Boys of Blood and Bone: Home

Our Rule of Law in Armed Conflict Online Portal (RULAC) classifies all situations of armed violence that amount to an armed conflict under international humanitarian law. Today, it monitors more than 110 armed conflicts and provides information about parties, the latest developments, and applicable international law. Some of these conflicts make the headlines, others do not. Some of them started recently, while others have lasted for more than 50 years.

"Anastasia Taylor-Lind and Alisa Sopova met covering the war in Donetsk back in 2014. Since then they have captured the everyday lives of people living close to the frontline."

"War has profoundly shaped Australia as a nation, both on the front lines and at home. The experiences of Australian soldiers in major conflicts, such as at Gallipoli, Fromelles or Kokoda, have become pivotal moments in the country's collective identity, reflecting qualities of resilience and mateship. On the home front, war efforts have influenced social and economic structures, catalysing changes in gender roles, fostering political and activist movements, and impacting immigration patterns, all of which have left an enduring impact on Australian society ... "

"At the end of June 1914, Australians read in their newspapers about the political assassination of an heir to a European throne. The murder increased existing tensions between the mighty empires of Europe. It set in train a series of events that led to war. German troops entered Belgium in August. Then the United Kingdom declared war on Germany. As a dominion of the British Empire, Australia willingly joined the war ... "

"Australia’s involvement in the First World War began when Britain and Germany went to war on 4 August 1914, and both Prime Minister Joseph Cook and Opposition Leader Andrew Fisher, who were in the midst of an election campaign, pledged full support for Britain. The outbreak of war was greeted in Australia, as in many other places, with great enthusiasm ... "

"The Library’s extensive World War I collection is a great resource for historians, students, genealogists, returned soldiers and academics ... "

Read through a series of articles all related to Australia's involvement in World War I, the effects of which are still being felt today.

Scroll through the links and access the various records held by the Australian War Memorial. These include many records relating to the Australian Imperial Force in France.

"This is a sound recording of the eulogy delivered by Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating at the funeral service of the Unknown Australian Soldier. He describes the unidentified soldier as one of the 45,000 Australians who died on the Western Front in World War I (1914–18). Arguing that he did not die in vain, Keating states that the Unknown Soldier enshrines the Australian nation's love of peace. The eulogy was delivered on Remembrance Day, 11 November 1993, at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra ... "

"I wrote my novel, Boys of Blood and Bone, for the best of reasons: I felt that the part Australian troops played in the war on the Western Front, 1916-1918, was not nearly well-known enough to many Australians, and I also wanted to write in memory of my grandfather, A. J. Metzenthen, who served as a Signaller with the 4th. Machine Gun Battalion in France, in the First World War ... "

"Using Phillip Gwynne's (1998) Deadly Unna? and David Metzenthen's (2000) Boys of Blood and Bone as case studies, and my own novel My Private Pectus as creative practice, I explore the construction and deconstruction of hegemonic, complicit, and alternative masculintities in Australian realist young adult fiction. I also analyse the construction of the New Age Boy - a label used by John Stephens for young male protagonists who develop positive self esteem because of their perceived gender differences compared to byos of the hegemonic masculine type.

"The word “Anzac” has been a part of Australian thought, language, and life since 25 April 1915. Devised by a signaler in Egypt as a useful acronym for “Australian and New Zealand Army Corps,” it quickly became a word with many uses and meanings ... "

"The Anzac legend holds a significant place in Australian history, representing the collective spirit and sacrifice of those who have served the nation. Originally coined to denote the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps during the First World War, ‘Anzac’ has evolved over more than a century to encompass all individuals who have served in Australia’s armed forces ... "

"The legend of Anzac was born on 25 April 1915, and was reaffirmed in eight months' fighting on Gallipoli. Although there was no military victory, the Australians displayed great courage, endurance, initiative, discipline, and mateship. Such qualities came to be seen as the Anzac spirit ... "

"As part of the German Spring Offensive on the Western Front German forces using infantry and tanks captured Villers-Bretonneux (near Amiens) from exhausted British defenders on 24 April 1918. The Australian 13th and 15th Brigades were brought forward and in a model of a well planned and co-ordinated night attack successfully recaptured the town ... "

"In the spring of 1929 a group of British army officers made a study tour of the 1918 Somme battlefields from Villers-Bretonneux, astride the main road westward to Amiens, and then out to the east to the old Hindenburg Line and the Sambre-Oise canal. This was the direction of the British Army’s rapid advance until the Armistice in November 1918 brought the war to an end ..."

You will need to click translate to read this page from this French site. "... Every April 25, the Australian federal government has held a ceremony there since 2008 on the occasion of ANZAC Day, which celebrates its baptism of fire and the recapture of the town from the Germans in 1918 ... "