A Signaller’s Story:
The Extraordinary War Diaries
of Bert Turner

Opening Thursday 22th April, weekdays and Saturdays, 10am - 4pm

Herbert ‘Bert’ chronicled his daily life during the Great War; from Fremantle with the 11th Battalion in 1915, to France with the 51st in 1916, and the 4th Division Signals Company in 1918.

He witnessed the taking of Leane’s Trench at Gallipoli, and the Battles of Messines and the Somme on the Western Front, while snatching sleep despite biting louse, and dodging ‘iron rations’ that were, at times, a little too close for comfort.

His meticulous diaries are an extraordinary insight into Bert’s experiences of War. They are also a very valuable historic record given their accuracy and detail. Passed down through his family, they’ve been transcribed by the team at the Museum of Perth in a project overseen by renowned WWI researcher and historian Shannon Lovelady, and compiled into a unique and weighty publication by new staff member Matt Willemsen.

The exhibition ‘A Signaller’s Story’, by the Museum of Perth, is also on the ground floor of the Atlas building.