Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Bristol Beauforts at No. 1 Operational Training Unit, Bairnsdale, Victoria. Nearer camera: A9-102, 262097, Flying Officer Peter John Gibbes, DFC; A9-66, 377, Squadron Leader Cyril Clarence Williams.

Two soldiers of the Supply Depot, 1st Australian Division, with boxes of corned beef and canned meat and water cans, Anzac Cove, 1915. Image Australian War Memorial.

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

RAAF OVERSEAS HQ, LONDON, ENGLAND. 1943-03-16. 402571 PILOT OFFICER (PO) C. R. G. GRANT DFM (LEFT) WON HIS AWARD 1942-11 FOR HIS CONSISTENT SKILL AND DETERMINATION IN NIGHT OPERATIONS OVER ENEMY TERRITORY, AND 403564 FLIGHT LIEUTENANT J. K. DOUGLAS DFC WAS CITED 1943-01 AS "A MOST DETERMINED AND SUCCESSFUL CAPTAIN OF AIRCRAFT WHOSE QUIET CONFIDENCE AND KEEN SPIRIT HAVE BEEN AN INSPIRATION TO ALL."

Original grave marker of the crew of Lancaster LL847 JO-D and the common grave in which they are now interred in Le Gros-Thiele Communal cemetery

Original grave marker of the crew of Lancaster LL847 JO-D and the common grave in which they are now interred in Le Gros-Thiele Communal cemetery

FLGOFF Robert Wentworth BYRNES 463 Squadron

Nursing SIster Dorothy Elmes, a victim of the Banka Island massacre

Peggy Eveett Farmaner

QLD. Paybook photograph, taken on enlistment, of QFX22714 Captain Pauline Blanche (Blanche) Hempsted, 2/13th Australian General Hospital, Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS). She was one of sixty five Australian nurses and over 250 civilian men, women and children evacuated on the Vyner Brooke from Singapore three dyas before the fall of Malaya. The Vyner Brooke was bombed by Japanese aircraft and sunk in Banka Strait on 14 February 1942. Of the sixty five nurses, twelve were lost at sea, twenty two survived the sinking and were washed ashore on Radji Beach, Banka Island, where they surrendered to the Japanese along with twenty five British soldiers. On 16 February 1942 the group was massacred, the soldiers were bayoneted and the nurses were ordered to march into the sea where they were shot. Only Sister Vivian Bullwinkel and a British soldier survived the massacre. Both were taken POW, but only Sister Bullwinkel survived the war. Sister Hempsted was one of the remaining thirty two nurses who also survived the sinking and were captured as POWs, eight of which later died in captivity. Sister Hempsted died of illness on 19 March 1945 in Sumatra. (Photograph copied from original photograph attached to attestation form, lent by Central Army Records Office.)

'White Coolies' originally published in 1954, re-released and the basis for the movie "Paradise Road"

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).

R237 ADDEMS Percival Edward 2333

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

his rare colour photo shows P/O Orme and his crew back at Watton after a successful attack on shipping off the Dutch coast, 18th August 1941, just 10 days before they were lost in this same aircraft V6436 YH-L. P/O Orme can be seen climbing from the cockpit, behind him are two members of his ground crew, next to them wearing his Officers cap is P/O Gunnis, and far right on top of the fuselage is F/O Collins. (L. Gover)

The second attack at Dernancourt on 5 April 1918

The second attack at Dernancourt on 5 April 1918

4501 BALLARD, PTE H.E.32nd and 50th Battalions

4501 Pte Herbert Edward Ballard

QX10333 Corporal Athol 'Ned' Bayly. Taken in mid to late 1940 not long after enlisting and prior to overseas service.

6787, Pte S.A. Beare 27 Battalion AIF

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

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.

Flying Officer Gordon Nunn DFC, pilot, and Flying Officer Hugh Mitchell DFC, observer, both 464 Squadron RAAF, in the cockpit of a de Havilland Mosquito aircraft.

A de Havilland Mosquito FB1 of No. 464 Squadron RAAF

The Gestapo complex at Aarhus Denmark as it is hit by a 140 Wing Strike on 31 Oct 1944

Photograph of Flying Officer Jack Paradise and his crew 20 March 1944

Lance Bombadier Larry Davenport mans his weapon pit and an M60 Machine Gun the morning following the first attack on FSB Coral.

Lance Bombadier Larry Davenport mans his weapon pit and an M60 Machine Gun the morning following the first attack on FSB Coral.

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

Korea, 1952-05. Three officers from 'A' Company, 3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR), share a bottle of beer in a reserve area. The soldiers are (left to right): Captain Brian Poananga, a New Zealander serving with the battalion; 3/40105 Lieutenant Gilmer John (Gil) Lucas MC; 3/395 Major Jeffrey James (Jim) Shelton MC, the company commander. A graduate of the Royal Military College (RMC) Duntroon, Captain Poananga later became Chief of the General Staff (CGS) in the Royal New Zealand Army (RNZA).

Some of the Australians involved in the Dams Raid. Most were not to survive the War.

QX10333 CPL Athol 'Ned' Bayly - Crossing the equator certificate on the way to Middle East aboard the Queen May

Pat Hughes 1940

During World War II, the airfield at Deniliquin was primarily a training base. From June 1941 until August 1944, 2206 pilots graduated from No 7 Service Flying Training School. As the end of the war neared, a number of operational units were moved to the base to be disbanded.

Wirraways of No. 2 SFTS, c. July 1941; No. 7 SFTS also operated the type, and inherited aircraft from No. 2 SFTS when it disbanded in April 1942

418913 Flying Officer Norman Jack Bowman

A B25 Mitchell medium bomber of No. 180 Squadron RAF

PORTRAIT OF 405054 FLYING OFFICER B. W. KLEMM, BRISBANE, QLD, AN RAAF AIR GUNNER IN A MITCHELL MEDIUM BOMBER OF NO. 180 SQUADRON RAF WITH THE SECOND TACTICAL AIR FORCE.

Off Sumba Island, Netherlands East Indies. 1945-01-15. The crew of the disabled Catalina aircraft, serial no. A24-96, code RK-E of No. 42 Squadron RAAF in their dinghies preparing to move across to the Catalina aircraft of No. 43 Squadron RAAF which came to rescue them. The aircraft had come down near Japanese held territory. On the night of 14 January 1945, during a mission to Surabaya, a plane from No. 42 Squadron RAAF, captained by Flight Lieutenant (Flt Lt) Harrigan, experienced trouble with its port engine and immediately began to lose altitude. At the time Flt Lt Harrigan was flying at 300 feet below heavy cloud off Sumba Island. He jettisoned his mines, but the plane continued to lose altitude and he was forced to alight on the open sea. The hull of the Catalina aircraft was damaged and began to leak. However, the water was kept down by baling. Using the radio-telephone, the crew was able to make its position known to returning minelayers. All night they worked on the faulty engine, but without success. However, in the morning, a Catalina aircraft of No. 43 Squadron RAAF, captained by Flt Lt Ortlepp, landed in the heavy swell, covered by a Liberator aircraft, and took off Flt Lt Harrigan's crew. Flt Lt Ortlepp then destroyed the disabled Catalina aircraft with machine-gun fire and returned safely to base.

Corporal Philip Ness "Doc" Dobson, MID.

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.

The entrance to Becourt Military cemetery

Contalmaison Chateau Cemetery

Three brothers, Private Theo Leslie Seabrook (left), 2 Lieutenant William Keith Seabrook (centre) and Private George Ross Seabrook (right) of Fivedock, New South Wales, Australia were all serving with 17 Battalion, Australian Infantry when they were killed together at Polygon Wood in the Ypres Salient on 20 - 21 September 1917. At the time of their deaths, George was aged 25, Theo was aged 24 and William was aged 21. Theo and George are commemorated on the Menin Gate at Ypres while William is buried at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery.

A 4.5 inch howitzer of 108th Howitzer Battery of the 8th FIeld Artillery Brigade deployed in line behind a dyke or elevated road which provides them with cover from fire and view by the enemy

Possibly one of the most recognised photos of the AIF on the Western Front. Lieutenant Rupert Frederick Arding Downes MC addresses his Platoon from B Company, 29th Battalion on 8 August 1918 during a rest before the advance onto Harbonnieres, the battalion's second objective. They are near the villages of Warfusee and Lamotte, France. The background of the photograph is obscured by the smoke of heavy shellfire. Many of the men pictured were killed in action or died of wounds or disease in the days and weeks after the photograph was taken, being amongst the last Australian deaths during the First World War. Each man has a story. Pte Towers (fourth from right), for example, was a farm labourer of Cootamundra, NSW, who later transferred to the 32nd Battalion. He was admitted to the Abbeville Hospital on 9 November 1918 suffering broncho-pneumonia where he died on 11 November 1918.

Flying Officer Anthony Shanahan

Memorial to Men of Railway Town

11th Light Horse