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  • The Aussie and the Mademoiselle from Armentières

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    Pat Hanna's 1930 recording of the iconic World War One song Mademoiselle from Armentières continued the tradition of adapting the words of this famous song to reflect the different experiences of soldiers during the war. Hanna himself served with the Otago Regiment from New Zealand.

    Recorded in Australia on the Vocalion label, this version (with lyrics by Hanna), tells the story of an Australian “Digger” who falls for the French mademoiselle, only to leave her heartbroken when he is killed at Bullecourt (1917) in Northern France. It was a popular number performed as part of Hanna’s “Diggers” vaudeville concert party which toured Australia and New Zealand for many years after the war.

  • Entertaining the troops, “The Kiwis” concert party

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    The campaigns of the Western Front saw men serving in frontline combat positions in the trenches usually for a few days to a week at a time. In between, units were rotated back to ‘reserve’ positions several kilometres away from the Front, where boredom was yet another enemy to contend with.

    In an attempt to keep the troops entertained, concert parties were formed by the men, with names such as “The Pierrots”, “The Tuis” and “The Kiwis.”

    Bill McKeon, who served in the Wellington Infantry and had been in a concert party himself, had fond memories of “The Kiwis” and the high-quality shows they put on at Nieppe, near Armentieres in 1917, which he recalled in a radio interview with Neville Webber.

  • Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty

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    This song, in which a series of soldiers yearn to return to ‘Blighty’, or Britain, was hugely popular in 1917.

  • Never Mind the Food Controller

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    An uplifting music hall song, intended to provide comfort during wartime food rationing.

  • I’m Going Back Again to Yarrawonga

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    "I’ll linger longer in Yarrawonga"

  • The Rose of No Man’s Land

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    A sentimental song composed as a tribute to Red Cross battlefield nurses.

  • What Did You Do in the Great War, Daddy?

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    The subject of a child innocently shaming their father for failing to carry out military service was a commonly used theme of war propaganda.

  • Every Girl is a Fisher Girl

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    This rousing music hall song by Australian-born Florrie Forde, popular during WW1, suggests that every girl is ‘fishing for a mate’.

  • Australian soldiers in France

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    Prime minister William (Billy) Hughes, Sir General Rawlinson and Major General Monash visited AIF soldiers in bombed out Péronne, Somme, France, July 1918. For almost the whole of the war, the town of Péronne was occupied by German troops; it was liberated by Australian troops on 2 September 1918.

  • "When We March Through Berlin Town"

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    When We March Through Berlin Town is a jaunty tune clearly aimed to lift the spirits the troops and encourage men to enlist. The soldier at the centre of the song says farewell to his sweetheart, Jeannie, because the King of England is needing ‘laddies big and broad’. He assures Jeannie that he will wear her sprig of heather in his old Scotch cap when they defeat the Germans and occupy Berlin. The tone of the song is one of supreme optimism.

  • “Tell My Daddy to Come Home Again“

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    The songs sung by music hall artists during the First World War were often filled with war fever and patriotism. Propaganda messages promoted through song could appeal both emotionally as well as rationally and had the added benefit of being easily remembered and repeated by the average citizen. Tell My Daddy to Come Home Again: The Evening News Lonely Soldiers Song, recorded by Stanely Kirkby in 1915, is one such song, with lyrics written from the perspective of a child lamenting their father who has gone off to war.

  • “Brave Women Who Wait”

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    For the war effort to be successful, it was not only men who needed to be recruited. The women on the home front also had to show their commitment, so they were also the target of propaganda campaigns. Brave Women Who Wait reminds the general population that while the men may be dying on the battlefields, the women were also making sacrifices at home.

  • "All the Boys in Khaki Get the Nice Girls"

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    This light-hearted recruitment tune composed in 1915 by Tom Mellor and Harry Gifford was a British wartime hit and claimed a uniform was all it took to attract 'nice' girls

  • ”The Tanks that Broke the Ranks”

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    Written and composed by English music hall writers Harry Castling and Harry Carlton,The Tanks that Broke the Ranks, was a popular music hall song celebrating the first use of tanks on the battlefield. The sheet music was released in December 1916, just three months after the first use of tanks in war by the British, during the Battle of the Somme.

    Although both sides regarded the tanks with interest and awe when first deployed, their success was mixed. Of the 49 tanks shipped to the Somme, only nine made it across ‘no man's land’ to the German lines.

    The song references many prominent German military leaders of the day, including Kaiser Wilhelm, Alfred von Tirpitz, Paul von Hindenburg and Prince Wilhelm. It was very popular in music halls in 1917. This recording was sung by internationally acclaimed Australian performer and recording artist Peter Dawson under the pseudonym ‘Will Strong,’ which he used for music hall recordings.

  • He waiata mā te hoia kāinga ngākau koingō

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    I Runga o ngā Puke (From the Top of the Hills) is a waiata Māori written by Paraire Tomoana. He composed it at the request of a cousin, Ngahiwi Petiha, who wrote to Paraire while recuperating from a gunshot wound in an English hospital. 

    Paraire’s son, Taanga Tomoana, explains the story behind the lyrics and sings the waiata himself, in this radio interview in 1970.

  • Singing about Niuean soldiers who volunteered

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    The song ‘Lologo tau kautau Niue ne oatu he Felakutau Fakamua he Lalolagi’ was sung by the men from the Pacific island of Niue who volunteered to join New Zealand’s Māori Contingent in 1916. They served in France alongside Maori troops in the newly formed Pioneer Battalion, and suffered greatly from conditions colder than they had ever imagined.

  • ‘It's a Long Way to Tipperary’

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    In this animated film, a British soldier dodges bullets and explosions. He grits his teeth as he thinks, ‘It’s a Long Way to Tipperary’. If you want to sing along, as cinema audiences did when it was presented, the lyrics are right there on the screen.

  • ‘Sons of Australia’

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    'Sons of Australia' was composed by Felix McGlennon in 1900, during Australia’s participation in the Second Boer War. It became popular again during the First World War, and this version was recorded in 1915.

  • ‘They Were There! There! There!’

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    The lyrics of the song ‘They Were There! There! There!’ were written by Private Harley Cohen shortly after his return from Gallipoli in September 1915. He was still recovering from wounds sustained during the Battle of Lone Pine.

  • ‘Only One of the Toys’

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    The dismal lyrics of ‘Only One of the Toys’ suggest that the soldier in question is merely a toy with no authority. He eventually dies on the battlefield, fulfilling the destiny he predicted to his son before leaving for war. Despite its gloomy subject, this 1914 song was surprisingly popular in its day.

  • ‘Heroes of the Dardanelles’

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    The Gallipoli campaign inspired a number of patriotic songs like this one, that helped to build the Anzac legend back home and give Australia an independent identity from Britain.

  • Good to Go / E pai ana, Ka haere

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    The Second Māori Contingent is shown parading at Narrow Neck Training Camp in Auckland before leaving for the front on the SS Waitemata on 19 September 1915. According to the waiata “Te Ope Tuatahi”, composed by Apirana Ngata, the recruits of the Second Contingent were drawn mainly from the East Coast tribes of Ngāti Mahaki, Ngāti Hauiti and descendants of Porourangi. Among them was Second Lieutenant Hēnare Mōkena Kōhere of Ngāti Porou. Kōhere died of wounds on 16 September 1916 following the Battle of the Somme. He is mentioned in the sixth verse of “Te Ope Tuatahi” with the phrase: I haere ai Hēnare, I patu ki te pakanga, Ki Para-nihi ra ia. ("Farewell, O Hēnare,Me tō wiwi, and your 'clump of rushes' who fell while fighting in France". The ‘clump of rushes’ is thought to refer to the men under Kohere’s command who died alongside him.)

  • E pari ra / The tide surges

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    In this sound clip Tānga Tomoana describes how his father Paraire Hēnare Tomoana came to write lyrics for the well known and popular waiata E Pari Rā. He wrote the song in 1918 at the request of his friend Maku-i-te-Rangi Ellison whose son, Whakatomo Ellison, died in the war. Paraire wrote it as a memorial and lament for all fallen soldiers. Speculation is that Tomoana used the tune from a German Waltz, the Blue Eye’s Waltz to base his song on. Many other popular songs were written by Paraire including Pōkarekare ana, Hoea rā te waka nei, Tahi nei taru kino, Hoki hoki tonu mai. These are still performed by New Zealanders to this day. E Pari Rā was adopted by the New Zealand Navy as their official song.

  • The fleet's afloat

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    Prior to radio, songs were largely heard performed in music halls. People would then visit music shops to purchase the sheet music of tunes they liked. Many homes had a piano, and at least one member of the family knew how to play it, providing a common form of entertainment and socialization. Music shop owners would often employ a pianist to perform during business hours so customers could hear the sheet music played live. If a song was particularly popular, it would then be recorded by professional musicians.

  • New furs from Georges

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    While a bitter war raged on the other side of the world, some wealthy Melbourne residents carried on with their lives just as usual. This 1915 newsreel item shows women modelling expensive fur coats, stoles, muffs and hats for Georges Department Store in Collins Street, Melbourne. Georges was a 'favoured spot with most of the smartest people in Melbourne'. The furs shown here would have been beyond the reach of most Melbourne residents at that time. As the war progressed, public condemnation of excessive or wasteful fashion became more prominent in the press.

    Originally silent, this footage has had the 1911 song Every Girl is a Fisher Girl added.

  • 'When the war is over, mother dear'

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    Though your heart is aching, mother dear
    For your soldier boy never fear
    I’ll come back some day, and kiss your tears away
    When the war is over, mother dear

    In this somewhat maudlin song, written and recorded in England in 1915, a soldier laments being far away from home and from his mother, and promises to return to her.

  • The landing of the Australian troops in Egypt

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    This commercial sound recording includes what might be the first recorded version of 'Advance Australia Fair', the song that became Australia's national anthem. In music and drama, this production recreates the 1914 arrival of the Australian troops in Egypt, before their departure for Gallipoli. It may have been aimed at giving those on the home front a sense of the soldiers’ lives. The recording is very celebratory and full of pride at the role Australia was playing in the Great War.

  • 'If England wants a hand, well, here it is'

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    Comes a message o’er the ocean
    A message to our sunny land
    England calls Australia’s soldiers
    We must answer her command
    If England wants a hand, well, here it is…

    The lyrics of this rousing, patriotic ballad were written by one of Australia’s most popular vaudeville (music hall) performers, with music by a noted Sydney songwriter. 'If England Wants a Hand, Well, Here It Is' was used on the soundtrack of the 1981 Australian feature film Gallipoli.

  • Boys of the Dardanelles

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    Boys of the Dardanelles
    They faced the shot and the shells
    Down in hist'ry their fame will go

    The patriotic ballad ‘ Boys of the Dardanelles ', composed by Australian writer and singer Marsh Little, was particularly effective for encouraging recruitment. This version was performed by the prolific English singer and recording artist Stanley Kirkby.

  • Australia will be there

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    Of all the patriotic songs of WW1, 'Australia Will Be There' is probably the one best known to Australians. It became the marching song of the Australian Expeditionary Forces and was used to rally the troops as they marched away from home. 'Australia Will Be There' was written in 1915 by Walter ‘Skipper’ Francis. The song quotes from ‘ Auld Lang Syne’ in its chorus and is often given its longer title, 'For Auld Land Syne - Australia Will Be There '.

  • 'Soldier sentry of the foam'

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    After taking part in major naval battles at Heliogland Bight, Dogger Bank and Jutland, the gifted battler cruiser HMS New Zealand returned to New Zealand after the war. This song was written in honour of her triumphant 1919 tour by Margaret Sinclair (lyrics) and Bert Rache (music).