Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Studio portrait of 874 Private Joseph Archdall Beacom, 15th Battalion of Barrengarry, NSW. Son of John Beacom and Elizabeth Chittick (formerly Beacom). A farmer prior to enlisting, he embarked from Melbourne aboard HMAT Ceramic (A40) on 22 December 1914. He was killed in action on 10 August 1916 in France, aged 31. He has no known grave, and is remembered with honour on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, France. His brother 4078 Private David Beacom was killed in action 5 days earlier.

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.

Positions of forces at dusk on October 31, 1917, during the Battle of Beersheba at the time of the charge of the 4th Light Horse Brigade. British forces are shown in red, Turkish forces are shown in blue. The position reached by the regiments of the 4th Light Horse Brigade after the attack is shown in pale red. Note: there is no evidence that the 4th Light Horse Regiment crossed the Wadi Saba during their attack, nor that the 60th Division attacked south of the Wadi Saba. The Australian Mounted Division headquarters is shown where the Anzac Mounted Division headquarters moved to, after the capture of Tel el Saba. Neither the Gullett map nor Bou's map locates the headquarters of Anzac Mounted Division, Australian Mounted Division and Desert Mounted Corps at Kashim Zanna despite numemrous sources placing them there. [Preston 1921 pp. 25–6, Powles 1922 pp. 136–7, Hill 1978 p. 126]

No 156 Squadron May 1943 at RAF Warboys, CO WCDR Rivett-Carnac

433549 FSGT Len Henderson 463 SQN

Burnside Memorial to the Fallen at Rose Park SA

187 Private Joseph Raymond STEAD

17184 PTE Percy Flanigan

This aircraft, restored to non-flying status and formerly located at the Parafield Fighting Jets Museum in South Australia is a Bell P39 Airacobra of 82 Squadron (although it is wearing 24 Squadron codes - part of a flight detached to 82 Squadron) as it was when it was written off in a forced landing near Bulli in NSW in June 1943. The aircraft has sine been sold to aviation interests in Russia, where Airacobras served with great distinction in WW2. Airacobras were operated in limited numbers (22 in all) by the RAAF as a stop-gap in defence of cities on the eastern seaboard. Some are believed to have been used as training aircraft at Mount Gambier in SA. The Airacobra had some unique features which are shown in this image via open hatches. Most notable at first glance, it had a tricycle undercarriage, the engine was centre mounted, behind the pilot, driving a transmission shaft between the pilots feet to the propellor. This gave a lot of room up front for a very heavy nose armament comprising 1 x 20mm cannon (a 37mm cannon in some variants) firing through the propeller hub and two .50 calibre guns in the nose and one in each wing. While not highly regarded in the Pacific theatre, the most prolific user was the Soviet airforce who were provided large numbers under the Lend Lease Agreements. The Russians loved them, particularly as tank attack aircraft. They were replaced in Australian service by the ubiquitous Curtiss P40 Kittyhawk.

5110 PTE John HIRD

Studio portrait of 2304 Private (Pte) Albert Dunster, 39th Battalion. A farmer prior to enlisting on 29 June 1916, Pte Dunster embarked for overseas service in October 1916. He was wounded on 30 April 1917 and died later that day. Pte Dunster is buried at Trois Arbres cemetery, Steernwerck, France.

Arthur Blackburn, VC, arguably Australia's most remarkable citizen soldiers. Among the first ashore at Gallipoli and with another man reached farthest inland, he was later commissioned. He won a Victoria Cross at Pozieres in unrelenting fighting. He had a distinguished career in public life between the wars and commanded with distinction in the Middle East and Dutch East Indies in WWII becoming a POW after commanding 'Blackforce' in Java.

Peter Masters during the recording of his oral history for the series 'Australians at War' . He also featured in the video documentary '44 Days' narrated by Geoffrey Robertson QC, released in 1992, links to which are contained in the 75 Squadron history.

“Blood, Sweat and Fears” ISBN: 978-0-64692-750-3 Medical Practitioners and Medical Students of South Australia who served in WW1

Amiens cathedral from the canal precinct

1763 Trooper Joseph Wren

The grave of Captain Herman Fritz Hubbe at Albert cemetey

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)

A Martin Mariner of 40 Squadron. Like the Sunderland it was a pure flying boat with no amphibian version, a feature which extended the life of the Catalina design beyond its contemporaries.

NX30NR Henry HULIN 2nd / 4th Field Regiment

Sgt Bert Smyth, 3rd Battalion

William Smith's trench art

"Australia Remembers" plaque. Inscription: Jack Deacon, Army, 1941-1946. City of West Torrens

Studio portrait of Lieutenant (Lt) Trevor Owen-Smythe, 10th Battalion who was a 28 year old station manager from Adelaide, South Australia when he enlisted on 19 August 1914.

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.

Commissioned by the 2/24th Australian Infantry Battalion Association Inc. as part of the Australian War Memorial’s Plaque Dedication Program.

WW1 medal set - Military Medal, 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal with MID Clasp

The grave pf Private Edward Burney 32nd Battalion at Pheasant Wood Cemetery Fromelles

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.

Family dedication to Cpl Herbert (Bert) Andrew Smythe on the Bullecourt Petit Croix

7204v Signaller Louis Leon BRUGEAUD RH#12

WW1 Meritorious Service L- R Military Medal (MM), 1914/15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal.

"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.

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.

The crew of Lancaster ME 851 'PO B' BackRow, L-R Sgt Edmund Goode RAFVR Flight Engineer, FSgt William Paul, FSgt David Paterson, FSgt Arthur Jenkins A/G, Front Row D Stevenson (not on the fatal flight), P/O Wilson Wright (Nav), FSgt James Ewen, FLt William Murphy RCAF

Military Medal notification

GRaves of the crew of 460 Squadron Lancaster lost here 13th June 1943

Military Medal and Bar, the 1914/15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. Image courtesy AWM

Gunner George Edwin BAGGOTT

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

Consolidated Catalina Mark I, AH562 'AX-', of No, 202 Squadron RAF, anchored at Gibraltar after an anti-submarine patrol

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.

A Poster urging Australians to avenge the sinking of the Centaur by contributing to the war effort

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