Members of many Australian families, men and women, present and past, may have served in the Army, Navy, Air Force or Red Cross during war times. Others may have stayed home to make weapons, or to keep the farm or family going.

Many families keep memorabilia to remind them of these intense, demanding and difficult times in their lives. These memorabilia are often emotionally charged items. They can tell us much, and reveal fascinating stories if we know how to ‘interpret’ them — to ask the best questions. Participants in this activity will learn how to:

• find military memorabilia in the family

• work out what that memorabilia tells about the person to whom it belongs or belonged

• decide why the family has kept that item

• value the place of that item in the family’s history.

Working through the activity

This four-step activity leads particpants through the process of finding and identifying items of military memorabilia. All through the process questions are posed to amplify the learning process.  The activity is completely self-contained within a single, 19 page Acrobat™ file (1,127kb).

All that needs to be done is to download the Acrobat™ file, use it as an electronic document, or print pages from it as required and distribute them to activity participants.

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