Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Pilot Officer Clarence Charles Bennett

3495A Gunner (Gnr) Harold Constantine 5th DAC

Two 11 Squadron Catalinas over Lake Macquarie in NSW. Rathmines, on the edge of the lake, was a key base and depot for Australia's maritime patrol assets.

Photographed during WW2 service

"Sonny" Wright, Frank's childhood mate enlisted as under age and served through WW2 in all theatres and then deployed to Japan as part of the BCOF, where he was accidentally killed in a motor vehicle accident in 1946. He was initially interred under the name C.R. O'Neil - the name of Frank's uncle whose driver's licence SOnny used as ID to enlist. His headstone has since been corrected. He is buried in Yokohama Military Cemetery.

Reginald Francis GRIMLEY

This is an image of the officers of the 10th Battalion.

A map depicting the disposition of forces at 4 Oct 1917, immediately prior to the commencement of the Battle of Broodseinde Ridge

Studio portrait of 874 Private Joseph Archdall Beacom, 15th Battalion of Barrengarry, NSW. Son of John Beacom and Elizabeth Chittick (formerly Beacom). A farmer prior to enlisting, he embarked from Melbourne aboard HMAT Ceramic (A40) on 22 December 1914. He was killed in action on 10 August 1916 in France, aged 31. He has no known grave, and is remembered with honour on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, France. His brother 4078 Private David Beacom was killed in action 5 days earlier.

William Wilson Smith

Group portrait of five Australian Soldiers from the 5th Divisional Ammunition Column. Left to right, back row: 3495A Gunner (Gnr) Harold Constantine; 1513 Gnr Allen Wylie Scott; Probably 2222 Driver James Thomas Sheehan. Front row: Gnr H Williams; 2603 Gnr Arthur Rayworth Davison, later killed on 20 August 1917.

William Gough's medal set: L-R Distinguished Conduct Medal, 1914/15 Star, British War medal , Victory Medal

An Australian patrol in part of the anti-tank ditch. Compared to another photo purporting to be in an anti tank ditch, which is not much more than a shallow depression, this image gives avery graphic impression of the nature of the obstacle. The aim is to ground a tank in the bottom of the ditch at an angle that prevents self-recovery.

A diagram of the Barrage Plan for the Australian Corps advance. The barrage was fired on preset timings without the benefit of radio communications so advancing troops had to be careful not to get too close to, or be left behind by the line of the creeping barrage. The level of complexity of such a plan epitomises the sophistication of Artillery by this stage of the war. Each battery of guns would be using different firing data on a relentless schedule from their many and varied locations in order to achieve this effect on the ground.

Positions of forces at dusk on October 31, 1917, during the Battle of Beersheba at the time of the charge of the 4th Light Horse Brigade. British forces are shown in red, Turkish forces are shown in blue. The position reached by the regiments of the 4th Light Horse Brigade after the attack is shown in pale red. Note: there is no evidence that the 4th Light Horse Regiment crossed the Wadi Saba during their attack, nor that the 60th Division attacked south of the Wadi Saba. The Australian Mounted Division headquarters is shown where the Anzac Mounted Division headquarters moved to, after the capture of Tel el Saba. Neither the Gullett map nor Bou's map locates the headquarters of Anzac Mounted Division, Australian Mounted Division and Desert Mounted Corps at Kashim Zanna despite numemrous sources placing them there. [Preston 1921 pp. 25–6, Powles 1922 pp. 136–7, Hill 1978 p. 126]

No 156 Squadron May 1943 at RAF Warboys, CO WCDR Rivett-Carnac

No. 77 Driver Sidney John PENHALIGON -from the Queenslander 31 Oct 1914

S/No 424759 Flight Sergeant Stuart Lacey EDWARDS

Albert James DUNSTER's brief active service record

The 460 Squadron Badge and motto "Strike and Return"

Reginald 'Roy" Inwood, VC. His brother died alongside Arthur Blackburn at Pozieres. Roy Inwood became the 10th Battalion's second VC winner at Polygon Wood during the Third Ypres campaign in September 1917. His VC is on public display in the Adelaide Town Hall.

Mk21 Beaufighters just after delivery to No. 93 Squadron after its formation in early 1945, at Kingaroy Queensland.

433549 FSGT Len Henderson 463 SQN

A.D. Whitehead shortly after enlistment

WW1 Distinguished conduct : L-R Distinguished Conduct Medal, 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal

PRIVATE: Albert Ernest WORRALL; 1906-42, at Age: 36yrs. Military: 2nd Australian Imperial Force - Australian Army - WWII - 2nd/29th Australian Infantry Battalion. Origin of Portrait: (AWM) Australian War Memorial; Accession No: P02784.025.

Harold Bourke's grave at Pheasant Wood

Burnside Memorial to the Fallen at Rose Park SA

187 Private Joseph Raymond STEAD

A posed photograph of de Havilland DH 5 Scout plane (Serial A 9242) of 68 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps (renumbered as No 2 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps from 19 January 1918) at an aerodrome in Lincolnshire, England, with 24 year old Cootamundra born Lieutenant Sydney Winton Ayers in the cockpit. Ayers was later shot down on 22 November 1917 over Bourlou Wood while ground strafing German troops and positions in support of the tank-assisted Cambrai attack - he died of his wounds two days later. The same month this image was taken, Ayers' brother, Private Charles Thomas Ayers of 58 Battalion, was killed at Polygon Wood. The legend painted down the right side of the DH5 scout indicates it was a presentation aircraft, paid for by subscriptions and fund-raising in Australia. This particular aircraft, 'New South Wales no 14' (also known as The Women's Battleplane) was presented on 12 April 1917 to 68 Squadron by 'the women of New South Wales and others', who raised 2,700 pounds. Notable amongst the subscribers were the Tweed and Armidale Battleplane Funds. Generally disliked by pilots for its lack of performance, vibration, and tendency to shed valves, the DH5 was being replaced by the SE5a by the end of 1917. See also A02177.

A Bristol Beaufort a light bomber in which Jack Reed flew

17184 PTE Percy Flanigan

Kenneth Roy "Curly" McPherson, 13th Field Ambulance

G for George a tribute to all RAAF Aircrew who flew with RAF Bomber Command

This aircraft, restored to non-flying status and formerly located at the Parafield Fighting Jets Museum in South Australia is a Bell P39 Airacobra of 82 Squadron (although it is wearing 24 Squadron codes - part of a flight detached to 82 Squadron) as it was when it was written off in a forced landing near Bulli in NSW in June 1943. The aircraft has sine been sold to aviation interests in Russia, where Airacobras served with great distinction in WW2. Airacobras were operated in limited numbers (22 in all) by the RAAF as a stop-gap in defence of cities on the eastern seaboard. Some are believed to have been used as training aircraft at Mount Gambier in SA. The Airacobra had some unique features which are shown in this image via open hatches. Most notable at first glance, it had a tricycle undercarriage, the engine was centre mounted, behind the pilot, driving a transmission shaft between the pilots feet to the propellor. This gave a lot of room up front for a very heavy nose armament comprising 1 x 20mm cannon (a 37mm cannon in some variants) firing through the propeller hub and two .50 calibre guns in the nose and one in each wing. While not highly regarded in the Pacific theatre, the most prolific user was the Soviet airforce who were provided large numbers under the Lend Lease Agreements. The Russians loved them, particularly as tank attack aircraft. They were replaced in Australian service by the ubiquitous Curtiss P40 Kittyhawk.

Driver James Benjamin Attrill

Cecil Ronald "Ron" Weinert, Korea

The eight Handcocks

LABUAN, NORTH BORNEO. 1945-08-10. 2623 FLIGHT LIEUTENANT FRANK R. SCHAAF DFC OF PAGEWOOD, NSW, WHO LED A FLIGHT OF FOUR AIRCRAFT OF NO. 82 (KITTYHAWK) SQUADRON RAAF, WHICH DESTROYED THREE SINGLE-ENGINED JAPANESE FIGHTER AIRCRAFT, ALLIED CODE NAME OSCAR, ON KUCHING AIRSTRIP. IT WAS THE LONGEST STRIKE FLOWN BY SINGLE-ENGINED FIGHTERS FROM THE LABUAN BASE. HIS AIRCRAFT CARRIES MARKINGS AND INSIGNIA (NOSE ART) INDICATING THAT HE FLEW WITH THE FAMED DESERT HARASSERS IN THE WESTERN DESERT.

RH Panel Image #3 - Private Robert John Penny

Northern Australia. Consolidated PBY-5 Catalina flying boat aircraft, RAAF serial no. A24-53, ?No.11 or No. 20 Squadron RAAF, taxiing into water with assistance from RAAF personnel. This aircraft was delivered to the RAAF in 1943-04 and shot down over Balikpapan, Borneo 1944-04.

AWM caption : Fenton, NT. 1945-03. An informal group portrait of a crew of a Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber aircraft of No. 21 Squadron RAAF, standing beside their aircraft. Left to right: Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt) P. Rousseau of Darling Point, NSW Flt Sgt D. W. Johnston of Kogarah, NSW Flying Officer (FO) H. A. Seymour of Coogee, NSW Sergeant (Sgt) F. A. Dean of Brighton, Vic Flt Sgt W. C. Randall of North Sydney FO C. L. Henry of Ivanhoe, Vic Pilot Officer R. W. Brooks of Coogee, NSW Flt Sgt R. W. McLeod of Northcote, Vic Flt Sgt W. H. Storey of Bexley, NSW Sgt R. H. Brown of Allora, Qld Flight Lieutenant R. W. Court of Collaroy, NSW

Informal group portrait of RAF ground staff with RAAF and Royal New Zealand Air Force air crew of a Mitchell bomber squadron, 180 Squadron RAF with the Second Tactical Air Force. Left to right: two RAF ground crew, Jock (Fitter) and Alf (Rigger); 422248 Flying Officer (FO) Jack B O'Halloran, pilot of Sydney, NSW, (later Flight Lieutenant and DFC); 417379 Pilot Officer James Crosby (Jim) Jennison (later Flying Officer and DFC) of Adelaide, SA; 422175 FO Reg J Hansen of Sydney, NSW; FO Harry M Hawthorn, RNZAF of Hastings, NZ. The aircraft was lettered D and the pilot named it 'Daily Delivery' and the nose art illustration portrays a stork carrying a large bomb. RAF Dunsfold Surrey UK C263114

A Sunderland aircraft of No. 10 Squadron RAAF P Peter takes off after effecting a successful rescue of the three survivors of the crew of a crippled Wellington aircraft B of No 172 Squadron RAF which shot down by a German submarine the previous night. The rescuing aircraft was piloted by Flight Lieutenant W. B. Tilley DFC of Melbourne, Vic.