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Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
On the 28th of June, 1914, the archduke and his wife travelled to Sarajevo to inspect the imperial armed forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina. While touring Sarajevo in an open car with little security, a Serbian threw a bomb at their car. They both died within the hour. This assassination set of a rapid chain of events, one being, Russia, Belgium, France, Great Britain and Serbia lining up against Austria-Hungary and Germany, and World War I had begun. (Picture: Archduke Franz Ferdinand). -
Beginning of World War One
World War One began in France when Germany and Austria believed they could win European domination. The war consisted of two main sides which included France and Britain: and Germany and Austria. Apart from the countries these sides were made of; 30 other countries were involved in the conflict of World War One. World War One lasted for 4 years all together. (Picture: German foot soldiers on the march to battle). -
1st Light Horse Regiment
The 1st Light Horse Regiment sailed from Sydney on the 19th of October to Egypt. The light Horse were originally considered insuitable for the battle in Gallipoli. The 1st Light Horse Regiment was raised from draftees from New South Wales at Rosebury Park in Sydney in August 1914. (Picture: 1st Reinforcement, Mounted Inspection). -
The Australians land at Anzac Cove
On the 25th of April, 1915, the ANZACs (men from the 1st Australian Division and the New Zealand Australian Division) landed north of Gaba Tepe (which is now named Anzac Cove). The aim of this landing was to capture Turkish Forts. (Picture: The landing at Anzac, 1915 by Charles Dixon, oil painting) -
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ANZACs evecuated from Anzac Cove
This campaign was a failure which led to the evacuation of the entire force from Gallipoli. They evacuated 142,000 men with little deaths during the process. Throughout the whole campaign there were 26,111 causalities; 1007 being officers and 25,104 other ranks. Even though the campaign was a military failure it then had the ANZAC tradition created. -
Battle Of Verdun
The Battle Of Verdun was the longest single battle of World war One. The giant impact that this battle had on the French is the Primary reason that the Battle Of The Somme began; to take German pressure off of the French at Verdun. The whole point of this battle was to make General Philippe Pȅtain a hero in France. (Picture: French soldiers resting behind the front line during the Battle of Verdun). -
Battle Of The Somme: Preliminary Bombardment.
Before the Battle Of The Somme Began there was an eight-day Preliminary Bombardment against the Germans. The expectation of this bombardment was that it would destroy the entire forward German defences. This meant that the British troops could fust walk across No Man’s Land and take possession of the German Front Lines. The advance bombardment failed to destroy the German Front Line or the heavily-built concrete bunkers of the Germans.
(Picture: Bomb exploding during preliminary bombardment). -
Bginning of The Battle Of The Somme
The Battle Of The Somme was fought between the Britain and French; and the Germans. Originally The Battle Of Somme was going to be on the 1st of August 1916. It then got pushed forward to the 1st of July. This was to get some of the German soldiers away from another battle in Verdun. This battle was one of the many fought on The Western Front. (Picture: Allied soldiers at the Battle Of The Somme, 1916) -
Battle of Fromelles
Fromelles wasthe first major battle fought by Australia on the Western Front.This attack was aimed mainly to draw German Troops away from the Somme offensive. When the Australians attacked at 6 pm on the 19th of July, they suffered badly at the hands of the German machine-guners. (Picture; British and Australian soldiers bodies taken from the Fromelles battlefield). -
End of Battle of Fromelles
The Battle of Fromelles only lasted a few hours as the Germans realised that this was all a plan to get them away from the Battle Of Somme. This battle therefore had no impact on the progress of the Somme offensive. The 5th Australian division that fought in this battle suffered 5,533 casualties and the 61st division the fought for the British suffered 1,547 casualties. (Picture: Australian and German bodies in a portion of the German second line). -
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Australia and New Zealand's battle at Pozières
Later on in the Somme campaign, Australia and New Zealand fought at Pozières. In this battle Australia and New Zealand made early gains. During this battle Australia lost an estimated 23,000 troops. By the end of the Somme campaign Australia lost approximately 620,000. All them being either dead or wounded. -
Tanks first usd at the Battle Of The Somme
On the 15th of September tanks were introduced to the Battle Of The Somme.These tanks could advance on the front line and break through barbed wire and knock down trees to clear a path for the oncoming foot soldiers. Many German soldiers fled or surrendered. These bulletproof tanks were very hard for the Germans to stop. (Picture:Tank on the Somme). -
The Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force landed at Rabaul
After the outbreak of the war in 1914 the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force were formed. On the 17th of September, 1916, they landed at Rabaul. In this battle the Germans quickly surrendered and the Australians had little losses even though the Australian submarine HMAS AE1 disappeared with all crew just off New Britain before the battle on the 14th of September. (Picture: The Australian squadron entering Simpson Harbour, Rabaul, in September 1914). -
Britain's surprise attack
On November 13th, 5:45 am, British troops staged a surprise attack. This attack was to capture the towns of Beaurmont; Hamel and Beaucourt. These towns were on the northern end of the Somme Front. The attack was due to take place on the 24th of October but was delayed due to the wheather. (Picture: Shell bursting, Beaumont Hamel). -
End of the Battle Of The Somme
The Battle Of The Somme was called off by Douglas Haig (commander of the British Expeditionary Force). This was due to the battle being a miserable disaster for the French and British.There were over 600,000 British and French troops killed, wounded, or missing in action. (Picture: Map of the Somme battlefield, showing the frontline before the three major offensives of 1 & 14 July and 15 September as well as the final frontline). -
Lieutenant Frank McNamara awarded Victoria Cross
Lieutenant Frank McNamara was the first Australain airman to be awarded the Victoria Cross. this was due to his selfless act to save fellow airman. His mate, Captain Rutherford was brought down with his plane and was about to be captured by the Turks. McNamara, even though he was wounded himself, landed his plane to save Rutherford. They set his plane on fire so the Turks could not take control of it and they took Rutherford's plane to safety. (Picture: Painting of two airmen's escape). -
Battle Of Arras
On the 9th of April the British, Canadian, New Zealand and Australian troops attacked German defences near the French city Arras on the Western Front. This group crossed over the No Man's Land under the cover of gunfire and stormed the German trenches. The troops soon gained more ground. (Picture: British soldiers moving forward near Arras). -
First Battle for Passchendaele
The First Battle for Passchendaele (Third Battle of Ypres on the Western Front), Australian, New Zealand and British Troops were involved in an unsuccessful attempt to catch the Passchendaele Ridge from the oppsing Germans. Vicious fighting took place in the most alarming of waterlogged conditions. This is what gave it the name Passchendaele (synonym for slaughter). -
Battle of Le Hamel
The US infantry and the Australian 4th Division carefully planned the attack so the Germans were completely surprised. The Australian 4th Division, four companies of the US infantry and other supporting troops surprised the Germans of an attack with 60 united tanks and machine-gun units. The battle only lasted for about 90 minutes and over 1,500 of the Germans surrendered. For the Australians and other troops, they lost approximately 1,000 casualties.(Picture: At the Battle of Le Hamel). -
End of World War One
At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, The First World War; also known as the Great War, came to an end. The Great War took the life of over 9 million soldiers. More than 21 million were wounded. The two nations who were the most affected by the war were Germany and France. (Picture: Chicago Daily Tribune reports “Great War Ends”).
