Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

FSGT Noel Wilkinson GADSDEN 625 Sqn RAF. Flt Sgt GADSDEN trained as an Air Gunner as part of the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS), and was posted to No. 625 Squadron RAF operating Lancaster bombers. On the night of 12/13 August 1944, Flt Sgt GADSDEN'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

Studio portrait of 411099 Aircraftman, later Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt) Allan Douglas Moffatt of Armidale, NSW. Enlisting in the RAAF in March 1941, Flt Sgt Moffat trained as an Aerial Gunner as part of the Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) in Canada and England, and was posted to 625 Squadron RAF flying Lancaster bombers. On the night of 12/13 August 1944, Flt Sgt Moffatt'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 24.

The 625 Squadron Memorial at the site of the former RAF Kelstern. The stone memorial stands 3ft 6ins high and is made from cornish granite and comemorates the members of 625 squadron. The memorial is set in a paved and gravel area, surrounded by blue railings and backed by a setting of conifer trees.

Commemorative_Plaque

Photo of John Messiter taken at enlistment, aged 18

James Liddell with his son, James Stanley Liddell NX8279. Probably taken in 1941.

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.”

This is an image of crowds watching the South Australian troops march past. The photo was taken in 1914.

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

This is the ex-passenger liner, HMAT (A11) Ascanius which is the ship that William left on. He was probably on the ship when this photo was taken. People are throwing streamers that are connecting them to the ship.

This is a slightly damaged photo of ANZAC Beach, Gallipoli, 1915. The beach has soldiers and supplies arriving by boat.

430696 John Ewart "Jack" Norris 460 Sqn RAAF WW2

ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT, 1915-04-29. THE WHARF AT ALEXANDRIA, SHOWING AMBULANCES WAITING TO TAKE FROM THE STEAMSHIP A.I. IONIAN MEN WOUNDED AT GALLIPOLI 1915-04-25/26 (ANZAC DAY) (DONOR M. HAMILTON)

AWM Caption: Coomalie, NT. 21 March 1945. Returning to their North Western Australia base are 402733 Pilot Officer Allan Davies of Wentworth Falls, NSW (left) and his navigator 439909 Flying Officer J. S. Reynolds of North Sydney, NSW. They have their hands full with an aircraft camera, magazine and navigation data as they leave their De Havilland DH.98 Mosquito aircraft of No. 87 (Photograph Reconnaissance Flight) Squadron RAAF.

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165691420

Back row L-R Malcolm McGhie 10Rft/15th Bn later 4MGCoy and 47th Bn, Jack Judd 12Rft 15th Bn, then 47th Bn and 59th Bn, Gregory Gibson 12Rft 15th Bn then 47Bn, killed at Dernancourt 28/3/18 and buried at Doullens, John Watson 11Rft 15th Bn KIA Bullecourt 11/4/17. Middle Albert Morgan 10Rft 15th Bn, then 47th Bn and Australian Flying Corp, Ernest Corbett, later 46th Bn, Walter Fish, Edmund Hurd 11Rft later 47th Bn and 45th Bns. Front Lennard Wadsley 13Rft 15th Bn then 52nd Bn KIA 10/9/16 Mouquet Farm, Robert Luxton 13Rft KIA 11/4/17 Bullecourt.

The Funeral guard commanded by Captain Damian White of 10/27RSAR and bearing the Battalions Regimental Colour, approaching Courcelete Cemetery

Troops aboard a train bound for Outer Harbour, 1915.

'G for George' is perhaps the best known WW II aircraft in Australia. It has been the centerpiece of the AWM since it was installed in 1955. The aircraft is a Mk1 Lancaster that served for 17 months with 460 Squadron, from 1942 until April 1944, completing 89 missions before being flown to Australia as part of a War Bond fundraising campaign. It famously flew under the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

The Vickers Wellington, the type that formed the mainstay of Bomber COmmand until the arrival of the four engine 'heavies'. Later used as a training platform. http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/blogs/44822/attachments/183979d1321936604-vickers-wellington-458-squadron-1942-1943-wellington_0.jpg

3029 PTE Edwin Charles DAVIS of the 26th Infantry Battalion

P 396 Navigators, No. 8 Course, Pennfield, New Brunswick.

1613 Richard William KIRBY 3rd Light Horse Regiment / 1st LH Machine Gun Squadron

John Leslie HOPPING of Caltowie

1774 Joseph Alfred Irwin

12228 Harold Lancelot KENYON

845, Jack Reginald KENYON, of Prospect SA

Studio portrait of a Halifax bomber crew of 158 Squadron RAF. Identified left to right, standing: Sergeant L J Craven, flight engineer, of Harrogate, Yorks; 423908 Flying Officer (FO) Anthony Shanahan, bomb aimer, of Mascot NSW; 428765 Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt) James Arthur Nicholson, rear gunner, aged 22 of Ainslie ACT. Identified left to right, sitting: 420999 Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt) Leonard Gower Paxman, wireless operator, aged 26 of Naremburn NSW; 414312 Warrant Officer (WO) Eric Ronald Fergus MacLeod, pilot, aged 27 of Townsville Qld; 422625 Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt) Ernest Roy Moore, navigator, aged 22 of Braddon ACT; 428902 Flight Sergeant (Flt Sgt) Douglas Fitzgerald Bickford, mid-gunner, aged 22, of Gordon NSW. They were crewing LW724, radio call sign NP-S, during the air attack on Nuremberg on the night of 30 March 1944. Their plane was shot down by a German aircraft and crashed near Herborn-Seelbach. FO Shanahan bailed out and was taken prisoner of war in Germany. The rest of the crew were killed.

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?

Service graves in the Communal Cemetery section

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.

BAY OF BISCAY. 1943-05-29. A LIFEBOAT FROM FRENCH DESTROYER 'LA COMBATTANTE', TRANSFERRING FROM SUNDERLAND T9114-E OF NO 461 SQUADRON, RAAF, SIXTEEN SURVIVORS OF TWO OTHER AIRCRAFT WHICH CRASHED INTO THE SEA. THE SUNDERLAND SUFFERED HULL DAMAGE DURING ITS SUBSEQUENT TAKEOFF CAUSING THE CAPTAIN, 400841 PILOT OFFICER G.V. SINGLETON, TO DECIDE TO LAND ON ANGLE AIRFIELD RATHER THAN ALIGHT ON WATER AT HIS HOME BASE. LITTLE FURTHER DAMAGE RESULTED FROM THE LANDING.

PLYMOUTH, ENGLAND. 1943-01-29. PORTRAIT OF 477 FLIGHT LIEUTENANT R. W. MARKS, FLIGHT COMMANDER, NO. 10 (SUNDERLAND) SQUADRON RAAF AT RAF STATION MOUNT BATTEN.

HMAS Bataan, a destroyer, off the Korean Peninsula. The destroyer is seen here engaged in receiving a jackstay transfer from the Royal Navy carrier HMS OCEAN. It is sufficiently clear to show the late Commander Warwick Gracegirdle, RAN - BATAAN 's Korean War CO - on the bridge. This photo is taken off Korea, and the destroyer in the background is HMS CONSORT. Photo: Photographer unknown, the image was published in 1986 for the RAN's 75th Anniversary celebrations. The image is held in the Naval Historical Collection, Australian War Memorial, image ID 300378, listed copyright expired, public domain. It has also been posted on an InvisionFree ship modeller's blog. These are the AWM's descriptive notes that accompany the image: KOREA. ELEVATED PORT SIDE VIEW SHOWING DETAIL OF THE FORWARD PART OF THE DESTROYER HMAS BATAAN (EX-HMAS KURNAI) (D191) AS SHE RECEIVES PERSONNEL BY HIGHLINE FROM THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER HMS OCEAN. NOTE FORWARD TWIN 4.7 INCH MK XII GUNS IN CP XIX MOUNTINGS, WITH THE BREECHES OF B MOUNTING PROMINENT AND THE 40 MM BOFORS AA GUN IN THE PORT BRIDGE WING. BEHIND THE BRIDGE ARE THE DIRECTOR CONTROL TOWER AND RANGEFINDER TOWER MK II WITH A TYPE 285 FIRE CONTROL RADAR MOUNTED UPON THE LATTER. NOTE ROPE STOWAGE IN THE BLAST SCREEN FORWARD OF B MOUNTING AND CARLEY FLOATS BY THE FORWARD SUPERSTRUCTURE WITH PADDLES NEATLY ARRAYED. THE SCREENING DESTROYER IN THE BACKGROUND IS HMS CONSORT. (NAVAL HISTORICAL COLLECTION)

HMAS Bataan, a destroyer, off the Korean Peninsula. The destroyer is seen here engaged in receiving a jackstay transfer from the Royal Navy carrier HMS OCEAN. It is sufficiently clear to show the late Commander Warwick Gracegirdle, RAN - BATAAN 's Korean War CO - on the bridge. This photo is taken off Korea, and the destroyer in the background is HMS CONSORT. Photo: Photographer unknown, the image was published in 1986 for the RAN's 75th Anniversary celebrations. The image is held in the Naval Historical Collection, Australian War Memorial, image ID 300378, listed copyright expired, public domain. It has also been posted on an InvisionFree ship modeller's blog. These are the AWM's descriptive notes that accompany the image: KOREA. ELEVATED PORT SIDE VIEW SHOWING DETAIL OF THE FORWARD PART OF THE DESTROYER HMAS BATAAN (EX-HMAS KURNAI) (D191) AS SHE RECEIVES PERSONNEL BY HIGHLINE FROM THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER HMS OCEAN. NOTE FORWARD TWIN 4.7 INCH MK XII GUNS IN CP XIX MOUNTINGS, WITH THE BREECHES OF B MOUNTING PROMINENT AND THE 40 MM BOFORS AA GUN IN THE PORT BRIDGE WING. BEHIND THE BRIDGE ARE THE DIRECTOR CONTROL TOWER AND RANGEFINDER TOWER MK II WITH A TYPE 285 FIRE CONTROL RADAR MOUNTED UPON THE LATTER. NOTE ROPE STOWAGE IN THE BLAST SCREEN FORWARD OF B MOUNTING AND CARLEY FLOATS BY THE FORWARD SUPERSTRUCTURE WITH PADDLES NEATLY ARRAYED. THE SCREENING DESTROYER IN THE BACKGROUND IS HMS CONSORT. (NAVAL HISTORICAL COLLECTION)

The Farina War memorial

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.

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.

Service number 18488 George Bentley Pegler, a staff member of the South Australian Harbors Board. George enlisted in the AIF on 26 October 1917 and served in France with the Australian Army Medical Corps. He returned to Australia in 1919. From 1923 to his death in 1950 he held the position of Harbourmaster at Cowell.

Captain Henry Samuel COPE MC, 43rd Battalion RH#16

7204v Signaller Louis Leon BRUGEAUD RH#12

7024 Gordon Alexander LAING RH#24

3639 Audley Esmond WEBSTER RH#25

Heilly Station Cemetery

RH Panel Image 002 - Corporal Frank Allchin

Warren Cowan's grave - alongside his comrades from Hudson A16-201 at Bomana War Cemetery

The colour patches which identified units in the AIF were designed to show what division or service they belonged to, and also, in the case of infantry units, their brigade and the sequence of the Battalion in that Brigade. The shape of a colour patch indicated the division or service - 1st Division - horizontal rectangle split horizontally 2nd Division - diamond shape split horizontally 3rd Division - horizontal ellipse 4th Division - circle split horizontally 5th Division - vertical rectangle split vertically. The lower colour denoted the brigade's sequence in the Division. Usually (but not always!) these colours were: Green - first brigade in the division Red - second Light Blue - third The 4th Brigade, originally in the 1st Division , had a dark Blue lower half. Its reallocation to the 4th Division after Gallipoli threw both the brigade / battalion numbering sequence (the most logical at any time in the history of the ADF) and the colour patch structure into disarray! In the first AIF there were four infantry battalions to each brigade, and the upper section (or LHS in the case of the 5th Division) of the colour patch identified each one. Usually (but not always!) these colours were: Black - first Purple - second Brown - third White - fourth Thus every battalion had a unique colour patch. Other Arms and Service Corps had variations but those attached to the five divisions generally incorporated the shape of their parent Ddvision. Source: Text taken from The 27th Battalion Centenary: The Historical Record of the 27th Battalions 13th August 1877-1977 and Programme of Centenary Celebrations, Unley SA, 1977 Notes: 1. Strictly speaking there was no such thing as the 'First AIF'. The term is often used unofficially to distinguish the Australian Imperial Force of the First World War from the Second AIF raised to fight in World War 2. 2. The colour patch scheme was first introduced into the AIF in March 1915, just in time for the initial Gallipoli landings. The 2nd Division received its patches in August 1915, and gradually the scheme was expanded to include the whole AIF.