Canberra, Australia
With today being Remembrance Day and the Armistice Centenary, I thought it would be a good time to look at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
The Memorial is one of Canberra's major tourist sites, it's both a memorial and a national museum. Recently the government announced plans for a major redevelopment of the memorial. It was originally built during the 1930s, but the Great Depression meant that progress was slow and it was eventually opened during World War II. The official opening was the 11th of November 1941.
Courtyard with the eternal flame and Roll of Honour on either side.
The memorial is divided into sections and was added to over the years. When you enter, the first part is the courtyard with the eternal flame. On each side of the courtyard is the Roll of Honour, the names of those who were killed in either conflicts or peacekeeping missions. Only their names are displayed not their ranks as 'all men are equal in death', members of the public place a poppy next to the name of their relative or person known to them. It's quite a popular thing for school students to research a particular person and then on their school trip to Canberra to find their name and place a poppy.
Roll of Honour.
From the courtyard you enter the Hall of Memory, all of the mosaics and stained glass are the work of a muralist who lost his right arm in World War I, he learned to work using just his left hand. The Hall of Memory was completed in 1958 and in 1993, the tomb of the unknown Australian soldier was placed to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of World War I.
Mosaics in dome of Hall of Memory.
The museum is fascinating, it has displays that predate Federation, when each colony had their own military. Some of those troops served in far off colonial wars.
Replica of the uniform that was given by the British to the New South Wales contingent of troops fighting in the Sudan in 1885.
There are displays relating to World Wars 1 and 2, through to more recent conflicts. This year there's been a display on Australians in the Afghanistan campaign.
World War I, boat used at Gallipoli.
World War II, the desert war, Africa campaign.
World War II, Japanese midget sub used to attack Sydney Harbour.
World War II, war in the Pacific, the plane is a Kittyhawke, it was named Polly by the pilot after his girlfriend. It operated out of Milne Bay in Papua.
G for George, Lancaster bomber. It flew 90 bombing missions over Germany from when it was built in 1942 until its retirement in 1944. It was then bought to Australia for patriotic tours to raise money for the war effort. It was flown by the 460 Squadron RAAF. There's now an audiovisual show 'Striking by night' which recreates a bombing raid over Berlin in December 1943.
Royal Australian Navy flight arm, plane with folded wings to aid with storage.
The diver is a Maritime Counter-terrorism assaulter, with diving gear that emits no bubbles. The camouflaged sniper represents those from the 1990s to the 2000s.
Afghanistan, dogs were used to detect IEDs and to protect their paws they had their own little dog boots.
Memorial to Australian lives lost in Afghanistan.
Simpson and his donkey.
ANZAC Parade, looking down to Lake Burley Griffin and across to Parliament House.
The Australian War Memorial is a popular visitor attraction and great to visit, so many different parts to see, there are audiovisual programs at particular times that make the displays come to life. The memorial is free to visit.
With today being Remembrance Day and the Armistice Centenary, I thought it would be a good time to look at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
The Memorial is one of Canberra's major tourist sites, it's both a memorial and a national museum. Recently the government announced plans for a major redevelopment of the memorial. It was originally built during the 1930s, but the Great Depression meant that progress was slow and it was eventually opened during World War II. The official opening was the 11th of November 1941.
The memorial is divided into sections and was added to over the years. When you enter, the first part is the courtyard with the eternal flame. On each side of the courtyard is the Roll of Honour, the names of those who were killed in either conflicts or peacekeeping missions. Only their names are displayed not their ranks as 'all men are equal in death', members of the public place a poppy next to the name of their relative or person known to them. It's quite a popular thing for school students to research a particular person and then on their school trip to Canberra to find their name and place a poppy.
From the courtyard you enter the Hall of Memory, all of the mosaics and stained glass are the work of a muralist who lost his right arm in World War I, he learned to work using just his left hand. The Hall of Memory was completed in 1958 and in 1993, the tomb of the unknown Australian soldier was placed to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of World War I.
The museum is fascinating, it has displays that predate Federation, when each colony had their own military. Some of those troops served in far off colonial wars.
There are displays relating to World Wars 1 and 2, through to more recent conflicts. This year there's been a display on Australians in the Afghanistan campaign.
The Australian War Memorial is a popular visitor attraction and great to visit, so many different parts to see, there are audiovisual programs at particular times that make the displays come to life. The memorial is free to visit.
Comments
Post a Comment