Virtual War Memorial Australia | Non-profit organisation

Virtual War Memorial Australia

Phone: +61 8 8100 7318

Address: ANZAC House Torrens Parade Ground 5000 Adelaide

Website: https://vwma.org.au

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25.01.2022 Battle of Britain Part 4 As mentioned in the previous feature on this subject, Hitler’s direction to the Luftwaffe to change their priority of effort from hitting RAF airfields and aircraft factories in England’s southeast, to bombing London, proved to be a turning point. Read the full article here: https://vwma.org.au//home-page-ar/battle-of-britain-part-4

25.01.2022 Harold Woodman Wilson VERCOE was born in Lowood, Queensland on 12th October, 1912. His parents were Woodman VERCOE & Margaret WILSON. He enlisted in Lismore, NSW as a Private on 26th October, 1939 with the 2/2nd Infantry Battalion & was later promoted to Corporal.... He fought in the North African campaign, the Battle of Bardie, the Greek campaign & then went to New Guinea, the Kokoda Trail & Buna - he fought in the Libyan & Syrian campaigns , returning to Australia in August, 1942 and was then posted to New Guinea. Harold was killed by an errant American mortar bomb in the Headquarters of Captain Jack Blamey (who was also killed by the same bomb), 500 yards on the right hand side of the Sanananda track near Buna on 25th November, 1942. His name is memorialised on the Australian War Memorial, the Port Moresby Memorial & the Roll of Honour in Lismore, NSW. https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/650668

24.01.2022 "THE LATE PRIVATE M. N. REED. Miss Reed, of Mitchellville, has been notified that her brother, Private M. N. Reed, was killed in action on November 25. Private M. N. Reed was 24 years of age. He enlisted from Mitchellville in March, 1915, and went to the front in the following May in the 27th Battalion. He served for some month on Gallipoli, and later went to France. Another brother, Private N. Reed, is serving with the Light Horse in Egypt." - from the Adelaide Chronicle 30 Dec 1916 https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/286012

24.01.2022 "...711 Private Saville George Sunderland, 24th Battalion, of Fitzroy, Vic. Pte Sunderland enlisted on 23 March 1915 and embarked from Melbourne aboard HMAT Euripides on 8 May 1915. He died of wounds 29 September 1915, and was buried at Malta." https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/310371

24.01.2022 The Unley South Park Bowling Club Memorial in South Australia is a great example of the many many small war memorials across the world. Read more here: https://vwma.org.au/explore/memorials/1771

22.01.2022 One of the most iconic Memorial Arches in Australia, the Ballarat Arch of Victory marks the entrance to the Avenue of Honour which extends for a distance of 14 miles and contains 3,900 trees which were individually planted by ‘The Lucas Girls’ for every Ballarat citizen who served in the Great War and assisted in maintaining the liberty of Australia. Read more here: https://vwma.org.au/explore/memorials/5026

22.01.2022 The Victoria Park RSL Cenotaph in Western Australia contains 1147 names of Victoria Park residents who fought in World War Two, Korea and Vietnam. Read more here: https://vwma.org.au/explore/memorials/5226

20.01.2022 The Boer War Memorial depicting a soldier on a horse at the corner of North Terrace and King William Street is an iconic landmark in the heart of the City of Adelaide. Read more about it here: https://vwma.org.au/explore/memorials/50

20.01.2022 "HEROES OF THE EMPIRE "At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them." ALLWOOD.In loving memory of my dear husband, Cpl. W. G. Allwood, 2/43, killed in action at Finschhafen, N.G., 1943. Not a day do I forget you, in my heart you're always near. I, who loved you, sadly miss you as it dawns the first sad year.Ever remembered by his loving wife May.... ALLWOOD.In loving memory of my dear brother-in-law, Cpl. W. G. Allwood, 2/43, killed in action at Finschhafen, N.G., 1943. A thought for today, a memory forever.Inserted by his sister-in law Martha, brother-in-law Jim, nephew Reg (A.I.F. ret.)." The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA: 1931 - 1954) Monday 2 October 1944

20.01.2022 The War Memorial of Korea is located in Yongsan-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea. It is situated on the former site of the army headquarters to exhibit and memorialise the military history of Korea Read more about this memorial here: https://vwma.org.au/explore/memorials/3737

19.01.2022 The Sandakan Prisoner of War Memorial in Brisbane, Queensland is a memorial of the 1800 Australians of the 8th Division AIF and 750 British troops. They fought gallantly in the defence of Malaya and Singapore during World War II. Following the fall of Singapore, they became prisoners of the Japanese and were transported to Sandakan in British North Borneo, now Sabah, in 1942 to construct an airfield, where 900 died of ill-treatment. Read more here: https://vwma.org.au/explore/memorials/5039

19.01.2022 "The sad news was received during the week that Major Hector McIntyre had been killed in action in France early this month. He was a son of Mr and Mrs H. McIntyre, former residents of the district, but now residing in East Malvern, and spent the greater part of his boyhood in Port Campbell. He left for the front over two years ago and has been engaged in a good deal of fighting since. He also went through the Boer War, attaining the rank of Lieutenant. He always had the reputation of being a very brave man and was well liked by the men under him. He was married only about a month before leaving for the front, and the deepest sympathy is felt for his young widow, and also his father and mother and the rest of the family in their bereavement." - from the Camperdown Chronicle 23 Oct 1917 https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/82254

18.01.2022 "Private David John Elkington Fisher was a young Australian who had volunteered for national service, and had been selected for the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR). On 27 September 1969, he was a member of an SASR patrol in an area to the west of the Nui May Tao in Long Kanh province, Vietnam. After a number of contacts the patrol requested a 'hot extraction'. During this extraction Private Fisher fell into thick jungle from a rope that suspended him below the helicopter....Continue reading

17.01.2022 "Very great regret was expressed in Cressy and district when the news was received early last Wednesday morning that Private W. Mowat, son of Mr W. Mowat, had been killed fighting at the front. The news came as a great shock to his parents and relatives. It is only about four months ago since the late Private Mowat enlisted from here. He was only in the fighting line three days before he met his death. He was only 23 years of age, and was well-known and highly respected here. The flag at the State school (of whom deceased was an old scholar) was flown half-mast on Wednesday as a mark of respect." - from the Cressy and Lismore Pioneer and Western Plains Representative 20 Oct 1915 https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/80023

17.01.2022 Tomorrow we are going to post a story about the tallest and shortest soldiers in the Australian Imperial Force of World War One. Here are photos of these men, can you guess their height in feet and inches? Comment below.

16.01.2022 "...2402 Private Archibald Alan Johnstone, 14th Battalion. A clerk from Clifton Hill, Vic prior to enlistment, Pte Johnstone embarked with the 7th Reinforcements from Melbourne on RMS Persia on 10 August 1915. Later promoted to Sergeant, he died on 20 September 1918, aged 23, of wounds received in action, and was buried in the Hancourt British Cemetery, France. Two brothers also served in the AIF. 738 Corporal Donald Wallace Johnstone, 5th Battalion, was killed in action on 11 December 1916 and 847 Lieutenant Thomas Watt Johnstone MC, 8th Battalion, returned to Australia on 22 August 1919..." - https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/69603

15.01.2022 The Whyalla City Council Civic Building in South Australia has an honour board to those from the local area who died in the World Wars. Click here for more information and to see many other memorials in our database: https://vwma.org.au/explore/memorials/6584

15.01.2022 "...4551 Private Thomas William Pearson, 10th Battalion, of Kadina SA, and his three sons. A farmer prior to enlistment Pte Pearson embarked on HMAT Miltiades (A28) on 7 February 1916. He served in Palestine and the Western Front and was promoted to Lance Corporal (L Cpl). On 22 September 1916, L Cpl Pearson, aged 36, died of wounds received in action in Belgium..." Read more here: https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/85262

15.01.2022 The Hobart Cenotaph was built in 1925 and is the main point of military commemoration in Tasmania. Read more here: https://vwma.org.au/explore/memorials/2503

12.01.2022 "...5374 Sapper Charles Joseph Mestrez, 1st Australian Tunnelling Company from Ravenswood, Queensland. A 33 year old miner and clerk prior to enlisting on 10 April 1916, he embarked for overseas with the September 1916 Reinforcements from Melbourne on 29 September 1916 aboard HMAT Suffolk. He was killed in action on 25 September 1917 near Passchendaele, Belgium and is buried in the Menin Road South Military Cemetery, Ypres, Belgium. The image is inscribed "For the Honor of both Q'LAND A.I.E.F. 1916" referring to Queensland and the Australian Imperial Expeditionary Force." https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/113296

11.01.2022 Located on Anzac Parade, Campbell, ACT, the National Boer War Memorial shows Australian trooper mounted on horsed breaking through the trees of ANZAC Parade. Read more here: https://vwma.org.au/explore/memorials/2757

11.01.2022 Alfred Ernest Goller was born at Leigh Road (later called Bannockburn) on 21 July 1883, one of twelve children of John George Martin Goller and Matilda nee Harris. He attended Bannockburn State School and Flinders School, before going on to Geelong College in 1897. He was a member of the 1st Football XVIII in 1900-01, and won a scholarship enabling him to attend Ormond College, University of Melbourne, where he graduated BA, with Final Honours in Philosophy. At Bannockburn, i...Continue reading

06.01.2022 The U.S.S. Perry Memorial in Darwin is a 4 inch gun pointing in the direction where the ship now lies at rest in the harbour. The vessel was bombed and sunk in Darwin Harbour by Japanese naval aircraft on 19 February 1942. Read more about this memorial here: https://vwma.org.au/explore/memorials/1674

06.01.2022 The Long And The Short Of It - The AIF’s Most Uniquely Sized Soldiers Click here to find out all about the shortest and tallest of the Australians who fought in World War One: https://vwma.org.au//the-long-and-the-short-of-it---the-ai

05.01.2022 These sixteen outstanding year 9 and 10 students were today announced as our newest group of winners of the Premier’s Anzac Spirit School Prize. Some of the six...teen WW1 and WW2 service men and women, whose stories they told, made the ultimate sacrifice when they weren’t much older than this group. In retelling the stories of these diggers and nurses, airmen and sailors, these students are helping our state keep our promise that we will remember them. It was an honour to present the 2020 Premier’s Anzac Spirit School Prize winners with their certificates today, as they prepare for their trip to Darwin and Canberra. You can read their stories here, and I’m sure you’ll agree that they were most worthy winners: https://veteranssa.sa.gov.au//2020-premiers-anzac-spirit-/ Virtual War Memorial Australia RSL South Australia History Trust of South Australia

05.01.2022 #Onthisday on 27 September 1956, Britain conducted the first of its nuclear device tests at Maralinga in South Australia. The Traditional Owners of the land wer...e never consulted and have faced extreme hardships every since. After the horror of atomic bombs being dropped on Japan in 1945, Britain and the Soviet Union actively began increasing their nuclear capabilities. With agreement from Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies, the British conducted atomic weapons testing at three sites in Australia: the Montebello Islands off Western Australia, and Emu Field and Maralinga in South Australia. The testing took place from 1952 to 1963, mostly at Maralinga. As a result, there was widespread plutonium contamination. Some trails resulted in mushroom clouds reaching heights of 47,000 feet (14,325 metres), and radioactive fallout blown by wind was detected as far away as Townsville. The testing was approved and conducted without any discussion with Indigenous communities. Near Maralinga, the Anangu Pitjantjatjara people were exposed to extremely high levels of radiation, especially those living on country. Limited attempts were made to contact Aboriginal communities and white pastoralists to warn them about the tests and resulting risks. In addition to the exposure of high levels of radiation, the Aboriginal people around Maralinga faced extreme social, emotional and physical hardships from being denied access to food and water resources for more than 30 years. Nuclear testing by the British came to an end in 1963 after both Britain and Australia signed the United Nations Partial Test Ban treaty. When Maralinga closed in 1967, the British did an exceptionally poor job of cleaning up the site. Australian scientists found evidence of major and widespread plutonium contamination years later in 1984 while preparing to transfer the area to the traditional owners, the Tjarutja. A Royal Commission into the British Nuclear Tests released in 1985 specifically condemned the lack of commitment to ensuring the safety and welfare of affected Indigenous people. It recommended that the sites be remediated to permit unrestricted access to traditional owners, who should also receive significant compensation. In December 1993, Britain agreed to make a 20 million payment towards the estimated $101 million cost of cleaning up Maralinga. In 1994 the Australian Government paid $13.5 million to the Indigenous people of Maralinga as compensation for contamination of the land. Between 1996 and 2000 around 3200 square kilometres of Maralinga country had been cleaned to a standard considered safe for unrestricted access. Maralinga was formally returned to the Tjarutja owners in November 2009. However, veterans of the nuclear tests and Aboriginal people near the sites suffer higher cancer mortality rates and more cancers than the general population. As a result of ongoing campaigning, veterans have obtained compensation. Image 1: Atomic blast during Operation Buffalo nuclear tests, Maralinga, South Australia. National Archives of Australia A6456, R075/004

01.01.2022 The East Africa Memorial in Nairobi, Kenya commemorates all who died in the service of the British crown during east African compaigns of the Second World War. Read more here: https://vwma.org.au/explore/memorials/5931

01.01.2022 On 18 November 1915, 24 year old Patrick Ohlstrom departed Adelaide aboard HMAT Geelong on a journey that would change his life. He had enlisted to serve his c...ountry in the Great War. He would have been aware of the death and suffering of those who had served before him in the Gallipoli campaign but duty called. Throughout the 3 long years of his service he recorded his experiences in a diary. Working with award winning Writer and Director Eddie White, Virtual War Memorial Australia has used his personal diary and other primary sources to create this animated short film for its innovative Schools Program -https://vwma.org.au/explore/schools See more