Australian War Memorial Logo
Search

Donate Today

  • Collection Open Information Close Information
    • Official Histories & Unit Diaries
    • Understanding the Collection
    • Research at the Memorial
    • Donating to the Collection
    • National Collection Loans
    • Projects
  • People
  • Visit
  • Commemorate Open Information Close Information
    • Last Post Ceremony
    • Honour Rolls
    • Anzac Day
    • Remembrance Day
    • Customs & Ceremony
    • Speeches
  • Learn Open Information Close Information
    • Schools & Teachers
    • Memorial Articles
    • Encyclopedia
    • Understanding Military Structure
    • Podcasts
    • Glossary
    • Magazine
  • Get Involved Open Information Close Information
    • Donations & Bequests
    • Corporate Partnership
    • Employment Opportunities
    • Volunteer at the Memorial
    • Friends of the Memorial
    • eMemorial Newsletter
    • Grants, Scholarships & Residencies
    • Research Papers
  • Shop Open Information Close Information
    • Memorial Shop
    • Images, film and sound
    • Lone Pine Seedlings

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Visit
  3. Exhibitions
  4. Salute: Canberra's military heritage
  5. Heart of the land they loved
  6. Continuing centre for commemoration

Main navigation

  • Other Exhibitions
  • Current Exhibitions
  • Past Exhibitions
  • Touring Exhibitions
  • Online Exhibitions

Continuing centre for commemoration

When Australia’s official war correspondent Charles Bean envisioned the Australian War Memorial, he pictured a place that would not only hold records and relics of war, but one that would also commemorate the Australians who lost their lives fighting for their country “on some hill-top still, beautiful, gleaming white and silent”.

Before the Memorial opened in 1941, other locations around Canberra became home to military commemoration. However, over the years, the Memorial’s role as a as a focal point for commemoration has steadily grown. This is reflected in the ever-increasing numbers attending the Anzac Day Dawn Service and the national ceremonies on Anzac and Remembrance Days. Today Bean’s vision remains as strong as ever.

Collection Item C175297

Accession Number: ART25669

Thanksgiving service in celebration of Victory in Europe held on the steps of the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 9 May 1945

Sketches for 2008 Dawn Service Commission

Collection Item C1228076

Accession Number: ART93385

2008 Dawn Service

Traditionally the Dawn Service marks the start of Anzac Day as a reminder of the dawn landing on Gallipoli. In the past it was a simple service attended exclusively by veterans, but it has become one of the most significant commemorative ceremonies in Australia, popular with young people and families. In 2013, 30,000 people attended the service at the Memorial.

In 2008, painter Kristin Headlam attended the Anzac Day Dawn Service at the Memorial. These sketches capture the unique atmosphere of the chilly Canberra autumn morning, with families and children rugged up against the cold and illuminated by candlelight.

To mark the 75th anniversary of the end of the First World War, the body of an unknown Australian soldier was recovered from Adelaide Cemetery near Villers-Bretonneux in France and transported to Australia. He was interred in the Australian War Memorial’s Hall of Memory on 11 November 1993 to represent all Australians who have been killed in war. Here the funeral procession is moving up Anzac Parade, past a guard of honour formed by representatives of Ex-Service Unit Associations.

The Unknown Australian Soldier was buried with a bayonet and a sprig of wattle in a Tasmanian blackwood coffin, and soil from the Pozières battlefield was scattered in his tomb.

 

Last updated: 22 October 2019

1 The Donations and bequests

Donations & Bequests

Your generous donation will be used to ensure the memory of our Defence Forces and what they have done for us, and what they continue to do for our freedom remains – today and into the future.

Find out more
2 Visit Transcribe.awm.gov.au

Transcribe

Help preserve Australia's history by transcribing records from the National Collection. Enhance accessibility and discoverability for all Australians.

Find out more
The placesofpride

Places of Pride

Places of Pride, the National Register of War Memorials, is a new initiative designed to record the locations and photographs of every publicly accessible memorial across Australia.

Find out more
Visit the Australian War Memorial

Visit the Australian War Memorial

The Australian War Memorial is open for visitors as we work to expand our galleries. Entry is free and tickets are not required.

Find out more
Canberra Highlands in Grayscale

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF
TRADITIONAL CUSTODIANS

The Australian War Memorial acknowledges the traditional custodians of country throughout Australia. We recognise their continuing connection to land, sea and waters. We pay our respects to elders past and present.
Location map of The Australian War Memorial
The Australian War Memorial building

The Australian War Memorial

Fairbairn Avenue
Campbell ACT 2612
Australia
View on Google Maps (opens in new window)
Google Map data ©2025 Google
Australian War Memorial Logo
  • Go to AWM Facebook
  • Go to AWM Trip Advisor
  • Go to AWM Instagram
  • Go to AWM Youtube

Footer

  • About
  • Contact
  • Venue Hire
  • Media
  • WM Magazine
  • Donate Today
  • VG Portal

The Australian War Memorial

Fairbairn Avenue

Campbell ACT 2612

Australia

 

Opening Hours

10 am to 4 pm daily (except Christmas Day)

 

In preparation for the daily Last Post Ceremony,

galleries are progressively closed from 3:40 pm.

 

Public entrance via Fairbairn Avenue, Campbell ACT 2612

Sign up to our newsletter

Subscribe

Legal

  • Copyright
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Accessibility
  • Freedom of information

Copyright 2025 Australian War Memorial, Canberra. All rights reserved