Portraits of our past
IMAGINE the heartache of hearing your son has been killed in action at war.
But then you receive a telegram from your reportedly dead son, a lieutenant.
“Prisoner Well Writing — Luscombe,” it reads.
He is not dead, in fact, he has been taken as a prisoner of war.
This, the true tale of Geelong’s Leslie Luscombe, is just one of the fascinating and diverse stories shared at an exhibition now visiting Geelong. The Shrine of Remembrance centenary exhibition Australia Will Be There: Victorians in the First World War (1914-19) lets visitors explore the stories of heroes of our region and gain insight into life during World War I through photography.
The exhibition, currently on show at Deakin’s waterfront campus, features more than 100 photographs drawn from major collections, including the Australian War Memorial and the families of those who served.
An interactive screen allows visitors to search for people from particular areas, and includes interesting stories of those from our region.
Shrine of Remembrance director of access and learning, and the exhibition’s curator, Jean McAuslan, says the point of the interactive feature is “you can type in your own town’s name and within 100 kilometres stories will come up … of individuals from the area, all who enlisted, and not necessarily everyone went to the front, but most of them did, and others worked on the home front”.
The exhibition features photographs spanning the world — including Egypt and the Middle East — that snake around the gallery in chronological order, with accompanying information to educate visitors about the war.
“It’s hopefully fairly straightforward for people moving through it,” Ms McAuslan said.
“What we’ve done is to try where we can, and where they’re available to us, to draw out ... impressions of what was happening.
“Where we can, we’ve included quotes from people.”
Photographs and their accompanying stories remind viewers of the harsh realities of war — one placard tells the story of a photograph, “A very unpleasant job”, from April 1919.
It quotes 1918 enlistee Private Will McBeath, who recounts that “this week we have reburied 200 men ... You would hardly think there were so many graves in the field ... there are hundreds to come in yet.”
Ms McAuslan said the images told a “whole range” of stories.
Another story of the exhibition relays the highs and lows of war, of the joy of a woman whose son was a prisoner of war, found by the Red Cross Wounded and Missing.
“We tell as many and as varied stories as we can about people and organisations,” Ms McAuslan said.
A circa 1919 photograph of a Footscray home decorated with “Welcome Home” signs and Allied flags portrays the relief of the war’s end, and information accompanying the exhibition explores the war’s legacy.
Ms McAuslan said gathering the photographs used in the exhibition was “no small accomplishment”.
“There are thousands of often very good black and white photographs from the First World War, it really is the medium of the time,” she said.
“We looked at major collections, like the Australian War Memorial and State Library of Victoria. We also went to families that we already knew of and discovered new ones.”
The exhibition also explores how the war changed life on the home front in Australia.
While many Australian families lost loved ones in the war, at home they experienced shortages of essentials and political upheavalwhile waiting for news on those who were serving their country.
“A lot of (the exhibition’s images) are focused on Victorians principally and they do tell a whole range (of stories),” Ms McAuslan says.
“For example, the role that women played, and their enthusiasm for voluntary work from the moment that the war is declared.”
Australia Will Be There: Victorians in the First World War (1914-19) has been touring Victoria for 3½ years, visiting regional centres, and towns with populations of just hundreds. This is its first time in Geelong. Ms McAuslan said the exhibition had received “very positive reactions wherever we’ve taken it, from all age groups”.
“I have been surprised at the number of people who are older, who are actually children of First World War veterans, and it just really hits you that it’s not that long ago,” she said.
The exhibition is on display at the Alfred Deakin Prime Ministerial Library Gallery, at the Sally Walker Building at the Deakin University waterfront campus, at the corner of Cunningham St and Western Beach Rd.
The exhibition is open 10am-4pm weekdays and runs until March 29.
Entry to the exhibition is free.