As ANZAC Day draws near your thoughts may turn to finding information about your ancestors who served in, or experienced, war as part of the British Commonwealth. With this in mind, we have uploaded a number of new webcasts to our catalogue.
Those with ancestors who served in Europe during World War One may wish to watch the series of presentations to SWERD about service on the Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire. Over a million British and Commonwealth troops were located and trained on Salisbury Plain as they moved to and from the Western Front. It also housed hospitals where injured servicemen were treated, including those who became ill during the Spanish Flu pandemic. Troops memorialised their presence by carving their unit badges into the chalk hill beside their camps. These carvings are known as the Fovant Badges. They remain there today. The webcast Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire and Australian Defence Personnel Part 1 contains the presentations of Martin Lock, Peter Collins and Gayle Nicholas and is peppered with fascinating detail about the role of Salisbury Plain in the war experience of the diggers in Europe.
The other presentations in the series are by Penny Mercer and Patsy Daly who focus on the war experiences of their grandfather and uncle, respectively, who spent time on Salisbury Plain during WW1. Penny points out that your ancestors' experiences were almost certainly very similar to those of her grandfather Arthur McMillan Mercer. Based on diaries and supplemented with further research and photos, Patsy and Penny bring to life this lesser known part of the WW1 digger experience.
The final new webcast, World War 1 Stories, is a collation of short presentations about the war experiences of the ancestors of five of our Victoria and Tasmania Discussion Circle members. It is a special tribute to their varied service which helps illuminate the roles that some of your ancestors may have played too.
There are a number of other ANZAC related webcasts available via the catalogue. Examples include Ross Latham's Australian defence service records which is very helpful for those beginning to investigate war service. Looking further afield to other war related experiences are the informative On the Home Front by Professor Kate Darian-Smith or Great War Soldier Settlements and its records by Dr Charles Fahey.
All GSV webcasts are now available for members to view from home. Find them on the website Webcast page via the topic 'World War' or through the catalogue.