Investigation 1
What did school students learn during the Great War about the
British Empire, its Allies and enemies?
These additional sources may assist your students to explore more
deeply the inquiry question above. Students may work individually, in
pairs, or in small groups. The Source Analysis Worksheet will assist them
to analyse the contents and meaning of each source.
Investigation 1: What did school students learn during the Great War
about the British Empire, its Allies and enemies?
Source 1.13
‘A Help to Victory on Empire Day from the Boys & Girls of the Empire’. 1917.
This certificate was widely issued by the Over Seas Club in London for the contribution
of school children. With over 5 million pennies from children, the Over Seas Club was
able to send parcels to soldiers of the Empire.
Toronto Public Library, Canada.
Source 1.14
‘Feeble attempts at founding colonies are made during the reign of
[Queen Elizabeth I]; and though they fail, we may see in them the beginnings of that
mighty empire in which we rejoice to-day. With the defeat of the Invincible [Spanish]
Armada, Britain begins to claim her title as Mistress of the Seas. At the close of the
period dealt with in this book, England stands at a height amongst the nations of the
world which she has never attained before.’
Paragraph from the History textbook used by Roland, Edith, Dorrie and Bessie Dennis
at Perth State School, Tasmania, in the years before, during and after the Great War.
Education Department, Tasmania, The Tasmanian History Readers: Royal School Series, Book IV,
Hobart, Tasmania, 1911, p. 227.
Source 1.15
Oh, I’m a British boy, sir,
I joy to tell it you;
Briton’s ever honest,
Let me be honest too;
My tongue speaks ever truthfully,
’Tis this that you will know me by.
Oh, I’m a British boy, sir,
And hate to tell a lie.
Department of Public Instruction, New South Wales, ‘The British Boy’, Commonwealth School Paper,
Classes I-II, Oct. 1915, p. 64.
Source 1.16
Members of the Rendelsham School Fife Band, South Australia, carrying their
instruments, with crossed British and Australian flags in the background. Circa 1916.
State Library of South Australia. B38561.
Source 1.17
‘A fair proportion of the school time devoted to the teaching of History has been
appropriately and judiciously utilised in instructing the children in the cause and
development of the war.
The geography of the “war zone” has received special treatment, and sound
knowledge has been acquired by the pupils.’
Inspector R.S. Wright (Southern District), in Report of the Director of Education ,Tasmania for 1916,
Government Printer, Hobart, 1917, n.p.
Source 1.18
‘“Map of the Islands of the South Pacific Ocean” … A knowledge of the position of the
islands in the Pacific Ocean to one another and how they are held – whether they are
independent or have been annexed – is a matter of interest at any time to Australian
children, but especially so at the present moment.’
Education Department of Victoria, ‘Notices of Books, School Materials, Etc’, Education Gazette and
Teachers’ Aid, Sept. 1914, p. 357.
Source 1.19
Maryborough Queensland, 1916. Children in Maryborough celebrate Britain and its
empire during a patriotic carnival. Girls wore costumes representing the empire and
the British flag flew as the “Flag of Freedom”.
AWM P00221.001
Source 1.20
A fundraising badge produced in 1916 to promote the fundraising activities of the
Victorian Education Department’s Patriotic Fund. Such badges were sold by school
students and teachers in trams, buses, at railways stations and at rallies to raise money
for the stated cause. This example may have been inspired by the stories of the fierce
fighting occurring at Verdun in 1916.
AWM REL39134
Source 1.21
‘If you wish to be worthy of the Empire, you must realise what the Empire means … I
trust that you boys understand that the Union Jack is the emblem of the British
Empire, and what the Empire stands for in the world … justice, honesty and progress.’
‘Message from Lord Roberts to the Junior Cadets of Australia’, written by Lieutenant-Colonel C.
Bjelke-Petersen, Department of Public Instruction, Queensland, School Paper, Classes V-VI, Jan. 1915,
pp. 14-15.
Source 1.22
‘The first debate ever held at the school, in 1917, had for its subject “Is America
justified in her present [isolationist] position in the war?” The Noes had it’.
H.M. Storey, History of North Sydney High School (1912-1962), n.p., North Sydney, New South Wales,
1962, p. 10.
Source 1.23
Crowds watch a fund raising event held at the ‘Bank of Thrift’, a Greek temple-like
structure erected on North Terrace, Adelaide, at the entrance to Government House.
Children wave flags and stand on its steps underneath a sign that reads ‘Vive La
France’, a brass band plays below them and a saluting French army officer stands in
front of the crowd. Circa 1918.
State Library of South Australia. PRG280_1_15_766.
Investigation 2
What sorts of values were expected of students in different
schools during the Great War?
These additional sources may assist your students to explore more
deeply the inquiry question above. Students may work individually, in
pairs, or in small groups. The Source Analysis Worksheet will assist them
to analyse the contents and meaning of each source.
Investigation 2: What sorts of values were expected of students in
different schools during the Great War?
Source 2.13
1. When you’ve finished with your cheering,
When the last good-bye is said,
When the troopships bid our shores a long adieu,
Let me rouse you for a moment
For the work that lies ahead,
For the work that we who stay at home can do.
2. We can hear no shriek of shrapnel,
We can hear no cannons’ roar:
But we know that, somewhere in a leaden rain,
Our men will battle bravely
In the Empire’s cause and ours—
Let us not forget our tasks that still remain …
4. Let us have it to our credit
In the better days to come,
When the dove of peace is brooding once again.
When the clash of arms is silent,
And the leaden chorus dumb,
That Australian children helped Australia’s men!
Education Department, Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia, ‘To the Helpers at Home’, School
Paper, Grades VII-VIII, Oct. 1914, pp. 161-62.
Source 2.14
‘You must not think only of your own self, or of your own friends, or your own class
only. You must think of the whole people, and love and work for your country as a
whole.’
Heather Bonnin, Hours to Remember: Reflections on Life in South Australia, 1889-1929, from The
Children’s Hour, South Australian Government Printer, Netley, South Australia,1987, p. 145.
Source 2.15
The Young Workers’ Patriotic Guild button was a domed round brass badge with a
bronze finish, impressed centrally with a busy honeybee, representing the work for the
war effort expected of many government school children. Boys and girls pledged to
choose a payable hobby such as chopping wood, selling newspapers, growing
vegetables, baking scones and then donated one pound to the Guild.
AWM REL41893.
Source 2.16
The skies may meet in sadness,
The blustering winds may blow;
But if our hearts are cheery,
There’s sunshine where we go.
Department of Public Instruction, New South Wales, Commonwealth School Paper, Classes I-II, Nov.
1915, p. 74.
Source 2.17
‘Two Ways’
1. When you go home from school, ask mother for one of her teaspoons. Rub it and
polish it well, until it is bright and clean. Then hold it up by the handle close to your
face and tell me what you see.
2. There is a face in your spoon. Oh, what a long face it is! Such a face as that could
never smile. It is a “cry-baby’s face, is it not?’
Now turn your spoon sideways and look again. What do you see this time? A face, of
course; but what kind of a face is it?
3. Oh, the jolliest face you ever saw …
There are always two ways of looking at things. If you look at the dark side, you cannot
see the bright side, but you can always look at the bright side if you like, and looking at
the bright side is the best way to be happy.’
Department of Public Instruction, New South Wales, ‘Two Ways’, The Commonwealth School Paper,
Classes I-II, Aug. 1915, pp. 19-21.
Source 2.18
‘The September issue [of the Record, the school magazine] contained a grim warning:
“This is a time of self-denial … and it is fitting that we, as a school, should have our
share in the general renunciation. Of what sacrifices we have made, let us say, ‘It was
our duty’, nay more, ‘It was our privilege’ … [and] it is our opportunity of fulfilling
those obligations to our country and Empire to which a thousand material kindnesses
have given birth.”’
Arch Ferguson, ed., High: The Centenary History of Sydney High School, Child & Henry, Brookvale, New
South Wales, 1983, p. 30.
Source 2.19
It’s bad for the pocket, it’s bad for fame,
It’s bad when often it bears no blame;
It’s bad for friendship, it’s worse for strife;
It’s bad for the husband; it’s bad for the wife.
It’s bad for the brain, it’s bad for the nerves,
For the man that buys and the man that serves;
It’s bad for the eyes and it’s bad for the breath,
It’s bad for life, it’s worse for death.
It’s bad when there’s trades – men’s bills to pay;
It’s bad – oh, how bad – for a rainy day;
It’s bad for it leads from bad to worse,
Not only bad but a giant curse.
It’s bad for the face when pimples come;
It’s bad for the children and worse for the home;
It’s bad for the strong, it’s bad for the weak; for the sallow tinge that it lends to the
cheek.
It’s bad for the day when you pay the rent.
And bad for the child with the bottle sent;
It’s bad at morning and bad at night:
Though the table is laid and the fire burns bright.
‘The Drink’, in Heather Bonnin, Hours to Remember: Reflections on Life in South Australia, 1889-1929,
from The Children’s Hour, South Australian Government Printer, Netley, South Australia, 1987, p. 145.
Source 2.20
‘Supposing your own father or brother were a prisoner of war, half-starved, halfclothed, perhaps sick and wounded, longing for help from his own dear people, shut
off from all his chums and mates, waiting, waiting, for parcels – that didn’t come!’
Heather Bonnin, Hours to Remember: Reflections on Life in South Australia, 1889-1929, from The
Children’s Hour, South Australian Government Printer, Netley, South Australia, 1987, p. 113.
Source 2.21
‘The following lines were written by Lord Tennyson at a time when storm clouds
seemed to be threatening the peace of England (1859). They seem especially
applicable to present conditions in Australia where citizens are voluntarily enrolling
themselves as members of rifle-clubs with the object of training for home defence.
There is a sound of thunder afar,
Storm in the south that darkens the day,
Storm of battle and thunder of war,
Well, if it do not roll our way.
Storm! Storm! Riflemen, form!
Ready, be ready to meet the storm!
Riflemen, riflemen, riflemen, form!’
Department of Public Instruction, Queensland, ‘Riflemen, Form!’, School Paper, Classes V-VI, May
1915, p. 71.
Source 2.22
A Victorian State School parade, led by boys, marches past the Melbourne Town Hall in
front of a crowd of spectators. Circa 1916.
AWM H18418.
Source 2.23
When a call to arms was answered by five million loyal men,
There were boys throughout the Empire, ’twixt the age of four and ten,
Who’d have answered to their country’s call, and hurried off to war,
If Kitchener had but reduced the fighting age to four.
Education Department, Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia, ‘A Call to Arms’, School Paper,
Grades III-IV, Nov. 1916, p. 157.
Source 2.24
Who is the queen of Baby-land?
Mother, kind and sweet:
And her love,
Born above,
Guides little feet.
Education Department, Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia, ‘Baby-Land’, School Paper, Grades
III-IV, Mar. 1917, p. 30.
Source 2.25
‘[Queensland’s pioneer women] should never be forgotten, affording, as they do,
examples of toil, effort, and endeavour worthy of imitation. What woman has done,
woman can do; and, though the necessity of severe hardship and self-denial has
passed, the best legacy for future generations of Queenslanders is the determination
and endurance of the pioneer mothers.’
Department of Public Instruction, Queensland, ‘Pioneer Women of Queensland’, School Paper, Classes
V-VI, Jan. 1915, p. 29.
Source 2.26
‘The length of the war has left its mark indelibly on these children’s characters. There
is no sign of hysterical enthusiasm which soon wears itself out, but instead the dogged
persistent effort day after day, week after week, and year after year, to continue to do
all that is in their power for the men who are risking their lives to protect the homes of
Australia is distinctly manifest in all the schools. The war is a most dreadful and awful
calamity, but out of the evils there will at last arise some good so far as these children
are concerned. At the most impressionable time in their lives they have learnt what
patriotism, heroism, self-sacrifice and sympathy mean.’
Senior Inspector of Schools, Wallace Clubb, Report on the Schools in the Metropolitan Area [Perth], in
Report of the Education Department of Western Australia for 1916, p. 54, Western Australian
Parliamentary Proceedings, 1917.
Investigation 3
What were some of the war’s consequences for daily life in
schools?
These additional sources may assist your students to explore more
deeply the inquiry question above. Students may work individually, in
pairs, or in small groups. The Source Analysis Worksheet will assist them
to analyse the contents and meaning of each source.
Investigation 3: What were some of the war’s consequences for daily life
in schools?
Source 3.13
‘The war was the background of life, keenly followed by all. The Examiner published
long reports of battles and actions, and the Sixth Form reported that they spent so
much time talking about the war that it had broken in on their studies.’
Alison Alexander, Blue, Black and White: The History of the Launceston Church Grammar School, 18461996, Launceston Church Grammar School, Launceston, Tasmania, 1996, p. 87.
Source 3.14
‘There were small changes to life at school during the war. Some were subtle. The
games played by the boys suggest that the war was having a profound psychological
effect. The younger boys played soldiers, the incidence of fighting in the playground
increased, and there was also an ‘unfortunate accident’ in which one of the boys was
injured by a bullet fired from a pea rifle by one of the boarders. His wound was not
serious but the incident shows how the dramas were re-enacted by impressionable
young boys.’
Jenny Gregory, Building a Tradition: A History of Scotch College, Perth, 1897-1996, University of
Western Australia Press, 1996, p. 138.
Source 3.15
‘The difficulty of staffing the schools adequately has been severely felt throughout the
year …
In the first place, it has been impossible to make adequate provision in all cases for the
continued teaching of certain subjects such as Science and Manual Training … Many of
the students from the Training College, whom we should expect to fill such gaps, have
enlisted.
In the second place, much of the work that has previously been undertaken by men
has now fallen into the hands of women … They have shouldered the additional
responsibilities readily, and have done remarkably good work. The physical training of
the boys in large schools is, as a rule, carried out by the male members of the staff.
During the past year it has been very largely undertaken by women. That they have
done their work well is shown by the number of efficient Junior Cadets whom they
have trained.’
Cecil Andrews, Director of Education, in Report of the Education Department of Western Australia for
1916, pp. 10-11, Western Australia Parliamentary Papers, 1917.
Source 3.16
Pupils and teachers not only went without life’s luxuries and treats during the war:
they experienced shortages of basic classroom supplies ... [The Victorian Education]
Department forewarned teachers as early as September 1914 of shortages in coloured
chalk, porcelain inkwells and clay-modelling boards. Eighteen months later, teachers
were asked if they had used paper wisely; if so, they would need less or none in the
new financial year. From early 1916, examinations for teachers and trainees were
based solely on the textbooks that had been recommended for purchase before or
early in the war and, by November, examinations were to be written on blackboards
rather than paper. Teachers were told to use less stationery, stamps and other
requisites and not to expect new books for libraries. The Department stiffened:
‘Occasional complaints of waste … are received’, and teachers were requested to
supervise pupils’ work to avoid blank pages or spaces in exercise books. In some
schools, paper completely ran out. A former pupil of Camp Hill [State School] recalled
how ‘paper and exercise books became almost unprocurable so that slates were
introduced to all hands … [a] crowning insult’. At Sandringham [State School] in late
1917, teachers also requested that pupils use slates because they were cheaper than
exercise books. And, gas and electricity were to be used economically—as were drumheads. Teachers were told that school-based cadets had been beating drums too
heavily, especially in damp weather when skins expanded, then shrunk and cracked…’
Rosalie Triolo, ‘Our Schools and the War’, Australian Scholarly, Kew, Victoria, 2012, pp. 44-45.
Investigation 4
What patriotic activities did many students perform on the
home front during the Great War, and why?
These additional sources may assist your students to explore more
deeply the inquiry question above. Students may work individually, in
pairs, or in small groups. The Source Analysis Worksheet will assist them
to analyse the contents and meaning of each source.
Investigation 4: What patriotic activities did many students perform on
the home front during the Great War, and why?
Source 4.13
A procession of school children marches along Bridge Street, Sydney, watched by
crowds lining the street to mark A.I.F. Memorial Day, 1918.
AWM P01079.003.
Source 4.14
A patriotic rally, Charleston Public School, Lake Macquarie, New South Wales, in
December 1914.
Lake Macquarie City Council Historic Photograph Collection. 4422.
Source 4.15
Large crowds watch a patriotic procession led by students from Prince Alfred College
playing in a band proceeding along King William Street, Adelaide. Circa 1918.
State Library of South Australia. PRG280_1_15_816.
Source 4.16
‘The collections are placed in charge of the class prefects.
We sent in £20 to the Australian Red Cross. This sum, however, does not include the
money spent in buying House badges or Red Cross buttons …
Every class-room had at least one window with a Red Cross badge in the middle of the
pane; and nearly every girl had a button.’
‘War Fund’, Aurora Australis: The Magazine of the Presbyterian Ladies’ College, Croydon & Pymble,
New South Wales, June 1918, p. 16.
Source 4.17
Children form a pattern of the Red Cross symbol during a display at the Adelaide Oval,
a fund-raising event for the Red Cross Society, 1918.
State Library of South Australia. PRG280_1_18_37.
Source 4.18
‘Regular weekly contributions were made [by the Geelong College Boys] from pocketmoney. Some boys made splints on Saturday mornings for the Red Cross; others
helped with the harvest … Gala Day was launched in 1916 to assist Red Cross funds …
[A] “stall on wheels” became a temporary tuck-shop.’
G.C. Notman et al, The Geelong College, 1861-1961, Geelong College Council & Geelong Collegians’
Association, Geelong, 1961, pp. 38, 42.
Source 4.19
‘The school girls and boys have indeed ‘done their bit’ and are still doing it ... Not only
are large monetary contributions being made, but there is ceaselessly going on
contributions in the way of comforts and appliances for the sick and wounded that
would astound those who have not had an opportunity of knowing what the schools
are doing.’
Senior Inspector of Schools, Wallace Clubb, Report on the Schools in the Metropolitan Area [Perth], in
Report of the Education Department of Western Australia for 1916, pp, 53-54, Western Australian
Parliamentary Proceedings, 1917.
Source 4.20
A patriotic concert at the old Stafford State School, Brisbane, in 1915. The children,
dressed as nurses and soldiers, raised £52 for The Courier newspaper’s Belgian fund.
John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. 184141.
Source 4.21
‘[T]he Children’s Patriotic Fund that was organised in schools had its affairs published
in the pages of the Hour. A system of War Service Medals and Bars was introduced ...
In September 1917 the organisers reported:
“At the time of writing there are quite 500 of you who have received this
decoration of honour to mark your splendid service to the fund. Some children
have already sent the patriotic page containing their names to brothers and
fathers at the front, and right glad they will be at seeing the names of those
dear to them, figuring proudly amongst the home people who are helping to
win the war.”’
Heather Bonnin, Hours to Remember: Reflections on Life in South Australia, 1889-1929, from The
Children’s Hour, South Australian Government Printer, Netley, South Australia, 1987, p. 112.
Source 4.22
Pupils and teachers of Dunvegan School, New South Wales. The inscription on the
reverse of the photograph says: ‘Up Orara. (Dunvegan School), WW1. All children
knitting for soldiers – sox, mufflers, gloves. H.M. [probably Head Master] has just lost
his son A.I.F.’
Coffs Harbour Regional Museum. 07-0912.
Source 4.23
These school children at a New South Wales school along with others affiliated with
the Australian Comforts Fund, knitted 1.3 million socks during the war.
AWM H11581.
Source 4.24
‘So with best wishes fond & true,
With all good luck I send to you
These little socks, which give us pleasure
To sit & work at in our leisure,
And when you wear them till they’re through
Remember there are plenty who
Will make some more for those who fight
For those they love - & king & right.
And if you feel inclined some night
Just take your paper, pen - & write
A few lines to the address above
Who is one who does this work for love.
Effie Allan.
Head Teacher
State School 2087
Leitchville
via Echuca
Victoria
Australia.’
Poem composed by teacher, Effie Allan, and placed in a pair of socks sent to an
Australian soldier on the Western Front.
AWM PR00083.
Source 4.25
Gilles Plains school children in South Australia hold up nets they had made to send to
soldiers in the Middle East campaign to keep flies out of horses’ eyes. Circa 1916.
State Library of South Australia. B55267.
Source 4.26
‘Sandbags from Heathfield School
Lieutenant-Colonel Lorenzo who left South Australia in 1914 … has written to the
Director of Education asking him to thank the children of Heathfield Public School for
the sandbags they made and sent to the front. The Colonel’s men used the bags and,
as they were filling them, noticed the names of the makers. The soldiers were not only
satisfied with the good work put into the bags, but were cheered with the thought that
the children were helping them to defeat the enemy. The Colonel photographed the
bags in position, and asked the Director to send the photograph to Heathfield School.’
Heather Bonnin, Hours to Remember: Reflections on Life in South Australia, 1889-1929, from The
Children’s Hour, South Australian Government Printer, Netley, South Australia, 1987, p. 112.
Source 4.27
Probably a schoolyard in Adelaide. Children have brought collecting boxes to the
central stand with contributions for the war effort.
State Library of South Australia. PRG280_1_9_388.
Source 4.28
Class C3095 locomotive being cleaned by school boys at the Eveleigh Depot during the
1917 strike, New South Wales.
State Records New South Wales. 17420-a014-a014000570.
Investigation 5
Why did some older students and teachers enlist directly from
schools during the Great War?
These additional sources may assist your students to explore more
deeply the inquiry question above. Students may work individually, in
pairs, or in small groups. The Source Analysis Worksheet will assist them
to analyse the contents and meaning of each source.
Investigation 5: Why did some older students and teachers enlist directly
from schools during the Great War?
Source 5.13
Our teacher’s gone away—
He’ll soon be at the front
To keep the foe at bay,
And help to bear the brunt
He always loved to tell
Of men, brave, pure and true;
And, now, I feel full well
He lived the life he drew.
Education Department, Victoria, ‘Teacher’s Going to the Front’, Education Gazette and Teachers’ Aid,
Mar. 1915, p. 75.
Source 5.14
‘Of the operations in the German group of islands that includes the Marshalls and the
Carolines, lying at some distance to the north and north-east of New Guinea, the
accounts received are somewhat vague. It is reported that the Japanese, who are in
friendly alliance with Britain, France, Russia and Servia against Germany and Austria,
have, for the time being, occupied the Caroline Islands, and the British have taken
possession of the Marshall Islands. If these are not recaptured by the Germans, their
future government will be arranged by the Allies when the war is over.’
Education Department, Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia, ‘The War: Operations in the Pacific’
School Paper, Grades VII-VIII, Nov. 1914, pp.182-84.
Source 5.15
1. List! a nation’s proud “Well done!”
List! the cheering loud and free!
Queensland greets her bravest son:
Queensland wins her first V.C.
2. And the youngest nation glows
With the older nation’s pride,
For the wattle and the rose,
See! all glorious side by side.
3. Send him greetings warm and proud;
Tell him how our hearts are thrilled:
Though with weight of sorrow bowed,
Queensland with high dreams is filled.
Emily Bulcock, in The School Paper, Queensland. She was, for some years, a teacher in
the service of the Education Department, Queensland, but is now married, and resides
at Caloundra, in that State.’
‘Queensland’s First V. C.’, published in Education Department, Victoria, Tasmania and Western
Australia, School Paper, Grades V-VI, Apr. 1918, p. 43.
Source 5.16
‘Every Australian woman’s heart this week is thrilling with pride, with exultation, and
while her eyes fill with tears she springs up as I did when the story in Saturday’s Argus
was finished and says, ‘Thank God I am an Australian’ … What gave you the courage for
that heroic dash to the ridge, boys? British grit, Australians’ nerve and determination
to do or die; a bit of primeval man’s love of a big fight against heavy odds … [The]
whole Commonwealth, nay, the whole Empire is stirred.
Letter by Jeanie Dobson, a teacher at Ballarat High School, Victoria, posted to
Australian soldiers convalescing on Malta and reputed to have been published widely
in Australia and overseas.
E.C. Buley, Glorious Deeds of Australasians in the Great War, Andrew Melrose, London, 1915, pp. 15152.
Source 5.17
Recruitment Marches in New South Wales.
‘A recruitment method that enjoyed popularity during the First World War was the
“snowball” recruiting march. Beginning with a small group of men, a march would
follow a chosen route, usually through rural communities, finishing at a town or city
with a training camp … [The Men from Snowy River] marchers stayed at Bombala for
three nights, camping at the showground before departing on 11 January with a total
of 22 volunteers. That same day the march arrived at Bibbenluke. The local school
children, led by their teacher, Les Allen, left the village to meet them. The children
formed up behind the recruits and marched with them into Bibbenluke. Six men
volunteered in Bibbenluke and Les Allen himself enlisted later that day at Holts Flat.’
AWM H18781 and AWM REL15959.
Source 5.18
Residents in Charleville, Queensland attend a recruiting meeting next to the school.
Circa 1915.
AWM H02210.
Source 5.19
Queensland school children, parents, teachers and residents await the arrival of the
recruiting train at Wallumbilla Station.
John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. APE-020-01-0016.
Source 5.20
‘The call for active service to defend the interests of our Empire has been loud and
insistent, and many of our male teachers have answered it.’
Inspector R.S. Wright (Southern District), in Report of the Director of Education for 1916, Government
Printer, Hobart, Tasmania, 1917, n.p.
Source 5.21
‘At the last assembly in the Big School last term, our Headmaster, Mr. Sloman, made
the announcement that, after long and grave consideration, he had come to the
conclusion that it was his duty to offer himself for active military service. When
conscription was considered necessary in England, he felt that he could no longer
refrain from trying to take his personal share in the great struggle of the Empire in
defence of justice and freedom. He had actually volunteered in Sydney, but the
military authorities had not been satisfied with the tests of his eyesight, he had
therefore decided, with the consent of the trustees of the School, to proceed to
England at once, and see if he could not be accepted there. He would have strongly
preferred to have served with an Australian contingent, but, as that was denied him,
he should endeavour to join some fighting unit in England. He felt sure that boys and
masters alike would do their duty, and work for the honour of the School, though he
himself would not be with them for a time. He felt deeply in parting from the School,
though he hoped it would not be for long, and in any case he felt compelled to answer
to the call of the country.’
The Sydneian, no. 229, Sept. 1916, p. 1, in Clifford Turney, Grammar: A History of Sydney Grammar
School, 1819-1988, Allen & Unwin, North Sydney, New South Wales, 1989, pp. 151-52.
Source 5.22
‘Lieutenant Ernest Mylrea of Terang Higher Elementary School enlisted because ‘duty
called and he felt it was time he went to take part in the defence of Empire and Home’;
the father of Lieutenant William Robertson of Walpeup State School, the latter killed in
France, wrote of his son, ‘Though he detested war, he had a keen sense of duty’; and,
Private Richard Vine of Ouyen State School declared: ‘I can never teach children to be
honorable and to love their Empire, if I do not do my duty’—and was killed two
months after arriving in France. H.F. Curnow of Quarry Hill State School wrote that
‘having done his duty and lived a soldier’s life, he was prepared, if necessary, to die a
soldier’s death’—and was killed at Pozières …
Whether or not these Victorian teacher-soldiers changed their views as the war
progressed is unknown.’
Rosalie Triolo, ‘Our Schools and the War’, Australian Scholarly, Kew, Victoria, 2012, pp. 122-23.
Source 5.23
Lieutenant Kenneth Cunningham, who had been teaching at Fitzroy State School
immediately before enlistment, helped write the sheet music to the recruitment song
by ‘D.O.N.’ of the Argus, ‘One Hundred Thousand More!’. The proceeds of sales were
devoted to the Australian Red Cross Fund, understandable given that Cunningham was
training with the Australian Army Medical Corps. He, along with many teachers, later
chose the dangerous role of being a stretcher-bearer.
‘D.O.N.’, Capt. J. Gratton Wilson & Cpl. K.S. Cunningham, ‘One Hundred Thousand More!: Patriotic
Song’, Warrnambool, Victoria, n.d.
Source 5.24
Thomas A. Blamey, then a school teacher at Fremantle, Western Australia, is pictured
with five unidentified boys, members of the cadet musketry team which won the 1903
West Australian Cup for rifle shooting.
AWM A04074.
Source 5.25
Boys who were members of the Volunteer Senior Cadets at cadet camp, Langwarrin,
Victoria, 1910.
AWM P00151.011.
Source 5.26
Glen Innes Public School Cadets, New South Wales, 1911-12.
AWM P00901.001.
Source 5.27
‘Old Boys who enlisted often called on the School before they sailed, in their new
uniforms, and those who came home on leave also often dropped in; in 1915, [Wally]
Conder gave the boys a talk on the landing at Gallipoli, in which he had taken part and
been wounded. Some who visited the school, such as the popular Arthur Hinman, were
next heard of when news of their deaths was read out at Assembly. As well, within the
School were boys who were only waiting for their eighteenth birthdays to enlist, and
several did so straight from school.’
Alison Alexander, Blue, Black and White: The History of the Launceston Church Grammar School, 18461996, Launceston Church Grammar School, Launceston, Tasmania, 1996, p. 87.
Source 5.28
‘War news, interpreted through the experiences of the Old Collegians, was a
prominent feature of every issue of “The Pegasus” [school magazine] – first the names
of the few men who enlisted at the end of 1914, thirty or more of them sailing
overseas with the First Expeditionary Force; the list growing eventually to cover several
pages of letters from men in camp in Australia or Egypt and later “at the front” on
Gallipoli or in France, telling of happy meetings and of the features of modern warfare:
the newly developed aeroplane, poison gas, the trenches and the mud.’
G.C. Notman et al, The Geelong College, 1861-1961, Geelong College Council & Geelong Collegian’s
Association, Geelong, Victoria, 1961, p. 41.
Source 5.29
Text under photograph reads:
‘Lieutenant Little, a bomb-shattered hero,
leaving the hospital ship, 1915’.
Lieutenant Little had attended Brisbane Grammar School.
John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. 18414.
Source 5.30
An ANZAC map of Australia formed during the Victorian State School Children’s
Physical Training Display at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. This photograph was sold
as a fund-raiser.
Education Department, Victoria, The Education Department’s Record of War Service, 1914-1919,
Albert J. Mullett, Melbourne, Victoria, 1921, p. 222.
Source 5.31
‘By the end of 1915, the boys at Camberwell Grammar School, like boys and girls
across the nation, were being pressed to believe that Australia was not a nation until
the Gallipoli landing had, in the jingoistic words of the time, hardened the national soul
on the anvil of battle.’
I.V. Hansen, By their Deeds: A Centenary History of Camberwell Grammar School 1886-1986,
Camberwell Grammar School, Canterbury, Victoria, 1986, p. 77.
Investigation 6
How did members of school communities during the Great War
respond to the death and wounding of people they knew?
These additional sources may assist your students to explore more
deeply the inquiry question above. Students may work individually, in
pairs, or in small groups. The Source Analysis Worksheet will assist them
to analyse the contents and meaning of each source.
Investigation 6: How did members of school communities during the
Great War respond to the death and wounding of people they knew?
Source 6.13
To-day, within our hands, the honor lies
Of all our dead. Believing we would rise
To their brave heights, their uncompleted task
They left with us unquestioning, They ask
No more than they have given of noble deeds
And generous lives. Their very silence pleads.
Education Department, Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia, ‘The Debt’, School Paper, Grades
VII-VIII, Sept. 1918, p. 134, and Grades V-VI, Nov. 1915 p. 113.
Source 6.14
No sound is breathed so potent to coerce,
And to conciliate, as their names who dare
For that sweet motherland which gave them birth
Nobly to do, nobly to die. Their names,
Graven on memorial columns, are a song
Heard in the future; few but more than wall
And rampart, their examples reach a hand
Far through the years, and everywhere they meet
And kindle generous purpose, and the strength
To mould it into action pure as theirs.
‘In Praise of Fallen Patriots’, Department of Public Instruction, Queensland, School Paper, Classes V-VI,
Nov. 1915, and Education Department, Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia, School Paper,
Grades V-VI, Nov. 1915 p. 180 and Grades VII-VIII, Oct. 1918, p. 134.
Source 6.15
‘On 10th November 1915, the [New South Wales] Council of the Teachers Association
issued a circular … notifying members that 284 fellow teachers had gone to war … [and
that there would be a] valedictory in the Turner Hall to soldier-teachers about to leave
…
By late 1920 the ‘fine Honour Board … [had been] erected in the Loftus Street
vestibule’ [and] the 284 names mentioned in the November 1915 circular [had] grown
to over 700 …
The tablet contained the names of 158 teachers who gave their lives “For God and
Country”.’
Education, Jun. 1921, p. 15 and Sept. 1921, p. 16, in Tom Spencer, Soldier-Teacher War Memorial:
World War I, World war II, Post World War II, New South Wales Department of Education and
Training & the New South Wales Teachers’ Federation, Sydney, New South Wales, 2001, pp. 16-17.
Source 6.16
Sterling silver memorial medal associated with the service and death of Edgar Smith, a
school teacher from Sydney.
AWM REL32970.
Source 6.17
Framed montage of 22 photographs of students from the Werris Creek Public School,
New South Wales. Circa 1916.
AWM P05366.001.
Source 6.18
Honour Board erected in the Goonellabah Public School, New South Wales. Circa 1918.
AWM H17930.
Source 6.19
Former-pupil of Victoria’s Wesley College, Felix Meyer, wrote:
‘On Sunday, 2nd May, 1916, the lions in front of the Hall which formed part of the
Memorial to Our Fallen, were dedicated to this purpose at a service held in the Hall. It
was a debatable point whether we should establish such a memorial so early; most
schools preferred to wait till after the war. But time, I venture to think, has proved us
right. It seemed to us that, while the war was still in progress we wanted for our boys
the constant reminder and example of valour and sacrifice, and the visible honour paid
to these. So the poignant but proud list of names was added to month by month …’
Felix Meyer, Adamson of Wesley, Robertson & Mullens, Melbourne, Victoria, 1932, p. 64.
Source 6.20
Carved stone war memorial to Private Percy Venning at Pinnaroo, South Australia,
erected by the scholars and friends of Pinnaroo State School after his death from
wounds. Circa 1916.
State Library of South Australia. PRG280_1_15_1001.
Source 6.21
‘War bursaries for the children of the fallen or incapacitated [Tasmanian Education
Department] soldiers were instituted to enable these pupils to continue their
education to University.’
Clifford Reeves, A History of Tasmanian Education, State Primary Education, vol. 1, Melbourne
University Press & Oxford University Press, Melbourne, Victoria, 1935, p. 112.
Source 6.22
‘In 1919, the War Scholarship Fund was launched to support at the School the
daughter of a fallen or disabled soldier. This scholarship lasted much longer than was
originally expected, and by 1939, 37 years of education had been provided for a total
of 12 girls.’
The Melbourne Church of England Girls’ Grammar School Jubilee History, Melbourne Church of
England Girls’ Grammar School, Melbourne, Victoria, 1953, p. 161.
Source 6.23
‘[To] assist with medical research, the Department requested numerous times over
three years that its community collect a particular animal:
“The Melbourne Public Hospital needs leeches and appeals to teachers and pupils …
[It] offers to pay at the current rate of ten shillings per hundred … An easy way to catch
leeches is to sink a loose-meshed sack, such as a potato bag, baited with a scrap or two
of raw meat … [Leeches] should be put in a small tin, containing damp grass, and
posted to Dr. Leach, Teachers’ College, Carlton.”
One article explained how leeches were used:
“Leeches were beneficial in relieving bruising as well as the pain in the back that
accompanied pneumonia. Leeches were not fed before their application to patients.
Once they had gorged themselves they were discarded: ‘one cannot sterilize a leech’.
If, however, one wishes to keep them as pets afterwards, it is interesting to know that
about four months’ rest is necessary before the leech is ready for business again.”’
Rosalie Triolo, ‘Our Schools and the War’, Australian Scholarly, Kew, Victoria, 2012, pp. 98-99.
Source 6.24
Children from the Warrnambool State School with their Christmas gifts of poultry for
sick and wounded soldiers in the Caulfield Military Hospital, Victoria.
AWM H18791.
Source 6.25
Victoria’s hospitals received gifts other than leeches and clothes, splints and bandages.
Thousands of eggs were delivered to hospitals statewide. Meeniyan State School, on
its 1916 Egg Day, collected 75 dozen eggs with 60 dozen sent by train the same day to
Montague Station. Many arrived in ‘poor condition’, and the Department observed
that ‘[p]acking eggs with potatoes has not proved a success’. Livestock was also
forwarded: Quambatook State School sent 16 live sheep and Tresco State School sent
10 ... A woman teacher from an unnamed school received 20 ‘lively’ roosters,
borrowed a pig wagon, carted the roosters to the station, loaded them in crates and
sent them on their way. Tresco sent 151 hares, Hastings State School sent 70 dozen
oysters, and Kerang State School sent 100 pounds of Murray cod …’
Rosalie Triolo, ‘Our Schools and the War’, Australian Scholarly, Kew, Victoria, 2012, p. 69.
Source 6.26
‘The effects of war became visibly clear to [Shore] when the [New South Wales] State
Government acquired ‘Graythwaite’ and turned the old home into a hospital. The boys
could talk to wounded soldiers across the fence. Even before then, the news from the
front was tinged with much personal loss. The new chapel, opened in May 1915, soon
became lined with memorial windows to those who had fallen. As the slaughter
continued unabated, many can remember the morning service with the list of everincreasing old boy casualties. Some had only recently been students at the school. “I
can still hear the old chaplain starting off with a B.C.A. Pockley, M.P. Smith, J.A. Elliot
and so on … [Pockley was the first Australian officer to die in the war - an army doctor,
who gave his red cross brassard to another soldier carrying wounded on 11 September
1914 during the landing in the German territory of New Britain. He was killed minutes
later.] Years after, I could give the list almost completely. It made a lasting impression
on my memory of the great number of the school’s best boys who laid down their
life.”’
Memoirs of Athel D’Ombrain, in Torch Bearer, May 1964, p. 162, in Geoffrey Sherington, Shore: A
History of Sydney Church of England Grammar School, George Allen & Unwin, Sydney, New South
Wales, 1983, pp. 91, 93.