Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Sergeant Nancie Dod on arrival in Lae New Guinea 1945

"Six Snug Signallers" a group of 29th Battery signallers - Front row Bombadier Frank Ball and Allan McPherson

Far and away: The young Private Bill Cassidy spent five of the eight years of his marriage away at war.

Portrait of Captain J. A. COLLINS, June 1940 while Captain of of HMAS SYDNEY (II)

"Australia Remembers" plaque. Inscription: Ernst Grunert, Ran,1940-1945.

Service Medals of P/O James RENNO, DFM

846 Private Roy Stephen KENYON, MM

A Halifax of 158 Squadron with its aircrew astride the fuselage and wings

Seconded to Hawkers to continue his test pilot duties, F/L Richard C "Dickie" Reynell was attached to No 43 Squadron RAF for operational experience at RAF Tangmere on 26 August 1940. After claiming an Me 109 destroyed on 2 September, the 28-year-old Australian was shot down 5 days later, in combat with enemy fighters over south London. Bailing out of Hurricane Mk I FT-F, wounded, his parachute failed to open and he fell dead near Blackheath.

AWM Photograph P07344.002

Lt Col Dollman before the crowd gathered to farewell 27 Bn at Outer Harbour, 31 May 1915.

NORFOLK, ENGLAND. C. 1944-07. BEAUFIGHTER AIRCRAFT OF NO. 455 SQUADRON RAAF WITH COASTAL COMMAND, AT RAF STATION LANGHAM, READY FOR OPERATIONS AGAINST ENEMY CONVOYS. AWM UK1458

1914/15 Star 22919 War Memorial 18924 Victory Medal 18855

Private later Lance Corporal Frank Albert BROWN 43rd Bn AIF

10185 Jack 'Lucky' Reed

Enlisting in the RAAF in June 1942, Flt Sgt Allan BOCK trained as a Navigator under the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) in Canada and England, and was posted to 625 Squadron RAF operating Lancaster bombers. On the night of 12/13 August 1944, Flt Sgt BOCK's Lancaster, serial number ME733, radio call sign CF-Z, was shot down and crashed at Hollenstein, Germany after an operational sortie over Brunswick. He was killed alongside six other crew members, aged 22.

Philip Bonhotte's distinctive medal set. L-R Distinguished Conduct Medal, Military Medal, British War Medal, Victory Medal. Accumulated in just two years active service and just 24 years old at the time of his death on 24/5 April 1918

A colourised version of AC0066, a photograph taken in the same sequence as AC0068, although the aircraft appear in different orde . It shows two key colour schemes applied to RAAF Hudsons immediately prior to and during the early stages of WW2. A16-3 is painted matt black underneath, the others a sky blue. A16-47 is painted foliage green on the upper surfaces, the other two have a disruptive pattern with dark earth applied. A16-38 farthest from the camera, later served with No. 32 Squadron and was heavily damaged in March 1942 by enemy action in New Guinea. After repair it was issued to 1 OTU but was lost in an accident due to structural failure.

Australian Army Nursing Sisters Ellen Keats and Elizabeth Pyman. Ellen Keats was evacuated from Singapore on the ill-fated SS VYner Brooke and was murdered by her Japanese captros at Banka Island. Sister Pyman was more fortunate being evacuated on another ship and returning safely to Australia

Informal portrait of the crew of a Lancaster bomber of 467 Squadron RAAF prior to a night mission. Identified, left to right: 1352851 Sergeant (Sgt) Eric Reginald Hill, RAF, mid upper gunner of Weald, Essex; 423311 Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt) Gilbert Firth Pate, RAAF, rear gunner of Belmore, NSW; 1350279 Sgt Kenneth Harold Tabor, RAF, flight engineer; 425413 Flt Sgt Alistair Dale Johnston, RAAF, wireless operator, of Melbourne, Vic; 400495 Squadron Leader (Sqn Ldr) Donald Philip Smeed Smith, DFC, RAAF, pilot of Melbourne, Vic; 412686 Warrant Officer Royston William Purcell, RAAF, navigator of Werris Creek NSW; 658844 Flt Sgt Jeremiah Parker, RAF, bomb aimer of England. The aircraft pictured is most likely the Lancaster Mark III bomber LM475 (PO-B). This was the usual aircraft flown by the crew listed above which crashed whilst on a mission over Lille, France, on 10 May 1944, of which only the pilot, Sqn Ldr Smith survived. Two weeks prior to this mission, bomber pilots were authorised to wear seat-type parachutes instead of the standard backpack that was stored in the plane and only hooked in case of need. This most likely saved Sqn Ldr Smith's life; on landing by parachute he made his way cross-country through France and Switzerland, and back to England several months later.

Another map minus unit dispositions but more clearly displaying key locations within the defensive perimeter

Robert Thomas BAMBLETT's headstone in the AIF Cemetery West Terrace Adelaide

Frank Hurley Machine-gunners of the 3rd Australian Light Horse Regiment at Khurbet-Ibn-Harith, Palestine, on 31 December 1917 print from Paget plate P03631.087

Private James BYRNE originally from Beachport, late of Mt Gambier. 10th Bn later Div Traffic Control (MPs)

A sketch map depicting the orientation of the Pozieres / Mouquet Farm battlefield. La Boiselle was the site of a failed British attack on July 1. Thiepval is the high ground that anchored this particular stretch of the Front. The German positions there were the tactical key to the battlefield and having captured Pozieres, the Australian attacks then shifted to Mouquet Farm (called Moo Cow Farm by the Australians) in an effort to outflank the German positions at Thiepval. Malcolm McInerney collection..

A memorial erected to the crew of Lancaster LL874 JO-D of No. 463 Squadron RAAF which crashed nearby on the night of 17/18 December 1944 with the loss of all crew

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.

LONDON, ENGLAND. 1944-02-01. 400297 SQUADRON LEADER E. C. SMITH DFC, HORSHAM, VIC (LEFT) AND 402071 FLIGHT LIEUTENANT F. B. GASCOIGNE DFC, EAST MALVERN, VIC, WHILE SERVING WITH NO. 461 (SUNDERLAND) SQUADRON RAAF, OUTSIDE BUCKINGHAM PALACE AFTER AN INVESTITURE. THEY HAVE FLOWN TOGETHER AS CAPTAIN AND NAVIGATOR RESPECTIVELY ON MANY OPERATIONS

ACW Mavis Jessie Whiteford, was employed as a DMT (Driver Motor Transport) at HQ North Eastern Area Command.

3029 PTE Edwin Charles DAVIS of the 26th Infantry Battalion

Pte V. Armstrong

5111 Pte Thomas HIRD

No. 467 Squadron's 'S for Sugar' being bombed up at Waddington Yorkshire. This redoubtable airframe survived the war having completed 132 missions. It is reserved in the RAF Museum at Hendon near London.

Hand coloured studio portrait of Pilot Officer Henry Rose, DFC, of No. 156 Squadron (RAF), Pathfinder Force

3RAR’s Regimental Sergeant Major, Vince Murdoch, tends a wounded and blindfolded North Vietnamese soldier at Balmoral.

BOURNEMOUTH, DORSET, ENGLAND. OCTOBER 1941. 404790 PILOT OFFICER CHARLES ANTONY (TONY) HARLAND (QUEENSLAND) ON LEFT AND PILOT OFFICER 402913 HENRY (HARRY) ROLAND TRAIN. HARLAND WAS LATER KILLED IN A RAID ON ESSEN, GERMANY, ON 11 APRIL 1942.

Aircrew Photo Late 1943 Just before Joining 57 RAF Squadron for First Tour in Jan 1944. All RAF apart from Ian. All Sgts apart from Nav. Rear L-R W/Op Ken Jenkinson (Survived War), Mid Upper AG Charlie King (Survived War), F/E William (Bill) Walter (KIA 12 Jan 1945) and Rear AG Bert McKellar (KIA 12 Jan 1945). Front L-R Nav Terry O'Brien (Survived War), Pilot Ian Ross (KIA 12 Jan 1945) and BA Ed Tilby (KIA 12 Jan 1945). Charlie and Terry elected not to Continue Flying and were Rested after completing their First Tour. Ken Remained with Crew but was Grounded Due to Illness and did not fly on Bergen Op. Replacement Crew - Nav Syd Anderson DFM, Mid Upper AG Les Griffiths and W/Op Ray Ellwood DFM MID. All were Killed with Ian. Rays body was Recovered and Buried in Norway, he had been on Operations since 1939. The Remainder are all on Runnymede with Ian. Family 1943

37471 Pilot Officer William Keith Bennett

Sunderland and Catalina flying boats of RAF Coastal Command at Castle Archdale in Northern Ireland, January 1945. The big freeze. Nearly all the aircraft on strength with three Coastal Command squadrons are visible here, drawn up out of the water at Castle Archdale in Northern Ireland as Logh Erne froze over in January 1945. More than 30 aircraft can be seen, including Sunderlands of No's 201 and 423 RCAF Squadrons and No 202 Squadron's Catalinas.

A No. 18 Squadron B-25 after a forced landing when a main undercarriage leg collapsed.

Discharge Certificate (original) Edward Hewlett, 43 Bn AIF - obverse

Robert Stanley PILLAR's headstone Rookwood Cemetery, Sydney

The Fromelles Memorial Park was opened on the 4th July 1998. The centrepiece is a bronze statue depicting Sgt Simon Frazer, a 40 year old farmer from Victoria, of the 57th Battalion AIF. Whilst he was recovering wounded on the battlefield after the battle, Fraser heard a wounded man shout out “Don't forget me, cobber.” Fraser was later commissioned in the field as an officer. He was killed at Bullecourt the following year and has no known grave. His name is on the wall at Villers Brettoneaux.

Australian Engineers, of the 15th Field Company, making crosses for their fallen comrades amid the ruins of Ypres. Out of the ancient oak, which formed the doors and interior fittings of the historic Cloth Hall, pounded to wreckage by German bombardments, they fashioned many monuments to the men who made the supreme sacrifice. 31 October, 1917.

The sinking of troopship SS 'Ballarat' which took place on 25 April 1917 in the English Channel. A submarine torpedoed the 'Ballarat', which was carrying Australian troops from Melbourne to England. Efforts made to tow the ship to shallow water failed and she sank off The Lizard the following morning. No lives were lost of the 1752 souls on board.