Facebook from the front, tweets from the trenches: the ground-breaking project that is #AnzacLive

THERE is one question we want to ask our ancestors. These people will not only answer it — they will become your most extraordinary friends.

TODAY ten ordinary people are going to make your Facebook feed extraordinary.

By travelling through time to become your friends.

And they can help answer the nagging question that underpins every story from a war zone: how did they cope? How would you cope?

An unlikely ladies’ man, a tough joker and a dead-set Aussie legend are just some of the real people crossing 100 years in a second to exist with you on social media — telling you what they are up to and responding to your comments in their own words, just like any other Facebook friends.

The ground-breaking project is called AnzacLive.

Follow us: AnzacLive

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AnzacLive has nine very different men and one woman from WW1 sharing their daily experiences — their hopes, fears, humour, obsessions and mundanities — in intimate detail, a century to the day after the events they describe; as though alive right now and communicating, as we all do, via the key social media of today: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

And because it’s real, it’s two-way — chat back to them and they’ll reply.

A recent Newspoll shows the one question Aussies would overwhelmingly ask, given the chance to speak to a real combatant from 100 years ago, is simply: how did they manage?

Cold front to desert storm ... hipster-bearded AnzacLive character Charles Laseron was an Antarctic explorer before the war. Here he is with fellow adventurer Percy Correll.

Getting to know the characters of AnzacLive is one of the purest ways to find out the answer to this and any other questions — in the words of those who were there.

The approach strips away the sepia tones of traditional WWI storytelling to present these people in a vibrant new way.

“These guys are ordinary people thrust into an extraordinary time for a period of their lives; really, forget the difference of the years, they are just the same as you or I,” said historian and scriptwriter Michael Caulfield, who has been contributing to AnzacLive.

Lover not a fighter ... extravagantly moustachioed and balding with bad teeth, Ellis Silas was perhaps surprisingly a total ladies’ man. We reckon he’s great.

“They’d be using the same media as we do if alive today, and in the same way; and that’s what makes this such a novel and compelling approach.”

The characters’ pages, posts and answers are based on the extensive diaries and journals that so many kept.

They are being managed by a team of more than 30 experienced journalists, who have researched the 10 in great detail.

To meet the characters, see the interactive above or go to www.anzaclive.com.au. Or you can search #AnzacLive on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Romantic lifesaver ... gentle, kind, caring. Just three of many admiring words said about Alice Ross-King, one of the most inspirational characters in AnzacLive.

They will be posting 100 years to the day — sometimes to the hour or even minute — after the events they describe, making it an entirely real-time experience.

They’ll answer your questions in their own words where possible, aided by our knowledgeable team of custodians and an AnzacLive narrator who ties it together. There are supporting Twitter and Instagram #AnzacLive accounts and a special live blog, recreating the nail-biting first landings under fire at Gallipoli, will take place on Anzac Day.

“Every word here is real” said News Corp Group Editorial Director Campbell Reid. “AnzacLive gives you the character in their own words.

“This is the most exciting way of bringing this crucial chapter of Australian history to life.”

Keeping the flame burning ... Benjamin Bennett Leane came from a warrior family but his heart remained always with his wife and little daughter.

The project has been undertaken with co-operation from the NSW State Library — where many of the characters’ original journals are kept — and the Australian War Memorial; and with input from many descendants of those celebrated by AnzacLive.

Among the many character descendants who have given their blessing to the project is Maggie Johnson — granddaughter of the extraordinarily inspirational Alice Ross-King, a nurse with links to Victoria, NSW and WA.

“Using social media is a great way to keep Alice’s story alive in the family with the latest generation,” she said.

“My children have grown up with the story but now Alice’s great-great-grandchildren, who are living in the digital age, will be able to hear her story through social media — something they are much more familiar with.”

‘A great way to keep the story alive’ ... Maggie Johnson holds an image of her grandmother, AnzacLive character Alice Ross-King.

Originally published as Facebook from the front, tweets from the trenches: the ground-breaking project that is #AnzacLive