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Australians in World War 1

This guide focuses on Australians serving in World War 1. It also includes some information relevant to Great Britain, other Commonwealth nations and other combatant nations. There is a section on nurses and women's war occupations.

War magazines published during World War I

The Library holds war magazines and journals from different nations, including Australia, Britain, Germany and France. 

Many of these present the official view but also include stories which give a soldier's view of the war. Others are excellent for anecdotes, vignettes and humour from the trenches, giving the flavour of a soldier's life.

World War I magazines, bulletins, newsletters and journals are listed on the State Library catalogue.  Go to our catalogue page and type the words world war 1914-1918 in the search box. Change the drop-down menu from 'Everything except articles' to 'Journals & Newspaper titles'. Click search. You can also try the search World War I periodicals. After searching, you can narrow down your results with the options on the right hand side of the page. 

Listed below are some of the war magazines held by the State Library of Victoria.

War magazines list

  • War notes & queries
    • Contains background articles on people, places and history related to the war, as well as a war diary, statistics, photographs and maps.
  • Woman
    • Published by the Australian Women’s National League, the magazine encouraged women to cultivate medicinal herbs and plants, make garments and towels for fund-raising, and donate linen, blankets, bandages, toiletries and pipes to the Red Cross Society.
  • Illustrated war news
    • Consists almost entirely of captioned photographs and illustrations, covering historical and military interests.
  • Navy and army illustrated
    • Well illustrated with photographs, diagrams and maps, this periodical contains articles on the progress of the war, regiments, weapons and personalities.
  • United service gazette
    • Contains articles and news on the war, a war diary, correspondence, articles on high-ranking officers, regimental news and lists of officer casualties.
  • Official bulletin
    • Published daily by the Committee on Public Information, U.S. government.
    • Provides war news, official communiqués, articles on wartime issues in the USA, and casualty lists.

German publications

  • Illustrierte Kriegs-Blatter
    • Contents include a war chronicle, articles, soldiers’ letters, photographs and drawings, poetry and maps.
  • Kriegs-Wochenschau
    • Contains a chronology of war events, as well as short articles and war propaganda, presented from the German side. Compiled from official German reports.