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.
“Little Bet you helped save my life”: An unlikely friendship formed in the horrors of war
Fifteen-year-old Edith “Edie” Cynthia Rose Leembruggen (née Kenneison) first met Australian nurse Vivian Bullwinkel in a prisoner of war camp on Banka Island in February 1942. Their friendship would help them survive years in captivity and become the basis of a lifelong bond.
Voting under fire
Australian federal elections have taken place during times of peace and times of conflict. Even two world wars could not stop Australians casting their ballots, whether at home or on the battlefield.
Vale Bernard Zdzisław Skarbek OAM
Today, we remember Colonel Bernard Zdzisław Skarbek, OAM, who passed away on 24 April 2022, aged 100. Bernard served with the Polish Armed Forces during the Second World War and was due to take part in today’s Veterans’ March at the Australian War Memorial.
'We were very lucky, very lucky'
It was New Year’s Eve 1968, and Mike Ruffin was on his last operation in Vietnam. He had already served in Malaya and Borneo, and by the age of 26 was an experienced SAS patrol commander.
Painting among the ruins
Australian artist Evelyn Chapman visited the battlefields of France just weeks after the end of the First World War.
'These are the experiences that will stay with me for the rest of my life'
Brigid Baker will never forget the heat and dust of Afghanistan.
'It was a lifelong goal to ... wear the blue beret'
Every Anzac Day, Nicole Bradley would visit the Australian War Memorial with her family.
'I'm so proud of the boys and what they did'
Fred Campbell was standing on the flight deck when he felt the explosion.
'I felt lucky every single day to be paid to turn up to work and fly it'
Air Commodore Philip Gordon has fond memories of flying the F/A-18 Classic Hornet.