The First World War sits firmly in our collective conscience as a period of terrible human suffering and the loss of almost an entire generation of young men. Yet, paradoxical though it may seem, from that death and destruction there was much to be proud of. Women found employment and earned wages on an hitherto unprecedented scale. Men displayed a willingness to support their country and make sacrifices for their fellow men-in-arms as never before. The newly-independent countries of Australia, New Zealand and Canada forged their identities on the slopes of the Gallipoli Peninsula and Vimy Ridge. Many men found their voice through the graphic and evocative war poems that are still recited today. There were also great advances in technology. Aircraft began to play an increasingly significant role in warfare and the lumbering, clunking tanks began to dominate the battlefield.
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