Army biscuit No 4, c 1914–16, wholemeal flour, gift of Mrs EA Chinner, 1965, H28109

First Lieutenant Eric Chinner sent this biscuit back home to his parents during the early years of WWI. The message inscribed on this biscuit reads: A soldier has to have good teeth and this is why. Many soldiers were known to break their teeth eating a 'hard tack' biscuit and resorted to soaking the biscuits in water, grating them down to a porridge or, like Eric, writing messages on them and sending them back home.

Christmas billy tin, 1914, realia, TP Bennett Collection, gift of Mrs M Bennett, 1976, H39269

This Christmas billy tin was one of the thousands distributed to troops during the 1914 Christmas season. TP Bennett spent Christmas Day on Lemnos Island, after being evacuated from Gallipoli on 16 December. His billy was packed by Mrs AE Cooke of Craigs Hotel, Ballarat, and contained a pipe, two tins of tobacco, peanuts, 10 envelopes, pudding, curry powder, laces, two chocolates, veal and tongue, a pencil, digestive tablet and a handkerchief.

'Cricket ball' hand grenade, c 1915, realia, TP Bennett, 1976, H39269

This Turkish grenade found at Gallipoli was colloquially known as a 'cricket ball' grenade because of the 19-second pause between the fuse being lit and the grenade exploding. The proximity of the trenches, particularly during the battle of Lone Pine, meant that Australian troops were able to catch the grenade and send it back to the Turks.

Draughts set, 1915, realia, TP Bennett Collection, gift of Mrs M Bennett, 1976, H39267

Australian troops at Gallipoli were industrious and inventive, making periscopes, 'jam tin' bombs, stationery, cooking equipment and games to entertain themselves. This draughts set was made by men stationed at Quinn's Post, one of the most dangerous points on the peninsula. An improvised wooden draughts board was found at Quinn's Post in 1919, and is now in the collection of the Australian War Memorial.

Victor Rupert Laidlaw, In the front line, Anzac Cove, c 1915, gelatin silver photograph, gift of Mrs E Barker, 1984, H84.356/39

Victor Laidlaw was a private in the 2nd Field Ambulance during WWI. He kept a diary and took many photographs, documenting his wartime experiences.

WWI gas mask, leather, metal, fabric, gift of Mrs Norman McLaren Young, 1976, H36795

The 14th Australian Infantry Battalion saw heavy action during Norman McLaren Young’s service in France and Belgium, including the battles for the Hindenburg Line and Amiens. Both sides made heavy use of chemical weapons but the 1917 introduction of mustard gas intensified the horror of chemical warfare. The gas caused blisters, bleeding lungs and blindness, and gas masks provided no protection.

S Langfier, photographer, Portrait of Jessie Traill, c 1915, gelatin silver photographs, MS 7975

With a passion for art and travel, Jessie Traill pursued etching and painting, studying in both Australia and Europe under Frederick McCubbin, Bernard Hall and Frank Brangwyn. In 1909, she held her first solo exhibition in Melbourne. During WWI, Jessie worked at a hospital near Rouen from July 1915 until February 1919, caring for the sick and wounded men fighting on the frontline.

Savile Lumley, Daddy, What Did You Do in the Great War?, London, printed by Johnson, Riddle & Co Ltd, 1915, gift of Great Britain Parliamentary Recruiting Committee, 1914–17, H33861/18

Published by the British War Office in 1915, this widely reproduced poster uses emotive language in the call for participation in WWI. At a time when enlistment was low, this image served as a powerful reminder to 'do one's duty' for future generations.

Pen belonging to Eric Chinner, metal, Manuscripts Collection, RA.2016.19

These precious fragments of a pen are a poignant reminder of the lives lost during WWI. For many years, Eric Chinner's family did not know exactly where he was buried following his death on the battlefield in July 1916. It was not until 2009, during excavations at Fromelles, that Chinner’s body, along with those of 250 other Australians, was identified and reinterred at the Pheasant Wood cemetery in France. Fragments of Chinner's pen were found with the remains of his uniform, and were returned to his family in Australia.

Vida Goldstein, gelatin silver photograph, Maurice Blackburn Papers, MS 11749

Vida Goldstein was born in Portland, Victoria, in 1869. A veteran of the women's suffrage movement and a staunch pacifist, she used her newspaper, The woman voter, to protest WWI and Australia's involvement in the conflict. In 1915, she became the chair of the newly established Women's Peace Army, and actively campaigned against conscription in the October 1916 and December 1917 plebiscites.

George Hubert Wilkins (attributed), Wading through the mud in grid trench, near Gueudecourt, in France, in December 1916, silver gelatin photograph, H37630/8

Photographers George Wilkins and Frank Hurley spent the first years of WWI in similarly gruelling circumstances: Hurley stranded in the Antarctic after Shackleton's Endurance was crushed in pack ice, and Wilkins stranded in the Arctic after abandoning the Karluk during the disastrous Canadian Arctic Expedition. On arrival on the Western Front, Hurley was charged with making photographs for British propaganda purposes; Wilkins was to make images for the historical record.

Department of Repatriation, Vocational training – Millinery classes for soldiers' widows, from the album After – The Digger carries on, 1919, H2014.1077/11

Following WWI, the Department of Repatriation was established to assist with postwar rehabilitation, pensions and medical care. The department administered training, education and a war-service home scheme, and set the framework for the soldier settlement scheme. For many soldiers and their dependants, however, the profound effects of the war would remain a lifelong challenge.

The Argus, Troops wave farewell from the Empress of Canada, Melbourne, c 1940, H98.101/1974

The Argus photographs trace the journeys of many Victorian men and women who enlisted, served, lived and died as soldiers and nurses in WWII. They also depict the wide range of experiences of those on Victoria's home front, from being a member of the Women's Land Army to digging an air-raid shelter in the backyard. When the end of the war was declared, huge crowds of Victorians gathered in Melbourne to celebrate.