide for Family
Historians and Local History Enthusiasts, Old and Fine Books, Canberra, ACT, 2004.
State/territory government record authorities
Northern Territory Archives Service
http://artsandmuseums.nt.gov.au/ntas
Public Record Office of Victoria
http://prov.vic.gov.au
Queensland State Archives
http://www.archives.qld.gov.au/Pages/default.aspx
State Records Authority of
New South Wales
http://www.records.nsw.gov.au
State Records of South Australia
http://www.archives.sa.gov.au
State Records Office of
Western Australia
http://www.sro.wa.gov.au
Tasmanian Archive and
Heritage Office
http://www.linc.tas.gov.au
Territory Records Office
Australian Capital Territory
http://www.territoryrecords.act.gov.au
Research guide 7.3: What happened to the Dennis brothers of Perth State School and their
Tasmanian community as a consequence of the Great War?
Tasmania
Archibald George Dennis and Roland Horace Dennis formerly of Perth State
School
State-based general
histories including
references to the war
Alison Alexander, ed., The Companion to Tasmanian History, Centre for Tasmanian
Historical Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, 2005:
http://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history
Lloyd Robson, A History of Tasmania, Vol. 2, Colony and State from 1856 to the
1980s, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1991
State-based histories
of the war
L. Broinowski, ed., Tasmania’s War Record 1914–1918, Government of Tasmania
and J. Walch & Sons, Hobart, 1921 Marilyn Lake, A Divided Society: Tasmania
during World War I, Melbourne University Press, Carlton, 1975
Regional and local
general histories
Numerous.
Example: Nic Haygarth, The Norfolk Plains: A History of Longford, Cressy, Perth and
Bishopsbourne, Tasmania, Tasmanian Northern Midlands Council, Longford, 2013
Departmental histories
of a general nature
Clifford Reeves, A History of Tasmanian Education, Melbourne University Press
& Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1935
Departmental magazines
for teachers
Education Department of Tasmania, Tasmanian Education Gazette, Hobart, 1900–
Departmental magazines
for students
Education Department, Tasmania, School Paper, Melbourne
Widely used general
textbooks of the time
Education Department, Tasmania, The Tasmanian History Readers: The Royal
School Series, Hobart, 1911. (Book IV was used and passed through the Dennis
Family)
Books known to have been
read and used by teachers
during the war
Australian – The Story of the Anzacs, James Ingram, Melbourne, 1917
British – Daily Telegraph et al, King Albert’s Book: A Tribute to the Belgian King and
People from Representative Men and Women throughout the World, Hodder &
Stoughton, London, 1915
Books known to have been
read and used by students
during the war
Australian – E.C. Buley, A Child’s History of Anzac, Hodder & Stoughton, London,
1916 British – Elizabeth O’Neill, The War, 1915–6: A History and an Explanation for
Boys and Girls, T.C & E.C. Jack, Edinburgh, 1916
Tasmanian archival sources Numerous possibilities, useful for understanding school and community life:
http://www.linc.tas.gov.au/tasmaniasheritage
War Service Records
National Archives of Australia
Archibald George Dennis:
http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/Imagine.asp?B=3501077
Rowland Harris Dennis:
http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/Imagine.asp?B=3501228
and
http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/Imagine.asp?B=1569770
Military histories
Numerous possibilities
C.E.W. Bean, ed, Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-18, 12 vols, Angus &
Robertson, Sydney, 1921–36; also available through the Australian War Memorial:
http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/first_world_war/
Search through Trove: http://trove.nla.gov.au/
and the Australian War Memorial: http://www.awm.gov.au/
to locate battalion and other histories as required.
Source 7.1
Archibald George Dennis, immediately prior to enlistment in Tasmania,
probably in May 1916, aged 23.
Private collection
Source 7.2
Roland Horace Dennis, immediately before embarkation,
Launceston, Tasmania, 1914, aged 19.
Private collection
Source 7.3
Archibald George Dennis’s grave at Cornelian Bay Cemetery, Hobart, 1921, with his mother, Mrs
Edith Dennis, standing beside it. The tombstone inscription reads:
In Loving Memory of
Private A.G. DENNIS
Eldest Son of
GEORGE & EDITH DENNIS of Perth
Died 24th June 1916 Aged 23 Years
He answered to his countrys call
For sons to guard her shore
In honour’s cause he gave his all
And man can do no more
Weep not dear heart for such as he
Will live in Britains memory
Private collection
Source 7.4
Roland Horace Dennis’s grave at Adelaide Cemetery,
Villers-Bretonneux, France. The inscription reads:
R.I.P
IN MEMORY OF
No. 225 C.S.M. DENNIS R.H
No. 185 Sgt. ALLAN. D.H.
52nd BATT.
A.I.F.
KILLED IN ACTION
25/4/18
Private collection
Source 7.5
Temporary wooden honour board in Adelaide Cemetery, Villers-Bretonneux, France, naming
Roland Horace Dennis among many dead. The inscription reads:
R.I.P
IN MEMORY OF
OFFICERS.N.C.O’s & MEN
52nd BATTN.
A.I.F.
KILLED IN ACTION
HEREABOUT
24-25/4/18
Private collection
Source 7.6
Perth State School honour board, 1992.
In addition to Edith’s two brothers, six other members of the Dennis family, including her cousins, served and died in the Great War.
Image courtesy: Bob Lewis
This wartime poster indicates the impact of the Great War on families and the pressure on men to enlist.
AWM ARTV00075
Research guide 7.5: Case Study of an Australian teacher who served overseas.
State or Territory:
Are you able to find out where the teacher
taught?
Are you able to find out where the teacher
went to school as a student?
Can you identify what sorts of things
he/she possibly thought, read, and did
during a day at school as a teacher when
the war broke out?
Are you able to find further evidence of
events in his/her school or local community
during the war?
Can you identify what sorts of things
he/she possibly thought, read and did in
private life beyond teaching?
In which state or town did the teacher
enter his/her wartime service?
In which battalion, service or organisation
did the teacher serve?
Where did the teacher serve overseas?
What were some of the teacher’s
experiences overseas? Include information
on any campaigns the teacher served in.
Teacher‘s Name:
Did the teacher return to Australia?
Did the teacher return to teaching?
Are there any indications of physical and
mental health issues for the teacher on
return to Australia?
If the teacher died during service, how and
where did the teacher die?
How different do you think the teacher’s
attitude to war may have been after his/her
return to Australia compared to the first
public responses to the war?
Did the teacher receive any medals,
awards or other recognition for service?
Are there any aspects of his/her story that
are significant or striking in any way?
Own question
Own question