Memorial Articles
The Memorial boasts a staff of subject specialists in all aspects of military history and museum practice.
Our articles and our Encyclopedia allow subject specialists to share their knowledge on Australian military history.
They also provide a way for us to take a closer look at the people and the stories behind the history and our museum collection.
![Looking towards Euribaiwa on the Kokoda Track](/sites/default/files/styles/card_view/public/37838/summaryimage/026710_2.jpg?h=d858a3f4&itok=naoLqqGk)
Mapping Kokoda
“Sharp drop”, “Slippery track”, “Rough going” are some of the understated descriptions on a map of the Kokoda Trail.
![Some of Jack’s descendants in attendance at the NAIDOC Week Last Post Ceremony on 9 July 2024.](/sites/default/files/styles/card_view/public/37917/summaryimage/jacks-family.jpg?h=02f5f2c9&itok=LlwMogNo)
Remembering Uncle Jack
2nd Lieutenant Alfred John Hearps holds the distinction of being the only known Indigenous Australian commissioned officer to die during the First World War.
![AWM P01248.001](/sites/default/files/styles/card_view/public/37901/summaryimage/awmp01248.001.png?h=62cdec55&itok=sZJFEoRC)
Service as Citizenship
Current Memorial research estimates that approximately 1,200 Indigenous Australian men attempted to enlist in the First World War.
![images](/sites/default/files/styles/card_view/public/37904/summaryimage/collection011-1-11.jpg?h=86a7d028&itok=VFK6ylnj)
Australian War Memorial Digitisation project – Seeking copyright holders
The Memorial is seeking permission from the copyright holders to publish the collections listed below.
![HMAS Adelaide, March 1940. Photograph by Frank Boase Studio. AWM 300090.](/sites/default/files/styles/card_view/public/37898/summaryimage/ship.jpg?h=99cab2c3&itok=zlkyLv0X)
A versatile ship: HMAS Adelaide’s service during the Second World War
The light cruiser HMAS Adelaide had seen service by the start of the Second World War. Built at the end of the First World War, it had been re-fitted and updated several times, as well as participating in policing actions in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate, and trans-Tasman exercises with New Zealand.
![Seeking copyright holders](/sites/default/files/styles/card_view/public/37856/summaryimage/collection011-1-11.jpg?itok=AEEtiF9D)
Australian War Memorial Digitisation project – Seeking copyright holders
The Memorial is seeking permission from the current copyright holders to publish articles and other material that has been written or created by the people listed...
![The Aboriginal Children’s Home at Singleton](/sites/default/files/styles/card_view/public/37844/summaryimage/aboriginal-childrens-home1.jpg?itok=-tUlGk-i)
Bringing them home: Indigenous Veterans and the Stolen Generations
While Indigenous soldiers experienced some degree of equality while serving with the Australian armed forces during the World Wars, many faced dispossession, discrimination, and exclusion upon their return home. For some, this included the removal of their children.
![Attestation Paper from Private John Brenell’s service record, recording him as a “British Subject (Aboriginal Descent)”.](/sites/default/files/styles/card_view/public/37824/summaryimage/brenell-image-2.2.jpg?h=69f2b9d0&itok=b9bUiLOx)
The curious case of John Brenell: The only known Jewish Aboriginal Australian First World War soldier?
There is only one identified Aboriginal Australian soldier buried among the hundreds of Commonwealth First World War graves at Outtersteene Communal Cemetery Extension.
![Private Miller Mack. AWM P10608.010](/sites/default/files/styles/card_view/public/37847/summaryimage/p10608.010_2.jpg?h=6d7d9305&itok=liYoGXdO)
Honouring Private Miller Mack
Miller Mack was one of 21 Ngarrindjeri men from the Point McLeay Mission (now known as Raukkan) and the surrounding region to enlist for service in the Australian Imperial Force during the First World War.