Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Richard FETHERSTON - Postcard to work colleagues from Cairo

Korea, 1952-05. Three officers from 'A' Company, 3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR), share a bottle of beer in a reserve area. The soldiers are (left to right): Captain Brian Poananga, a New Zealander serving with the battalion; 3/40105 Lieutenant Gilmer John (Gil) Lucas MC; 3/395 Major Jeffrey James (Jim) Shelton MC, the company commander. A graduate of the Royal Military College (RMC) Duntroon, Captain Poananga later became Chief of the General Staff (CGS) in the Royal New Zealand Army (RNZA).

LHS Plaque at St Peters Heroes Memorial

The victorious 1913 Waikerie Football team taken after they won the Grand Final against Morgan. Having won it for the third time in succession they 'retired' the trophy as was the practice at the time.

Medal Set of Major A Steele (left to right): Distinguished Conduct Medal, 1914/15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal (without oak leaf cluster which symbolises MID.) (The Distinguished Service Order is also part of the medal set as per other image.) The fact that Major Steele was awarded both a Distinguished Conduct Medal and a Distinguished Service Order makes his medal set rare as this combination was very rarely achieved by troops in the AIF.

Studio portrait of 407713 Aircraftman (AC), later Sergeant (Sgt) No. 32 Squadron RAAF, James Alexander Herman, of Kilkenny, SA.

Robert Glendenning Jemison's 'Dead Man's Penny' in a circular wooden frame. In the collection of his Great Nephew, Bruce James-Martin. In a fascinating twist of fate, Bruce is a friend of John Wadlow, narrator of the accompanying story.

Brass 25 pounder shell case engraved with 'THE LAST SHOT FIRED IN AITAPE-WEWAK CAMPAIGN NEW GUINEA FIRED BY C.TP.4BTY.2/2 AUST FD REGT AT ULEBILUM NEAR YAMIL SOUTH OF THE TORRECELLI MOUNTAINS AT 1002HRS 3 SEP 1945. AND PRESENTED BY C.TP TO BRIGADIER M.J. MOTEN. CBE.DSO AND BAR ED COMMANDING 17 AUST.INF. BDE. A.I.F.'

HMAS Perth engaged in the Battle of Sunda Strait 1 March 1942, during which both HMAS Perth and USS Houston were sunk.

3940 Cecil George LARSEN with his sister, Agnes Annie Yates (nee Larsen) shortly after his enlistment.

The Rose Park Gun. German 7.7cm Feldkanone 96 (FK96) Field Gun (1896).* One of a battery of German 77mm field guns captured by the 32nd Battalion during the Battle of Amiens that are now located in parks around SA.

WCDR John Balmer, while CO of No. 100 Squadron RAAF September 1942. Later CO of No. 467 Squadron, lost on Ops.

Discharge Certificate (original) Edward Hewlett, 43 Bn AIF

The 54th Siege Artillery Battery in action. Note that light rail is laid right to the gun position to facilitate the movement of the massive shells fired by these guns. Note the guns are wheeled so they can be relocated far easier than was the case with the 9.2 inch Howitzers of the 55th Battery.

A plaque honouring the crews of two Lancasters lost over Chevillon in July 1944

No. 2 Squadron B-25s lined up at Batchelor in the NT

Fred Barson, June 1917 Hurdcott England

LTCOL Steve Larkins Commanding Officer 9th Combat Service Support Battalion 2000-2001

3RAR Defensive positions at Balmoral. The soldiers are wearing steel helmets and they have a very well prepared fully 'dug in' weapon pit prepared to 'Stage 3' complete with sleeping bays with overhead protection (sandbags) to protect against artillery and mortar splinters.

SIr Hughie Edwards as Governor of WA 1974-75

This is a portrait of Spencer Lane Schocroft.

Official caption reads; "The graves of 13 Australian soldiers from the 10th Battalion who, unless stated otherwise, were killed in action on 19 May 1915. From left to right, the graves are those of 1398 Private (Pte) Charles Olsen; 1037 Pte William Cocks, killed in action on 23 May 1915; 894 Pte Albert Henry Davey; 1751 Pte Joseph Gurry; 984 Pte Charles Henry Allen; 1558 Pte Albert Beswick (actually Baswick); 101 Pte Walter Batley Seaman; 801 Private Arthur Sydney Johnson; 1357 Pte Sydney Brooke Holt, killed on 29 May 1915; 299 Pte Thomas Arthur Atwill; 1184 Pte Benjamin Thomas Thorpe; 1163 Pte John George Murphy; 1452 Pte William Altree, killed on 29 May. Post war investigation revealed that Pte Albert Baswick, coach trimmer, enlisted at Oaklands, South Australia and embarked from Melbourne on HMAT Runic on 27 November 1914; Albert Baswick was an alias of John Routledge, son of Thomas and L Caroline Routledge, of 4 Holt Terrace, Shell Street, Stanley Grove, Manchester, England" This group correlates closely with the CO's account of the battle (see Lock p46) plus three other men PTEs Cocks Holt and Altree who died in the days following the major counter attack. The CO's account indated that 11 men were killed. Ten are thus accounted for in this photograph with the eleventh perhaps succumbing to wounds in the evacuation chain. This group is now all interred in the Shrapnel Gully Cemetery. AWM Image http://www.awm.gov.au/view/collection/item/C02199/

Reuben Starr, member of the victorious 1913 Waikerie team that defeated Morgan in the Grand Final

SX11838 Richard Besanko of the 2nd/ 4th Field Workshops - North Africa

Australian soldiers from the 29th/46th Battalion carrying a wounded man on a stretcher following combat operations against the Japanese around Gusika, New Guinea, November 1943.

BARMERA, SA. 1943-03-11. OFFICERS OF THE 25/33RD GARRISON BATTALION, 14TH PRISONER OF WAR AND INTERNMENT CAMP, LOVEDAY GROUP. IDENTIFIED PERSONNEL ARE:- S481 LIEUTENANT E.L. ROESLER (1); CAPTAIN G.A. GABELL (2); S427 LIEUTENANT F.W. EVENS (3); S23604 LIEUTENANT A.W. ORCHARD (4); SX21324 LIEUTENANT E.N. EDWARDS (5); S2840 LIEUTENANT C.R. JURY (6) S34891 LIEUTENANT E. FARMER (7); S3065 CAPTAIN R.R. RUDD (8); SX28479 CAPTAIN H.W. HOCKNEY (9); VX114018 CHAPLAIN D.A. GANLY, CHURCH OF ENGLAND (10); S213500 CAPTAIN C. ARCHER (11); V354137 CAPTAIN W.R.J. PHILLIPS (12); S109 CAPTAIN N.M. BARUSCH (13); SX28896 CAPTAIN P.S. EYLES (14); SX22323 MAJOR L. VON BERTOUCH (15); SX223831 MAJOR C.E. HUNKIN (16); S812 LIEUTENANT COLONEL E.L. DEAN, DSO., VD., COMMANDING OFFICER (17); S2700 MAJOR A. DICK (18); SX22325 MAJOR D.W. SHEPHERD (19).

Gordon Jury

1763 Tpr Joseph Wren Rear side of photo

Barry Spicers painting of "SqnLdr David Leicester's Lancaster coming home in daylight"

'Colourised' image of a NZ Howitzer battery displaying the key attributes of the gun - short barrel, fixed trail, high angle fire spoked wheels, crew of five.

A M2A2 105mm howitzer fires in support of 1 RAR from FSB Coral

Map illustrating the relative position of AO Surfers, Saigon and the Australian base at Nui Dat

Studio portrait of Arthur John Lammey

Group Captain Hughie Edwards VC DSO DFC meeting the Prime Minister of Australia at RAAF Binbrook where Edwards was the Base Commander and RAAF No. 460 Squadron was based.

Thomas Yapp's medal set: British War medal Victory Medal

NX30482 Gunner Henry "Dick" Hulin, 2nd / 4th Field Regiment 2nd AIF

Australian WW2 medal set for service in the South West Pacific - 1939-45 Star, Pacific Star, 1939-45 War Medal, Australian Service Medal 39-45

Sister Kath Neuss a victim of the Banka Island massacre

75 Squadron DH Vampires based in Malta 1954

An informal portrait of 219689 Lieutenant Colonel (Lt Col) Damien Healy standing in front of a Mixed Military Working Group (MMWG) briefing map which displays the legend 'Peace For Cambodia' and shows the location of United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC)s military contingents. The MMWG had been formed by the United Nations Advance Mission in Cambodia (UNAMIC) with the intention of providing a high-level forum for all four Cambodian military factions and the UN's military representatives, and first met on 28 December 1991. It continued under the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC). An experienced military negotiator, Lt Col Healy was MMWG's Chief Liaison Officer and the only Australian representative. He received a Conspicuous Service Cross for his work in Cambodia.

Cause: Japanese naval guns in a pillbox at Mangam covering the Milford Highway.