Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

WW1 - A very rare medal set - a Military Cross AND a Military Medal, 1914/15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.

NX70915 Lt CAH Moxham, 2nd/2nd machine Gun Battalion

No. 77 Driver Sidney John PENHALIGON from the Queenslander 12 Jun 1915

The Farina War memorial

Troops preparing to board trains outside Mitcham Camp, 1915.

A privately own and flown CAC Wirraway operating in the 1980s before the 'Warbird' vintage military aviation movement got under way in Australia.

A 214 Squadron B-17 F Flying Fortress and its crew, after the Squadron was re-equipped and re-assigned to 100 Group flying in a bomber support role as airborne electronic warfare aircraft; an extremely hazardous task because the devices they used were 'active' and emitted radio frequency signals that would be located by the enemy.

ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT, 1915-04-29. THE WHARF AT ALEXANDRIA, SHOWING AMBULANCES WAITING TO TAKE FROM THE STEAMSHIP A.I. IONIAN MEN WOUNDED AT GALLIPOLI 1915-04-25/26 (ANZAC DAY) (DONOR M. HAMILTON)

Crimerian Cannons

36211 Gunner Ralph French, 3rd Field Artillery Brigade

Military Medal, British South African Medal, 1914.15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal

Opening of the Villers Bretonneux Memorial and adjacent cemetery 1938. Two years later it was overrun by another invadng German Army

Ground crew arming a 42 Squadron 'Cat' with mines, PBY-5A Catalina A24-101/RK-G at Lleyte June 1945. Note the USN Martin Mariner in the background.

British War Medal WW1, Victory Medal, War Medal WW2, Australian Service Medal WW2

A Matilda Tank several of which payed a crucial role at Slater's Knoll

Wing Commander Bob McINtosh, AFC OAM MiD, Member SA Veterans Advisory Council

9.2 inch Howitzers of the 55th Siege Battery in action near Pozieres, late summer 1916

The mangled ruins of part of the light railway after a direct hit on a trainload of ammunition. Amidst the debris are damaged shell cases. The light railway was used to transport casualties and supplies within the Ypres area. From Birr Cross Roads casualties were transferred to motor ambulances to be transported to the advanced dressing stations on the Menin Road. Note in the background a line of motor lorries.

Survived 3 years in France in WW1. Wounded and recovered to go back for more. Promoted to Lieutenant. Sadly passed away in 1971

Studio portrait of Captain (Capt) Ronald Gilbert Horwood MM (left) and Capt Clarence Everard Pellew (right). Paris, France. October-December 1918

His medals — including the Military Medal awarded for Alfred's heroism on day one of the Third Battle of Ypres — have passed down the generations to Alan Bishop, 58, of Morphett Vale. Alan has the medals of all three Bishop brothers; the family tradition is for them to go to the youngest son of the youngest son. Alan’s grandfather, Victor, the youngest of the four Bishop brothers, was too young to go to World War I. The medals went to him when Lloyd died in 1951, apparently at Lloyd’s request. When Alan dies the medals will go to his eight-year-old grandson, Hamish. “I was 13 when they passed down to me,” Alan told the Sunday Mail this week. “I thought ‘Gee, that’s nice’, without really understanding what it meant because I was so young. “All I know is I’m glad I wasn’t one of them. When you look at Alfred’s record, he was in and out of hospital with bronchitis and pneumonia. So they were fighting the weather as well. “They’re never forgotten. They’re always in the back of your mind.”

HMAT Ascanius at Outer Harbour embarking the 10th Battalion. State Library of SA B10303

Private VERE PARKINSON

Private Leslie Robert Templeman RH#26

William Mannix Baker William was killed in action on 4th March 1942 on HMAS Yarra against an overpowering Japanese fleet. His niece Catherine Cave, received a citation of gallantry medal on behalf of William, presented by the then, Governer General Quentin Bryce

Rowan Boys Jack standing Joe seated. Probably taken at Abbassia towards the end of their Provo training (Circa mid-1916)

An account of one of the many otherwise unheralded acts of courage and the underlying sense of duty that is so evident in so much of the available literature, exhibited from the highest to the lowest ranking soldier.

E Regiment at Gawler Army Camp

LHS Plaque at St Peters Heroes Memorial

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

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.

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

1763 Tpr Joseph Wren Rear side of photo

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

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

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.

BREAKFAST CIRCLE OF MEN OF "HQ" COMPANY, 2/28TH AUSTRALIAN INFANTRY BATTALION. THEY ARE TAKING PART IN A DESERT "BOX" FORMATION EXECISE CARRIED OUT IN EXTENSIVE MANOEUVRES BY THE 9TH AUSTRALIAN DIVISION IN SYRIA AND LEBANON.

Flying Officer Robert McKerlie Croft

Arthur Harris: School cadets, Burra School, South Australia, 1907/8. Arthur Harris is seated second from right in the middle row. Service in school cadets was widespread in the colonies around the turn of the Century, and was a key component of the organisation of the Defence Force post Federation, following a review by Field Marshal Kitchener. They are armed with Martini-Henry .310 calibre 'Cadet' rifles. Photo: Harris family records

Stonehaven War Memorial Panel

Commissioned by the 28th Batttalion and 24th Anti-Tank Company Association Inc. as part of the Australian War Memorial’s Plaque Dedication Program.

The Smythe Boys 1912 L to R Vernon Erle Smythe (Capt MC, 3rd Bn), Herbert Andrew Smythe (Cpl, KIA 3/5/1917, Bullecourt ii) Percy Smythe (2nd Lt, 24th Bn, MC), Edward Vivian Smythe (Major, 17th Bn, MC+Bar)

Studio portrait of 427775 Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt) Harry James Boyd, No. 24 Squadron, of Pomborneit North, Vic. Boyd enlisted as a private, service number V170264, in the Citizens' Military Forces in Oct 1941. In September 1942 he enlisted in the RAAF. On 23 March 1945, Flt Sgt Boyd was the 2nd pilot, and one of twelve men on board, of Liberator aircraft A72-80 which left RAAF Truscott to undertake reconnaissance over the Lombok Strait and island of Bali. Shortly after take off, A72-80 developed engine trouble and crashed into Vansittart Bay, WA. All on board were killed. Flt Sgt Boyd was 22 years of age.

James Liddell with his son, James Stanley Liddell NX8279. Probably taken in 1941.

ADVANCE INFANTRY PATROL OF THE 2/27TH AUSTRALIAN BATTALION MOVE FORWARD TO OCCUPY THE HEIGHTS OVERLOOKING EL ARDUN.

Arthur Bruce Durdin, MC and on the right is Major Karl Friederichs. Captain Durdin survived the war but Karl Friedrichs was killed in action by shellfire on 21 April near Dernancourt, France during defensive operations against the German Spring Offensive.

This is the Australian convalescent hospital, al Hayat, Helouan, Egypt, which is where William went when he was wounded.

Studio portrait of a Halifax bomber crew of 158 Squadron RAF. Identified left to right, standing: Sergeant L J Craven, flight engineer, of Harrogate, Yorks; 423908 Flying Officer (FO) Anthony Shanahan, bomb aimer, of Mascot NSW; 428765 Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt) James Arthur Nicholson, rear gunner, aged 22 of Ainslie ACT. Identified left to right, sitting: 420999 Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt) Leonard Gower Paxman, wireless operator, aged 26 of Naremburn NSW; 414312 Warrant Officer (WO) Eric Ronald Fergus MacLeod, pilot, aged 27 of Townsville Qld; 422625 Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt) Ernest Roy Moore, navigator, aged 22 of Braddon ACT; 428902 Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt) Douglas Fitzgerald Bickford, mid-gunner, aged 22, of Gordon NSW. They were crewing LW724, radio call sign NP-S, during the air attack on Nuremberg on the night of 30 March 1944. Their plane was shot down by a German aircraft and crashed near Herborn-Seelbach. FO Shanahan bailed out and was taken prisoner of war in Germany. The rest of the crew were killed.

An artists rendition of the attack by 15 Brigade north of the village of Villers-Bretonneux on the evening of 24/5 April 2018