Blog category - News
Battlefield Tour 2008: The First Post
11 April 2008 by Robyn Van Dyk.
1 Comment
Battlefield Tours,News, Gallipoli, Western Front
The Memorial’s annual battlefield tour commences this Sunday with several members of the Memorial preparing to set off for the trip. Ashley Ekins, Head of the Military History Section will lead our Gallipoli tour and Nick Fletcher, Senior Curator in Heraldry and Technology will lead the Western Front tour. We will be walking many of the historic battle sites and commemorating Anzac Day with the Dawn Service at Gallipoli and the Australian National Ceremony at Lone Pine. This year is the 90th anniversary of many major battles fought in 1918. The tour will visit Villers-Bretonneux for example, where on the 25 April 1918, a major battle was fought. This year is also the 90th anniversary of Armistice Day.
Ninety years on these battlefield sites still live on in our hearts and memories and those Australians who lost their lives there are not forgotten. I have two poppies to place on this tour one on behalf of an elderly relative the other for a friend.
Throughout the tour I hope to make regular posts about our progress. This is my first battlefield tour but not my first venture into blogging for the Memorial. As the assistant curator of the exhibition Lawrence of Arabia and the Light Horse, I regularly posted articles and biographies for the exhibition blog. I will be taking my laptop and camera to Gallipoli and the Western Front and hope to post regular updates, photographs and stories from the tour. I am also hoping to post some small biographies for those on the tour who have a family history connection to the First World War.
Simpson Prize 2008
31 March 2008 by Andrew Gray.
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Battlefield Tours,News, Simpson Prize Winners
On Tuesday 18 March, the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs announced the winners of the Simpson Prize for 2008. The Simpson Prize is a national competition for year 9 and 10 students which sees eight students, one from each State and Territory, accompanied by two teachers, flown to Gallipoli to attend the Dawn Service and other ANZAC Day ceremonies. The students travelling to Turkey will be contributing to the Memorial blog to share the experiences of their trip.Â
The Memorial provides a battlefield tour guide for the group and hosted a visit for both winner and runner-up students touring the galleries and behind-the-scenes areas.Â
For a list of the students and their winning entries see http://www.afssse.asn.au/simpson/simpson_current.htm
HMAS Sydney
19 March 2008 by Mal Booth.
64 Comments
News
The discovery of HMAS Sydney
The recent reported discoveries of the wrecks of HMAS Sydney and the German raider Kormoran off the coast of Western Australia have fulfilled the hopes of many people who for years have grieved, waited and wondered about exactly what happened to these two ill-fated naval ships.
The sinking of the Sydney is the most terrible loss ever suffered by the Royal Australian Navy. It occurred on 19 November 1941 after a sudden and disastrous battle with the Kormoran. None of Sydney’s complement of 645 men survived. The Kormoran was also sunk, and 80 of its crew died. 317 survivors of the Kormoran’s crew were picked up in the days following the battle. read on
Animals in war
12 March 2008 by Andrew Gray.
10 Comments
Exhibitions,News, Animals in war
An exhibition on animals in war will open at the Memorial in February 2009. A is for Animals will explore a range of themes relating to animals during times of war. The exhibition will explore stories of the Light Horse; the donkeys, camels, horses and other creatures used to transport soldiers and equipment; the pigeons used to carry messages; the dogs who have located injured soldiers and tracked the enemy, and the many and varied animals adopted as mascots and pets. Additionally the exhibition will consider the unwelcome animals in war, such as insects, rats, wild elephants and jungle dwellers, which can make life difficult or even dangerous. read on
What do 70,000 images equal?
12 March 2008 by Kathryn Hicks.
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Collection,From the collection,News, Official records
The Official Records series AWM 95! A three year project consisting of 47 shelves, 234 boxes and 2575 files. AWM 95s are the Commanders’ Diaries of the Australian Army ranging from 1948 to 1975, covering the Malayan Emergency, Malay Peninsula and the Vietnam War. Most diaries consist of a cover with an index, a daily narrative of events, and annexes. The AWM 95 series is the latest digitisation project to be completed by the Australian War Memorial.
‘Naked Birds’ Land at Memorial
28 February 2008 by Leigh Harris.
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Aircraft 1914 - 1918,News, Aircraft Conservation
First World War ‘war birds’ will have their covers restored ready for display at the Australian War Memorial tomorrow.
A special team of French vintage aircraft experts will tomorrow make the ‘last stitch’ of their conservation work on rare First World War aircraft, or ’war birds’ as the aircraft are affectionately known. The war birds are progressively being ‘clothed’ as part of the restoration process, in preparation for the upcoming exhibition, Over the Front.
The most complex work is fitting new camouflage fabric to the German Albatros and Pfalz war birds, which are both over 90 years old. The specialist French conservators are teaching Australian War Memorial staff the use of original techniques and materials to recreate the original design faithfully over the coming months.
Opening at the Memorial in late 2008, Over the front will include five original First World War aircraft:
- Three Australian aircraft- Se5a; Avro 504K trainer and Airco DH9.
- Two rare German fighter planes – an Albatros and a Pfalz
Summer scholars
25 February 2008 by Leigh Harris.
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News
As the Memorial’s three summer vacation scholars for 2008, we have just completed our six week research program. We have been the 63rd, 64th and 65th scholars to participate in the scheme since its establishment in 1985. Our projects were quite diverse:
- Rachel’s researched the response to Cyclone Tracy by the military and the Natural Disasters Organisation, as part of the Official History of Australian Peacekeeping and Post-Cold War Operations;
- Meleah examined the relationship between Australian and American troops on the Western Front in 1918, for an exhibition to be held at the Australian Embassy in Washington DC later this year; and
- Elspeth studied working animals in conflicts from the Boer War to the present, as background to the upcoming ‘A is for Animals’ temporary and travelling exhibition.
Rachel and Mel are undertaking their History Honours studies in the coming year, while Elspeth is about to commence her PhD. We have been grateful for the opportunity to gain valuable research experience, using sources both from the Memorial’s collections and through other Canberra institutions. We have also appreciated the support and assistance provided by the Memorial’s Military History, Research Centre and curatorial sections.
Post written by:
Rachel Imms, Australian National University
Meleah Ward, University of Adelaide
Elspeth Grant, University of Adelaide
More than just a lifeboat
25 February 2008 by Emma Jones.
2 Comments
Family history,From the collection,News,Personal Stories, Australian War Memorial, Collection, Devanha, Gallipoli
Recent visitors to the AWM Treloar Conservation Annex at Mitchell, ACT, introduced through Richard Cruise, Acting Visitor Services Manager, reinforced the sometimes incredible connections that descendants of service personnel have with the relics in the collection.
Arthur Cecil Claude James embarked for Australia in 1914 to visit his elder married sister in Melbourne. He decided to enlist in the Australian Army in January 1915, was posted to Gallipoli, and sailed on HMAT Wiltshire in April of that year.
Arthur suffered various health problems while serving on Gallipoli and his ‘death’ was reported in the Melbourne Age, the article saying ‘he died with a smile on his face’. The family still has the original newspaper cutting. read on
New galleries opening at the Australian War Memorial
20 February 2008 by Bob Crawshaw.
20 Comments
News
On 27 February 2008, the Australian War Memorial’s new Conflicts 1945 to today galleries will open to the public. The galleries combine cutting-edge technology with large iconic objects to tell the stories of Australia’s involvement in conflicts over the past six decades.
As well as Australia’s involvement in peacekeeping operations since 1945, the new galleries cover conflicts in Korea, Malaya, Borneo, Vietnam, and, more recently, in Iraq and Afghanistan.
There are over 30 new audiovisual displays, including Iroquois helicopter sound and light shows, and a re-enactment film of the Battle of Long Tan. Visitors can walk on board the bridge of a warship, the HMAS Brisbane, and see the most recent of the Memorial’s dioramas, the Battle of Kapyong.
The slide show below gives you an idea of what you will see if you visit the new Conflicts 1945 to today galleries.
Colditz Collection
30 January 2008 by Nick Fletcher.
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New acquisitions,News,Personal Stories
Escape maps, medals and military insignia from an infamous German prisoner of war camp are among the latest additions to the Australian War Memorial’s collection.
The items belonged to WA-born Lieutenant JR ‘Jack’ Millet who enlisted in 1940 with 2/11 Infantry Battalion. He served in the Middle East before being captured by the Germans on Crete in May 1941.
After several escape attempts, Millet was sent to Oflag IV-C, the ‘escape-proof’ high security prisoner of war camp for officers popularly known as ‘Colditz’.
Millet was famed for producing high quality escape maps, essential documents for allied prisoners trying to escape from occupied Europe. He was one of approximately 20 Australians interned at Colditz. The last survivor of that group, he died in Perth in 1999. read on
