Defending the Pacific 100 years ago
When the First World War was declared, the most immediate military threats for Australia lay to our north, in German New Guinea and on Thursday Island in the Torres Strait.
On 9 August 1914, the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF) began forming in Sydney, and were joined by 1000 volunteers from North Queensland’s Kennedy Regiment and a Citizen’s Force—a group of men from North Queensland’s rifle clubs.
The Defending the Pacific exhibition was developed by the Queensland Government in conjunction with the Queensland Museum to commemorate this significant event. The exhibitions—located throughout regional Queensland featured a selection of 1914 diary excerpts, images, archives and newspaper articles and enabled Queenslanders to gain an understanding of the contribution by North and Far North Queenslanders.
