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Home > Modern History > Core Study > World War I and its Aftermath 1914 - 1919: A Source-based Study > World War I: Museums, exhibitions and educational programs

Contents

1. Outcomes
2. Modern History topics
3. How best to access the Australian War Memorial
4. Highlights in each topic area
   • Core Study: World War One 1914 - 1919: A Source-based study
   • Australia and the World 1946-1983
   • Germany 1918-1939
   • Conflict in the Pacific 1937-1951
   • Japan 1907-1937
   • USA 1919-1941
   • The Cold War 1945-1991
   • The United Nations as a Peacemaker 1946-2001
   • Conflict in Indochina 1954-1979
5. Contacts
6. Costs

1. Outcomes

   One or more of the following outcomes can be addressed by having access to the resources of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra:

   • describe the role of key features, issues, individuals, groups and events of selected twentieth century studies (H1.1)
   • analyse and evaluate the role of key features, issues, individuals, groups and events of selected twentieth century studies (H1.2)
   • locate, select and organise relevant information from different types of sources (H3.2)
   • explain and evaluate differing perspectives and interpretations of the past (H3.4)

   

2. Modern History topics

   Any student of HSC Modern History will benefit from a visit to the Australian War Memorial (AWM) in Canberra, either on an individual tour or as part of a school excursion. The wealth of material on the First World War at the AWM will enhance a student's understanding of the Core HSC topic. This includes the First World War gallery and ANZAC Hall which houses many larger technology items.

   Students and teachers should be aware that the following National Studies and Conflict Studies also are catered for by the AWM to some extent:

   National Studies

   • Australia 1945 - 1983
     
   • Germany 1918-1939
     
   • Japan 1907-1937
     
   • USA 1919-1941

   International Studies in Peace and Conflict

   • Conflict in the Pacific 1937-1951
     
   • The Cold War 1945-1991
     
   • The United Nations as a Peacemaker 1946-2001
     
   • Conflict in Indochina 1954-1979
     

   

3. How best to access the Australian War Memorial

   Students and teachers can access the AWM in three ways:

   1. Via the web site [www.awm.gov.au ]. The website has a wealth of online resources including the collection and biographical databases, encyclopedia, research guides, Journal of the AWM, online exhibitions and lesson ideas. It is useful to access the web site and familiarise yourself with the AWM collection before making a visit to Canberra.
   2. A casual visit. This would include visiting those parts of the collection which are relevant to topics being studied in Year 12. Students visiting for the first time will need to be selective and concentrate on areas that directly relate to their topics. It is important to be selective, as the collection at AWM is so vast that it is simply not possible to take in one visit all that the AWM has to offer.
   3. A school excursion. Teachers can approach an excursion in a number of ways:
      (i) Teachers can take students on their own tour of the collection, if they are already familiar with it, taking care to concentrate on areas being studied by the class. Workbooks are available for self-guided tours of some areas.
      (ii) Teachers can involve students in one of the facilitated programs and have AWM staff conduct a guided tour through the relevant areas.
      Details of all education services can be found here.

   

4. Highlights in each topic area

   Core Study: World War 1 1914 - 1919: A Source-based Study At the start of the First World War Gallery there are some excellent models of the Gallipoli peninsula which will help students to understand what a difficult task the Anzacs faced there in 1915. However, it is interesting to note the casualties for other Allied troops in the Dardanelles campaign. They far exceeded the Australian casualties. This helps students appreciate that the Australian effort was part of a much bigger Allied plan to break the stalemate on the Western Front by striking a blow at what was thought to be the weakest link in the Central Powers, Turkey. Students do not have to know the details of the Gallipoli campaign, as this is not in the senior syllabus, and it is assumed that it has already been studied in Year 9 or 10. However, it is still useful to refresh students' knowledge of Gallipoli and its role in Allied strategy and the Allies' failure to break the stalemate.

   Although the Middle East campaigns are not directly in the syllabus, it may be useful to look at this part of the gallery also. Again, these campaigns were an attempt to break the stalemate that existed elsewhere, and they finally succeeded with the siege of Beersheba (an Australian success) in 1917.

   Most emphasis needs to be given to the Western Front section in the First World War Gallery. There are very detailed dioramas of battle scenes on the Western Front. Focus on the big name battles, such as the Somme in 1916 and Passchendaele in 1917, and look closely at a few of these scenes to understand the conditions in which soldiers lived and fought. There are also a number of artillery pieces and some very large artillery shells that bring home the awesome power of artillery on the Western Front.

   The military events of 1918 are covered quite well in the displays. Students need to know about the German spring offensives, March-July 1918, which are covered in the displays. The Australian effort in France from July to November is covered very well by the collection. Students and teachers may also want to visit the online exhibition 1918: Australians in France which was developed to accompany the travelling exhibition of the same name (now completed). The website covers the key battles at Dernancourt, Villers-Bretonneux, Hamel, Amiens and Mont St Quentin. It also includes its own education package.

   Scattered throughout the battle scenes in the Western Front section are many relics from the battlefield, such as helmets, shells, gas masks, barbed wire, parts of aircraft and many more. These artefacts all serve to bring home the horror of warfare on the Western Front.

   ANZAC Hall, which was opened in June 2001, holds many larger technology items from the First World War. The naval battle between the Australian ship HMAS Sydney and the German raider SMS Emden is depicted in the centre wing using the guns from the respective ships and an innovative light and sound show. The right wing is devoted to telling the story of the final year of the First World War, 1918. Students can see field artillery guns, gas shells, a horse-drawn ambulance wagon, fighter aircraft, mortars, a rare German field periscope and a Mark IV British tank and learn how they were used to bring about the end of the war.

   A program called the First World War can be tailored to the syllabus needs of a school group, for use either in the galleries or in the Discovery Room. The Somewhere in France workbook gathers evidence about the conditions on the Western Front. Other facilitated programs that can be used are War poetry, The ANZAC Legend, and Peace and War. All of these programs are run by AWM staff and go for one hour.

   A Memorial box called Australia in the First World War, containing photographs, case studies and uniforms, can be ordered and sent out to schools for a small freight charge. It may be useful to do this before visiting Canberra. The box For service to others covers the history of the Red Cross and includes case studies from the First World War. Further details on the boxes can be found on the web site .

   See link First World War Gallery for a glimpse of the displays.

   

   Australia 1945 - 1983
   Usually at the gallery there are excellent displays on Australian involvement in the Malayan Emergency, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Gulf War - however, teachers should contact the gallery and check on their accessibility as a major upgrade of the museums post 1945 conflicts gallery is underway. There is a Vietnam War program (one hour) run by AWM staff and a Vietnam workbook which can be used for a self-guided half-hour tour. The online exhibition Out in the Cold: Australia's involvement in the Korean War http://www.awm.gov.au/korea/ is also relevant to this period.

   A memorial box on Vietnam is being developed and may be available when you visit.

   

   Germany 1918-1939
   The Second World War Gallery presents a wide range of displays and artefacts on the war in Europe and German military involvement. The first gallery is devoted to the war against Germany in North Africa, Greece, Crete and the Middle East and includes a Kubelwagen (a military version of the Volkswagen), German uniforms, Enigma machine, German anti-tank gun and a display on prisoners of war in Europe. The next three galleries include exhibits on German civilian internees in Australia, bombing raids over Germany (including a simulation of a Lancaster bomber raid), battles at El Alamein, Luftwaffe ace Wolfgang Schnaufer, the defeat of Germany, concentration camps and a V1 flying bomb.

   As noted in the previous section, there are many items on display in the First World War and ANZAC Hall galleries relating to 1918. ANZAC Hall also holds a Second World War German rocket plane, the first of its kind.

   

   Conflict in the Pacific 1937-1951
   The Second World War Gallery has a rich collection of artefacts and displays devoted to the war in the Pacific. The gallery begins with a detailed examination of the Malayan campaign and the fall of Singapore in 1942. The adjoining alcove holds a very moving display on the experience of prisoners of the Japanese, while a separate room is dedicated to the 1,800 Australian prisoners of war who died on the Sandakan death marches. Displays on the Kokoda campaign, the battles in Papua, New Guinea and the surrounding islands include artefacts, film, photographs and private records such as diaries and letters. There are also displays devoted to special operations in the Pacific, naval battles, kamikaze attacks and the final campaigns in Borneo and New Britain.

   The gallery, Air War in the Pacific, consists of a stunning collection of fighter aircraft, such as a Japanese Zero, a Wirraway, a Kittyhawk, a P51 and a MIG jet. This gallery, which combines display of aircraft with smaller exhibits on selected issues and stories of individuals, gives a good idea of the advance in technology over the war years and the importance of combined air and sea forces in the Pacific War.

   The centrepiece of ANZAC Hall is a Japanese midget submarine which famously entered Sydney Harbour on the night of 31 May 1942. The submarine on display is actually a composite of two submarines that were sunk in the Harbour on that eventful night. Students can view a dramatic light and sound show that retells the story and the impact it had on Australians.

   The Memorial Education Team offers a wide range of facilitated programs for secondary students that focus on the Second World War. They include Stories from the Second World War, Australia under Attack!, The defence of Australia and Flying high for Australia. Remembering Australians at war, Peace and war and War and technology also include components on this war.

   There are three Memorial Boxes available on the Second World War. These are Australia under attack!, We want to do more: the experience of women and children in the Second World War and Our war in the Pacific.

   See Second World War Gallery

   

   Japan 1907-1937
   Though the displays are heavily weighted to the Australian perspective, it is still useful to visit the Second World War gallery to gain an understanding of Japanese military successes and failures in the Pacific.

   USA 1919-1941
   The main gallery worth seeing for the USA is Air War in the Pacific. This gallery shows the effect of American technology on the Pacific theatre in World War Two. Some of the slow-flying Australian-built aircraft are shown. These had no chance against the fast Japanese Zero. However, American-built Kittyhawks later enhanced our airforce. There is an American P51 Mustang on display, which was probably the ultimate in fighter aircraft on the Allied side in World War Two. The use of aircraft carriers and "island hopping" are explained in the displays, as is the ultimate and horrifying technological advance of the war, the atomic bomb.

    

   Teachers and students planning to visit the Memorial should contact the Memorial and check on the accessibility of the following displays as a major upgrade of the museums post 1945 conflicts gallery has been undertaken and some displays will not be accessible

   

   The Cold War 1945-1991
   There are displays on the major Cold War conflicts affecting Australia, such as the Korean War, Malayan Emergency and Vietnam War. A workbook which can be used as the basis of a self-guided tour of one hour is available. It is called Hot Wars in the Cold War. There are a number of jets used in the Korean War on display. The online exhibition, Out in the Cold: Australia's involvement in the Korean War, can be utilised before arrival in Canberra.

   See the Post 1945 Conflicts link for a glimpse of this gallery.

   The United Nations as a Peacemaker 1946-2001
   There is an interesting display on the various trouble spots where Australians have served as peacekeepers for the United Nations, such as the Middle East, Rwanda, Cambodia and East Timor. The travelling exhibition Keeping the peace: stories of Australian peacekeepers is currently touring the country and is accompanied by an online exhibition .

   Conflict in Indochina 1954-1979
   The Vietnam gallery features a model of the Australian base at Nui Dat and a diorama of a typical Vietcong village. All the various forces, both on our side and the communist side, are featured showing their uniforms, weapons and tactics. There is a program called The Vietnam War run by AWM staff which goes for one hour. This can be taken as a joint program with Old Parliament House who cover the political issues surrounding conscription. There is a Vietnam workbook, which can be used as the basis of a self-guided tour lasting half an hour.

   ANZAC Hall holds a G for George Lancaster Bomber used in Vietnam.

   

5. Contacts

   Bookings: Contact the Education Office on (02) 6243 4268 or through the Australian War Memorial website.

6. Costs

   Australian War Memorial
   There is no charge to wander through the galleries although bookings are essential for school groups. Teachers should visit the following page for information: http://www.awm.gov.au/education/visits/index.asp

   This page includes a link to information about gallery changes which may impact on school visits as well as a downloadable educational services brochure.

   Programs tailored to suit the needs of teachers and their students can be made by one of the Memorial's education officers. Programs cost $2.20 to $4.40 per student. Self guided materials are available free of charge.