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.
A journal and a postcard: uncovering an Indigenous family’s legacy of service
The extraordinary wartime service of four Indigenous brothers — including one who served in the army, navy and air force — has come to light after a family uncovered a long-lost memoir and donated it to the Australian War Memorial.
Naming Private Ngakyunkwokka
Uncovering the name and story of Private Charlie Bob Ngakyunkwokka has helped shape the Memorial’s understanding of cultural protocols and mourning practices of Indigenous communities.
STOP WASTE AND SPEED THE WAR EFFORT: War Waste in the Second World War
Efforts to reduce waste during war are well-documented.
From Gallipoli to the Western Front: the Diary of Lieutenant William Grubb
Private William Edward Kemp Grubb of Launceston, Tasmania was 25 years old when he and the newly-formed 26th Battalion embarked for Gallipoli on 29 June 1915. From the moment he embarked, he kept a deeply thoughtful record of his life as a soldier in the First World War, with his diaries spanning his service from 1915 to 1918.
Arthur’s Seat and the Australian Women’s Army Service
During the Second World War, the Australian Women's Army Service set up a training school at Arthur's Seat in the Adelaide Hills.
Looking to the future, learning from the past.
ICOM International Museum Day 2025: The Future of Museums in Rapidly Changing Communities
The Last Letters of Matron Irene Melville Drummond
Matron Drummond was one of the 21 Australian Army nurses to be horrifically executed by the Japanese on Radji Beach during the Banka Island Massacre on 16 February 1942.
2/43rd Australian Infantry Battalion and the Woodside Camp: Daily life in a 1940 South Australian Battalion
The recently digitised diaries of 2/43rd Australian Infantry Battalion provide insights into daily life at Woodside Camp. The site contained a YMCA hut, hot baths and laundries, a camp hairdresser and picture theatre.
Ingenuity at a Prisoner of War Camp: Arthur Purdon and the Changi Artificial Limb Factory
Australian prisoners of war interned at Changi displayed ingenuity and resourcefulness, establishing various facilities, including a prison library, university and an artificial limb factory.