As a kid growing up in Canberra my poor dad use to take me
and my 3 older brothers to the War Memorial during the holidays. It was free
entertainment and free needed to be considered when you had 7 kids to provide
for. At the time my focus was very narrow and I had three-four ports of call
during my visit. I had to see Sandy the only light horse that had returned to
Australia, the horse that a light horse trooper was mounted on in the long
glass cases of World War 1 uniforms and the camel also ridden by a mounted
trooper, The other was two dogs, one a terrier how had been someone’s pet in the
trenches in France and a German shepherd who had been a messenger dog. My dad
use to take me around these animal exhibits probably to ensure I kept quiet
when he viewed the things he wished to see. So my child hood memories of the
War Memorial are as you can see very intense and very narrow.
To my shame I must admit that my last trip to the War Memorial
is also about 3 years ago when I went with my mother to see the War brides
exhibition. The impetus for going was to view a wedding dress made out of a
parachute silk someone she knew from Queanbeyan had worn. So I really only knew
that the research centre existed in that this good in the mythical sense rather
than as a user of the collection. However this mythical sense at least meant I
was aware of the importance of the War Memorial research collections
Most
librarians understand that the research collections at the Australian War
Memorial are a key resource for researching Australia's involvement in the
First World War and subsequent wars. The Research Centre holds a variety of
materials to support this research, including official records, private records
including diaries and letters, manuscripts, books, serials, maps, leaflets,
music and more.
The library tour that was guided by Jennifer Milward is my
second one for Active ALIA in about 5 years. Jennifer and Jenny another
librarian took us, a group of about 15 very keen librarians around the back scenes
of the research centre. We were guided through the hard copy collection of
field diaries kept by military units and allowed to view several. However what
was of most interest for many of us were the personal artefacts of soldiers from
oversees. Several discussed the silk postcards that were sent home form the front
in France to relatives back in Australia. Two on the tour said that their
grandmother and mother treasured similar because they had them as personal
mementos of grandfathers, great uncles who had fought in the trenches. We also had a view of artefacts such as the Changi
prison entertainment programs. The
putting a very brave face on
horrific living conditions in a
crowded prison brought home to me the
stoicism of many intimates. What I found very poignant was an autograph book of
autographs collected by an Australian nurse amongst her colleagues and other
medical staff in World War 1. What was pointed out was that a number of those
who had signed her book had died on overseas services and several of these had
died on the way home of the Spanish influenza. I found it moving and also
ironic that those who had served with dedication and survived the war, then
died on the way home.
What came across form Jennifer and Jenny was their
enthusiasm and enjoyment in working at
the War Memorial with the diverse
collections and their sense of heritage
value. Other tour goers echoed these sentiments:
·
The Resource Centre is
a lot bigger than I expected. I had no idea that it consisted of so many
interlinked rooms. I also had no idea there were around 35 staff including
volunteers.
·
The treasures that
were shown to us were very interesting. I loved the Thai-Burma railway
engineering diagram and the story around this. I also loved the Changi Prison
theatre programs.
·
The staff is obviously
very proud of their collection and the work they do, which is very inspiring.
·
The tour of the physical items in the special
collections was really interesting and I am sure it touched the heart of
everyone there. The librarians are passionate and sensitive to their material
and what a wonderful job it would be to be part of the preservation team – very
rewarding.
My suggestion then is if you get the opportunity go on a
tour of the War memorial research centre
go and have your eyes open to history and the passion of the staff who shepherd such collections.
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