Introduction
The following resources have been curated to assist students to understand World War One from the perspective of those who experienced it. Follow the lives of soldiers as they live and fight in the trenches, and much more.
The selection includes Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality experiences as well as Podcasts, video content and a selection of historical fiction. E-books and Audio Books as well as print novels are included.
The selection includes Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality experiences as well as Podcasts, video content and a selection of historical fiction. E-books and Audio Books as well as print novels are included.
World War One VR and AR
Use an iPod / Smartphone in a Google Cardboard or Viewmaster to experience life in the trenches with these free apps:
War of words https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/war-of-words-vr/id944293466?mt=8
Trench experience VR https://appadvice.com/app/trench-experience-vr/1095696497
Trench vr and ar https://static.lgfl.net/LgflNet/downloads/learning-resources/Trench%20VR/Trench_experience.pdf
Trench experience on itunes https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/trench-experience-vr/id1095696497?mt=8
War of words https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/war-of-words-vr/id944293466?mt=8
Trench experience VR https://appadvice.com/app/trench-experience-vr/1095696497
Trench vr and ar https://static.lgfl.net/LgflNet/downloads/learning-resources/Trench%20VR/Trench_experience.pdf
Trench experience on itunes https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/trench-experience-vr/id1095696497?mt=8
Podcasts
Soldiers stories audio experience http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/soldiers_stories_gallery.shtml BBC commemorates WW1 1914-1918 The BBC presents a season of programming commemorating the centenary of World War One.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01nb93y
World War 1. To mark the centenary of World War One, ABC Radio National hosts a series of special broadcasts. The Great War: Memory, Perceptions and 10 contested questions explores 10 critical questions about the war and Australia’s place in it.
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/archived/worldwarone/
Conversations with Richard Fidler. Paul Ham historian. ABC interview with Paul Ham about the causes of ww1 http://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/conversations/historian-paul-ham-why-wwi-was-neither-necessary-nor-inevitable/7755352
Conversations with Richard Fidler. Paul Ham historian. ABC interview with Paul Ham about the bloody futility of WWI's Battle of Passchendaele http://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/conversations/conversations-paul-ham-passcehndaele/7948498
The Great War podcast https://thegreatwarpodcast.podbean.com/ or https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/the-great-war-podcast/id888458132?mt=2
WW1 Digger History podcast. https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/ww1-digger-history-podcast/id1086529863?mt=2 Brilliant history podcast on WWI, told from the memoirs of this who served. The memoirs speak for themselves but fill in some gaps at the end, giving background on other individuals and terms.
Gallipoli Diary by John Graham Gillam https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/gallipoli-diary-by-john-graham-gillam/id903741049?mt=2
This podcast is one of the many personal narratives written by survivors of this bloody conflict. Published in 1918, when memories of the war were still fresh in the minds of those who had experienced it, it is indeed a slice of history for modern-day readers who encounter it nearly a hundred years later.
Gallipoli and the Great War by LaTrobe university. https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/gallipoli-and-the-great-war/id967167107?mt=2The Anzac involvement in the Gallipoli Campaign has had a lasting cultural impact in Australia. Why is it considered such sacred ground? These podcasts will draw together different perspectives on Gallipoli, the ANZACs and the Great War.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01nb93y
World War 1. To mark the centenary of World War One, ABC Radio National hosts a series of special broadcasts. The Great War: Memory, Perceptions and 10 contested questions explores 10 critical questions about the war and Australia’s place in it.
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/archived/worldwarone/
Conversations with Richard Fidler. Paul Ham historian. ABC interview with Paul Ham about the causes of ww1 http://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/conversations/historian-paul-ham-why-wwi-was-neither-necessary-nor-inevitable/7755352
Conversations with Richard Fidler. Paul Ham historian. ABC interview with Paul Ham about the bloody futility of WWI's Battle of Passchendaele http://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/conversations/conversations-paul-ham-passcehndaele/7948498
The Great War podcast https://thegreatwarpodcast.podbean.com/ or https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/the-great-war-podcast/id888458132?mt=2
WW1 Digger History podcast. https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/ww1-digger-history-podcast/id1086529863?mt=2 Brilliant history podcast on WWI, told from the memoirs of this who served. The memoirs speak for themselves but fill in some gaps at the end, giving background on other individuals and terms.
Gallipoli Diary by John Graham Gillam https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/gallipoli-diary-by-john-graham-gillam/id903741049?mt=2
This podcast is one of the many personal narratives written by survivors of this bloody conflict. Published in 1918, when memories of the war were still fresh in the minds of those who had experienced it, it is indeed a slice of history for modern-day readers who encounter it nearly a hundred years later.
Gallipoli and the Great War by LaTrobe university. https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/gallipoli-and-the-great-war/id967167107?mt=2The Anzac involvement in the Gallipoli Campaign has had a lasting cultural impact in Australia. Why is it considered such sacred ground? These podcasts will draw together different perspectives on Gallipoli, the ANZACs and the Great War.
Video Content
First world war week by week https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUcyEsEjhPEDf69RRVhRh4A
National Geographic documentary world war 1. Episode 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFCWfyXSe70 More episodes available.
World War 1 in colour. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uP_0DkpFOKs a video showing WW1 warfare in and arround the trenches, rare colour film world war 1
The Trench (full length movie starring Daniel Craig). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlRueApFV4w
National Geographic documentary world war 1. Episode 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFCWfyXSe70 More episodes available.
World War 1 in colour. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uP_0DkpFOKs a video showing WW1 warfare in and arround the trenches, rare colour film world war 1
The Trench (full length movie starring Daniel Craig). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlRueApFV4w
E-books @ Wheelers
Visit https://sscl.wheelers.co . Use your school login details to access this collection
Bryant, Megan. Glow. (ebook)
Lydia is thrilled to join the working girls in the factory, where they paint luminous watch dials for the soldiers fighting in World War I. In the future, these girls will be known as the tragic Radium Girls: factory workers not only poisoned by the glowing paint, but who also had to fight against men who knew of the paint's deadly effect.
Moyes, Jojo. The girl you left behind (ebook)
Another New York Times bestseller by the author of Me before you. After You and Still Me. A spellbinding story set in WW1 Paris of two young women united in their fight for what they love most.
French, Jackie The donkey who carried the wounded. (ebook)
Most Australians know of Simpson and his donkey, who became heroes at Gallipoli, even among the Turkish forces. Few know where the donkey came from, or what happened to him after World War I. Or that another man carried on rescuing the wounded with the donkey after Simpson died. This is the story of a small unassuming donkey. It's also the story of Gallipoli, of Jack Simpson, and New Zealander stretcher-bearer Richard Henderson, who literally took up the reins after Simpson's death. Exhaustively researched, it gives a new depth to our understanding of this story of ANZAC heroism.
McKay, Sandy. When our Jack went to war (ebook)
It's 1917 and Jack enlists. And although 13-year-old Tom is envious of his elder brother, he soon changes his mind as the reality of war becomes more apparent. We follow Jack's story through his letters home and through the eyes of his younger brother. Tom writes about life at home in New Zealand: living with Mum and their young sister, Amy, learning to hunt with his uncle, getting a puppy and learning to knit...for the war effort. Jack writes of his first-hand experience in Trentham, the troop ship, Britain, France, the Battle of Messines and finally, Passchendaele.
Facey, AB. A fortunate life (ebook)
This is the extraordinary life of an ordinary man. It is the story of Albert Facey, who lived with simple honesty, compassion and courage. A parentless boy who started work at eight on the rough West Australian frontier, he struggled as an itinerant rural worker, survived the gore of Gallipoli, the loss of his farm in the Depression, the death of his son in World War II and that of his beloved wife after sixty devoted years - yet he felt that his life was fortunate.
French, Jackie. Miss Lily's lovely ladies. (ebook)
Inspired by true events this is the story of how society's 'lovely ladies' won a war.
French, Jackie. A rose for the ANZAC boys (ebook)
The 'War to end all Wars', as seen through the eyes of three young women
Hill, David. My brother's war. (ebook)
It's New Zealand, 1914, and the biggest war the world has known has just broken out in Europe.
William eagerly enlists for the army but his younger brother, Edmund, is a conscientious objector and refuses to fight. While William trains to be a soldier, Edmund is arrested. Both brothers will end up on the bloody battlefields of France, but their journeys there are very different. And what they experience at the front line will challenge the beliefs that led them there
Gleitzman, Morris. Loyal creatures. (ebook)
They were loyal creatures, the men and horses of the Australian Light Horse, but war doesn't always pay heed to loyalty. This is the powerful story of a young man's journey towards his own kind of bravery.
Murphy, Sally. 1915 (ebook)
The silence was eerie. In the darkness I could just see the mist that swirled around the rowboat. The men in the boat seemed lost in their own thoughts. No-one spoke, no-one made a sound. Somewhere ahead a loud report. A shot? Rifle fire, from the beach, which was only dimly coming into view. This was it. When Australia throws its support behind Britain in its fight against Germany, young teacher Stan Moore is one of the first to join up, swapping the classroom for adventure in Europe. But the 11th Battalion is sent with the newly formed Anzac Corp to Gallipoli where Stan is confronted by the hard lessons of war.
Though conditions are dismal and death is everywhere, so is the humour and bravery that is the true spirit of Anzac.
Audiobooks @ Wheelers
Visit https://sscl.wheelers.co . Use your school login details to access this collection
Boyne, John. The absolutist. (audiobook)
The Absolutist is a masterful tale of passion, jealousy, heroism, and betrayal set in one of the most gruesome trenches of France during World War I. This novel will keep readers on the edge of their seats until its most extraordinary and unexpected conclusion, and will stay with them long after they've turned the last page.
Morpurgo, Michael. Private peaceful. (audiobook)
For young Private Peaceful, looking back over his childhood while he is on night watch in the battlefields of the First World War, his memories are full of family life deep in the countryside: his mother, Charlie, Big Joe, and Molly, the love of his life. Too young to be enlisted, Thomas has followed his brother to war and now, every moment he spends thinking about his life, means another moment closer to danger.
Firth, Peter. Birdsong (audiobook)
Published to international critical and popular acclaim, this intensely romantic yet stunningly realistic novel spans three generations and the unimaginable gulf between the First World War and the present. As the young Englishman Stephen Wraysford passes through a tempestuous love affair with Isabelle Azaire in France and enters the dark, surreal world beneath the trenches of No Man's Land, Sebastian Faulks creates a world of fiction that is as tragic as A Farewell to Arms and as sensuous as The English Patient. Crafted from the ruins of war and the indestructibility of love, Birdsong is a novel that will be read and marvelLed at for years to come.
The war poetry of Wilfred Owen (audiobook)
No poet is more closely identified with the First World War than Wilfred Owen. His striking body of work, grim to the point of brutality yet, at the same time, majestic and awe-inspiring, defines the war for us. It is in each of these famous poems that Owen reflects on the four terrible months that he lived through; he conveys the experience of war, the death, the destruction and the filth, through a unique poetic language and a bold artistic vision. This anthology collects 49 of Owen’s iconic poems and serves not only as a perfect introduction to his verse but also as a commemoration of the sacrifice that was made by an entire generation of young men.
Fiction in the Library Collection
Elton, Ben. Time and time again. (F/ELT)
Eldridge, Jim. Flying Ace: Jack Fairfax Royal Flying Corps 1915-1918. (F/ELD)
Harnett, Sonya. The silver donkey. (F/HAR)
Ell, Sarah. When the war came home. (F/ELL)
Eldridge, Jim. The trenches (F/ELD)
Masson, Sophie. My father's war (F/MAS)
Morpurgo, Michael. War Horse (F/MOR)
Wilding, Valerie. Road to War (F/WIL)
Almond, David. The great war: stories inspired by objects from the first world war 1914-1918. (F/ALM)
Metzenthen, David. Boys of blood and bone. (F/MET)
Blackman, Jenny. Our enemy, my friend: the diary of Emma Shelldrake. (F/BLA)
Gleeson, Libby. 1918. (F/GLE)
Gleeson, Libby. Eventual poppy day (F/GLE)
Eldridge, Jim. Flying Ace: Jack Fairfax Royal Flying Corps 1915-1918. (F/ELD)
Harnett, Sonya. The silver donkey. (F/HAR)
Ell, Sarah. When the war came home. (F/ELL)
Eldridge, Jim. The trenches (F/ELD)
Masson, Sophie. My father's war (F/MAS)
Morpurgo, Michael. War Horse (F/MOR)
Wilding, Valerie. Road to War (F/WIL)
Almond, David. The great war: stories inspired by objects from the first world war 1914-1918. (F/ALM)
Metzenthen, David. Boys of blood and bone. (F/MET)
Blackman, Jenny. Our enemy, my friend: the diary of Emma Shelldrake. (F/BLA)
Gleeson, Libby. 1918. (F/GLE)
Gleeson, Libby. Eventual poppy day (F/GLE)
Picture books in the Library collection
Metzenthen, David. One minute's silence. (Picture books F/MET)
Hathorne, Libby. A soldier, a dog and a boy. (Picture books F/HAW)
Crew, Gary & Shaun Tan. Memorial. (Picture books F/CRE)
The Good Son: a story from the first world war told in miniature (F/OBE) (CBC shortlisted for Picture Book of the Year 2020)
Hathorne, Libby. A soldier, a dog and a boy. (Picture books F/HAW)
Crew, Gary & Shaun Tan. Memorial. (Picture books F/CRE)
The Good Son: a story from the first world war told in miniature (F/OBE) (CBC shortlisted for Picture Book of the Year 2020)