Historial de la Grande Guerre, Peronne, France

The Great War of 1914-18 was a pivotal moment in the history of France (in a country which has had many pivotal moments). The Historial de la Grande Guerre is a very modern museum in the town of Peronne, in the valley of the Somme.

The museum is within the ruins of an old moated castle. 

Once inside the castle gate you are greeted by a French Saint Chamond heavy tank. With the exception of the Renault FT tank, many French WW1 tanks were less than impressive. The Saint Chamond was a reasonably successful design. http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww1/fr/ww1-char_saint_chamond.php

France's collective experience of the Great War.

The museum provided excellent context of the political situation in Europe that led to war.

A flag from the German Far East Squadron of Rear Admiral Graf Spee.

Naval dress uniform for colonial service.

The museum is imaginatively laid out inside the open and spacious interior. Exhibits are laid out by year and include detailed and informative narratives of the events of each year. Within the floor, uniforms and materiel is displayed. This display from 1914 shows the uniforms that France started the war with. Catastrophic losses in the war's early battles led to these brightly coloured uniforms being quickly replaced.

The new French uniform of 1915. Still blue but now a subtle and subdued tone.

Another view of the French field kit.

Colonial troops. On the left is a uniform of French African troops. In the centre is the French North Africa zouave uniform. Like the French red breeches above, this uniform too would quickly be withdrawn. On the right is an Australian ANZAC uniform.

British kit. Unlike the other belligerents, Britain fielded an entirely volunteer and professional army. This is the standard kit for field service.

Another angle.

Canadian field kit.

German Landsser



German cavalry and Hussar's uniform. Note the death's head busby.

The machinery of death

Nursing and medical equipment.

A range of helmets. It's interesting to note that most armies entered the war without armoured helmets as part of their field kit. The German pickelhelm for instance, was made from pigskin.

The dehumanization of a war of attrition.

Three long tressle tables were strewn with field finds from the surrounding farms. A century after the war, this detritus is still surfaced each year.

The Historial de la Grande Guerre museum at Peronne is well worth a visit if you are traveling the battlefields of the Somme region of France. It is really well thought out and displayed. It is not a particularly large museum and can be appreciated in about an hour.

The address of the museum is Château de Péronne, Place André Audinot 80200 Péronne

Check out their very informative website for details - https://www.historial.fr/en

The battlefield and monument at Theipval is nearby.

Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne

Melbourne's Shrine of Remembrance was built in honour of Victoria's war dead of the Great War (1914-18). It is located a short walk south of the Melbourne CBD, among the city's botanical gardens along the Yarra River.

The Shrine has been sited at the top a rise where it has a commanding view of the city. The walk to the Shrine is very pleasant.

The design was based on the tomb of King Mausolus of Halicarnassus, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The design was approved in 1928 and the Shrine was opened in 1934. Construction was funded in large part by public donations.

Statuary is very grand and imperial in the style of the time.

An occulus, open to the sky, lights the interior. Bas reliefs on the interior walls illustrate some of the key events in Australia's Great War experience.

The Australian flag in one of the niches.

In the bowels of the shrine is a monument to the armed forces. It is a hallowed space, much like a church crypt.

The statue in the centre of the crypt features an Australian soldier from the Great War and from the Second World War standing back to back.

The Shrine also contains a reasonably sized museum with some excellent exhibits covering Australia's military history. This is a Victorian militia uniform from the 1880s.

Military uniforms of the 1890s.

A model of HMVS Cerberus (1870). The Cerberus was one of the first ironclad monitor turret ships ever built. Two ships of the class were built, one serving in India and the Cerberus was sent to Melbourne. Despite making an extraordinary (and hazardous) sea journey to Australia, the ship never left Port Phillip Bay. Being of little military use, the ship became an auxiliary vessel and eventually was stricken. She was sunk has a breakwater at Half Moon Bay in the 1926.

Despite the Cerberus' historical importance, the Australian Federal and Victorian State governments have been willfully neglectful of the Cerberus wreck. All attempts by lobby groups to preserve or restore the ship have been actively opposed. The latest development in the ongoing struggle has been the Heritage Victoria approving a proposal to fill the wreck with concrete, thereby guaranteeing its destruction. So much for "preserving Victoria's Heritage." http://www.cerberus.com.au/index.html

The convoy of the 1st Australian Expeditionary Force. The AEF was disembarked in Egypt for training, before being redirected to the Gallipoli Campaign against the Ottoman Empire.

A diagram of the battle between the HMAS Sydney and the RMS Emden. The Sydney had been one of the escorts of the AEF convoy across the Indian Ocean when they intercepted a distress signal from the wireless station at Cocos Island. The Emden, dispatched from Rear Admiral Graf Spee's far east squadron, had been raiding across the Indian Ocean and had chosen that moment to attack the wireless station, unaware that a large Allied naval force was passing nearby. It was a fatal error. The larger and better armed Sydney was able to dispatch the smaller Emden after a long battle.

A lighter used to transport troops at Gallipoli.

First World War flying gear and a Light Horse uniform on the right.

Second World War uniforms - British colonial, German landsser and French colonial.

Australian Second World War fatigues, as worn in the Pacific campaign.

Japanese imperial officer's uniform.

HMAS Sydney (WWII). The old Sydney of First World War fame was scrapped in the 1930s and replaced with a modern, British built ship. The Sydney would later be sunk in action against the German raider, Kormoran, off the West Australian coast in 1941, with the loss of all hands.
http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/fact-sheets/fs111.aspx

Naval uniforms.

The Shrine of Remembrance is both an impressive monument in its own right as well as a decent and informative museum. https://www.shrine.org.au/home