Anzac story kept alive on the net

The word 'Anzac' is instantly recognisable throughout Australia and New Zealand and is even protected by Commonwealth Law under the “Protection of Word ‘Anzac’ Regulations”. It is a part of Aussie thought, language and life and is integral to many family histories and the country’s wartime heritage. Tomorrow is Anzac Day, a day to remember and acknowledge the ANZAC troops.

The Department of Veteran’s Affairs has a number of commemorative websites for World War I. The Visit Gallipoli site (www.anzacsite.gov.au) is a special ANZAC site dedicated to those who served at Gallipoli. You can explore the ‘Landing’ and ‘Research’ sections for an overview of the campaign and war, nurses stories, diary entries, reports from war correspondents, photograph galleries and even an online book titled ‘A duty clear before us’. The Highlights section contains objects of interest such as watercolours and drawings.

Are you planning to make the pilgrimage to Gallipoli? See the sights in the ‘Visiting’ section of the Visit Gallipoli site with interactive media about Gallipoli today from the Commemorative Anzac Site at North Beach, war grave sites and the Anzac Walk. You can also download the guided audio tours on your MP3 player and take them with you.

If you have war memorabilia within the family, the Department of Veteran Affairs has a free online publication ‘Caring for your wartime memorabilia’ at www.dva.gov.au/media/publicat/2001/memorabilia/index.htm Learn how to care for and look after medals, wartime diaries, letters, postcards, film and tapes.

The Australian War Memorial site is another good place to visit. Check the ‘First Wold War Nominal Roll’ database and ‘First World War Unit Embarkation Roll’ database at www.awm.gov.au/research/infosheets/served_ww1.asp to discover whether any family members served overseas during the Great War.

There are also several great image resources on the ANZACS, Anzac Day services and memorials. Two noteworthy collections are ‘Picture Queensland’ (www.pictureqld.slq.qld.gov.au) and ‘Picture Australia’ (www.pictureaustralia.org). Simply type in ‘anzac’ in the search box of each site. The digitised images that appear belong to photographic collections at the State Library of Queensland, National Library of Australia and numerous institutions throughout Australia such as public libraries, universities, museums and galleries.