by Juliana Byers | Apr 24, 2024 | Australian History, Ballarat, Newspapers, Podcast, Political History, Pre-1900, Social History, The Eureka Stockade
In April 1855, four months after the violent clash at the Eureka Stockade and following on from thirteen highly publicisesd high treason trials, an open letter appeared in the popular Melbourne newspaper The Argus. It’s author was none other than Peter Lalor,...
by Juliana Byers | Apr 14, 2024 | Australian History, Colonisation & Invasion, Indigenous Australia, Memorials, Military History, Museum, Pre-1900, Redcoats, Social History, The Australian Wars, True Crime, War Crime
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are warned that the following post contains references to colonial-era atrocities. The names of individuals who have died do not appear in this post. In February of 2023, the current chair of the Australian War Memorial...
by Juliana Byers | Apr 14, 2024 | Afghanistan, Military History, Modern Warfare, Recommended Reads
It is easier to consume stories of war long sanitised of personal suffering. After the cost of grief and the smell of death fades, we are left with the polished bones of valour and sacrifice. That other serious investment, the hurtful present, takes more from us....
by Juliana Byers | Apr 14, 2024 | Australian History, Celebrations, Social History
Having grown up in New Zealand and lived for the last twenty years in Australia, I have known nothing except a summer Christmas. Shorts, sunhats, trips to the beach, barbecues, and icy cold drinks on the 25th of December have been the norm for me all my life. I’m yet...
by Juliana Byers | Apr 14, 2024 | Afghanistan, Military History, Modern Warfare, True Crime, War Crime, World History
In June 2023, I wrote a post about the then recent finding in what had been dubbed the “Defamation Trial of the Century”: Ben Roberts-Smith vs. Fairfaix Media Pty. Ltd. For those who need a refresh, Ben Roberts-Smith VC MG was a former corporal in the Australian...