Dr Richard Trembath Recorded Tuesday 7 March 2017 Established in the 1980s, the Regional Force Surveillance Units (RFSUs) differ in many ways from the rest of the Army Reserve. First, their area of operation is vast: NORFORCE, the most famous regiment, covers all of the Northern Territory and the Kimberley. Second, their activities include military surveillance, border protection and detection of environmental threats. Third, they have a high level of Indigenous membership with Indigenous servic...
Mar 16, 2017•52 min
Saturday 11 February - Havala Laula, Bill Stuart and David Howell Throughout the fighting on the Kokoda Track, Papua New Guineans were at the forefront of the campaign. Not only did they carry over the much needed supplies for Australian soldiers but they also carried the wounded to safety, earning the name Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels. In addition, many Papuan New Guineans served as soldiers, policeman and coast watchers. Join Kokoda historian David Howell in conversation with special guests: Kokoda vete...
Feb 16, 2017•1 hr 14 min
2016 marked the 15th anniversary of the commencement of the war in Afghanistan, Australia’s longest war. Join writer and director Victoria Midwinter-Pitt as she discusses the making of her latest documentary, Afghanistan: Inside Australia’s War. This remarkable project involved over 500 frank and moving interviews with service personnel and politicians. In this talk, Victoria shares her inspiration behind the project and the process of interviewing service men and women on their wartime experien...
Jan 13, 2017•1 hr 23 min
According to London’s Times, Melbourne-born Paul Brickhill, spitfire pilot and Stalag Luft 3 prisoner, ‘set a standard in the telling of popular war stories which has never been surpassed’. His books about escaping Nazis, about boldly busting their dams, and about legless fighter pilot Douglas Bader became bestsellers, while the movies based on them are classics. Hear award-winning writer Stephen Dando-Collins, author of The Hero Maker, reveal Brickhill’s monumental struggle s to overcome person...
Dec 16, 2016•1 hr 9 min
Jeannine Baker reveals the little-known stories of the trailblazing women journalists who have reported on war. Since Agnes Macready travelled to South Africa in 1900 to write about the Boer War for the Catholic Press, Australian women have fought for the right to cover conflict. In 1914, Louise Mack defied the orders of Lord Kitchener to travel to Belgium, where she witnessed the fall of Antwerp. Katharine Susannah Pritchard reported from close to the front at Wimeraux. These pioneers of war re...
Dec 09, 2016•1 hr 3 min
Even as the guns fell silent over the battlefields in Europe in 1918, Australia’s military leaders were planning to commemorate pivotal Australian victories through a series of monuments on the Western Front. In Australia too, communities motivated by loss, grief and a determination to never forget the cost to a generation, erected hundreds of war memorials across the land. This talk explores the motives for commemoration—victory, honour and remembrance—through a range of key monuments to Austra...
Nov 25, 2016•1 hr 1 min
Over 65,000 Australians have served in more than 50 United Nations and other multilateral international peace operations since 1947. While many peacekeepers feel their contribution is important and rewarding, the capacity for some to develop mental illness after their service is well documented—often for reasons different than those found in combat operations. This talk explores the unique characteristics and stressors of peace operations, and their potential psychological impacts on veterans an...
Oct 14, 2016•58 min
Presenter: Susan Gordon-Brown 23 August 2016 Susan Gordon-Brown spent three years photographing and interviewing Australia’s Vietnam veterans, learning about their military training, their experiences in Vietnam, and their lives after the war. In this floor talk, Susan discusses her motivation for compiling the exhibition, the process of interviewing the veterans, and insights gained through the project. Behind the Wire is on display in the Shrine Visitor Centre until 23 October 2016. More infor...
Oct 06, 2016•58 min
Wednesday 10 August 2016 Senior Historian at the Australian War Memorial, Peter Burness, discusses his new research on Charles Bean’s Western Front diaries. Peter talks about these remarkably candid diaries and what they reveal about Bean, who was Australia’s official war correspondent throughout the First World War. Bean’s position took him to London, the Salisbury Plains and every important Australian battlefield in France and Belgium. Mixing with all ranks, Bean sheltered in the trenches unde...
Sep 16, 2016•39 min
Sunday 14 August 2016 Jean McAuslan, Director of Exhibitions and Collections at the Shrine of Remembrance, is joined by Vietnam veterans Paul Penno, Nicholas LeRay-Meyer and Jan McCarthy to discuss the experiences of Australian service men and women in Vietnam. The panel cover topics such as the role played by nurses and medical staff, experiences of National Servicemen, the RAAF and their own personal reflections upon the war.
Aug 14, 2016•1 hr 14 min
Speaker: Ian McDougall Sunday 31 July 2016 In late 2014, the Shrine unveiled the new Galleries of Remembrance and Education Centre. Australia’s history of military service in peacekeeping and war has been incorporated throughout the design and symbology of these new spaces. Join award winning architect and Founding Director of ARM Architecture, Ian McDougall, for a special talk on his involvement in this project and the inspiration behind features including the zig zag courtyards and the use of ...
Aug 12, 2016•59 min
Speaker: Dave Sabben MG Join 6RAR Platoon Commander Dave Sabben as he discusses his experiences at Long Tan where 108 Australian servicemen fought off 1,500-2,500 Viet Cong. Dave was called up in 1665, aged 20, for the first intake of Australia’s National Service scheme. He served with 6RAR first tour and was awarded a Mentioned in Despatches, which was later upgraded to a Medal for Gallantry (MG) for his service in the battle. His illustrated presentation will encompass the prelude to the battl...
Aug 05, 2016•1 hr 26 min
Speakers: Emeritus Professor David Horner AM and Ted Blamey Date: 26 July 2016 Detractors describe him as ruthless, self-seeking and egotistical and point to personal scandals, and the damaged careers of the many capable soldiers who stood in his way. Supporters speak of a man who understood, better than any other Australian leader, the wider nature of war—the political implications of action and inaction, the importance of sea and air power, of logistics, intelligence, and troop training. This ...
Jul 28, 2016•33 min
Dr Ross McMullin, Christopher Wray and Neil Sharkey Friday 22 July 2016 July and August mark the centenary of the actions at Fromelles and Pozières on the Western Front. These two battles engaged all Australian Divisions on active service and resulted in staggering casualties, over 5,500 at Fromelles and over 23,000 at Pozières. Join historians and authors Dr Ross McMullin and Christopher Wray in discussion with Shrine Curator Neil Sharkey as they compare these two extraordinary battles....
Jul 22, 2016•1 hr 13 min
Presenter: Dr Adrian Threlfall Tuesday 03 May 2016 75 years ago this month, members of the Australian 6thDivisionfought a ferocious battle against elite German paratrooperson theisland of Crete. Having been evacuated from Greece onlyweeksearlier the Australians and New Zealanders were poorly armedandhad no air support but their resistance, althoughultimatelyunsuccessful, would decimate the German airborne forces.Join DrAdrian Threlfall, military historian and lecturer, inexploringthis fascinatin...
May 03, 2016•59 min
Thursday 07 April 2016 Presenter: Shrine Trustee Colonel John Wertheimer AM RFD 1966 was the year that Australia sent a Task Force to Vietnam, the year the first National Servicemen served in the war, and the year of the battle of Long Tan. Australia felt the heart of the Cold War and the throes of a youth revolution, in the year the first baby boomers came of age. Fifty years on, this exhibition tells the story of a year that changed Australia and the world. The exhibition is open daily from 10...
Apr 21, 2016•27 min
Wednesday 20 April 2016 Presenter: Dr David Holloway The 4th Light Horse Regiment was Australia’s only unit to fight on all three fronts during the First World War. They served dismounted at Gallipoli before being divided between France and Palestine. Their legendary attack at Beersheba on 31 October 1917 saw the Regiment, armed only with bayonets, capture enemy trenches at the gallop.
Apr 21, 2016•1 hr 4 min
Tuesday 5 April Presenter: Ross McMullin Ross McMullin’s presentation illuminates the life, creativity and humour of the conspicuously talented, remarkably versatile and internationally acclaimed Ballarat-born artist-writer Will Dyson, who depicted Australian soldiers with profound empathy and sympathy as our first official war artist. Dyson drew endurance and resilience, grit and grief.
Apr 15, 2016•1 hr 11 min
Sunday 10 April 2016 Presenters: Jack Caple, Ron Williamson, Bob Semple, and Heather MacFarlane Meet veterans Jack Caple, Ron Williamson and Bob Semple some of the few surviving Rats of Tobruk in conversation with Heather MacFarlane. Hear about their battle experiences, living conditions and the camaraderie which was shared by the Rats during the long siege of 1941. This mateship continues today in the Rats of Tobruk Association, supported by a broad network of friends honouring their efforts an...
Apr 11, 2016•1 hr 2 min
Wednesday 9 March 2016 - Peter FitzSimons AM On 19 July 1916, 7,000 Australian soldiers – in the first major action of the AIF on the Western Front – attacked entrenched German positions at Fromelles in northern France. By the next day, there were over 5,500 casualties, including nearly 2,000 dead. Yet the sad truth is that, nearly a century on from those battles, Australians know only a fraction of what occurred. With his extraordinary vigour and commitment to research, Peter FitzSimons shows w...
Mar 15, 2016•48 min
Wednesday 24 February 2016 Jeff Maynard A mystic explorer, George Hubert Wilkins, was appointed the official photographer under Charles Bean at the Western Front during WWI. Author Jeff Maynard discovered Wilkins’ lost records in the USA in 2014 and uses them to illustrate the remarkable story of the man who put a face to the Anzac legend. Peter Wolfenden also provides a demonstration of a 1912 Thornton Pickard full plate camera similar to the one used by George Wilkins and Frank Hurley on the W...
Mar 03, 2016•1 hr 16 min
Friday 19 February 2016 John Thompson-Gray Drawing on five years of research and interviews with centenarian airmen, Cambridge scholar and author John Thompson-Gray reveals untold stories of love, luck and grand larceny during the strafing at Broome in 1942. Discover the truth behind the disappearance of 30,000 Amsterdam diamonds from a plane shot down near Broome on 3 March 1942, a mystery which has baffled historians for decades. This talk followed the Darwin Defenders commemorative service....
Mar 02, 2016•1 hr 1 min
Thursday 21 January 2016 - Kerryn Taylor Wish You Were Here: Textile Artists Honour a Century of Service is on loan to the Shrine courtesy of the Wangaratta Textile Association. Join contributing artist Kerryn Taylor as she shares the origins of the exhibition. Learn more about the themes behind the works and discover the family stories hidden within the threads.
Jan 27, 2016•52 min
A special presentation by Leslie Bunn Glover ('Bunny") as part of the Sandakan Mebourne Cup display at the Shrine of Remembrance during this year's Spring Racing Carnival. Commemorating the 2,500 Australian and British men who dies as prisoners of the Japanese on Borneo. The Sandakan Cup (1942) and the Emirates Melbourne Cup (2015) were featured on stage during the program. In May 1942, Bunny was among hundreds of Australian prisoners moved to a forced-labour camps at Sandakan, Borneo, after the...
Oct 30, 2015•1 hr
Jim Claven MA, Secretary of the Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee, will recount the often forgotten role that the Greek Island of Lemnos played in the Gallipoli campaign. Lemnos was the forward base for the campaign and the location of soldiers’ rest camps and field hospitals. There were 148 diggers buried amongst the over 1,200 other Allied graves on the island. Lemnos is also the location for the armistice which ended the First World War in the East.
Oct 05, 2015•55 min
Lambis Englezos AM discusses the search for the missing men of the Battle of Fromelles. A team’s tireless search and advocacy over many years led to the discovery of a mass burial site for 250 soldiers lost since First World War. This search has led to the creation of the first new Commonwealth War Cemetery since World War II and has connected hundreds of families with their military heritage. This recording is part of the Shrine of Remembrance Regional Lecture series. The lecture was held on Mo...
Sep 15, 2015•57 min
Wednesday 3 Jun, 12.30pm Dr Michael Lawriwsky At Courtney’s Post on the Turkish Gallipoli Peninsula in May 1915 Albert Jacka was awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery. He was Australia’s first recipient of the award during the First World War and soon became one of Australia’s most well-known soldiers. Join Michael Lawriwsky, author of Hard Jacka and R eturn of the Gallipoli Legend , as he discusses Albert Jacka’s brave actions.
Jun 10, 2015•1 hr 16 min
Tuesday 19 May, 12.30 Dr Michael Lawriwsky Gallipoli, most well-known for the landing on Anzac day, was also a place where our ANZACs distinguished themselves. 10 Victoria Crosses alone were awarded to the Australian and New Zealanders in the 8 months that the ANZACs were on the peninsula. Dr Lawriwsky, author of Hard Jacka and Return of the Gallipoli Legend: Jacka VC, joins us to discuss the Gallipoli VCs on 100th anniversary. The 19th of May was the day that first VC was awarded to Albert Jack...
Jun 10, 2015•1 hr 13 min
Friday 8 May 2015 - Christopher Wray To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Second Battle of Krithia, Christopher Wray will speak on the events of the fateful afternoon of 8 May, 1915. The 2nd (Victorian) Brigade commanded by Sir James McCay took part in the final attempt to reach and break through the Turkish lines at the village of Krithia, 4 miles north of Capes Helles. Christopher, author of Sir James Whiteside McCay: A Turbulent Life , will discuss the devastating battle where McCay’s ...
May 11, 2015•48 min
Wednesday 6 May - Panel Discussion in partnership with the University of Melbourne The Anzac battlefield: landscape of war and memory , a major archaeological survey of the Gallipoli battlefields on display at the Shrine from 14 April 2015 - 31 August 2015, reveals the brutal realities of daily life in the trenches for both the allied and Turkish sides. This discussion explores what the survey reveals about the nature of the First World War, the way in which different combatants understood their...
May 11, 2015•1 hr 9 min
