State library reveals Gallipoli history

HISTORICAL records have gone on display at the Hobart LINC to mark the beginning of the centenary of World War I.

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HISTORICAL records have gone on display at the Hobart LINC to mark the beginning of the centenary of World War I.

The exhibition features the diaries of army medical officer William Crowther and traces his experiences at Gallipoli and on the Western Front.

Exhibition curator Anna Zylstra said Sir William had kept the diaries so his wife would have a record of his experiences.

It includes a number of notebooks, photos, maps, orders and dispatches as well as poems, newspaper clippings and postcards he collected during his time at war.

“He was a great collector and in 1964 he donated his entire collection to the State Library. The diary and accompanying records are only one aspect of it,” Ms Zylstra said.

“We thought this would be a great way to start the commemoration because the diaries provide such an indepth account.

“The panels of the exhibition follow his story in chronological order, but highlight the things that were shared experiences.”

Pages from the Mercury will also be on display.

Facsimiles of special editions of the Mercury from the war years will also be displayed.

“We have on display the 100-year-old Mercury, so that people can see what news was reaching home and how the war was reported day by day. It’s the first time that this paper has been out,” Ms Zylstra said.

“We will turn the page of the Mercury every day.”

The exhibition is part of the international commemoration which will run until 2018, spanning the period of the war.

The exhibition is in the foyer at the Hobart LINC, 91 Murray St.

The Crowther war diaries and photographs have been digitised and are available online at www.linc.tas.gov.au

Claire Milligan is a UTAS journalism student

Originally published as State library reveals Gallipoli history