2023 Year 9 History - WW1: Home

The Great War 1914 - 1918. Primary Sources

What are primary sources?

• They are created by someone who observed or participated in the event or era
• They are a personal observation of the event or era; a first-hand account.
• They are records of the experiences of those involved
• Primary sources often show the event and its effects
• Photographs, film, diaries, memoirs, newspaper reports and advertisements, administrative documents such as birth and death certificates, boarding passes, military orders, recollections.
• Read more about primary sources on the University of New South Wales libguide

Photographs

Pictorial Panorama of the Great War

• A stunning collection of hand coloured images from the First World War; Gallipoli, Ypres, Egypt and Palestine, taken by Australian servicemen
• On the website scroll down the page to view an extract of the collection. 
   

Life Interrupted, From Civilian to Soldier

• A photographic timeline of Australian soldiers in WWI from the State Library exhibition
   

Diaries and Letters

State Library of NSW - Personal Diaries and Letters from the First World War

• A collection of digitized primary source material including letters and diaries.  Search the diaries here and be patient as the search is slow.
• Listen to selected excerpts of the diaries as they are read out loud here.  

Film

• First World War clips from the National Film and Sound Archive including the only known film clip of Gallipoli and footage of the Battle of Pozieres in the Battle of the Somme.  Includes propaganda films.
• The First World War clip collection from the Australian War Memorial on YouTube
• The clip below from the Department of Veterans Affairs shows war veterans from the Western Front discussing their experiences.  Images are used to illustrate their discussions

• This presentation of WW1 film, together with voices of WW1 veterans, was produced by the Australian War Memorial's film and sound curators. The footage and original oral history recordings are part of the rich film and sound collections of the Australian War Memorial. 

Newspapers

• Search for illustrated articles published during the war
  A TROVE search showing Illustrated newspaper articles about the fighting in Ypres.  Change the search term at the top of the screen to find articles about other aspects of the war.
  

Interviews

• Hear interviews or read the transcripts from audio recordings at the "Australians at War Film Archive".  Search selecting the WW1 theme and interviews by keyword; Somme, Ypres, Palestine...
  
   
• Interviews with war veterans can also be found at the Australian War Memorial site.  Use the filters on the left to find interviews discussing your topic.