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World War I

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The Anzacs of Leighterton

The year the Anzacs came: the little-known story one English village still tells its children

Leighterton still relied on horse-drawn carts when a few hundred young Australians arrived in 1918, weaving their way through the skies above and into the hearts of the villagers below.

  • Rob Harris

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The soldiers' vote: men of the 44th Battalion cast their ballots; conscription referendum, Belgium, December 8, 1917?

Why so many Diggers voted ‘no’ to conscription in WWI

Australians, including many thousands of Diggers fighting in Europe, voted against conscription during the Great War. It was a blow to then-prime minister Billy Hughes.

  • Oliver Sinclair
Two-up at the Sackville Hotel, Rozelle on Anzac Day, 2022.

Two-up: a ‘fair dinkum’ tradition or a devilish game of skill?

Two-up is played religiously on Anzac Day at pubs and clubs across Australia. But is there a darker side to the simple coin toss, and can you improve your chances?

  • Penry Buckley
Harold ‘Pompey’ Elliott outside a German headquarters captured in the 1918 Somme offensive.

Pompey Elliott and the butterflies of the Western Front

While making a crucial contribution to the war effort in April 1918, an Australian general and his men also managed to save a remarkable collection of art and fauna.

  • Ross McMullin
David Laird stands ready beneath the Lonesome Pine with “Clarrie’s Flag”, the banner of the 7th Battalion, for the early Anzac ceremony at Wattle Park.

The park where Anzac Day comes early, beneath Australia’s oldest Lone Pine

Each year hundreds flock to the Anzac service that is held in Wattle Park a week before Anzac Day. This year, it will be two weeks early.

  • Tony Wright
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Muggers refuse to take note

It’s the wheelbarrow economy, stupid.

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Sergeant Samuel Pearse, who died fighting in Russia with the British while wearing his Australian uniform.

Why an Anzac VC winner’s remains are in a plastic bag in a remote Russian morgue

More than 105 years after his death aged 22, a campaign is growing for Victoria Cross recipient Samuel Pearse to be given a dignified burial with military honours.

  • Rob Harris
Dr John Miller, 94, was just 4 years old when his father and godfather planted the seedling of an elm that now stands grandly at the Shrine of Remembrance.

After watching his veteran father plant it 90 years ago, John returns to a great elm at the Shrine

Dr John Miller will be a guest of honour at the Shrine of Remembrance on Monday. He attended the inauguration of the Shrine on November 11, 1934.

  • Tony Wright
Albert Jacka.

‘Machine guns and men in trenches’: On the eve of battle, Albert Jacka made an awful discovery

In early 1917, as the Allies prepared to take Bullecourt on the Western Front, Jacka was sent into No-Man’s Land.

  • Peter FitzSimons
Albert Jacka in camp at Gallipoli, around August 1915.

‘Well, I managed to get the buggers, sir’: The daring plan that created a legend

Albert Jacka was Australia’s first Victoria Cross recipient for his actions in Gallipoli when Turkish troops launched an attack on troops dug in at Courtney’s Post.

  • Peter FitzSimons

Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/topic/world-war-i-647