Australian War Memorial

Australian War Memorial Shrine, Museum, Archive

This page contains names & images of deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
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The Memorial encourages respectful & appropriate discussions. We have a zero-tolerance policy on soliciting, discrimination or bullying. This website contains names, images and voice of deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This website contains war-related material, including images which some people may find confronting and disturbing.

23/06/2026

A landmark moment for Australia’s veterans – Anzac Hall is now officially open.

More than half a decade in the making, the new Anzac Hall gives the stories of Australia’s modern veterans and most recent conflicts the space they have long deserved – told with depth, dignity and care – while also creating more room for the objects and stories visitors know and love.

These galleries are a promise kept – that those who served, those who never came home, and all those impacted by these conflicts will always have their place here, and that their stories will be told in full.

Australian soldiers deployed overseas often enjoy the luxury of dining out..**outside. 🍽️Being engaged in combat operati...
21/06/2026

Australian soldiers deployed overseas often enjoy the luxury of dining out..*

*outside. 🍽️

Being engaged in combat operations, constantly on the move, or living in makeshift accommodations, soldiers learn to eat wherever, whenever (and often whatever) they can.

Across conflicts since the First Wolrd War Australians have proved resourceful when it comes to preparing and cooking of food, particularly when supplies are limited.

During the Second World War in New Guinea, troops of the 37/52nd Infantry Battalion substituted their rations by hunting and cooking wild boar. Troops of the Royal Australian Engineers in Vietnam regularly ate a meal coined a ‘train crash’, made by combining tinned meat rations in a large cooking pot and adding curry powder for flavour.

Surviving on such “delicacies” made care packages from organisations like the Australian Comforts Fund or the Australian Red Cross containing chocolate, plum pudding, or tinned fruit all the more welcome.

19/06/2026

Bringing Australia’s aviation history back into the light ✈️

Completed in 1972, Harold Freedman’s remarkable Aircraft Hall mural spans 279 square metres with six sections, each depicting a distinct era of Australian military aviation, including the story of the Royal Australian Air Force.

Carefully restored, this beloved work is now on display for the first time since 1999.

🗞️ Pick up your own limited edition liftout poster of Freedman's mural in The Weekend Australian newspaper on 20 June.

18/06/2026

Behind every object, photograph and record in the AWM’s collection is a human story.

Some are well known. Others have remained hidden in diaries, letters, personal accounts and memories.

‘Through Their Eyes’ brings these stories to life through conversations with historians, veterans, families, curators and subject matter experts, revealing the people behind the events that shaped our nation.

🎧 Listen now. wherever you get your podcasts.

15/06/2026

Australians have been involved in peacekeeping every single day since September 1947. 🇦🇺

Discover the long, proud, and often untold story of Australian peacekeeping - across four continents, many decades, and countless acts of courage and care.

The new Australian Peacekeeping from 1947 galleries are now open in Anzac Hall at the Australian War Memorial.

14/06/2026

You may know the history.

But do you know the stories?

Launching 18 June, ‘Through Their Eyes’ uncovers remarkable and often unexpected stories from the Australian War Memorial collection and Australia's military history.

Through letters, diaries, photographs, objects, veterans, experts and firsthand accounts, discover the people behind the events that shaped our nation.

Available on all major podcast platforms. 🎙️

Private Victorianno (Victor), a pearl diver from Thursday Island, Queensland, asks a policewoman for directions in Londo...
14/06/2026

Private Victorianno (Victor), a pearl diver from Thursday Island, Queensland, asks a policewoman for directions in London during the Second World War.

Blanco enlisted at the start of the war in September 1939 and served with the Australian Army in Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Papua New Guinea and Borneo. Family lore tells that when he was fighting in Syria, a German mortar hit him in the chest, but didn’t explode, so he got up and kept fighting.

More than 3,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people served during the Second World War. Some joined specialised units, such as the Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion, and the Northern Territory Special Reconnaissance Unit, and entire communities in Northern Australia undertook defence work such as construction, farming and butchery.

In every theatre of war, in every role imaginable, Indigenous servicemen and servicewomen continued the proud tradition of defence of Country.

📸 Image: Private Victorianno Blanco asks for directions in London. Unknown British Official Photographer. Accession number: 002420

12/06/2026

What’s hidden on the walls of Aircraft Hall? 🚁

Our conservators are carefully uncovering Harold Freedman’s epic mural of Australian military aviation. At 53 metres, it’s a masterpiece of flight in Australian service that tells a sweeping story up to the Vietnam War.

Painted between 1968 and 1972, it is now being revealed for the first time in decades in the Aircraft Hall.
▶️ Watch to learn more.

Royal Australian Air Force
--
🎨 Artwork: Harold Freedman, 'Mural of Australian military aircraft', 1968-1972, oil on canvas on hardboard, 460 cm x 5710 cm. ART27777

11/06/2026

Today we commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Black Hawk training accident, in which 18 men lost their lives.

On 12 June 1996, during a night training exercise near Townsville, two Australian Army Black Hawk helicopters collided. Fifteen soldiers from the Special Air Service Regiment and three aircrew from the 5th Aviation Regiment were killed, and another 12 personnel were injured.

We pause to remember those who died, and honour the survivors, their comrades, and their families. We welcome you to share your memories or a tribute in the comments.

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Fairbairn Avenue
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