On 25 April every year Australians commemorate Anzac Day. It is Australia's sacred day. The day has the same significance in New Zealand, Australia's counterpart in the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (the ANZACs) at Gallipoli. Includes links to other useful/interesting sites.

Anzacs

Includes the names & details of 3219 soldiers buried in 26 Cemeteries at Gallipoli plus 6393 who are listed on Memorials. Also has stories, explanations and poetry.

Online searchable databases including: Nominal Rolls, Roll of Honor,  Honors and awards, Commemorative Roll.

This site is the result of a State library project about local war memorials and honour rolls.  Complete with pictures, information, and a  listing of all the names. You can search by location or postcode or by a specific name.

Information and activities covering a wide aspect of Australians at war.

Mapping our Anzacs

'Mapping our Anzacs' provides a place-based interface to the 375,000+ WWI service records in series B2455. So instead of just typing a query into a search box, you can explore the records through a series of maps showing where service people were born or enlisted. Currently there are about 11,000 places marked on the maps, but this number will increase as we continue to clean up the place name data.

Obviously if you're after a specific individual you're probably better off searching the main database through Record Search/Name Search. 'Mapping our Anzacs' is meant to encourage browsing and exploration, allowing users to finds connections and contexts that might not otherwise be visible. Of course there's also the visualisation factor -- just seeing, for example, the density of markers across the UK.

Markers on the maps are linked to lists of names, which are in turn linked to details about individuals drawn from B2455. Details pages provide links to Record Search and to digitized copies of the service records. From the customized file browser (just click on the thumbnail) you can print out a complete file with a single click. There are also links on a number of the field that allow users to explore further -- finding out, for example, who else was born in a particular location, or who else gave the same name for their next-of-kin.  

Another interesting feature, which is not immediately visible, is the presence of links between the WWI records and WWII records in cases where the service records were amalgamated. We've identified more than 3000 cases of this and have so far created links in 1500+ cases. For example see: http://mappingouranzacs.naa.gov.au/details-permalink.aspx?barcode_no=3022831

Note too that the above link is a permalink that can be easily bookmarked or shared.

'Mapping our Anzacs' also encourages user-generated content. Users can add scrapbook posts about individuals. These are posted on a separate scrapbook site (http://our-anzacs.tumblr.com/) and linked from the individual's details page. Users can also create 'tributes' -- customized lists of names of people significant to them. You can see recent scrapbook and tribute posts at the bottom of the home page.

From this page you can access a growing collection of maps relevant to campaigns in all wars which Australians were involved.

Awarded to Australians.

Photos and stories of Australia and Australians at War.

This site is an accompaniment to the award-winning documentary of the life of Red Cross nurse Marion McCune Rice. Find out about her life through her letters, and read about the lives of other WWI heroines. There’s a great collection of links to other women’s history sites.

Every War Memorial in NSW is listed here, with photos. You can search for a particular war veteran, do any research through the larger agencies and find out about the associated traditions. This is a terrific site for those interested in genealogy.

Battle of the Somme

The Battle of the Somme began on 1 July 1916. It lasted for five months and was one of the most bitterly contested and costly battles of the First World War. Click on the links to find out how the Battle was planned and fought, about the experiences of the people who were involved and about the battlefields today.

The first hand accounts from those involved in the war make far more interesting reading than dry, second-hand historical accounts.

Full-text information including primary documents, articles, a timeline, posters, songs and photos.

This is maintained by the Federal Government, to commemorate the landing of Australian and New Zealand troops (Anzacs) in Turkey on April 25, 1915. Maps, book excerpts and first-hand accounts. Includes the debate as to whether the troops were actually landed in the right place to begin with.

Includes a variety of history topics associated with the subject.

This site is a history of the "people, places and events that comprised one of the worst calamities in modern history."

This archive is a perfect resource for anyone who is doing in-depth research into WWI. It's a collection of documents from the time from all around the world, such as conventions, treaties and official papers, memorials and personal reminiscences. You can search by keyword, category or year of publications. Includes an extensive image archive and a biographical dictionary.

Information broken down into chunks.

These pages catalogue the official reports of the most important event in Royal Air Force history, the Battle fought over Britain between the 10th July and 31st October 1940. For the first time, the complete Fighter Command Operational Diaries for the period have been published in full, day by day over the whole period the Battle. Supporting this official text are a series of pages detailing such facets of the Battle as the Commanders, the Aircraft and the changes in Tactics on both sides as the situation developed.

June 2006 news article about the unveiling of an information panel that marks the location of the Berlin bunker where Adolph Hitler killed himself near the end of World War II. Also includes an interactive guide to Hitler's bunker and links to related material about World War II and the Holocaust. In English and German. From the website for the German newspaper Der Spiegel.

A collection of material related to the (primarily military) history of the Second World War completely cross-referenced via hypertext links.

On September 2, 1945, the Japanese representatives signed the official Instrument of Surrender, prepared by the War Department and approved by President Truman. It set out in eight short paragraphs the complete capitulation of Japan.

Kamikaze Diaries: Reflections of Japanese Student Soldiers

Excerpt from a book with diaries from World War II Japanese kamikaze pilots. Describes how "toward the end of World War II, when an American invasion of Japan's homeland seemed imminent ... a navy vice admiral, invented the tokkotai ('Special Attack Force') operation" for which kamikaze were necessary. "Of the approximately four thousand tokkotai pilots, about three thousand were so-called boy pilots. ... Roughly one thousand were 'student soldiers.'" From the University of Chicago Press.

Biographies of the entire major personalities, as well as graphic photographs.

Propaganda

Website companion to the 2009 exhibition "State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda," which "reveals how the Nazi Party used modern techniques as well as new technologies and carefully crafted messages to sway millions with its vision for a new Germany." Includes a timeline, information about the themes used in Nazi propaganda, a gallery of propaganda examples, and resources for further study. From the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

A Resource for Teachers and Students. This site provides information on the science, the scientists, and the nations involved in the development of the atomic bomb. There are also lesson plans and suggested resources for further research, including Web links, print, and nonprint materials. From the Contra Costa County (California) Office of Education.

The collection contains 416 printed maps and covers June 6, 1944 to July 26, 1945. The maps show daily details on military campaigns in western Europe. They can be browsed by date or place (Ardennes, Europe, France (Normandy), or Germany).

This site contains information from the service records of some one million Australian individuals who served during World War Two.

This is an interesting exploration of the art created by the prisoners at the concentration camp Auschwitz.

"What greater purpose can history have than to try and lead people toward a possible understanding of how this crime could ever have happened? Without an understanding of how it happened, you can't begin to look around the world and think why it might happen again."

 Holocaust Denial

Questions and answers from a Jewish perspective about Holocaust denial. "One of the most notable anti-Semitic propaganda movements to develop over the past two decades has been the organized effort to deny or minimize the established history of Nazi genocide against the Jews." Topics include origins of the movement (including the Institute for Historical Review), related American legal precedents, academic interest, and denial themes. Part of the Jewish Virtual Library from the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise.

Historical overview of the Holocaust in this city in Poland where the Warsaw Ghetto was established in 1940 with the decree that "required all Jewish residents of Warsaw to move into a designated area, which German authorities sealed off from the rest of the city." Includes images and links to several related articles about the Warsaw Ghetto and the Warsaw Uprising. From the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Perhaps no event in the 20th century (or in recorded history) has been as well-documented and archived as the Holocaust that took place in Nazi Germany during the late 1930s and 1940s. Many groups and organizations have sought to place some of the materials they have collected online, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is one such organization that should be applauded for their efforts, which include this recent online collection. This particular collection features interviews with six Holocaust survivors who came to the United States after their experiences. With a sombre background of harvest-colored leaves on thin branches, the site presents narratives organized into one of several themes, including “Speaking Out”, “Faith, Guilt & Responsibility”, and “Arriving in New York”. Each interview is intercut with narration that helps explain the background of each survivor’s story, which helps unfamiliar listeners with the context of each experience. Tremendously powerful, this site could be used in the classroom.

Multimedia entry point to the Holocaust of World War II. Includes history, lesson plans, arts and literature

Narratives of women holocaust survivors.

which began in October, 1945. 24 Nazis and 6 Nazi organizations were tried for "the systematic murder of millions of people" and other war crimes. The site includes an introduction to the indictments and defendants, the creation of the tribunal, and selected transcripts from the trials. From Court TV.

This exhibit focuses on the International Military Tribunal trials of World War II war criminals held in Nuremberg, Germany, starting in 1945. Features a photo collection, images of artifacts (such as the tribunal program) and audio clips relating to testimony, and associated material. From the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Fought during the first three days of July 1863, the Battle of Gettysburg was one of the most critical battles of the American Civil War and occurred at a time when the fate of the nation hung in the balance, the summer of 1863.

The website of the Cambodian government task force for the "preparation of the proceedings for the trial of senior Khmer Rouge leaders" features an extensive FAQ on the Khmer Rouge regime, which "took power on 17 April 1975 and was overthrown on 7 January 1979. More than three million people perished." Also provides a chronology (starting in 1997), legislation, and other documents related to the task force and the trial. In Khmer, English, and French.

An overview of the history and issues of the establishment of Palestine, with a collection of maps and a database of United  Nations (UN) documents related to Palestine and the Arab-Israeli  conflict. From the Division for Palestinian Rights, established by  the UN General Assembly.

This site provides information based on declassified documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) about the U.S.-Iraq relationship. It provides annotated images of documents relating to the U.S. relationship with Iraq in the early 1980s, weapons of mass destruction, Desert Storm, and 1992 Iraqi war criminals. Also includes aerial photos. From the National Security Archive at the George Washington University Library.

This page is a guide to studying the Vietnam War using online resources only. Online histories are neither deep nor broad; the general history sites below provide a brief overview, and most of the other resources address narrow (although fascinating) topics. It's best to use these resources to determine whether you'd like to continue studying this subject using books, as well as to supplement the available printed literature.

Music as Torture/Music as Weapon

2006 paper on "the systematic use of music as a weapon of war" by the American military. "After briefly tracing the development of acoustic weapons in the late 20th century ... [the paper summarizes] what can be known about the theory and practice of using music to torture detainees in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo." Also provides analysis of related blog discussions. From Trans, the Transcultural Music Review, promoted by the Society for Ethnomusicology.

Interesting site.

Includes a variety of history topics associated with the subject.