Themes of love and friendship have been intertwined with war throughout history, and stories of these themes have become legendary to all Australians.
In keeping with this theme, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Warren Snowdon, today launched a new education resource that will help primary and secondary students across Australia learn about our wartime history.
Each primary school in Australia will receive Forever yours: stories of wartime love and friendship, with secondary schools also receiving a teacher’s guidebook, We’ll meet again-Australian stories of love in wartime, later this March.
The books have been produced jointly by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs and the Australian War Memorial.
Love is an emotion that is universally recognised and Forever yours features ten stories illustrating the different types of love between a wife and husband, a mother and son, the bond shared between two brothers, and the love formed between a man and woman from opposite sides of the world, who overcame great odds to be together.
This book has been put together using letters, photos and pages from diaries to show the raw emotion that surrounds not only those deployed overseas, but for those who are left behind to wait for news about their loved one.
We’ll meet again has been specifically designed to be an accompany resource to include learning activities and opportunities for further study using inquiry methods and source documents.
Mr Snowdon believes it is important to find innovative ways to engage students to learn about Australia’s war time history.
“We want today’s students to have an understanding of, and an empathy for, the sacrifice of our servicemen and women, and to be grateful that it was their sacrifices that have given us the freedoms that we enjoy today- the ability to be surrounded by our families and friends, go to school, learn and live freely,” he said.
Many RSL members around the state know of the importance of love, especially in times of war. In the pages of RSL News, many of these stories have been shared. In the Summer 2011 edition of RSL News, George Burtenshaw shares his story of how the love of his wife helped him upon his return from a POW camp during WWII. For your copy visit your local Sub Branch.