Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

British gunnes try to drag an 18 pounder gun out of the mud. This photo was taken in August 1917, before winter rains set in and made the task of deploying artillery almost impossible.

This is a disturbing image of a destroyed German trench. In the foreground the limp bodies of dead German soldiers lie amidst the rubble. It is difficult to distinguish the soldiers from the chaos around them, but three bodies are clearly visible. One man, wearing a helmet, has been pushed forward by the blast and, although dead, appears to crouch forward. The entire scene is a maelstrom of mud, splintered wood and dead bodies. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Battle_of_Messines_-_destroyed_German_trench.jpg

Members of the 22nd Battalion, AIF, taking a meal in the trenches on Westhoek Ridge on the night before the opening Australian attack at Menin Road on 20 September 1917. Identified, left to right: Mundie; Gilbert; Peach; Robinson; and two unidentified soldiers.

Gunner Robert Bamblett beside an 18 pounder field gun of the 12th Field Artillery Brigade, probably on the Salisbury Plain in England prior to deploying to France

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.

A QANTAS Catalina operated for the RAAF at the Nedlands base in WA before setting out on one of the longest flights of the war.

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.”

Japanese PoW awaiting transhipment to Japan

A picture of Geroge Harriot that appears to show his rank as Lieutenant and thus taken some time before April 1917 when he was promoted Captain.

"Australia Remembers" plaque. Inscription: Thomas Moody, 1941- 1945.

Corporal Philip Ness "Doc" Dobson, MID.

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

AWM Image of three unidentified 7 Battalion men near a 'bomb' stop or barricade in the Turkish trenches at Lone Pine, illustrating the overhead cover that had made the initial break-in so difficult.

For the first time since Gallipoli, the New Zealanders attacked alongside the Australians at Messines on 7 June 1917. Here New Zealand troops watch British tanks advance towards Messines Ridge. E01417

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

Lignieres de Touraine

Livingstone, NT. 20 January 1943. Squadron Leader (Sqn Ldr) R. (Dick) Cresswell, Commanding Officer of No. 77 Squadron RAAF, standing beside his Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk aircraft, serial no. A29-113, on which are painted as `nose art' the US, Australian, and RAAF flags. In this aircraft Sqn Ldr Cresswell shot down a Japanese Mitisubishi G4M medium bomber aircraft, code-name Betty, on 23 November 1942.

Graham Leaver in camp at Heliopolis, Egypt in 1916

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.

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

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

SIr Hughie Edwards as Governor of WA 1974-75

This is a portrait of Spencer Lane Schocroft.

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

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

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

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

Sergeant John Francis Montgomery, 1st Light Horse Regiment Train, September 1914

An unusual feature of the Dernancourt cemetery. The marker of a grave of what appears to be a young Englishwoman. What was the story behind her death in occupied France in WW2?

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.

313 Trooper James Morell McKenzie KAY RH#27

AWM P04628.001

John Jackson and his brother Les photographed at the Alexandria Zoo while serving in the Middle East prior to returning to Australia to join No. 75 Squadron. Both men would command the unit with Les succeeding his older brother after he was killed in action.

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

Myrtle, John & William MacGinnes in the family home at Semaphore Park, South Australia. John left and Bill right.

The four WW1 Veterans who returned to France in July 1998: (left to right) Eric Abraham, Howard Pope, Charles Mance and Ted Smout at the funeral of Private Russell Bosisto. They are wearing the French Croix de Guerre awarded to them earlier at the Australian National War Memorial Villers Bretonneaux

Five members of an Australian trench mortar battery preparing to fire their heavy trench mortar in the Chalk Pit. A trench mortar fires a projectile vertically from a tube at the base of which is a spigot which ignites the projectile's firing charge. In this case the shell was nicknamed a 'flying pig' as its slow descent and large size enabled it on occasion to be viewed in flight. The gun crew have been identified, left to right, as Sergeant Daley; Albert Roy Kyle; Corporal Clift; Gunner Lear; Gunner Clive Talbot.

Commemorative_Plaque

21 Squadron Mosquitoes in echelon astern formation