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Veterans' stories

These videos, questions and photographs are provided to give you an insight into the experiences of ordinary Australians during wartime. The interviews were recorded with Australian veterans who have participated in recent commemorative missions with the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, returning to the places they served during wartime. As memories, the stories are not intended to be interpreted as a definitive account of war; rather, they give an insight into personal reflections on the individual’s experience of war.

The photographs have been drawn from the collections of the Australian War Memorial and the private collections of veterans, and illustrate the experiences of other servicemen and women in similar circumstances.

We encourage you to use this material as a starting point for your own research, and to explore other sources to gain an understanding of how these individual stories fit into the broader story of a particular campaign or conflict. We also encourage you to use this material to think about oral history and photographs as historical sources. Further information on the photographs included can be found on the Australian War Memorial website, using the reference numbers provided.

The collection of these oral histories is a pilot project which may be expanded to include other veteran groups in the future. Currently, the scope of the project is limited to collecting the stories of veterans who have participated in missions since 2012.

PDF icon Education resource—Reflecting on Veterans' Stories (pdf 313.47 KB) (313.47 KB)

Reflecting on Veterans' Stories.docx

File (docx 395.33 KB) (395.33 KB)

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Engineers on a ruined pipeline jetty after working wait deep in mud and slime

Fred Sharon

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Crew of HMAS Australia examine the propeller and other parts of a Japanese kamikaze aircraft

Bryan Wearne

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Bob Cowper

Bob Cowper

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Ron Houghton

Ron Houghton

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Bill Purdy

Bill Purdy

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A two pounder Anti-Tank Gun of the 4th Anti-Tank Regiment, 8th Australian Division, AIF, in action at a road block at Bakri on the Muar-Parit Sulong Road. In the background is

Fall Of Singapore

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Troops of the 5th Division walking along a winding duckboard, known as Jabber Track, through the waterlogged and sodden valleys in Albania Woods

Australians on the Western Front

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Troops on the front-line eating food

Rats of Tobruk

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Patrick O'Hara

Patrick O'Hara

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Portrait of Officer Cadet Bridges

Alastair (Al) Gordon Bridges

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Francis Adrian Roberts standing next to his APC of 1APC Squadron

Adrian Roberts

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Bob Macintosh sitting in the cockpit of his fighter jet

Robert (Bob) Macintosh

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Norman Lee

Norman Lee

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Portrait of Les Cook in uniform

Leslie Eric (Les) Cook

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Arthur Loudon

Arthur Loudon

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Bob Iskov

Robert (Bob) Francis Iskov

Frank-Cook_0.jpg

Victor ‘Frank’ Cook standing next to the fuselage of an aircraft

Victor (Frank) Cook

William-bill-Monaghan.png

Willaim (Bill) Monaghan

William (Bill) Monaghan

John-Jarrett.png

John Jarrett

John Jarrett

John-Brownbill.png

John Brownbill

John Brownbill

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Nesta Summerhayes

Nesta Summerhayes

Derek-Holyoake.png

Derek Holyoake

Derek Holyoake

Roy-Cornford.png

Roy Cornford

Roy Cornford

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