Australian War Memorial

Tuesday, 19^th May 2015

Parliament House

Australian War Memorial Entrance

Gallipoli Landing Craft

Recruitment Poster

Scary Gas Masks

A couple of Polly's

G for George

Anderson Bomb Shelter

Very Poignant

Pool of Reflection

Fabulous Tapestry

Is that me in there?

For Great-Uncle Oswald

Cupola in the Hall of Remembrance

Stained Glass Window

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Rehearsal

Getting it right 

Eternal Flame

Simpson and his Donkey

Success with my first day’s photos this morning – I was actually able to add them to my blog.  Fingers crossed that today’s photos are successful as well.

A very dreary day in Canberra, with mist, rain and the temperature hovering around 15 degrees.  A good day to spend inside at the Australian War Memorial.  We were very fortunate that it was a quiet day for school groups, with only 900 school children running around; there were also some very well behaved groups.  Needless to say, the First World War is the main focus of the exhibitions at the moment and we spent the majority of the morning in this section.  Having toured the Western Front region only two years ago, it was quite an emotional experience seeing artefacts and photos of the regions we had visited.  We concluded our morning tour with the Second World War exhibitions and a visit to Anzac Hall, with its “G for George” bomber and a Japanese Midget submarine from Sydney Harbour.

Following lunch at Poppy’s Restaurant (what else would it be called?), we headed downstairs to the other conflicts – the Boar War and Soldiers of the Queen section was especially interesting.  Then it was into the Korean conflict before heading to the Vietnam War, where we spent some time looking at the exhibits and watching a very moving film on a helicopter insertion, complete with sound and wind effects.  The Afghanistan exhibition also had some very moving films/stories.

After purchasing a poppy, we headed to the Roll of Honour and a very helpful lady assisted us in finding the name of Les’ great uncle who was killed at Villers-Bretonneux; the lovely lady even fetched a step ladder so he could climb up to add his poppy.  She then took us into the Hall of Remembrance and we watched for some time as the Federation Guard practiced for tomorrow’s closing ceremony.