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ABC Open: World War I: The dead man's penny

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Coin sits on old photographs
ABC Open: World War I: The dead man's penny

SUBJECTS:  History

YEARS:  9–10


Imagine the feelings of a family when they learn of the death of a son during World War I.

How might they react to receiving a giant penny for a life sacrificed?

This ABC Open program explores the role of the 'dead man's penny', the token given by the British government to many families of British and Commonwealth troops who died in the Great War.


Things to think about

  1. 1.When Britain went to war against Germany in 1914, Australians rushed to enlist. Most believed that war was a glorious adventure and men should be willing to fight and die for the British Empire. Later, as the lists of those killed or terribly wounded grew ever longer, many Australians came to doubt their earlier beliefs. For a small country, the losses were enormous.
  2. 2.Who was the likely original recipient of the 'dead man's penny' that Kaye Kuhn and Jenny Slade located at Longreach RSL Club? Why did some families send their pennies back? How old was Terence James Baker when he enlisted and when he died? Although 1,150,000 dead man's pennies were produced, why did only a few go to Australian families?
  3. 3.Look carefully at the image of Terence Baker's dead man's penny. Explain what is represented by the following features: the writing around the perimeter; the tall female figure; the dolphins; the lion; the eagle torn apart by a lion. Do you think such a token would have done much to console a family for their loss?
  4. 4.The Longreach memorial on which Terence Baker's name is inscribed is one of many across Australia that honour the 60,000 Australians who died in World War I. Visit your local memorial and use the inscriptions to explain why the sacrifices in World War I are still commemorated.



Date of broadcast: 1 Jan 2013


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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