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Australians at War stories

War photography brings the action to the public

Date: 1900-1999
Unit: War photography

War photography is a specialised business. Many of the best remembered photographs taken in the 20th Century involved war and the human suffering they caused.

The men of Inglewood fought in the Boer War

Name: F Company
Date: 1899-1902
Unit: 1st Battalion, Victorian Rangers
Location: South Africa

The Victorian town of Inglewood had a strong community spirit in the late 1890s with mining and agriculture bringing great wealth to the region. With this background, it was hardly surprising that when a call came to develop its own defence system in the form of a militia, there was great support for the plan. Members of the Inglewood Rifle Club were among the first to become members of the Inglewood F Company of the Victorian Rangers but it later expanded to include any skilled male from the district.

Treachery led to death of young soldier

Name: William Abrahams
Date: 1900
Unit: Bega Mounted Rifles
Location: Driefontein, South Africa

Private William Abrahams was excited about taking part in the Boer War. He joined the Bega Mounted Rifles with a number of other young men from the district.

Cecil got to fight in the Boer War thanks to his hat

Name: Cecil Ewens
Date: 1900-1901
Unit: South Australian Busmen's Corps
Location: South Africa

When the Boer War started in 1899, many young Australians made an instant decision to offer their services as soldiers, but actually getting into the various army units that were to head for South Africa wasn't as easy as you might expect.

Family caught up in the Boer War

Name: Charles Haslett
Date: 1900
Unit: Civilian
Location: South Africa

Things were tough in Australia in the 1890s with little work available in the building trade, so Charles Alexander Haslett, faced with a number of debts, decided to leave his home in Sorrento, Victoria, and try his luck in South Africa, where he planned to make a fresh start.

Trooper Jones – First Australian to die in the Boer Wat

Name: Victor Jone
Date:1900
Unit: 2/14 Queensland Mounted Infantry
Location: Sunnydale Farm, near Salt Lake

Trooper Victor Jones of the first Queensland contingent, 2/14 Queensland Mounted Infantry, was the first Australian to die in action in the Boer War when he was killed in an ambush on 1 January 1900.

Private Kelly 'ran away' to the Boer War

Name: Jack Kelly
Date: 1899
Unit: Tenterfield Mounted Rifles
Location: South Africa

Private Jack Kelly, from Tenterfield, NSW, was determined to take part in the Boer War. So keen was he to go that he defied his father's wishes and then "bought himself out" of his Artillery unit because it was not going to the war.

Only one brother returned from the Boer War

Name: William Lilley
Date: 1902
Unit: 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen
Location: Northern Transvaal, South Africa

Two Lilley brothers, William and Dave, joined the 5"' Queensland Imperial Bushmen to fight in the Boer War but only one of them returned.

McVinish family members served in all conflicts

Name: Colin John McVinish
Date: 1901–1902
Unit: 6th Queensland Imperial Bushmen
Location: South Africa

When two brothers, Colin John and George McVinish, migrated to Australia from Scotland in the late 1800s they had no idea they would be starting a chain of events that would lead to members of their family taking part in virtually every conflict involving Australian troops that followed.

Hardship is not the name for Private Pope and his mates

Name: Walter Pope
Date: 1900
Unit: NSW Mounted Rifles
Location: Camp Bloemfontein

Private Walter Pope served with the NSW Mounted Rifles during the Boer War, surviving many battles, but like many of his countrymen he caught dysentery, bronchitis and rheumatic fever before being repatriated.

Major Thomas defended Harry 'Breaker' Morant

Name: James Thomas
Date: 1901
Unit: New South Wales Bushmen
Location: Pretoria, South Africa

Major James Francis Thomas earned world fame at the South African War in 1902 for the defence of Harry "The Breaker" Morant, but long before that he was known, in Tenterfield, for his sense of justice and fair play

Troops first to try armour in WWI

Name: Hugh Anderson
Date: 1917
Unit: 1st Brigade AIF
Location: France, Belgium

Hugh Anderson was one of the first Australian soldiers to try out the new armour developed to help protect the troops.

The battle for Lone Pine

Name: Hugh Anderson
Date: 1915
Unit: 1st Brigade AIF
Location: Lone Pine, Gallipoli

The battle for Lone Pine, involving the Australian 1st Brigade plus two other battalions, was a crushing victory for the Australians but at a horrendous cost to both sides.

Hugh Anderson's letters bring the horrors of war to life

Name: Hugh Anderson
Date: 1915–1917
Unit:1st Brigade AIF
Location:Gallipoli, France

Hugh Anderson was a prolific letter writer. Throughout his time in Gallipoli and France, and when in hospital, first in Greece and later in England, he wrote regularly to his mother and father and to other relatives with vivid descriptions of places he had visited and the horrendous fighting in which he had been involved.

Trooper meets up with a horse from home

Name: Geoffrey Armstrong
Date: 1915–1918
Unit: 4th Light Horse Brigade
Location: Gallipoli, Middle East

Life is full of coincidences but when Trooper Geoffrey Huie Armstrong helped to unload Australian-bred horses in the Middle East after the Gallipoli campaign, he certainly did not expect to find one from his home town, let alone from the very station on which he was born.

The boy from the bush hits Cairo

Name: Geoffrey Armstrong
Date: 1915–1918
Unit: 4th Light Horse Brigade
Location: Gallipoli, Middle East

Trooper Geoffrey Armstrong was a boy from the bush, so wandering the streets of Cairo must have been a strange and fascinating experience for him.

Father never returned for promised tea party

Name: Joseph Atkinson
Date: 1916–1917
Unit: 26th Battalion AIF
Location: Europe

Joseph Atkinson was a religious man who loved to sing. When he left for war in November 1916, he was 47 years old and had a wife, two daughters and a young son.

Letters an important part of a soldier's life

Name: Fred Ball
Date: 1916–1917
Unit: 30th Battalion AIF
Location: France, Belgium

For most soldiers in World War I letters were an important part of their life. Many wrote long accounts of battles and complained when mail from home didn't reach them.

Major Nat Barton mentioned in despatches

Name: Nat Barton
Date: 1914–1918
Unit: 7th Light Horse Regiment
Location: Gallipoli, France, Belgium

Nat Barton was born at Wellington in 1894, the third son of Charles and Annie Barton. He spent most of his life growing up on their property, Nanima, close to Wellington, which his parents had bought in 1894.

A doctor's view of Gallipoli landings

Name: Vivian Benjafield
Date: 1915–1918
Unit: Australian Army Medical Corps
Location: Gallipoli, Middle East and England

Major Vivien Benjafield of the Australian Army Medical Corps became something of a legend in his own lifetime. He served throughout World War I as a surgeon and administrator in Gallipoli, on hospital ships, in Alexandria and later in England before being invalided back to Australia.

Had finger amputated to pass the medical

Name: Isaac Henry Betteridge
Date: 1917–1918
Unit: 23rd Battalion AIF
Location: France

Private Isaac Henry (Harry) Betteridge was pretty determined to go to war but when he volunteered in 1916, he was turned down on medical grounds because of a deformed small finger.

Conscription was too late for Private Albert Blackmore

Name: Albert Robert  Blackmore
Date: 1917–1918
Unit: 12th Battalion AIF
Location: Europe

Private Albert Robert Blackmore almost survived World War I. He died on 2 November 1918 in an English hospital of pneumonia, after surviving two years of hell.

Jim Bolton almost didn't make it to war

Name: Jim Bolton
Date: 1914–1918
Unit: 2nd Field Co, 7th Btn, Australian Engineers

Jim Bolton almost didn't make it to the fighting war. Apart from the threat of an attack by the German ship Emden, while travelling to the Middle East, he survived a near miss when a colleague's rifle accidentally discharged and the resulting shower of metal pieces caused by the bullet, hit him in several places.

Brother follows brother into battle at Gallipoli

Name: Stewart Boyden
Date: 1915–1918
Unit: 19th Battalion AIF
Location: Gallipoli, France and Belgium

Stewart Boyden knew his brother Rex had gone in to battle ahead of him during an attack on Hill 60 in Gallipoli.

Where a moment ago a column moved there is now nothing but smoke

Name: Stewart Boyden
Date: 1915–1918
Unit: 19th Battalion AIF
Location: Gallipoli, France and Belgium

Captain Stewart Boyden was not a typical soldier, even though he had been a member of the Reserve before the war. He was a firm believer in God and when World War I ended, he joined the Ministry.

The evacuation of Gallipoli went like clockwork

Name: Stewart Boyden
Date: 1915–1918
Unit: 19th Battalion AIF
Location: Gallipoli, France and Belgium

Stewart Boyden was a good letter writer. He wrote often to his parents back in Sydney, expressing his feelings and his faith in God.

Rex Boyden survived wounding at Gallipoli to become an ace pilot

Name: Rex Boyden
Date: 1918
Unit: 18th Battalion AIF, discharged from AIF and joined Royal Flying
Location: Gallipoli

The Boyden family certainly carried out its fair share of duty for Australia with four brothers fighting in World War I and a fifth in World War II. Amazingly all survived although three were wounded and one became a prisoner of war.

Naked diggers seek relief from bugs

Name: Frank Boyes
Date: 1915–1918
Unit: 14th Btn, 3rd Brigade AIF
Location: Gallipoli, France

The sight of Australian diggers walking naked up the beach at Gallipoli would have caused great amusement had it not been for the seriousness of the situation.

Saved by a mate during Turk attack

Name: Frank  Boyes
Date: 1915–1918
Unit: 14th Battalion, 3rd Brigade AIF
Location: Gallipoli

The troops at Gallipoli often had to rely on their mates in times of great duress. It wasn't something you stopped to think about - you just took it for granted - you'd look after them and they'd look out for you.

Water, water but hardly fit to drink

Name: Frank Boyes
Date: 1915–1918
Unit: 14th Battalion, 3rd Brigade AIF
Location: Gallipoli

Summer on Gallipoli was hot and water, always rationed, was scarce. It was rumoured to come from Malta, and was red with rust, with a flavour of its own, according to 2nd Lt Frank Boyes.

Lt Britt describes the first day on Gallipoli

Name: William Britt
Date: 1915–1918
Location: Gallipoli, France, Belgium

Lt William Britt seemed to be leading a charmed life when he survived the landing at Gallipoli. Bullets passed through his hat and several parts of his clothes. One broke his favourite pipe while another grazed his wrist, but still he fought on.

Lt Halcombe Brock, an officer loved by his men

Name: Halcombe Brock
Date: 1915
Unit: 3rd Australian Light Horse
Location: Gallipoli

It is rare for an officer to be so loved by his men that they genuinely grieved at his death and took the trouble to tell his family how much they had thought of their son.

Paddy Bugden won VC for his bravery

Name: Patrick 'Paddy' Bugden
Date: 1917
Unit: 31st Battalion AIF
Location: Belgium

Paddy Bugden was a religious man who took every opportunity to attend church even in the throes of war. He was also a regular letter writer who corresponded with his family until the day he died.

Plague forces troops to load coal

Name: Gordon Burden
Date: 1918
Unit: 10th Battalion AIF
Location: South Africa, Europe

Corporal Gordon Burden wrote lots of letters home describing the sights and events that occurred while travelling by ship from Australia to England in 1918. He was only 18 but had a great eye for detail which he put into both his letter writing and his photography.

Young soldier also a keen photographer

Name: Gordon Burden
Date: 1918
Unit: 10th Battalion AIF
Location: South Africa, Europe

When thousands of young Australians left for World War I, most of them were travelling overseas for the first time.

A mother pleads with son to lead a good life

Name: Gordon Burden
Date: 1918
Unit: 10th Battalion AIF
Location: Europe

Religion played an important part in the lives of many families whose sons enlisted to serve in World War I. Many a young soldier went off with the pleas of mothers and fathers to lead pure lives ringing in their ears.

Tom Carmody a reluctant hero

Name: Tom Carmody
Date: 1916–1918
Unit: 69th Squadron, 3rd Squadron, Australian Flying Corps
Location: Somme, France

The propaganda of the time pressured all young men to do their duty for King and country. On 8 September 1916, Tom Carmody enlisted in the AIF and sailed for England on the Ulysses A38 on 25 October 1916.

Sapper horrified by public reaction

Name: Charlie Clark
Date: 1916–1917
Unit: 3rd Field Company, Engineers, 1st AIF
Location: France, Belgium

Public reaction to the death of enemy troops is not always predictable. Sapper Charlie Clark, for instance, witnessed the shooting down of a Zeppelin in London during World War I but was horrified at the reaction of the press and public.

Private Craig's view of Gallipoli landing

Name: Harold Gordon Craig
Date: 1915
Unit: 6th Battalion AIF
Location: Gallipoli

The harrowing accounts add substance to the horrors faced by the ANZACS as they headed for the beach in boats and while they were fighting their way up the steep inclines against appalling odds.

Torpedo sinks troop shit Ballarat

Name: Hector Creswick
Date: 1917–1918
Unit: 15 Coy, Australian Railway Operating Division
Location: France, Belgium

Hector Creswick was a keen photographer so it was not surprising he should take his camera with him when he went to war - even though this was forbidden. But even he couldn't have anticipated the dramatic situations he would be recording on film.

Protecting the name of Anzac

Name: Crown Solicitor's Office
Date: 1917
Unit: Civilian
Location: Australia

Even before Australian troops had left Gallipoli, people had come to realise the value of the name Anzac.

POW survives horrendous conditions

Name: Justin Dawson
Date: 1917
Unit: 15th Battalion AIF
Location: France, Belgium, Germany

Private Justin Dawson was fighting with the 15th Battalion near Baupaume in France on 10 April 1917 when a 'stunt' went wrong and he was captured by the Germans.

The 3rd Brigade had performed a marvellous feat

Name: Les Dinning
Date: 1915–1916
Unit: 1st Battalion, AIF
Location: Gallipoli, France

Les Dinning was quick to sign up for World War I, enlisting at Kensington in Sydney on 31 August 1914. After initial training he found himself on a ship bound for the Middle East with the 1st Battalion.

Buried thousands of miles from home—But not forgotten

Name: Henry Norman (Harry) Fisher
Date: 1918
Unit: 15th Battalion, Gallipoli - 4th Australian Pioneers, France
Location: France, Gallipoli

When a young Australian soldier was killed during fighting in France just two months before the end of World War I, he wasn't buried alongside his mates.

Jack finally 'met' his father after 83 years

Name: Albert Henry  Fleetwood
Date: 1917
Unit: 46th Battalion AIF
Location: France

Jack Morgan was only six months old when his father, Private Albert Henry Fleetwood, died of wounds at the battle of Messines in June 1917, so he never knew him

He charged at Beersheba with the light horse

Name: Horace Flitcroft
Date: 1917–1918
Unit: 10th Light Horse
Location: Middle East

The air was filled with the sound of thundering hoofs and the shouts of exhilaration from hundreds of young Australian Light Horse troops as they raced across the desert towards the Turkish lines at Beersheba.

Alan Garden gave up law to go to war

Name: Alan Garden
Date: 1916–1918
Unit: 8th Field Artillery
Location: Europe

Alan Garden abandoned his law degree at Melbourne University to sign up for World War I. He joined with his mates, Bill Woodfull (who later captained the Australian cricket team), and Bill Leggatt (who became Sir William Leggatt, Agent-General for Victoria in London) and Norm (no other details are known).

Saddler used camera to record the war

Name: Danny Goodall
Date: 1915–1918
Unit: 8th Battery, 3rd Australian Field Artillery
Location: France, Belgium

Joe Goodall was a saddler by trade, an extremely useful skill during World War I. He helped make and repair the harnesses for the horses that pulled the big guns of the 8th Battery, 3rd Australian Field Artillery.

The knock on the door that mothers came to dread

Name: Mary Green
Date: 1917
Unit: Civilian
Location: Brisbane, Qld

Mrs Mary Green was busy at home on 9 January 1917 when she heard a knock on her front door. Like hundreds of mothers before and after her, her heart missed a beat when she found the local parish priest on the step.

Parental advice to soldiers leaving home

Name: John Hallily Greenwood
Date: 1918
Unit: 14th Battalion AIF
Location: England

When thousands of young men left their homes to take part in World War I, they went with the good wishes of their families for a safe return.

Handcock family paid a high price for loyalty

Name: Handcock
Date: 1915–1918
Unit: 7th Btn, 21st Btn, 37th Btn, 38th Battalion, 1st Aust Tunneling
Location: Gallipoli, France

The Handcock family of Myrrhee in Victoria certainly paid a high price for their loyalty in World War I. Charles and Harriet Handcock had nine sons and would have been proud that eight of them served in the war.

A prisoner of the Turks

Name: George Handsley
Date: 1915
Unit: 2nd Australian Light Horse Unit
Location: Romani

When George Handsley signed up to join the Light Horse Regiment in Toowoomba in August 1915 he had visions of fighting the great fight against the enemy hordes. What he didn't realise was that he was destined to spend two and a half years as a prisoner of the Turks under the most appalling conditions.

Harveyson family provided Grenfell volunteers with home from home

Name: Charles and Harry Harveyson
Date: 1914–1918
Unit: Civilians
Location: England, Australia

Two brothers who lived 12,000 miles (20,000km) apart at the beginning of World War I combined to provide a home from home for Grenfell troops sent to Europe, and in doing so formed a bond which is as strong as ever today.

Nurses often passed on sad news to families

Name: William Hatcher
Date: 1916
Unit: 22nd Battalion AIF
Location: Somme, France

Casualty Clearing Stations (CCS) were the first stop for many of the soldiers wounded in World War I. These advanced surgical stations were located as close to the action as possible.

Private Hewish died carrying stretchers through the mud of Belgium

Name: Ernest Hewish
Date: 1915–1917
Unit: Australian Army Medical Corps
Location: France, Belgium

Private Ernest Hewish from Adelaide, South Australia, couldn't wait to get to the war. Despite seeing the casualty lists from Gallipoli, or maybe because of them, he signed up in May 1915 with the Australian Army Medical Corps. He was just 17.

Souvenir king enraged the Kaiser

Name: John "Barney"  Hines
Date: 1917
Unit: 45th Battalion AIF
Location: France, Belgium

John "Barney" Hines was a real thorn in the side of the German army during World War I, so much so that the Kaiser put a price on his head "dead or alive".

Chance meeting during war led to romance and marriage

Name: Peter Horan
Date: 1916–1918
Unit: 15th Field Ambulance
Location: France and Germany

When a young Australian Private, Peter Horan of the 15th Field Ambulance, met a young English WAAC while strolling by the sea at Boulogne, France, in 1917, he had no idea that they would be together for the rest of their lives.

Doctor among the last to leave Gallipoli

Name: Eric Hutchinson
Date: 1915
Unit: 20th Battalion
Location: Gallipoli

Major Eric Hutchinson was a doctor but he was also a hero. He survived numerous shellings, was eventually wounded in France and evacuated but then returned to the front to continue tending the wounded.

Doctor beats the odds to treat wounded

Name: Eric Hutchinson
Date: 1916
Unit: 20th Battalion
Location: Zonnebeke, Belgium

Major Eric Hutchinson didn't think of himself as a hero, he just got on with his job of tending to the sick and wounded. He defied death so often that he began to think it might be providential.

Farewell to Australia's sons

Name: Harrison Lee-Cowie
Date: 1914–1918
Unit: Civilian
Location: Invergargill

A poem from World War I - By Mrs Harrison Lee-Cowie

Corporal Leggett an early casualty on the Western Front

Name: William Thomas Leggett
Date: 1914
Unit: 1st Kings Life Guards
Location: Gheluwe, Belgium

William Thomas Leggett, who hailed from Goulburn in New South Wales, is thought to have been one of the first Australians killed in fighting on the Western front in World War I. He was certainly the first to die in the defence of Ypres, in Belgium.

Letters home express feelings as wars end

Name: Levy
Date: 1916–1918
Unit: 36th Btn AIF, RAAF

Two men from the same family who celebrated the end of wars 27 years apart, were both moved to write to their mothers expressing the joy and relief felt when peace finally came.

Private Litchfield describes the day he was shot

Name: Charles West Litchfield
Date:1915–1917
Unit: 9th Reinforcements, 10th Battalion, AIF
Location: France

Like many troops in World War I, Private Charles Litchfield kept a diary through the two years from the time he left Australia until he was wounded and repatriated to Australia.

Australian troops return to Gallipoli

Name: Charles West Litchfield
Date: 1915–1917
Unit: 9th Reinforcements, 10th Battalion, AIF
Location: France

A great deal has been written about the fighting at Gallipoli but little is known about the second time Australian troops were sent to the Peninsula.

German spy may have caused Captain Lovett's death

Name: Norman  Lovett
Date: 1914–1918
Unit: 1st Light Horse Unit
Location: Europe

Norman Lovett was well known in the Wellington area. His father Fred was the Maryvale Public School teacher and Norman had spent much of his life there. He had followed in his father's footsteps and was also a teacher in charge of the tiny Bearbung School near Gilgandra when he enlisted on 23 August 1914.

Writing condolence letters required great skill

Name: Leslie Mallyon
Date: 1918
Unit: 36th Battalion AIF
Location: France

There is a definite skill to writing letters of sympathy to the families of servicemen and women killed in battle. Some people are good at it while others find it a chore they would rather not have to deal with.

Stretcher bearers strayed behind enemy lines

Name: Bill Manly
Date: 1916–1918
Unit: 13th Australian Field Ambulance
Location: Pozières Woods, France

Private Bill Manly was used to collecting wounded Australian soldiers from the battlefield. It was his job while working for the 13th Australian Field Ambulance at the dressing station in Pozières Woods on the Somme.

The Sharpshooter of Grenfell

Name: E.A. Markham
Date: 1915–1917
Unit: 1st Brigade AIF
Location: Zeltoun Camp, Egypt

Lance-Corporal E.A. Markham enlisted with three mates, all members of Grenfell Rifle Club - who called themselves "The Sharpshooters".

Ceylon an eye-opender for Australian soldiers

Name: Thomas Martin
Date: 1916
Unit: 21st Battalion AIF
Location: Ceylon

Lt Thomas Henry Martin of Harrietville, Victoria, sailed for Europe on the RMS Orontis with the 21st Battalion AIF at the end of March 1916, passing through Ceylon and on to Egypt, heading for France. Five months later he was dead.

Farewell from a soldier

Name: Edward Mason
Date: 1916
Unit: 32nd Battalion, AIF
Location: France

When Edward Isaac Mason enlisted for World War I he lied about his age. Nothing unusual about that. Lots of young men added a year or two to join up.

Harley Matthews—The Spirit of Anzac

Name: Edward Mason
Date: 1916
Unit: 32nd Battalion, AIF
Location: France

Harley Matthews was a poet, journalist, playwright and wine maker who served at Gallipoli and was later imprisoned in Australia for sedition. But his most unusual role was surely that of an artist's model.

Farriers played important role with Australian Light Horse

Name: Harold Mertin
Date: 1914–1919
Unit: 9th Australian Light Horse
Location: Middle East

Farriers were in great demand by the Australian Light Horse so when Harold Arthur Mertin joined up 1914 he was welcomed with open arms.

Mills family struck by tragedies

Name: Frank Mills
Date: 1915–1916
Unit: 3rd Brigade AIF
Location: Gallipoli, France

David Sharp Mills, a volunteer fire brigade captain who lived in Parramatta, NSW, must have wondered often enough where he had gone wrong. His wife died following a miscarriage, two of his sons were killed in World War I and his third son died of septicaemia. Only his daughter survived to reach the age of 83.

Hospital visits led to romance

Name: Bert  Mould
Date: 1914–1918
Unit: 18th Battalion, 1st AIF
Location: France

Bert Mould and Olive West were constant companions as children growing up in the small country New South Wales town of Adaminaby.

Live on and love on war the motto of Jack Neil

Name: Jack Neil
Date: 1915
Unit: Australian Medical Corps
Location: Gallipoli

Jack Neil was a religious man with a strong sense of honour and duty.

Being "a fair trier" earned Percy Nuttall an MC

Name: Percy Nuttall
Date: 1914–1918
Unit: AIF
Location: Gallipoli, France, Belgium

Like many other young Australians, Percy Nuttall signed up with the AIF in October 1914 without telling his parents. He finally got around to writing to his father from camp in Adelaide, to try and explain, hoping that his father would understand.

The battle for Mouquet Farm

Name: Percy Nuttall
Date: 1916
Unit: AIF
Location: Gallipoli, France, Belgium

The battle for Mouquet Farm, just north of Pozières in France, was shrouded in controversy. Thousands of Australian troops died over a period of several weeks while the farm was taken and abandoned a number of times.

The "Dinkum Soldier" whose luck ran out

Name: William O'Brien
Date: 1917
Unit: 25th Battalion AIF
Location: France

Private William O'Brien came from a hard-working family. His father died in 1906, just a few years after establishing a flour mill in Toowoomba. This left his mother with 10 children to look after and a business to run.

Families discover link 17 years later

Name: Parsons and Woodhead
Date: 1916
Unit: 51st Battalion AIF
Location: Mouquet Farm, France

Two men born on opposite sides of the world had never met when they were both killed fighting for the same battalion in the same action on the same day in France on 23 September 1916.

Luckiest man alive saved by a coin

Name: Ern Pittard
Date: 1917
Unit: 10th Field Company Engineers
Location: France

Ern Pittard from Melbourne was one of the luckiest men alive after the Battle of Messines in Belgium during World War I. And he must have thanked his lucky stars that he wasn't broke at the time.

Aborigine survives family massacre but dies in war

Name: William Joseph Punch
Date: 1916–1917
Unit: 1st AIF
Location: Europe

An Aborigine who was the sole survivor of a brutal attack in which his entire family was massacred in 1880, was brought up by a white family in country New South Wales and later fought for Australia in World War I.

Corporal Ramsden defiend the rules and the odds

Name: Wilfred Ramsden
Date: 1914–1918
Unit: Australian Field Artillery
Location: Egypt, Europe

Corporal Wilfred Ramsden was not one to take no for an answer. He broke all the rules, went AWL in Egypt by boarding a ship bound for Europe so he could join a fighting unit, was awarded two medals for bravery and died just two days before the end of World War I.

The world and its imports and exports

Name: Wilfred Ramsden
Date: 1916–1918
Unit: Australian Field Artillery
Location: Middle East, France

Corporal Wilfred Ramsden went to war to fight the enemy. To achieve his aim he often broke the rules. He went AWL in Egypt to board a ship bound for Europe so he could join a fighting unit, spent time under arrest, finally went in to battle and was awarded two medals, but died just two days before the end of the war.

Why should you people at home not know the horrors of war

Name: John Alexander Raws
Date: 1916
Unit: 23rd Battalion, 6th Brigade
Location: Pozières, France

John Alexander Raws wasn't in the war for long but in the four weeks or so he was there, he saw and experienced the most horrific fighting of World War I.

There's more than one type of hero in war

Name: Jack Reid
Date: 1915
Unit: 1st Brigade AIF
Location: Gallipoli

There are all sorts of heroes in wars. Some fearlessly charge enemy positions without thought for their own safety, others quietly get on with the job while bullets and shells explode all around them. Les Dinning was one of the latter.

Journalist moved by plight of homeless digger

Name: Jack Reid
Date: 1915–1918
Unit: Australian Artillery
Location: Middle East, France, Belgium

Jack Reid was always someone who spoke his mind and so it was little wonder that he eventually became a journalist.

Barrow boy who made it to the top

Name: David Simcock
Date: 1915
Unit: 11th Battalion AIF
Location: Gallipoli

Not many privates in the Australian Imperial Force would have a Colonel hold up the taking of an official group photograph while he climbed to the top position, but that's exactly what happened to Private David John Simcock in Egypt in 1915.

Weather beautiful, health indifferent, prospects bright, spirits high

Name: Ronald Sinclair
Date: 1915–1919
Unit: 114th Howitzer Battery, Australian Field Artillery
Location: Middle East, France, Belgium

Ronald Sinclair lived for letters from home, and wrote plenty himself during his three and a half years away at war. In particular, he wrote regularly to his long-time girl friend, Adelene, telling her about his feelings, the war and his philosophy on all sorts of matters.

Conscription and censorship inflame passions

Name: Jeremiah Stable
Date: 1917
Unit: 1st Military District
Location: Brisbane, Qld

Conflicts between the Commonwealth and State governments are nothing new. During World War I the subject of conscription almost split the nation, causing rifts within political parties and families.

Sister's letters brought news from home

Name: Emily Stewart
Date: 1916–1918
Unit: Civilian
Location: Australia - Sydney, Brisbane

Letters from home were among the most important elements in the lives of troops in World War I. They brought news of the family and friends and helped provide a little brightness in the lives of those fighting for "King and Country".

Not everyone welcomed the Aussies

Name: Bob Talbot
Date: 1915–1918
Unit: Australian Artillery Regiment
Location: Belgium, France

Not everyone in France and Belgium thought the Australian soldiers were wonderful in World War I, as Gunner Bob Talbot discovered.

Wounded soldier pleads for young nephew to stay out of war

Name: Walter Wells
Date: 1916–1917
Unit: 9th Field Coy, Australian Engineers
Location: France, Belgium

The horror of war was the subject of many a letter back home from Australian troops to their families during World War I and Walter Wells was no exception.

Like putting up cardboard nine-pins in a hurricane

Name: Thomas Clair Whiteside
Date: 1916–1918
Unit: 59th Battalion, 5th Brigade AIF
Location: France

Thomas Clair Whiteside was a prolific letter writer. Throughout his service in World War I, he wrote regularly to his parents and sister, sending over 200 letters in the three years he was abroad.

April 25th was a day to remember

Name: John Whitham
Date: 1915
Unit: C Company, 12th Battalion AIF
Location: Gallipoli

Laurie Whitham had reason to remember 25 April 1915. He was there at Gallipoli and was 'lucky' enough to get a wound that was serious enough to take him out of the firing line without being life threatening.

Fever caused more grief than the enemy

Name: Lionel Abeshouse
Date: 1942–1945
Unit: 8th Platoon, 55th Battalion AIF
Location: New Guinea

Shortly after disembarking from the Taroona on arrival in Port Moresby with the 8th Platoon, 55th Battalion AIF, in May 1942, Lionel Abeshouse found himself marching 20 km to camp, carrying full equipment.

The low down on Malaya

Name: Anonymous, Through magazine
Date: 1941
Unit: Signals 8th Australian Division
Location: Singapore

Through magazine was the official journal of Signals 8th Australian Division. The first edition was produced in Singapore in December 1941, shortly before Singapore fell.

Womens land army played an important role during World War II

Name: Isobel Anstee
Date: 1943–1944
Unit: Australian Women's Land Army
Location: Victoria, Australia

One of the most important products during World War II was flax. It was used for all sorts of clothing and equipment from coats to parachute harnesses, from ropes to tarpaulins and even to cover gliders used to transport troops.

We had the skills, they had the money

Name: Charles Hilton "Snow" Beal
Date: 1944–1945
Unit: 11th Repair and Salvage Unit, RAAF
Location: New Guinea

Hilton Beal became an expert wheeler-dealer in New Guinea during World War II. He discovered he had a talent for making jewellery out of all sorts of spare bits and pieces - and there was a ready market among the well-paid US servicemen

Those at home also suffered from lack of news

Name: Emily "Queenie" Bennett
Date: 1943
Unit: Civilian
Location: Vic, Australia

Much of the focus during any war is on the family members who have gone away to serve their country. Service men and women tell of their longing to receive mail from home and how excited they are when it arrives.

Len Bills' letter in a bottle finds its way home

Name: Len and Cyril Bills
Date: 1941–1945
Unit: 2/19 Battalion AIF
Location: Singapore, Malaya

Len and Cyril Bills were brothers who enlisted in the army at the same time and sailed on the Queen Mary in February 1941. They both wrote to their sister Mary on a regular basis.

Malaya the unknown

Name: C.C. Bingham, Through magazine
Date: 1941
Unit: Signals 8th Australian Division
Location: Singapore

Through magazine was the official journal of Signals 8th Australian Division. The first edition was produced in Singapore in December 1941, shortly before Singapore fell.

Living through "friendly fire" in New Guinea

Name: Henry Booth
Date: 1943–194
Unit: 100 Squadron RAAF
Location: Milne Bay, New Guinea

Being shot at by planes and having bombs dropped near you was a fairly common occurrence in New Guinea during World War II, as Tony Booth would be the first to tell you. But when the bullets and the bombs came from Australian aircraft, it was a bit hard to take.

Surviving freezing weather in POW camp

Name: Alexander William Bourne
Date: 1943–1945
Unit: POW
Location: Keijo Prisoner of War Camp, Korea

Signaller Alexander William Bourne was taken prisoner by the Japanese at the fall of Singapore. He was later transferred to Korea where he spent the rest of the war at Keijo Prisoner of War Camp.

Some enemy spies in Tobruk were Australians

Name: LJ Boyd
Date: 1941
Unit: 3 Field Company RAE
Location: Tobruk

Spies are a real menace during war, particularly when they are members of your own side. You just don't expect to find someone who you have shared a yarn or a beer with, passing information to the enemy.

Adaptable Jeep on the right lines

Name: Ron Boyden
Date: 1945
Unit: 2/3rd Anti-Tank Unit
Location: Borneo

Jeeps were real work horses in World War II and they turned up in the most unusual places.

Following in the family footsteps

Name: Arthur Boyden
Date: 1942–1945
Unit: 1/12th Royal Australian Engineers
Location: Malaya

Cpl Arthur Boyden had a big family reputation to live up when he served in World War II. Four of his brothers had fought in World War I. Now, here he was with the 1/12th Royal Australian Engineers in Malaya waiting for the Japanese to attack.

Mother wrote letters not knowing if her son was alive

Name: Annie 'Daisy' Boyden
Date: 1942
Unit: 12th Field Company, RAE
Location: Singapore

When Singapore fell to the Japanese in February 1942, almost 15,000 thousand Australian troops were taken prisoner.

Operation Sabre helps end war in the Pacific

Name: Ken Briggs
Date: 1945
Unit: Operation Sabre
Location: Saigon River delta

It seems hard to believe that a piece of cable 45cm long could have a profound effect on the outcome of the war but that's how it was.

Soldiers issued with broom sticks instead of guns

Name: Jack Brinkworth
Date:1939–1945
Unit: 2/2nd Infantry Battalion
Location: 2/2nd Infantry Battalion

When World War II broke out on 3 September 1939, Jack Brinkworth was living in Gresford. On his first day off work, 7 September, he rode his bike the 28 miles to Maitland to the Drill Hall and put his name and address on the notice board to enlist, the second person to do so.

Keith served in both the Army and RAAF in World War II

Name: Keith Morris Brown
Date: 1939–1945
Unit: 6th Div 2/2 Field Engineers, RAE, 18th NEI Squadron
Location: Middle East, Pacific

After Keith Morris Brown was wounded while fighting in the Western Desert he was subsequently discharged from the Army in 1942 as "medically unfit for service". He soon decided civilian life was not for him so he signed up with the RAAF instead.

Merchant seaman travelled the world during the war

Name: Brian Foliot Cane
Date: 1939–1945
Unit: Merchant Seaman
Location: The high seas

Living in a house that looked out over the Derwent River and having access to the many trading ships that unloaded their cargoes in Hobart, it was hardly surprising that Brian Cane became a merchant seaman

Change alley

Name: Paul Carn, Through Magazine
Date: 1941
Unit: Signals 8th Australian Division
Location: Singapore

Through magazine was the official journal of Signals 8th Australian Division. The first edition was produced in Singapore in December 1941, shortly before Singapore fell.

A visit to Hitler's study

Name: Neal Carter
Date: 1945
Unit: RAAF 451 Squadron
Location: Berlin

Neal Carter was stationed in Germany with RAAF 451 Squadron, British Occupation Forces in November 1945.

Pilot's pride in Australian efforts

Name: Vic Cashmore
Date: 1941
Unit: 454 Squadron RAAF
Location: Middle East, Kenya, Italy

Having learned to fly in Australia, Vic Cashmore found himself on board the Queen Elizabeth in April 1941 heading for the Middle East, qualified to fly twin-engined Ansons at the age of 21

Sailor forced to swim on four occasions

Name: Francis Rupert Chesterman
Date: 1940–1941
Unit: RAN
Location: Greece, Crete

Many merchant seamen were torpedoed or bombed during World War II. Some survived to serve on other ships, many were killed.

The sinking of the Wollongbar II

Name: Civilians
Date: 1943
Location: Queensland, Australia

A one-sided secret sea-battle raged in the New South Wales north coast waters during one fortnight in mid 1943. Much wreckage and Australian blood washed on to beaches during this battle. Because of strict Government censorship laws, it became a secret war, with most Australians being unaware of the extent of the damage being wrought by marauding Japanese submarines.

Flying in New Guinea was pretty hairy

Name: John  Clark
Date: 1942–1943
Unit: 6 Squadron
Location: New Guinea

Flying in New Guinea during World War II was pretty hairy at the best of times, but when bad weather set in it caused all sorts of problems.

Soldier full or praise for Australian nurses

Name: Jack Clarris
Date: 1941
Unit: 2/15th Battalion AIF
Location: Middle East

Private Jack Clarris was full of praise for the Australians fighting at El Alamein and for the work of Australian nursing sisters and VADs.

Four airmen bailed out over the Simpson Desert and survived

Name: Laurie Coleman
Date:1944
Unit: 2 Squadron RAAF
Location: Simpson Desert, Northern Territory

When four airmen had to bail out of their aircraft over the Simpson Desert in the middle of the night during World War II, you wouldn't have given much for their chances of survival.

A day Harry Dale will never forget

Name: Harry Dale
Date: 1942
Unit: HMAS Karangi
Location: Darwin

The day the Japanese bombed Darwin is one that Harry Dale will never forget. He was on a ship in the harbour when the planes began their raid on Thursday, 19 February 1942, and was lucky to survive.

War time travel less than luxurious

Name: David Davis
Date: 1942–1944
Unit: 105 Radar Station, Point Charles
Location: Darwin, NT, Australia

Travelling from Melbourne to Darwin is pretty easy these days. Just hop on a plane and a few hours later you're there. But during World War II the journey took more than a week.

Troops rescued from Greece by HMAS Perth

Name: Frank De Silva
Date: 1941
Unit: 6th Division AIF
Location: Greece

Following a concerted German attack on Yugoslavia and Greece, with a force of 15 divisions backed by a powerful formation of Stuka dive bombers and Messerschmitts, the Allied troops were forced to withdraw from Greece.

Drawing on life in the signals unit

Name: Max Dimmack
Date: 1943–1945
Unit: Signals, 7th Australian Division, AIF
Location: New Guinea, Borneo

Corporal Max Dimmack was always on the scrounge in New Guinea during World War II. He collected every decent scrap of paper he could lay his hands on, including old envelopes.

Harry Dorrington hated Malayan climate

Name: Harry Dorrington
Date: 1942–1944
Unit: Australian Army Personnel Depot
Location: Malaya

Harry Dorrington was a private in the Australian Army Personnel Depot serving in Malaya during World War II. He was taken prisoner along with thousands of Allied troops and others and spent the rest of the war until he died on 12 September 1944, as a POW in Borneo.

Tough Stoker moved to tears

Name: Bill Dowse
Date: 1945
Unit: RAN HMAS Pirie
Location: Tokyo Bay

Stokers were the tough men of the Navy during World War II. They had to work long hours in terrible conditions to keep the ships moving.

Nurses survive evacuation from Greece

Name: Sylvia Duke
Date: 1941
Unit: 6th Australian General Hospital
Location: Greece

Sylvia Duke and Sophie Healy were good friends and colleagues. So when Sylvia was posted abroad as a Sister in the 6th Australian General Hospital in Greece it was only natural they should stay in touch.

A mother grieves for death of VC winner

Name: John Edmondson
Date:1940
Unit: 2/17th Battalion
Location: Tobruk

Corporal John Hurst Edmondson, who was born in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, was awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry in the Siege of Tobruk. He was the first Australian to be awarded a VC in World War II.

Experiencing the aftermath of atmoic explosion

Name: Brian Evans
Date: 1946–1947
Unit: BCOF 66 Australian Infantry Brigade
Location: Japan

Brian Evans was 18 when he joined the AIF in May 1945 so was a bit late to take part in the fighting. Instead he volunteered for the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) and found himself sailing aboard HMAS Duntroon with other volunteers in March 1946.

Aircrew survived 11-day desert trek to safety

Name: Mick Ey
Date: 1941–1944
Unit: 14 Squadron, 454 Squadron RAAF
Location: Middle East

Mick Ey could regard himself as extremely lucky while flying in the Middle East as a wireless operator/air gunner with 454 Squadron. After all, it's not many people who can say they were involved in five crashes and still lived to tell the tale.

Padres to the rescure with hot tea and coffee

Name: Terry Fairbairn
Date: 1941
Unit: 2/1st Battalion AIF
Location: Greece, Crete

The men of the 2/1 Battalion could hardly believe their eyes when they crossed the Aliakmon River in Greece in April 1941 after retreating from Veria Pass. There in the snow and ice were two Australian padres offering them a hot cup of tea or coffee.

Berry family did their share in World War II

Name: Berry family
Date: 1939–1945
Unit: Various AIF, RAAF, WAAF
Location: Australia, Middle East, New Guinea

The Berry family of West Tamar in Tasmania certainly did their fair share in World War II with five brothers and a sister all serving in the forces. They all survived, although not without a few narrow escapes, according to a newspaper article probably printed in 1944.

Larrikin survives years at sea

Name: Les Forrester
Date: 1940–1945
Unit: Royal Australian Navy
Location: Mediterranean, Middle East, Pacific

Les Forrester was a self-confessed larrikin. He liked to have a good time but when the chips were down he was in there with the best of them.

Out of the frying pan into the fire

Name: A. J. "Butch" Gaudry
Date: 1944–1945
Unit: POW
Location: Singapore, Saigon

A. J. "Butch" Gaudry had survived working on the Burma-Thailand railway and was sent with many other troops back to Singapore where they were put to work on the wharves.

The day their luck ran out

Name: Ray Goode
Date: 1943
Unit: Sunderland N for Nuts 461 Squadron
Location: South Wales

The flying boat, in which Warrant Officer Ray Goode was a tail gunner and radio operator, disappeared without trace with its entire crew after being attacked by six Junkers JU88 fighter aircraft somewhere off the coast of South Wales.

Ray survived eight days on the run from the Japanese

Name: Ray Graetz
Date: 1944
Unit: 100 Squadron RAAF
Location: New Guinea

Flying Officer Ray Graetz was a wireless operator/air gunner on a bombing and strafing mission with eight other Beauforts over Wewak in May 1944 when his plane was shot down by enemy gunfire.

After all that—the beer was warm

Name: John  Grigsby
Date: 1945
Unit: 1st Tactical Air Force Coms Unit
Location: Australia, Morotai

Most servicemen like a drink and airmen are no exception so when a group of young RAAF personnel were waiting at the Sandgate Embarkation Depot in 1944 to board the USS Sea Ray due to sail for Morotai the next morning, they were keen to let their hair down.

Surf race held despite the war

Name: Bill Grose
Date: 1940
Unit: 6th Division AIF
Location: Gaza, Middle East

The Mediterranean is not renowned for its surf carnivals at the best of times much less in the middle of a major war. Which makes the holding of an open surf race in 1940 all the more remarkable.

Sister Hamilton served much of the war on night duty

Name: Vera Hamilton
Date: 1940–1945
Unit: 2nd AIF
Location: Middle East, New Guinea, Australia

Sister Vera Hamilton was nursing at Scott Memorial Hospital at Scone, New South Wales, when war was declared and immediately enlisted but it was to be 12 months before she got the call. Once it came it was but a few days before she was on a boat heading for the Middle East.

A beer bottle barrage and stealing into Timor

Name: Bernard Harte
Date: 1941–1944
Unit: 11 and 20 Squadrons RAAF
Location: Australia, Pacific

During World War Two I spent much of my flying career in the Royal Australian Air Force as a wireless operator-gunner in Catalina flying boats, from mid-1941 to 1943, mostly covering the South Pacific theatre.

Telegram brings good news for a change

Name: Peter Haythorpe
Date: 1945
Unit: Royal Australian Artillery
Location: New Guinea

Telegrams were all too often the bringer of bad news during World War II. So when Mr and Mrs Haythorpe, received an urgent telegram on 21 May 1945, they feared the worst.

Connie entertained the troops during World War II

Name: Connie Hobbs
Date: 1939–1945
Unit: Civilian
Location: Europe, Middle East

Connie Hobbs was a young Australian actress working in London when World War II broke out. As a member of J.C. Williamson's theatre productions, she had gone to England to further her stage career.

You waited with a sick feeling, not able to say goodbye to your family

Name: Rick Hunter
Date:1939
Unit: 2/1 Field Ambulance, 6th Div
Location: Middle East

Rick Hunter was a bit of a rebel so when he came into contact with the German authorities whilst a prisoner of war, he determined to give as good as he got.

Seven Aussie diggers excape Singapore on a sixteen-foot skiff

Name: James Iliffe
Date: 1941–1942
Unit: Ordnance Unit attached to 8th Division Headquarters
Location: Malaya & Singapore

When British officers advanced towards the Japanese lines on Singapore on 15 February 1942, waving a white flag, seven Australian soldiers decided to make a break for it.

The great escape caused maximum disruption

Name: Lionel Jeffries
Date: 1943–1944
Unit: RAAF, POW Stalag Luft III
Location: Stalag Luft III prison camp near Sagan

In March 1944, a mass break out from Stalag Luft III prison camp near Sagan, in Silesia, by Allied air force officers, caused huge disruption to the German war effort.

Shot down over Germany

Name: Lionel Jeffries
Date: 1943
Unit: RAAF
Location: Shot down and wounded over Nuremberg

On the night of the 27th/28th August 1943, Fl Lt Lionel Jeffries RAAF, was the pilot of a four-engined Stirling bomber aircraft on a raid to the railway marshalling yards of the city of Nuremburg, Germany.

Singapore again

Name: T.A. Jones, Through Magazine
Date: 1941
Unit: Signals 8th Australian Division
Location: Singapore

Through magazine was the official journal of Signals 8th Australian Division. The first edition was produced in Singapore in December 1941, shortly before Singapore fell.

Corvettes were minesweepers at Sicily landings

Name: Kevin Kimball
Date: 1943
Unit: HMAS Maryborough
Location: Mediterranean

When the Allies invaded Sicily early in 1943, a number of Australian corvettes were used as mine sweepers to enable the landing craft to reach the shore safely. Among them were HMAS Maryborough and her sister ships Ipswich and Lismore.

A Lark on the wing

Name: Charles Lark
Date: 1942
Unit: 460 Squadron
Location: Europe

Fl Lt Charles Lark applied to join the RAAF in December 1939 but it was more than a year later when he was finally signed up. While waiting, he received lessons in trigonometry, arithmetic, algebra, mechanics, physics and the Morse code.

No waltzing after Matilda hit mine

Name: Des Lloyd
Date: 1943
Unit: 1st Australian Army Tank Battalion
Location: New Guinea

Fighting in New Guinea produced all sorts of problems, not the least being the terrain over which the troops had to travel. Heavy rain often turned tracks into quagmires and made progress hazardous to say the least.

'Bombs' welcomed by troops in jungle

Name: Ken Lockyer
Date: 1945
Unit: 322 Carrier Wing USAAF
Location: New Guinea

It's not often that the troops want to thank the airmen who are dropping bombs on them but this certainly happened in New Guinea during World War II. It helped that the 'bombs' were actually parcels of newspapers and ice cream destined to cheer up the men fighting in the steaming jungles below.

A soldier and a poet

Name: Francis Lundie
Date: 1917–1944
Location: Middle East, Papua New Guinea, Borneo

Frank Lundie was born in Port Adelaide on 21 August 1899, although he didn't think that the authorities needed to know that.

Mixed feelings as POWs waited to be released

Name: Reg Mahoney
Date: 1945
Unit: POW
Location: Changi

Every day that Australians spent as prisoners of war they longed for freedom. They thought about family and friends at home and just hoped to survive for the end of the war.

Merchant Navy played important role in D-Day landings

Name: Geoff Maidment
Date: 1944
Unit: Merchant ship Isle of Guernsey
Location: English Channel

Geoff Maidment had a good view of the D Day landings – from the deck of a merchant ship carrying Canadian troops to France.

Propaganda leaflets aimed at undermining morale

Name: R. A. Maladay
Date: 1944–1945
Unit: HMAS Arunta
Location: Pacific

Propaganda has been used by all sides during the various wars and the Japanese were no exception in Pacific during World War II.

Specialist mechanical unit paved the way for troops

Name: Eric Mallen
Date: 1941–1945
Unit: 2/1st Australian Mechanical Equipment Company
Location: New Guinea

Early in World War II the authorities realised there would be a need to have earth moving machines and equipment with experienced operators to be used in various war zones including the Middle East and the Pacific.

Wren trained to intercept German naval signals

Name: Elizabeth Marshall (Agar)
Date: 1940–1944
Unit: WRNS
Location: England

Elizabeth Agar [now Marshall] was visiting England when World War II broke out. She decided her duty lay in war service and joined the Women's Royal Naval Service (Wren) in July 1940 where she was trained to intercept German naval signals.

Being "manpowered" meant Jean could do a man's job

Name: Jean Mascord
Date: 1945
Unit: Voluntary Aid Detachments
Location: Australia - Canada

Jean Mascord was working at the Commonwealth Bank when World War II broke out. She was obviously a good worker because despite the fact that she was only 18, the Bank had her 'manpowered'.

Civilian Construction Corps paved the way for the forces

Name: Jack McAulay
Date: 1940–1945
Unit: Civil Construction Corps
Location: Australia

While many young men left Australia to fight overseas during World War II, one large group of men made a significant contribution to the war effort back home.

Five weeks eluding the Germans in Greece

Name: 'Snow' McBain MM
Date: 1941
Unit: 2/3rd Battalion AIF
Location: Greece

The thought of spending five weeks travelling through the beautiful Greek countryside would make most people's eyes light up but when Sgt R A 'Snow' McBain and his mate Vic Shannon had that experience, things were a bit different.

Bandsman defied execution to keep diary

Name: Alan Murnane
Unit: 2nd/21st Gull Force

Alan Murnane, who joined the Army as a bandsman in 1940, kept a diary throughout the war. After travelling in Australia with the band, he was posted towards the end of 1941 to Ambon in the Dutch East Indies, where he discovered a new talent - as a stretcher bearer.  

They can't beat the boys of this old brigade

Name: Tom Murphy
Date: 1941–1945
Unit: No 4 Company, 8 Australian Signals
Location: Malaya, Japan

Despite being only 15 years old, Tom Murphy was so keen to go to war that he borrowed his older brother's birth certificate and put up his age. His big problem was that he only looked 15 and he was turned away by several recruitment officers.

Chance meeting led to change of career

Name: Joyce Neal
Date: 1942–1945
Unit: 4AD RAAF
Location: Boulder, WA

A chance meeting on a train journey changed the course of Joyce Neal's career. She had been in the WAAAF for a year and was returning to her base in South Australia after some home leave in Perth when she got chatting to other girls on the train.

An extraordinary war for HMS Kanimbla

Name: Frank Newman
Date: 1939–1945
Unit: RANR
Location: Far East, Middle East, Asia, Pacific

The Australian passenger ship MV Kanimbla had an extraordinary war. She was converted into an armed merchant carrier in September 1939 and seconded to the Royal Navy. Apart from capturing 22 enemy ships she also steamed more than 470,000 miles during the war, a record for any ship flying the White Ensign.

POW camp journals kept morale high

Name: POW camp newsletters
Date: 1942–1944
Location: Europe

To offset the boredom of life in prisoner of war camps, particularly those in the European conflict, a huge amount of effort went into physical and creative activity – apart from the many escape plans.

Singapore

Name: E.A. Nichols, Through Magazine
Date: 1941
Unit: Signals 8th Australian Division
Location: Singapore

Through magazine was the official journal of Signals 8th Australian Division. The first edition was produced in Singapore in December 1941, shortly before Singapore fell.

Seafarer falls for woman's charms

Name: Morris Ochert
Date: 1942
Unit: Merchant seaman
Location: Canada

It was in the fourth year of World War II. The oiler on my watch on a merchant navy vessel went missing for the entire time we were in a Canadian port. He showed up on the last morning just before we were due to leave.

Fishing helped supplement crew's diet

Name: Morris Ochert
Date: 1939–1945
Unit: Merchant seaman
Location: Pacific

Morris Ochert OAM was a merchant seaman throughout World War II. He served as an engineer on a variety of ships, sailing to all parts of the world.

Secret diary of life in Changi

Name: Jack O'Donnell
Date: 1941–1945
Unit: 10 AGH
Location: Changi POW Camp

When Sgt Jack O'Donnell was taken prisoner at the fall of Singapore, he was, quite naturally, rather depressed about life. But rather than give in to melancholy, he decided to document his experiences as best he could.

Engineer kept HMAS Napier going after bomb disabled her

Name: "Bug" Oliver
Date: 1941
Unit: HMAS Napier
Location: Crete

The Australian destroyer Napier was one of several ships which played a major role in the evacuation of Allied troops from Crete in May 1941, but she almost didn't make it.

The Anzac club

Name: P.C., Through Magazine
Date: 1941
Unit: Signals 8th Australian Division
Location: Singapore

Through magazine was the official journal of Signals 8th Australian Division. The first edition was produced in Singapore in December 1941, shortly before Singapore fell.

Tobruk test

Name: H.B. Paterson
Date: 1941
Unit: AIF
Location: Middle East

This is the second of two poems written by H.B. Paterson, son of Banjo Paterson, for his friend Victor Wright, during service in Tobruk.

This place they call Tobruk

Name: H.B. Paterson
Date: 1941
Unit: AIF
Location: Middle East

War has produced some memorable poetry over the years with the name Paterson among the best.

John Peters brought news of missing prisoners of war

Name: John Peters
Date: 1942–1944
Unit: Civilian
Location: Muchea, WA

John Peters spent a great deal of time listening to the radio during World War II. But the programs he tuned in to on his short wave set were not for his own entertainment.

Women answered the call during the war

Name: Bonnie Pickup
Date: 1941
Unit: WAAF
Location: Sydney

In 1941 when Australia was threatened with Japanese invasion, the call came for women to take up the men's jobs to release them for the front line, and they were also challenged to join the armed services.

The sinking of HMAS Canberra

Name: Francis Pickup
Date: 1942
Unit: HMAS Canberra
Location: the Battle of the Solomon Islands

Francis Pickup was a signaller on board HMAS Canberra in August 1942 when the ship, along with HMAS Australia and HMAS Hobart (light cruiser 6 inch guns) plus a large American Amphibian Force of aircraft carriers, heavy cruisers, destroyers and transports, with accompanying support vehicles, was involved in the Battle of the Solomon Islands.

Cricket match between 20 Aust Inf Bde HQ and 107 R.H.A

Name: Punch
Date: 1941
Unit: 20th Australian Infantry Brigade
Location: Tobruk

Even in the midst of war, Australian's still loved their sport. Following is a set of rules governing play - taking into account local conditions - from a match at Tobruk.

Aussies

Name: Nanette Punch
Date: 1941
Unit: 20th Australian Infantry Brigade, AIF
Location: Tobruk

Text of a propaganda leaflet dropped by German aircraft aimed at Allied troops in Tobruk.

Signaller lucky to escape from Singapore

Name: Allan Quick
Date: 1942
Unit: L Section, 8 Division Signals
Location: Singapore, Ceylon

For someone who was a signaller trained to keep things short and to the point, Allan Quick wrote remarkably thoughtful and detailed letters home from the war.

Premonition saves his life

Name: Frederick Quill
Date: 1944
Unit: RAAF attached to USAAF
Location: New Guinea

An excerpt from diary of Frederick Quill, RAAF, describes a patrol with US troops and an ambush by the Japanese.

John Quinn survived bombing and torpedo attacks

Name: John Quinn
Date: 1939–1946
Unit: Various DEMS
Location: The high seas

John Quinn certainly had an interesting and exciting war. As a Petty Officer gunner he served on a variety of Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships (DEMS) which regularly carried troops and supplies to and from war zones and even brought prisoners of war to Australia.

Australian horsemen at home in the Kelly Gang

Name: Pat Reed
Date: 1941
Unit: C Squadron, 6th Division Cavalry
Location: Syria

The Kelly Gang was one of the most unusual Allied fighting units during World War II. Made up from an assortment of 70 or so men mainly from C Squadron, 6th Division Cavalry, they rode on captured horses in the Syrian campaign.

The battle of the supply ships

Name: John Reid
Date: 1942–1945
Unit: 113 Squadron RAAF, POW
Location: Burma

On 9 September 1942, Sgt John Reid flew his Blenheim bomber in an attack on enemy shipping anchored at Akya Island off the Burmese coast.

Wounded troops fought their way to safety through the jungle

Name: Pat Reynolds
Date: 1942
Unit: 2/19th Battalion AIF
Location: Malaya

Lt Pat Reynolds was a Platoon Commander with the 2/19th Battalion AIF, fighting in Malaya in 1942.

Coastwatchers played a vital role in the Pacific war

Name: Frederick Ashton 'Snow' Rhoades
Date: 1942–1945
Unit: Coastwatchers, RAN
Location: Solomon Islands

Coastwatchers in the Pacific played an important role in the Allied victory in World War II. They defied the odds and constant danger of being caught by the Japanese, to feed vital information to the Allies.

Greece like a picnic compared with Crete

Name: Vincent Rigney
Date: 1941
Unit: 6th Division AIF
Location: Crete

Much has been written about the heroism of Australian troops as they fought a desperate rearguard action against overwhelming odds after the German invasion of Crete.

A "rat" with a nice turn of phrase

Name: George Vincent Sarto Rudge
Date: 1939–1945
Unit: 2/4 Field Coy RAE
Location: Tobruk

Sapper George Vincent Sarto Rudge was one of the Rats of Tobruk. He was also a poet with an eye for detail who spent much of his spare time recording in his diaries the events in which he was involved.

Rex learned to flatten himself out to the thickness of cardboard

Name: Rex Ruwoldt
Date: 1942
Unit: 19th Light Horse Machine Gun Regiment
Location: Darwin

Rex Ruwoldt was just 17 when he enlisted in 1940. Officially he was too young but a little adjustment to his date of birth fixed that problem.

AWAS operated secret wireless station at Lesmurdie

Name: Ethel Samuels
Date: 1942–1945
Unit: AWAS
Location: Lesmurdie, WA

Following the Japanese bombings of Northern Australia in 1942, an extensive communication network was urgently needed in Western Australia.

Wireless operators kept an eye on Northern Australia

Name: Bruce Samuels
Date: 1942–1945
Unit: 15 Line of Communications
Location: Western Australia

Communications in the vast open areas of northern Australia have always been a challenge but a hardy band of wireless operators spent much of World War II doing their best to cover the area, often living in primitive conditions as they scanned the skies for enemy aircraft. 

ABC correspondent broadcasts stories of bravery

Name: Ken Sanderson
Date: 1942–1943
Unit: Men of Australian Cavalry Regiment
Location: New Guinea

There were many tales of valour from the fighting in New Guinea during World War II. Typical was the story of 22-year-old Ken Sanderson.

Articles outlined life in occupied Japan

Name: Eric Saxon
Date: 1946–1947
Unit: British Commonwealth Occupation Forces
Location: Japan

Eric Saxon was a happy and relieved man when he sailed into Kure Harbour in Japan on 9 April 1946 with the British Commonwealth Occupation Forces (BCOF).

Letters an important factor for troops serving overseas

Name: Cliff Secombe
Date: 1941
Unit: 2/1st Pioneer Battalion
Location: Libya

Cliff Secombe was with the 2nd/1st Pioneer Battalion in Libya under attack from German aircraft. He had just received a welcome letter from his girl friend Louie Pritchard and was writing in reply on 29 April 1941 when 'Jerry' sent his dive-bombers over once again.

Myrtle's sling shows how it's done

Name: Myrtle Sheppard
Date: 1939–1945
Unit: Civilian
Location: Qld, Australia

When war broke out in 1939, Myrtle Sheppard (Nunn), like many other young Australians, wanted to do her bit for the war effort. She thought she'd like to be a nurse, but her mother (whose husband was a World War I veteran and had died when Myrtle was two years old) was reluctant to let her daughter join up because it would mean she'd be posted away from her home area.

The half-penny slouch hat

Name: Myrtle Sheppard
Date: 1939–1945
Unit: Civilian
Location: Qld, Australia

Since time immemorial soldiers have filled in idle moments with an astonishing variety of activities, ranging from playing board games to making handcrafts using whatever material was readily available.

Lancaster pilot survived numerous scrapes

Name: Frank Slade
Date: 1944
Unit: 156 Squadron RAAF
Location: Europe

Squadron Leader Frank Slade of the RAAF had made many raids on German targets during World War II so another trip to Hamburg on 28 July 1944 was just another day at the office

Airmen survived 47 days at sea during escape from Japanese

Name: Athol Snook
Date: 1942
Unit: 84 Squadron RAF
Location: Java

One of the most incredible escapes made during World War II involved 12 airmen who sailed in an open boat from Java [now Indonesia] to Australia to escape the Japanese, a journey that took 47 days.

"One thing more—Goodbye"

Name: Athol Snook
Date: 1942
Unit: 100 Squadron RAAF
Location: New Guinea

Flying Officer Athol Snook was a survivor. In 1942, he spent 47 days at sea in a lifeboat sailing from Java to Australia with 11 comrades to escape from the Japanese. Then, on a fateful night in New Guinea later that year, his plane was grounded while the rest of the squadron went to attack Japanese shipping. Three planes failed to make it.

Sapper recalls years fighting in New Guinea

Name: Bill Stanbury
Date: 1943–1946
Unit: 15th Field Company, Royal Australian Engineers
Location: New Guinea

Sapper Bill Stanbury had an eventful war. It started off badly in December 1942 when, after being refused pre-embarkation leave, he went Absent Without Leave, in a bid to see his wife as she was about to give birth to their first child.

Morale booster flight took them under the Harbour Bridge

Name: Bill Stanbury
Date: 1943
Unit: No 1 General Reconnaissance School, RAAF
Location: Sydney, Australia

Flying an aircraft under the Sydney Harbour Bridge is not a common occurrence. On the rare occasions that it has been achieved, the pilot has generally become an overnight celebrity.

Women played major role in mustard gas tests

Name: Sylvia Stoltz
Date: 1943–1945
Unit: Australian Women's Army Service
Location: Queensland

Work carried out by a group of young service women who took part in chemical warfare testing in North Queensland during World War II was kept secret for 30 years after the war had ended.

To have a mate, you've got to be a mate

Name: John Tesoriero
Date: 1943–1945
Unit: 2nd Corps Signals
Location: New Guinea

When the chips are down, enemy air raids are a constant menace, the climate is debilitating and you're missing your family at home, that's when you need a mate.

The skirl of the pipes kept troops entertained

Name: The Highland Trio
Date: 1939–1945
Unit: Civilians
Location: New South Wales

The skirl of the bagpipes and the beating of the drum have been the inspiration for many a Scots unit during various wars. But when the pipes and drums were played by three attractive young ladies during World War II, it was to entertain the troops rather than lead them into battle.

Secret flight ends in the sea

Name: Bob Tregenza
Date: 1942–1945
Unit: 109 Squadron
Location: German POW camp, Stalag IVB

Flight Sergeant Bob Tregenza had to keep a secret for the three and a half years he spent as a prisoner of war.

A flight to remember

Name: Tony Tubbenhauer
Date: 1941–1945
Unit: 203 Squadron RAF
Location: Middle East

Tony Tubbenhauer proved to be a versatile pilot during World War II. He learned to fly on Tiger Moths in Australia, then moved on to Ansons and during the war flew 17 different types of aircraft.

Great friendships formed in heat of battle

Name: John Virgo
Date: 1942
Unit: 2/10 Battalion AIF
Location: New Guinea

Many great and lasting friendships were formed amongst the men and women who served in Australia's armed forces over the years. Sadly, many such friendships ended suddenly with the death of one or more of the individuals in battle.

Saved by a pilot who didn't press the trigger

Name: Eric  Watts
Date: 1941
Unit: 2/12th Australian Field Unit
Location: Middle East

When World War II broke out there was just not enough equipment to go round so it was hardly surprising that a great deal was recycled from former campaigns.

Cooking for the Rats of Tobruk

Name: Stanley Gordon Waugh
Date: 1941
Unit: 9th Division AIF
Location: Tobruk

Keeping the troops fed is never easy but when you have to dodge falling bombs and machine gun raids by enemy fighter planes, not to mention overcoming the shortage of water and food, then it is doubly difficult.

It's just one of those things that you do when you're young

Name: Terence Whatman
Date: 1941
Unit: 2nd/8th Battalion AIF
Location: Greece

Terry Whatman decided at an early age that he was going to be in the Army. He joined the Militia as a 16-year-old and served for three years with the 59th Hume Regiment before answering the call to enlist.

Dreaming of home kept him going on railway of death

Name: Clarence Williams
Date: 1941–1945
Unit: 2/10th Battalion RAE
Location: Malaya

Dreaming of home and the wonderful things he would do when he got there was what kept Sapper Clarrie Williams going while he slaved away on the Burma-Thailand Railway.

Knitting garments for men at war

Name: Women of Australia
Date: 1939–1945
Location: Australia

Many a mother, sister, aunt or girl friend spent hours during World War II knitting woollen clothes for their menfolk who were away at war.

Nurses prepared injured troops for medevac flights from Korea

Name: Gay Bury
Date: 1951–1954
Unit: Royal Australian Air Force Nursing Service
Location: Kimpo

More than 18,000 Australians served in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. Of these, 339 lost their lives.

Flying Mustangs over Korea was a hazardous occupation

Name: Milton Cottee
Date: 1950
Unit: 77 Squadron RAAF
Location: Pohang

Milton Cottee saw his first aircraft in 1931 or 1932 when he was five or six as it flew over his home at Murwillumbah in northern New South Wales. It turned out to be the mail plane flying to Brisbane.

Being a sniper is a dangerous job

Name: C W 'Frenchy' Ray
Date: 1953
Unit: Sniper 2RAR

Being a sniper is a lonely job. For a start you are hated by the enemy while your own troops also have a distaste for snipers.

A "nice easy shoot" in Korea

Name: Dick Turner
Date: 1951–1952
Unit: 77 Squadron RAAF
Location: Taegu

Having lied about his age to join the Army in 1942, Dick Turner was serving in New Guinea when the truth was discovered. He was only 16 and had told the recruiting officer he was two years older than that. Of course he was sent home.

It was so cold he couldn't use the radio

Name: George Unwin
Date: 1952–1953
Unit: 1st Battalion RAR

It was so cold at times in Korea that Private George Unwin was unable to use the radio to warn Australian troops in the trenches of the return of his patrol, because his teeth were chattering so much.

A night stroll in Korea

Name: Frederick William Williams
Date: 1952
Unit: 3rd Battalion RAR
Location: Hill 227, Korea

Corporal Frederick William (Bill) Williams, who served in the Korean War, was one of five men with that surname among a section of 10 men.

Joint operation against communist terrorists

Name: Barry Caligari
Date: 1959
Unit: 3RAR
Location: Malaya

In the latter stages of the Malayan Emergency, members of 3RAR (Old Faithful) continued to carry out patrols against the Communist Terrorists.

Joint operation against communist terrorists

Name: Barry Caligari
Date: 1959
Unit: 3RAR
Location: Malaya

In the latter stages of the Malayan Emergency, members of 3RAR (Old Faithful) continued to carry out patrols against the Communist Terrorists.

Joint operation against communist terrorists

Name: Barry Caligari
Date: 1959
Unit: 3RAR
Location: Malaya

In the latter stages of the Malayan Emergency, members of 3RAR (Old Faithful) continued to carry out patrols against the Communist Terrorists.

Joint operation against communist terrorists

Name: Barry Caligari
Date: 1959
Unit: 3RAR
Location: Malaya

In the latter stages of the Malayan Emergency, members of 3RAR (Old Faithful) continued to carry out patrols against the Communist Terrorists.

War correspondents without a war!

Name: John Grigsby
Date: 1955
Location: Malaya

It's a dangerous business covering wars and for journalists it is never easy, but when the war isn't a war but an anti-terrorist action, they find things even tougher.

War correspondents without a war!

Name: John Grigsby
Date: 1955
Location: Malaya

It's a dangerous business covering wars and for journalists it is never easy, but when the war isn't a war but an anti-terrorist action, they find things even tougher.

War correspondents without a war!

Name: John Grigsby
Date: 1955
Location: Malaya

It's a dangerous business covering wars and for journalists it is never easy, but when the war isn't a war but an anti-terrorist action, they find things even tougher.

War correspondents without a war!

Name: John Grigsby
Date: 1955
Location: Malaya

It's a dangerous business covering wars and for journalists it is never easy, but when the war isn't a war but an anti-terrorist action, they find things even tougher.

RAAF Butterworth upgraded by No 2 Airfield Construction Squadron

Name: Kevin Le Fevre
Date: 1955
Unit: No 2 Airfield Construction Squadron
Location: Butterworth, Malaya

Australia's major area of strategic concern in 1953-54 changed from the Middle East to South-East Asia with the threat of communism and the domino theory uppermost in the minds of the government.

RAAF Butterworth upgraded by No 2 Airfield Construction Squadron

Name: Kevin Le Fevre
Date: 1955
Unit: No 2 Airfield Construction Squadron
Location: Butterworth, Malaya

Australia's major area of strategic concern in 1953-54 changed from the Middle East to South-East Asia with the threat of communism and the domino theory uppermost in the minds of the government.

RAAF Butterworth upgraded by No 2 Airfield Construction Squadron

Name: Kevin Le Fevre
Date: 1955
Unit: No 2 Airfield Construction Squadron
Location: Butterworth, Malaya

Australia's major area of strategic concern in 1953-54 changed from the Middle East to South-East Asia with the threat of communism and the domino theory uppermost in the minds of the government.

RAAF Butterworth upgraded by No 2 Airfield Construction Squadron

Name: Kevin Le Fevre
Date: 1955
Unit: No 2 Airfield Construction Squadron
Location: Butterworth, Malaya

Australia's major area of strategic concern in 1953-54 changed from the Middle East to South-East Asia with the threat of communism and the domino theory uppermost in the minds of the government.

National servicemen took part in undeclared war

Name: Michael O'Dea
Date: 1966
Unit: 4RAR
Location: Indonesian Confrontation, Malaysia

Private Michael O'Dea was called up for National Service in 1965 when his birth date was pulled out of the hat. But unlike many of his colleagues he didn't go to Vietnam. Instead he went to Borneo where Indonesian guerillas were infiltrating Malaysia.

National servicemen took part in undeclared war

Name: Michael O'Dea
Date: 1966
Unit: 4RAR
Location: Indonesian Confrontation, Malaysia

Private Michael O'Dea was called up for National Service in 1965 when his birth date was pulled out of the hat. But unlike many of his colleagues he didn't go to Vietnam. Instead he went to Borneo where Indonesian guerillas were infiltrating Malaysia.

National servicemen took part in undeclared war

Name: Michael O'Dea
Date: 1966
Unit: 4RAR
Location: Indonesian Confrontation, Malaysia

Private Michael O'Dea was called up for National Service in 1965 when his birth date was pulled out of the hat. But unlike many of his colleagues he didn't go to Vietnam. Instead he went to Borneo where Indonesian guerillas were infiltrating Malaysia.

National servicemen took part in undeclared war

Name: Michael O'Dea
Date: 1966
Unit: 4RAR
Location: Indonesian Confrontation, Malaysia

Private Michael O'Dea was called up for National Service in 1965 when his birth date was pulled out of the hat. But unlike many of his colleagues he didn't go to Vietnam. Instead he went to Borneo where Indonesian guerillas were infiltrating Malaysia.

Minesweeper patrols during Indonesian Confrontation

Name: Alan Smoothy
Date: 1963
Unit: HMAS Snipe, RAN
Location: Malaysia

Friction between Indonesia and the newly created Malaysia forced the Australian Government to come out in support of Malaysia in 1963. Australia introduced high-speed patrol boats to intercept any seaborne infiltrators.

Minesweeper patrols during Indonesian Confrontation

Name: Alan Smoothy
Date: 1963
Unit: HMAS Snipe, RAN
Location: Malaysia

Friction between Indonesia and the newly created Malaysia forced the Australian Government to come out in support of Malaysia in 1963. Australia introduced high-speed patrol boats to intercept any seaborne infiltrators.

Minesweeper patrols during Indonesian Confrontation

Name: Alan Smoothy
Date: 1963
Unit: HMAS Snipe, RAN
Location: Malaysia

Friction between Indonesia and the newly created Malaysia forced the Australian Government to come out in support of Malaysia in 1963. Australia introduced high-speed patrol boats to intercept any seaborne infiltrators.

Minesweeper patrols during Indonesian Confrontation

Name: Alan Smoothy
Date: 1963
Unit: HMAS Snipe, RAN
Location: Malaysia

Friction between Indonesia and the newly created Malaysia forced the Australian Government to come out in support of Malaysia in 1963. Australia introduced high-speed patrol boats to intercept any seaborne infiltrators.

Medical evacuation

Name: Recording of contact with enemy
Date: 1969
Unit: 7 Platoon, C Company
Location: Vietnam

During the Vietnam War wounded were generally speedily evacuated by helicopter. If war movies are to be believed, scarcely has a soldier been hit before a medical evacuation helicopter appeared over the horizon. But sometimes the reality was quite different. This recording shows how difficult medical evacuation could be

A war correspondent in Indo-China

Name: Don Hook
Date: 1968–1970
Unit: Civilian
Location: Vietnam

I was fortunate that I'd had more than 16 years experience as a journalist in Australia, Britain and Papua New Guinea before becoming an ABC News correspondent in south east Asia in December 1967. I was also fortunate in having had quite a bit of military experience as a school cadet, a National Serviceman, as an NCO in the Papua New Guinea Volunteer Rifles, and as a Reserve officer at PNG Command Headquarters. Many of my fellow correspondents, including a few Australians, were far less experienced in journalism - and some had no military training whatsoever.

A letter of warning from Vietnam

Name: Letter of warning
Date: 1960's
Unit: All
Location: Vietnam

This is to inform you that as of …………………………. 196 , a certain mudhound water-soaked and slightly crazy individual known as …………….. is leaving our little City of ………………… securely nestled among the jungles and rice paddies, located in the Southern part of a semi-tropic country in the Far East known as The Republic of Vietnam.

Living through the Tet offensive

Name: Brian Mayfield
Date: 1968
Unit: COMRAAFV at RAAF Headquarters
Location: Saigon

Brian Mayfield was Orderly Room Sergeant and Secretary to the COMRAAFV at RAAF Headquarters in Saigon throughout 1968. His tour of duty included the Tet and May offensives.

The 106 Field Workship in Vietnam

Name: Claude Palmer
Date: 1969–1970
Unit: 106 Field Workshop, RAEME
Location: Long Tan, Vietnam

Units of the Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (RAEME) have served Australia well in many conflicts and Vietnam was no exception.

The traveller

Name: Poem
Date: 1960's
Unit: Unknown
Location: Vietnam

Now when a man his life begins
His dreams of all the wondrous things
Of travel to the faraway
And ways and means to get more pay

Rescue flight brings Vietnamese orphans out of Saigon

Name: Phyllis Schumann
Date: 1975
Unit: Civilian (formerly Flight Officer RAAF Nursing Service)
Location: Vietnam

The withdrawal of forces from Vietnam was drawing to a conclusion in April 1975 when the Australian Government made a decision to evacuate some war orphans from the vicinity of Saigon before they could fall into the path of the advancing North Vietnamese troops.

Regular soldiers were backbone of units in Vietnam

Name: Graham Sherrington
Date: 1966–1967
Unit: 6 Platoon B Company 5RAR
Location: Nui Dat

Graham Sherrington was not your typical regular soldier. He had had more than his share of run ins with the Army authorities but there was more to it than that.

Australian the victim of "friendly fire"

Name: Guy Watkins
Date: 1967
Unit: 7 RAR
Location: Vietnam

When Private Guy Watkins was wounded in Vietnam, the local paper in Tasmania reported he had been shot by a Viet Cong. But in a letter to his father written some days after the incident, it turns out Guy Watkins was hit by "friendly fire".

Marine artist Ian Hansen in East Timor

Name: Ian Hansen
Date: 2000
Unit: Civilian artist
Location: East Timor

Marine artist Ian Hansen has a deep love of the sea and ships. He began painting them in water colours when he was eight and graduated to oils at the age of 11. He joined the Royal Australian Navy at 15 and served for 12 years, including service on HMAS Sydney in 1967-68 during the Vietnam War.

Arafat visit a highlight of peacekeeping role in Sinai

Name: David Hartshorn
Date: 1994
Unit: Multinational Force and Observers (MFO)
Location: Sinai

When Yasser Arafat made his first visit to the Sinai since his expulsion from the area in the 1960s, Sgt David Hartshorn was on duty with the Australian contingent of the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) known as Operation Mazurka.

Australian engineer served in Gulf War

Name: Anthony McWatters
Date: 1991
Unit: 1st British Armoured Division
Location: Kuwait, Iraq

In 1989-90, Lieutenant Anthony McWatters of the Australian Army was on a training post with the British Army in Germany when he went on active service on operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in the 1991 Gulf War.