Christmas at Abbassiah, 1915

Pte Bert Manderson and his youngest brother, Bill, before embarkation.

Bert Manderson's older brother Ern arrived in Egypt in time for the brothers to celebrate Christmas 1915 together.  On Boxing Day they had a photo taken with friends during a camel ride near the Pyramids. A few months later they re-embarked for France.  Greg Manderson tells the story of his grandfather's war with the aid of  Bert's diary.  You can read the full story here.

WW1 Pictorial Honour Rolls

Cpl Kenneth Yates of Essendon

A useful site for either posting photos or searching for photos of WW1 servicemen is this one for WW1 Pictorial Honour Roll

They are organised alphabetically by state.  You can also search by name. Many of the photos are from well-known sources, but many are from private sources.

Lost Heroes of the Great War

There must be many WW1 group photos out there in which one soldier is known and the others are unknown.  This photo shows Corporal James Anderson on the front right, but who are the others?  If you have photos like this, an interesting site where  you might post them is Lost Heroes of the Great War.  Link removed as the site has been taken over.  Don't yet know what became of the photos. 

Private John Christian Herweg, 23 Bn

Private John Christian Herweg, brother of Lance Corporal Robert Herweg, was another boy soldier who enlisted at the age of 17 and died of illness in Heliopolis a few months later.    You can read his story here.

Lance Corporal R H Herweg, 14th Bn

Lance Corporal Herweg was a six foot blacksmith's striker from Moonee Ponds.  He landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula with his Battalion on 26 April 1915, and a couple of days later was sent to relieve Quinn's Post.  See his story here.

The boy soldier

Private Arthur Hill aged 16, taken in Melbourne circa 1916.

 A certain amount of connivance on the part of the authorities allowed a 16 year old boy to embark for active service in March 1916.  His father Thomas had already departed with the AIF in 1915.  You can read their stories at the above links.

Captain Reginald Walter Jones, 14th Battalion

Captain Reginald Walter Jones of the 14th Infantry Battalion was an electrician from Essendon.  The History of the 14th Infantry Battalion, AIF says:

"An Original, he enlisted as a private, but his ability soon brought him to the front. A deadly rifle shot, he did much effective sniping on the Peninsula.  He had been wounded several times,but it never altered his outlook on life. He was noted for his daring in a Brigade of brave men, but his daring was always controlled by intelligence. Much scouting and reconnaissance work must be placed to his credit during his long and honourable career with the Battalion".

Jones served with Albert Jacka VC throughout much of the war.  His two brothers, also in the 14th Battalion, were killed in action.  You can see details of Jones' career here.