On 6 August 1945, when the atomic bomb was unleashed above the city of Hiroshima, the world changed forever. Photographs of the devastation brought home in raw detail the shocking power of this ultimate weapon.

Learn about the history of a rare book in the Australian War Memorials collection

In the early hours of Tuesday 6 June 1944 British and American paratroops landed in the fields of Normandy. At dawn thousands of British, Canadian and American troops landed on the beaches. 6 June 1944 became “D-Day”, the target date on which a vast Allied military, air and naval force began the long-awaited Allied invasion and liberation of Nazi-occupied Europe.

Early on the morning of 26 April 1915 Sir Ian Hamilton, the commander of the Mediterranean Expeditionary force, having launched the Gallipoli operation less than 24 hours earlier, was faced with recommendations to re-embark his force. As deliberations continued through the small hours, a signal arrived. The Australian submarine AE2 had made its way through the Dardanelles and was threatening Turkish shipping approaching that narrow waterway from the Sea of Marmora.

This is one of a series of Roll of Honour talks to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the events of 1942 and this afternoon I will be speaking about what happened to the men who were on board the corvette, HMAS Armidale when she was sunk off Timor on 1 December that year.

On this day in 1942 Australian troops were closing on Kokoda, the village on the northern side of the Owen Stanley Range which gave its name to one of the epic battles of the war in the Pacific.

El Alamein was one of the great battles of the Second World War, and is frequently described as a turning-point of that conflict.

Originally presented by Dr Peter Londey, on Thursday 5 September 2002 beside the Roll of Honour at the Memorial, as part of the Roll of Honour Talks series.

Originally presented by Dr Chris Clark on Friday, 9 August 2002 beside the Roll of Honour at the Memorial, as part of the Roll of Honour Talks series.