Queensland Military Historical Society Inc. | Arts and entertainment

Queensland Military Historical Society Inc.

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24.01.2022 #QueenslandersWhoServed Andrew Murray Laughlan was born in 1918 and enlisted into boy service with the British Army in 1933 at age 15. He was deployed to India after that. He always said it was a choice between joining the Army or ending up in prison as he grew up in a rough area in Glasgow. He served in the Highland Light Infantry and served in the Middle East and North Africa during World War II. He became a paratrooper and completed more than 100 jumps. He had the honour o...f meeting Princess Margaret when she reviewed a parade at his unit. He moved to Australia in 1961 under the "10 pound pom" scheme with his wife and three sons. He initially lived in Canberra but moved to Brisbane in the mid 1970s and lived in Queensland until his death at age 91 in 2009. Join us in paying our respects to Queenslanders who have served. This includes veterans who were born here, lived here, enlisted here or died here. Share a photo and story of someone you know and love and tag us and #QueenslandersWhoServed. #RemembranceDay2020 #LestWeForget #QueenslandHistory

24.01.2022 Beautiful day here at Fort Lytton National Park. Lovely sea breeze is blowing and, of course, our Museum is open! Come on out for a drive!

21.01.2022 With less than a week to go until Remembrance Day, join us in paying our respects to Queenslanders who have served in the defence force. Tell us below who in your family has served in the military? May we honour and remember them. Lest we forget. ... #queenslanderswhoserved #queenslandhistory #LestWeForget #RemembranceDay2020

20.01.2022 #QueenslandersWhoServed This is an Air Raid Warden's helmet and training pamphlet, which once belonged to Robert James Malcolm. Air Raid Wardens were civilian volunteers, made up of those who were past the age of enlistment, those unfit for service on medical grounds and those employed in essential services.... Robert James Malcolm fitted all those criteria. He was 33, but medical grounds certainly kept him from enlisting in the Australian Defence Force. Wardens were issued with a helmet, stirrup pump, a ratchet and possibly also an arm band. There was specialised training, practice sessions, and allotted areas to patrol across Brisbane. One of the main tasks was to check that houses were observing complete "black out " requirements (all windows and external glass doors covered with "black out" paper, securely taped with a brown paper type tape). Sometimes Wardens instructed residents to just use tape - as a safe guard against splintering glass in the event of an explosion. Lights on cars and other vehicles were hooded to allow minimum exposure of light. These measures were strictly checked by Wardens. Sometimes curfews were also enforced, particularly at times of higher alert. The head warden for the district visited each house to see where people would shelter in the event of an attack. Many people in Brisbane had built proper air raid shelters in their backyards but others had to have a plan for sheltering within their home. Brisbane in 1940 was not the city that it is now, people knew their neighbours and Wardens had a better chance of accounting for all the people who lived in their given area of responsibility, which probably included their own residential street. In case of a raid, all Wardens were to be ready to act. Robert Malcolm’s job was to locate and account for people in their area, help to extinguish spot fires and should the worst occur, check in the rubble for signs of life in bombed and damaged buildings. Robert Malcolm participated in realistic practice sessions for the benefit of Wardens and the public. The sirens would sound and the public were expected to go to their pre -arranged shelter positions. After the "all clear " sounded, the Wardens checked for "casualties " and reported to the head warden. Robert Malcolm performed this role throughout World War II and his kit is now a valued part of his family’s history. Join us in remembering all Queenslanders who have served at any point in our State's history, by sharing a photo and story of someone you know and love who is a military veteran. Tag us and #QueenslandersWhoServed #RemembranceDay2020 #LestWeForget #QueenslandHistory Images and story kindly shared by Malcolm Catchpole, Robert Malcolm's grandson.

17.01.2022 Joan Lily Sorenson (also known as Joan Lily Shiach) joined the WRAAF in 1942 at the age of 18, serving 2 years. She annotated these photos with training and service details.

17.01.2022 Make a booking for this Anzac Day event!

16.01.2022 This photo is of men of the 26th Battalion, taken in 1915 before their journey to Egypt. It is from an album titled 'There and Back, 1915-1917' compiled by Lt Reginald Frank William Taylor of Toowoomba, who served in the British Expeditionary Force in France and Belgium. Lt Taylor suffered a gunshot wound to his right thigh at Pozieres in August 1916 that took six months to heal and left him with a leg 1 & 1/2 inches shorter. The injury saw him discharged on medical grounds in March 1917. Flick to the next image to see a photo of his scarred leg. This photo is not from the album, and looks like it was often shown. [QMHS: 3296A, 3296D]

15.01.2022 We are using the quiet time at the Fort during January to work on recording and repackaging our collection. The museum will be closed on 17 and 24 January, but open on Australia Day.

15.01.2022 Come visit us today at the Fort Lytton Historic Military Precinct in Brisbane. Our museum will be open from 10am to 4pm, with lots to explore for all ages.

14.01.2022 Very high tide at Fort Lytton today after the recent rain. Our Museum of course is high and dry.

12.01.2022 This year marks 75 years since the end of the Second World War. Nearly one million Australians served during the conflict. Who in your family served? Join us in paying our respects to Queenslanders who have served by sharing a photo and story of someone you know and love who is a military veteran. Tag us and #QueenslandersWhoServed #RemembranceDay2020 #LestWeForget #QueenslandHistory

11.01.2022 Volunteers! Got a few free hours on a Sunday? Queensland Military Historical Society is seeking volunteers to assist at our Museum at Fort Lytton National Park on Sundays and public holidays. We maintain a museum, a growing artefact collection, and a reference library in the former Dining Hall at the Fort. Our volunteers tend the museum, interact with the public, and work with the collection. We also have small gardens and larger display items that require care and maintenan...ce. Larger projects are on the horizon. We are open this Sunday (Anzac Day) and on the Monday public holiday if you want to have a look and a chat. You can find out more about the Society on our website https://qmhs.com.au or our Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn pages. See more

11.01.2022 This school holidays Fort Lytton National Park will be running "Holding the Fort!" again. It was last available in September 2019. Holding the Fort! is a go-back-in-time program for school age children. It’s a dramatized experience set in 1944, when Fort Lytton was in full operation (although past the immediate threat of attack). The children are framed as new recruits on their first day. In the story the General is arriving at 12 noon for an inspection and it’s a marathon ...race to get ready in just two hours. Hats and flags have to be made; semaphore has to learned; and drill on the twin-six pounder has to be practised. The program has been running since 2012 but each year it has drawn excellent feedback from parents, grandparents and carers. Details: 10.00 am to 12.30 pm June 29 (Tues) and 30 (Wed) July 1 (Thur) 6 (Tue) 7 (Wed) and 8 (Thur) Cost: $10 per child (no charge for supervising adults) Bookings essential: 07 3393 4647

10.01.2022 As we near Remembrance Day, we would like your help to honour Queenslanders who have served in the Australian Defence Force, at any point in our State’s history. Share with us a story and photo about someone you know and love who has served, with the hashtag #QueenslandersWhoServed and tagging us @Queensland Military Historical Society Inc. We are also sharing some of the stories and photos of artefacts from our own collection. ... #LestWeForget #familyhistory #militaryservice #FortLyttonHistoricalPrecinct #QueenslandHistory #RemembranceDay2020

10.01.2022 #QueenslandersWhoServed Pauline Blanche (Blanche) Hempsted was born in Brisbane in 1908. She enlisted in April 1941 and served as a nurse in the 2/13 Australian General Hospital, Singapore. She was captured as a prisoner of war by the Japanese and died of an illness in March 1945 in Sumatra, aged 36 years. Her family received a letter from Major Bruce Hunt following her death, which is part of our collection at the Queensland Military Historical Society. ... It reads: "Dear Mrs. Hempsted, I should like to add one more to the many tributes you have already received concerning the splendid work done in 13th A.G.H. by your daughter Sister P.B. Hempsted. During the whole of her time with that unit Sister Hempsted worked in medical wards and she and Sister Ashton were widely known as the most capable of the Medical sisters. I know Capt. Frew under whose immediate direction your daughter worked had a most profound regard for her judgement and ability and whenever I visited his wards I found ample reason to confirm this opinion. When in September 1942 in Changi we learnt the names of those sisters who had survived the tragedy of Banka Straight we very much hoped that no further evil would befall them. It was with tremendous regret that I learnt some time after my own return to Australia that she had fallen victim to the dreadful conditions of P.O.W. captivity. All the girls who came home on the Manunda told me of her magnificent fortitude and patience during her illness. These were as any one who knew her before would have expected them to be but the story nevertheless made fellow members of her old unit very proud to have known such a magnificent person. I offer you my most sincere sympathy in your grievous loss. Very truly yours, Bruce Hunt Major. A.A.M.C. " Join us in sharing the stories of Queenslanders who have served by posting a photo and story of someone you know and love who is a military veteran. Tag us and #QueenslandersWhoServed in your story. #RemembranceDay2020 #LestWeForget #QueenslandHistory

08.01.2022 The Queensland Military Historical Society museum will be closed over the Christmas period from 20 December, reopening on Sunday 10 January 2021. We wish all our members, supporters and visitors a Merry Christmas and best wishes for the New Year.

07.01.2022 #queenslanderswhoserved Field Marshal Sir Thomas Blamey, GBE, KCB, CMG, DSO, ED was an Australian general and the only one to attain the rank of field marshal. He was almost a Queenslander by birth as most of his siblings were born here but the family moved to New South Wales after they experienced a drought on their farm. He joined the Army in 1906 as a soldier and was at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. He had a very successful career as a staff officer and was mentioned in de...spatches for a raid behind enemy lines. He served as Deputy Chief of the General Staff and was involved in the creation of the Royal Australian Airforce. He left the Army in 1925 to become the Chief Commission of Victoria Police. He remained in the Militia as a reservist and served in a variety of roles in the Second World War including commanding the Second Australian Imperial Force. He became a Field Marshall in June 1950. Many of the units he commanded, from the 6th Division onward had units based in Queensland. The University of Queensland was awaiting the construction of its new St Lucia campus when World War II began. By 1942, the Main and Chemistry Buildings were near completion when the entire site was requisitioned by the Australian Army. From 1 August 1942 to 31 December 1944, the campus was the site of the Advanced Land Headquarters (Adv LHQ) of the South-West Pacific Area theatre of war. General (later Field Marshal Sir) Thomas Blamey who commanded all Allied land forces in SWPA had followed the theatre commander US General Douglas MacArthur to Brisbane after the SWPA headquarters shifted from Melbourne. The planning of the successful 1942-44 Allied campaigns in Papua and in New Guinea was conducted at the St Lucia site. We are the custodians of a number of artefacts including Field Marshal Sir Thomas Blamey's service revolver and personal luger pistol (pictured from our collection). Join us as we remember those who have served. If someone you know and love is a military veteran, from any time in Queensland's history, share a photo and story by tagging #queenslanderswhoserved. Lest we forget. #remembranceday2020 #lestweforget #queenslandhistory

05.01.2022 #QueenslandersWhoServed The Queensland Military Historical Society is fortunate to have as one of our patrons Major General (Professor) Darryl Low Choy AM, MBE, RFD, (retd), PhD. Major General Darryl Low Choy commenced his military career as an Army cadet in the (inaugural) Innisfail State High School Army Cadet Unit from 1962 to 1964. He served as the unit’s first Cadet Under Officer for two years from 1963 to 1964. In his final year of high school, he enlisted as a private ...Continue reading

04.01.2022 QMHS promotes understanding of Queensland’s military history through research and scholarship, and the development and exhibition of our collections. If you have any military items that you are unsure what to do with, have a chat to us about donating them to our collection where they will be cared for by our volunteer team of historians and archivists and included in exhibitions in our museum at the Fort Lytton Historic Military Precinct. Find out more about donating on our website or reach out with any questions you have. https://qmhs.com.au/get-involved/donate-to-the-collection/

04.01.2022 These playing cards were made from cigarette packets by QX14847 James Rodger Sinclair while he was a prisoner of war in Malaya. [QMHS: 1892D]

04.01.2022 This is a photo showing three generations of soldiers in the Boer War taken in 1900. It is from an album of 187 photos - a mix of commercial and original - held in an album that has had a hard life. Many of the photos are badly faded, marked and scratched. The binding has failed and the album is now in 4 pieces. The album has poor quality card pages and has been subject to water, so every page is wavy and brittle, and mould stains remain. The photos were glued to the pages and this has caused some discolouring. It is too fragile for viewing so we have digitised to a preservation standard each photograph. These are in a tif format, 400 dpi resolution. [QMHS: 2894]

01.01.2022 They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning... We will remember them. The Ode comes from "For the Fallen", a poem by the English poet and writer Laurence Binyon and was published in London in The Winnowing Fan: Poems of the Great War in 1914. This verse, which became the Ode for the Returned and Services League, has been used since 1921. We hope you will stop at 11am today and observe one minute's silence to remember those who died or suffered for Australia's cause in all wars and armed conflicts. #remembranceday2020

01.01.2022 Due to the Brisbane lockdown announced by the Premier this morning, the Queensland Military Historical Museum at Fort Lytton will not open this coming Sunday 10 January as planned. While we plan to open on 17 January, we will follow the Qld Government advice and comply with any further restrictions.

01.01.2022 Joseph Gahan was a farmer working the family farm Gahansville in Kalkie, now a suburb of Bundaberg when he enlisted in 5th Light Horse in September 1914. Two of his brothers, George and Lawrence, also enlisted. He had previously spent 4 years with the 4th Infantry, and rose quickly through the ranks to be Corporal by January 1915. Gahan was wounded at Gallipoli in June 1915, spending 6 weeks recuperating. Shortly after rejoining his unit he was promoted to Sergeant, and in D...ecember 1915 his unit transferred to Egypt. On 26 March 1917 Gahan was killed in action near Deir al Balah, an area used to stage attacks on Gaza and Beersheba. Among the personal effects returned to his mother were 5 notebooks, including a small black diary. These 3 pages tell of the action leading to his injury on 28 June 1915, and his treatment. What Gahan describes as a ‘smack on the top of my head’ is noted on his official casualty form as a 'gunshot wound to the head'. After being helped by two men, he sent them back to the trenches and made his own way to medical help. Join us in remembering all Queenslanders who have served at any point in our State's history, by sharing a photo and story of someone you know and love who is a military veteran. Tag us and #QueenslandersWhoServed #RemembranceDay2020 #LestWeForget #QueenslandHistory [Diary pages, QMHS: 3534; Casualty form courtesy National Archives of Australia: NAA: B2455, GAHAN J]