Especially commissioned by the ABC to mark the centenary of the First World War, this 4 part drama-documentary explores the Australian experience of the war through the vivid and evocative personal testimonies of six Australians – revealed in letters, diaries, speeches and newspaper articles – as the events of the war unfold at home and on the frontline. Driven by human stories, rather than the detail of military history, the series offers an opportunity to get close to the actual experience of war, and to learn how it changed the lives of those involved.Army nurse Kit McNaughton reveals her struggle with the nursing hierarchy, the gruelling workload, and the bloody horrors of war. Foot soldier Archie Barwick leaves one of the most detailed and revealing accounts of the gruelling conditions suffered by young Australian soldiers. The controversial and volatile General Harold ‘Pompey’ Elliott offers a frank insight into events through a stream of candid letters he sends to his wife. Labourer’s son and organiser of the Industrial Workers of the World, Tom Barker, campaigns vehemently against conscription, whilst the fearless revolutionary feminist Vida Goldstein campaigns for peace. And the conservative Eva Hughes, President of the Australian Women’s National League, encourages the war effort with her belief in King, country and a wife’s duty to stand by her man. The War That Changed Us uses dramatic reconstruction, location filming, expert analysis and colourised black and white archive to tell a gripping tale spanning three continents over four brutal years. The events of 1914-18 not only change the course of human history, but would also test the mettle of one of the world’s newest nations - Australia.
