Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Mic Whitty's push bike outside the Torrens Parade Ground in Adelaide.

On the 10th of April, the team at the Virtual War Memorial had a visit from one of our dedicated contributors, Michael 'Mic' Whitty, who has been travelling all over the world on his push bike, visiting war cemeteries.

Mic began his adventure in 2015 after a period of unemployment in the United Kingdom and has taken to living a simple lifestyle, relying on the support of friends and donations and travelling with his trusty 'La Poste' French postal bicycle. Initially, his goal was to retrace his grandfather’s footsteps, as recounted in a 1916 diary of the Western Front. As he completed this task, however, his objectives evolved to include visiting all 26,530 Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in the world by the time of the Second World War centenary! Mic is now completing the Australian leg of his journey, anticipating it will take a few more years. The whole project is scheduled for completion in 2045.

During his travels, Mic began taking photographs of each Australian headstone and submitting them to the Virtual War Memorial Australia. Currently, he has submitted well over a thousand headstones, and while he visited us last week, Mic gifted us tens of thousands more images that he has taken to be uploaded to our collection. This is a fantastic way to ensure that every serviceperson who met their fate in service and is commemorated in a war grave is remembered.

After hearing about this man cycling around France and Belgium and visiting cemeteries for years, it was wonderful for our team to finally meet Mic and share in his journey. Thank you so much for your great work, Mic, including the fantastic gift you have given us at the Virtual War Memorial, and good luck on your continuing adventures!

Mic was recently interviewed about his fascinating story by 'Conversations with Richard Fidler' on ABC Radio.

You can follow his journey on social media by searching for 'Je Suis Catweazle' or on his website at https://www.micwhitty.com/.

The first headstone that Mic Whitty uploaded to the Virtual War Memorial in 2016. (John Malcolm SYMONS)

A small selection of the headstone images that Mic Whitty has gifted the Virtual War Memorial.

Mic Whitty (left) with the Virtual War Memorial team when he visited us.

Photographs by Mic Whitty.