Project blog

Noreen Powell, Sid Carroll’s niece, with the Thuillier photograph. Sid is in the sidecar.

The exhibition of Louis and Antoinette Thuillier photographs – Remember me: the lost diggers of Vignacourt – is on display at the Australian War Memorial until 31 July. Mary Lou wrote last year about the discovery of the Sid Carroll photograph that features in this exhibition, and more recently we interviewed Sid’s niece Noreen and great-niece Shane.

An edited version of the following piece appears in Issue 13 of the excellent Inside History magazine.

Lots of people had questions about their photos and memorabilia at Scan-a-thon, so we turned to the wider, online community for help. We’ve learnt a lot!

A great story, well told. Thanks to Ross and his wife Kerrie for an excellent evening. Thanks also to Pages & Pages Booksellers and Inside History who joined us on the night.

I wrote a piece for Mosman Council’s website on the Open Day & Scan-a-thon held on 10 November. Librarians and volunteers felt it was a success, and we’ve had great feedback from those who brought in their treasures. We’ve also had a number of calls since the day, and more fascinating items brought in to the Library – and promised!

This is an interesting story – Remarkable Rescue: Four Days in a Shell Hole – and I’m not sure why it wasn’t printed in the Australian newspapers, particularly as the story is noted as originating from Sydney. Perhaps Selwyn’s mother, Mrs Annie Robin, sent details of a letter to the papers. As I have been researching Selwyn’s older brother Herman recently I hope you don’t mind me putting some flesh on the bones of this story.