Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

A 25 pounder 'Short' pack howitzer being towed by a Willys jeep. Uncharacteristically, this gun is fitted with a ballistic shield which was generally not fitted on operations.

No. 625 Squadron, RAF based in Yorkshire. Flying Officer Ian Denver, DFC, RAAF, front row, fourth from left. He is wearing the distinctive darker blue uniform of the RAAF in WW2. Denver and his crew flew 16 missions before being transferred to No. 156 (Pathfinder) Squadron, where they flew a further 32 together.

Vietnam War Memorial, Adelaide, South Australia

Charles Wilfred Hart

Japanese pilots of the Japanese Navy Tainan Air Group assigned to New Guinea from February 1942 - Saburo Sakai seated middle row second from left - one of the top Japanese Ace of the war who in 1997 lobbied the Australian Government to recognise Warren Cowan's actions on 1942. Standing top row left is PO1/c Hiroyoshi Nishizawa who went on to become the top Japanese Ace. He was killed as a passenger in a transport aircraft over the Philippines in 1944. Sakai survived the war having lost an eye over Guadalcanal. He passed away in 2000.

Australian delegates at the Japanese surrender ceremony on board USS Missouri. Left to right: (back row) Captain J. Balfour; Lieutenant Colonel D. H. Dwyer; Air Vice Marshal G. Jones; Lieutenant General F. H. Berryman; Commodore J. A. Collins. Front row: Rear Admiral G. Moore; General Sir Thomas Blamey (who signed for Australia) and Air Vice Marshal W. D. Bostock.

A Mosquito aircraft of No 87 Squadron RAAF, undergoes an overhaul by unidentified ground crew at Alice Springs, NT. The guns have been removed and a camera placed in the nose of the aircraft in readiness to participate in topographic surveys for the Army. The ground crew are performing maintenance on the undercarriage and in the background is another Mosquito aircraft.

Squadron Leader Keith "Bluey" Truscott taxis his P40 Kittyhawk on the Martson Matt perforated steel plate strip at Milne Bay

Members of the 1st Australian Tunnelling Company excavating at Hooge, in the Ypres Sector. Work on these dugouts constituted a record for Tunnelling Companies employed under such conditions, for the ground, in close proximity to the famous Hooge Crater, was a shell churned marsh and soakage was heavy. Accommodation was dug for two Brigades and Headquarters of one Machine Gun Company. Commenced on 5 June 1917, the task was completed and dugouts handed over to the 2nd and 3rd Infantry Brigades on 19 September, for the use of the troops engaged in the operation of the following day. Identified, foreground, left to right: two unidentified members of the 56th Battalion; 5488 Sapper (Spr) C. G. Allcock (third from left, looking at camera); unidentified member of the 56th Battalion (working with Allcock). Background, left to right: 5529 Spr H. J. Edmonds; 5374 Second Corporal E. S. Sherrin (resting against sandbags); 3688 Spr J. Tither; 3363 Spr J. E. Rimmer (pushing upright cart); 5380 Spr J. W. Mcdonough (second from right); 5555 Spr J. J. Horne (extreme right).

Rosetta Joan Wight

In one of the most iconic photos of the Second World War, pilots of No. 87 Squadron scramble to their Hurricane Mk 1 (note the two bladed wooden propellers) in France to engage attacking Luftwaffe aircraft.

Western Front: (Belgium), Ypres Area, Locre. Group portrait of the officers and NCOs of the 24th Machine Gun Company. In the foreground are two Vickers machine guns on their tripods. Left to right, back row: 422C Corporal (Cpl) J. H. Parker 429B Cpl H. J. Heywood 425A Cpl G. B. Redford MM MSM 372 Cpl C. W. Lane 438 Cpl P. P. Murphy 427B Acting Cpl J. W. Biggs Middle row: 504 Cpl H. S. Chave 1928 Cpl H. W. Courtney 501B Sgt C. W. E. Morris 426D Transport Sergeant (Sgt) C. Sugg MM 422A Sgt C. C. McPhee 617 Company Sergeant Major (CSM) P. O'Brien 414D Sgt V. A. J. Deeker 460A Sgt F. P. Packer 292 Sgt J. R. Reeves 424 Sgt C. B. Popkin 428A Acting Cpl C. E. Reade Front row: Lieutenant (Lt) L. D. Sinclair Lt T. R. Jack MC Lt F. R. Watts Major F. B. Hinton MC Lt C. C. Dight Lt W. A. Shelley MM

William Smith's trench art

SX24340 Vernon Vane GILES 108 LAA Regt

FSGT Brian Grasby's grave at Hellemmes-LIlle Communal Cemetery interred with two other crewmates and other aircrew lost on the Lille raid.

Private Edwin Bavister joined the 25th Battalion of the Australian Infantry on 28 December 1915 and was killed in action in France on 18 July 1918. His memorial is at the war cemetery in Villers-Bretonneux, France. He was a grocer at Dinmore and 25 years old when he died.

Thomas Baker's Pilots Course. Baker is circled (right) and a colleague Packer is circled left.

Spr John Frederick BOARDMAN 6393

Markham Valley, New Guinea. 1943-09-05. Screened by dense smoke, paratroopers of 503 US Paratroop Infantry Regiment and Gunners of 2/4th Australian Field Regiment with their 25 pounders land unopposed at Nadzab, during the advance of 7th Australian Division on Lae.

Ronald (Ron) Henry Parsloe 24 Squadron Gunner/Navigator

That picture is HMAS <i>Sydney (III)</i> in the Tsushima Straits the morning after evasive/survival action trying to minimise the effects of the infamous Typhoon Ruth. The storm killed 500 ashore in Japan and registered the limit of 120 knots on <i>Sydney's</i> anemometer before it broke. We regularly shipped green water over the flight deck and lost five aircraft overnight damaged beyond economical repair, including one overboard. Also, one forklift and the captain's jollyboat broke adrift and went for a swim, never to be seen again. But our faithful doggie, the Netherlands' <i>Von Galen</i>, fared much worse. Glimpsed astern every now and then through blinding rain at night, <i>Sydney</i> told her that she need not keep station. By flickering Aldis retrieved from a wrecked motorboat she reported four major fires, boiler and engine rooms flooded, only one boiler working, total electrical failure, no radar, no radio, no gyro compass, useless (spinning) magnetic compass, manual steering and all boats and rafts either stove in or swept away. It was suffixed with a plaintive, <i>"May we stay with you?"</i>

Troops aboard a train bound for Outer Harbour, 1915.

2015 photograph

This Google Earth map Image has key points on the Fromelles Battlefield marked in relation to contemporary land marks.

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 B25 Mitchell bomber of No. 180 Squadron lines up for take off at RAF Dunsfold, Surrey in the United Kingdom supporting Allied operations in Normandy

Vietnam War Memorial, Adelaide, South Australia

RAF STATION LEUCHARS, SCOTLAND. 1943-06-04. MEMBERS OF THE GROUND STAFF OF HAMPDEN TORPEDO-BOMBER NO. 455 SQUADRON RAAF OF COASTAL COMMAND. ON TOP OF THE AIRCRAFT, STANDING, LEFT TO RIGHT: 6728 CORPORAL (CPL) A. E. RYAN, BRISBANE, QLD; 10165 CPL W. C. KENNAUGH, NORTHCOTE, VIC; 17741 LEADING AIRCRAFTMAN (LAC) R. A. LOFTUS, PERTH, WA; 15273 CPL S. F. YOUNG, HABERFIELD, NSW; 15009 LAC V. MERCHANT, NEWCASTLE, NSW; 15001 LAC N. H. GARBUTT, DUNDEE, SCOTLAND; 33236 AIRCRAFTMAN 1 (AC1) E. H. LUKES, NORTH SYDNEY, NSW; 6682 LAC F. C. B. LAGETTIE, CABRAMATTA, NSW; 22379 LAC J. E. SCHATZ, GREENSLOPES, QLD; 10200 SERGEANT (SGT) L. D. PATIENCE, MELBOURNE, VIC; 27063 CPL H. R. TURNER, WEST TANKS, SA; 33255 AC1 E. C. HENRY, WAVERLY, NSW; 24056 LAC R. M. WARNER, YUBBA, NSW; 24100 LAC W. J. WALKER, BURWOOD, VIC. SITTING: 6808 CPL R. E. GARDE, UNDERCLIFFE, NSW; 12110 SGT C. ETCHELLS, ASHFIELD, NSW. STANDING, BACK: 10279 LAC L. L. WALLER, PENHURST, VIC; 968331 LAC N. HIBBLE, NEWCASTLE, RAF; 8761 LAC J. J. GARDNER, NOTTINGHAM, RAF; 6849 LAC F. J. PRITCHARD, CARLTON, NSW. STANDING, FRONT: 6585 LAC G. L. DOWNER, BRISBANE, QLD; 15013 LAC D. A. MATHEWSON, TOTTENHAM, NSW; 15979 LAC H. T. GROENNOU, LEICHHARDT, NSW; 10275 LAC S. W. POPE, ST KILDA, VIC; 14527 CPL S. V. WEATHERBY, NORTH BONDI, NSW; 9200 SGT F. R. MARCH, ADELAIDE, SA; 10162 CPL J. A. WILLIAMS, KINGSWOOD, VIC; 6035 FLIGHT SERGEANT H. ORR, BRISBANE, QLD; 2823 FLYING OFFICER WILSON, BRISBANE, QLD; 1796131 AIRCRAFTMAN W. VALENTINE, BONNY BRIDGE, SCOTLAND, RAF; 1400829 AC1 K. S. COLLIVER, BRISTOL, RAF; 13245 LAC J. LEFOE, MELBOURNE, VIC; 20187 CPL N. R. SIVYER, EAST MOREE, NSW; 1865049 AC2 D. V. FISHER, ESSEX, RAF; 10691 SGT F. J. SHAW, MELBOURNE, VIC; 21465 LAC W. A. M. FORBES, NEWCASTLE, NSW.

Lancaster JO-D of 463 Squadron

Dave at his home, with friend, Barry Spicer, who executed the painting they are standing by "Squadron Leader David Leicester's Lancaster Returning Home in Daylight"

7024 Gordon Alexander LAING RH#24

Three B24 Heavy Bombers of 7 OTU on a training flight in southern NSW in 1944/45