Roland Simpson was an ordinary Queenslander who grew up in the small rural community of Kin Kin, near Gympie, in the south-east of the state. He lived with his parents, sisters and brothers on a farm before enlisting for service in World War 1. He trained at Chermside and Enoggera in Brisbane before sailing for Egypt. He died in England in 1918.

This activity studies an aspect of World War 1 by examining primary source material, that is, actual material from the time period which gives an insight into how the people involved felt, acted and what influenced them. The original primary source materials, concerning R H Simpson's life as a soldier, are now stored in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

[A personal note from Ann Byers: "His personal effects were cherished by his mother and, on the event of her death, were passed to his youngest sister Grace who, in turn, stored them carefully until her own death in 1994 when they were once again carefully stored by Grace's daughter ... my mother".] 

This activity was originally compiled for students at Charters Towers State High School by Ann Byers, Head of Department: Social Science. 

Working through the activity

The activity is designed for individuals or a class, consists of 4 activities, and is completely self-contained within a single, 14 page Acrobat™ file (284kb).

All that needs to be done is to download the Acrobat™ file (once the file is downloaded the activities can be previewed), print pages from it as required and distribute them to activity participants. The pages have provision for participants to record, in writing, their comments  or answers.