Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Robert Stanley PILLAR's headstone Rookwood Cemetery, Sydney

A SQN in Syria

QX10333 Athol 'Ned' Bayly in his first suit

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

No. 180 Squadron B25 Mitchell Bomber taxiing for take off from RAF Dunsfold, Surrey UK June 1944

Amiens Cathedral

Amiens cathedral from the canal precinct

Amiens Cathedral

Informal group portrait of RAF ground staff with RAAF and Royal New Zealand Air Force air crew of a Mitchell bomber squadron, 180 Squadron RAF with the Second Tactical Air Force. Left to right: two RAF ground crew, Jock (Fitter) and Alf (Rigger); 422248 Flying Officer (FO) Jack B O'Halloran, pilot of Sydney, NSW, (later Flight Lieutenant and DFC); 417379 Pilot Officer James Crosby (Jim) Jennison (later Flying Officer and DFC) of Adelaide, SA; 422175 FO Reg J Hansen of Sydney, NSW; FO Harry M Hawthorn, RNZAF of Hastings, NZ. The aircraft was lettered D and the pilot named it 'Daily Delivery' and the nose art illustration portrays a stork carrying a large bomb. RAF Dunsfold Surrey UK C263114

DCM, MM, 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal

Roadsign indicating the Millencourt Communal Cemetery Extension

Australian gunners in action with their 18 pounder gun supporting the 4th Division at FIrst Bullecourt

Contalmaison Chateau Cemetery

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.

Australian Engineers, of the 15th Field Company, making crosses for their fallen comrades amid the ruins of Ypres. Out of the ancient oak, which formed the doors and interior fittings of the historic Cloth Hall, pounded to wreckage by German bombardments, they fashioned many monuments to the men who made the supreme sacrifice. 31 October, 1917.

Flying from Mareeba Qld 18 March 1944 CAC Boomerang of No. 5 Squadron RAAF in "Finger Four" formation

Harry Wetzel's grave, Bedford House Cemetery, Belgium

AWM Collection The Banner borne by men of the 5th Machine Gun Battalion in Sydney until 1973 when the banner was retired and donated to the AWM

Flying Officer Anthony Shanahan

11th Light Horse

Distinguished Conduct Medal, British War Medal, Victory Medal

`347 Hartley Pascoe HARRIS

Flight Sergeant APPLEDORE F.H. Nowra Cemetery

Chevillon, Haute Marne, France

A 77 Squadron Halifax B Mk III

An Armstrong WHitworth Whitley of No 77 Squadron at RAF Driffield

916 Frederick Rawlings Pheasant Wood Cemetery Fromelles France

Informal portrait of officers of No. 13 Squadron, RAAF. From the left: 426311 Flying Officer (FO) Nurden Anderson Chowns, of Townsville, Qld; 423956 FO Charles George Watts, of Sydney, NSW; 22465 Flight Lieutenant (Flt Lt) George Alexander Anderson, of Dalby, Qld; 425050 Flying Officer (FO) Bruce Lionel Poole, of Coorparoo, Qld. These airmen were four of six crew members on board Ventura aircraft A59-84 which took off from Gould Strip, Batchelor, NT, on the morning of 27 January 1945 and returned twenty minutes later requesting landing instructions. The aircraft, which it is believed was experiencing instrument failure, struck the ground during the approach, killing all on board.

Harold George Woodman's grave Pheasant Wood

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

Nine Elms British War Cemetery - near Popereinge Belgium

Bellicourt Cemetery

Louverval Cemetery collonade - a striking memorial

Clarence Lamshed's medal set - British War Medal and Victory Medal

HEadstones of two Commonwealth airmen

Risor, Aust-Agder, Norway

Reginald Alfred Charles HEALEY 54th Battalion

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.

P40 Kittyhawk A29-82 of 2 OTU in flight - similar Curtis P40 Kittyhawk aircraft were involved in fatal accidents at 2 OTU.

Studio portrait of Captain (Capt) Ronald Gilbert Horwood MM (left) and Capt Clarence Everard Pellew (right). Paris, France. October-December 1918

2 OTU Mildura WW2. A range of aircraft can be seen including the ubiquitous P40 Kittyhawk and some Vultee Vengeance dive bombers.

A page from a Stokes Mortar training pamphlet, illustrating the key features of the Stokes Mortar. Baseplate to absorb recoil, adjustable bipod to 'lay' the mortar on the required bearing and elevation, and the tube or barrel. Its cylindrical bomb was inherently unstable and its 'always' fuze was necessary to ensure detonation. Later developments saw the introduction of fin stabilised bombs which with the weapon itself, evolved into the 3 inch mortar used in WW2.

Private Leslie Robert Templeman RH#26

A group of seven sergeants waiting to board on the troopship RMS Orontes. Identified back row right: 31661 Wheeler Sergeant (W/Sgt) William Richardson, 43 year old carpenter of Fremantle, WA. W/Sgt Richardson of 9th Reinforcements of 10th Field Artillery Brigade, has a wheel qualification badge on his right sleeve. All others are Master Gunners as denoted by their cloth gun badges on their right sleeves. Front row second left has a metal gun badge. Known to be amongst the group but exact positions unknown are: 31436 Sgt Keith A’Beckett Klingender, of Toorak, Vic, of 9th Reinforcements of 14th Field Artillery Brigade; 31586 Sgt Frank Moritz Michaelis, farmer of St Kilda, Vic of 12th Reinforcements of 6th Field Artillery Brigade. Sgt Michaelis died of meningitis on 14 May 1917 in England; 31361 Sgt Arthur Ernest McKean, clerk of Albert Park, Vic, of 12th Reinforcements of 4th Field Artillery Brigade (possibly centre front).

3495A Gunner (Gnr) Harold Constantine 5th DAC

Group portrait of five Australian Soldiers from the 5th Divisional Ammunition Column. Left to right, back row: 3495A Gunner (Gnr) Harold Constantine; 1513 Gnr Allen Wylie Scott; Probably 2222 Driver James Thomas Sheehan. Front row: Gnr H Williams; 2603 Gnr Arthur Rayworth Davison, later killed on 20 August 1917.

Following the success of Le Hamel on 4 July, and the August offensive 8-11 August, King George V, who had been one of Monash's advocates, visited the Australian Corps Headquarters at Chateau Bertangles on 12 August. A display of some of the captured war material was on display along with a large turnout of troops.

A 144 Squadron "Torbeau" during the period a squadron element was detached to Algeria in 1943. Pilot Sgt P.G. Fletcher