The Shrine Stories podcast takes you on a deep dive behind the objects on our gallery floor. In this episode, we explore a poster on display in the Vietnam War section of our Galleries. The poster was originally made and distributed in the United States as a protest piece. However, the one hanging at the Shrine has been re-designed and adopts a whole different meaning despite its similarities to the original. Join the Shrine's Collections coordinator Toby Miller as he unpacks this story. Music: ...
Jan 14, 2024•20 min
Garry Fabian was just eight years old when he and his parents were interned at Theresienstadt - a ghetto, concentration camp and transit camp used by Nazi Germany to house Jews from across Eastern Europe. Of the 15,000 children who went through the camp, only 150 survived. Listen as Garry shares his story and reflections on his childhood. Music: If I Were You, Alsever Lake
Jan 10, 2024•41 min
The Shrine Stories podcast takes you on a deep dive behind the objects on our gallery floor. In this episode, we get festive by exploring two Christmas tins that were sent to soldiers in the Boer War and the First World War. Join Exhibitions and Grants Coordinator at the Shrine Katrina Nicolson as she uncovers the contents of these boxes and how they were sent to the troops. Music: Across the Line - Lone Canyon
Dec 10, 2023•18 min
Leading Aircraftman Vern Roberts was a fitter with No. 24 Squadron RAAF and was posted to Morotai during the Second World War. On the 9th of September, 1945, Vern witnessed the Australian commander-in-chief Field Marshal Thomas Blamey accept the formal surrender of the 2nd Japanese Army. Now 99, Vern has an impeccable memory and shares with Shrine curator Neil Sharkey his memories of service and life at Morotai. Music: Kevin Grahams, Together
Dec 06, 2023•34 min
The Shrine Stories podcast takes you on a deep dive behind the objects in the Shrine's Galleries. In this episode, award-winning historian, storyteller and biographer Ross McMullin shares the story of Australia’s first official war artist, William Henry Dyson. Will Dyson created hundreds of drawings of Australia’s soldiers at the Western Front, and managed to capture something no other artist could. Ross references several of Dyson's paintings and lithographs, which can be viewed here. This epis...
Nov 05, 2023•26 min
The Shrine Stories podcast takes you on a deep dive behind the objects on our gallery floor. In this episode, we look at the craft of beaded snakes. These intricate objects were among the keepsakes made by Ottoman prisoners of war during, and directly after the First World War. Listen as Shrine Exhibitions and Collections Officer at the Shrine Tessa Occhino reveals how these snakes were made, and why. Music: Across the Line - Lone Canyon
Oct 08, 2023•14 min
To view a video version of the talk, click here. Young Australian teacher Bruce Dowding arrived in Paris in 1938, planning only to improve his understanding of French language and culture. After the war broke out, Dowding helped exfiltrate hundreds of Allied servicemen from occupied France. He eventually paid the ultimate price and was beheaded by the Nazis just after his 29th birthday in 1943. His story is told in the book Secret Agent, Unsung Hero, written by Bruce’s nephew, prominent Australi...
Sep 27, 2023•49 min
Warning: This podcast contains themes that may be distressing for some listeners. Listener discretion is advised. The Shrine Stories podcast takes you on a deep dive behind the objects in the Galleries. In this episode, Major David Bergman explains his role in the recovery efforts following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Major Bergman was one of only five Australian Defence Force personnel embedded with the NYPD and other units who worked in the months after the attacks. Music: Across the Line - Lo...
Sep 10, 2023•25 min
The Shrine Stories podcast takes you on a deep dive behind the objects on our gallery floor. In this episode, we delve into the story of Flight Sergeant Keith Meggs. Keith had a passion for aviation from an early age and in December 1950, he arrived in Korea to serve as a fighter pilot. Over the course of his service, he was involved in two very close calls. Listen as Shrine Curator Neil Sharkey uncovers these stories and the peculiar way Keith got his hands on an American survival vest. Music: ...
Aug 13, 2023•20 min
The Shrine Stories podcast takes you on a deep dive behind the objects on our gallery floor. In this episode, we uncover the story behind the song, Dream of Australia, which plays in our galleries. Petty Officer Ted McHaffie wrote it in 1936 during a particularly lonesome and frustrating time in his service. Tragically, five years later, Ted was one of the 645 Australian soldiers killed when HMAS Sydney II was sunk by a German raider, and so the song was never recorded. That was until Ted’s neph...
Jul 09, 2023•20 min
This podcast was recorded during the 2023 Midsumma Festival and explores stories of LGBTQ+ service. Chaired by Midsumma Chief Executive Karen Bryant, listen as current and ex-service members share their experiences in the ADF. Content warning: Parental guidance is recommended: this audio program contains adult themes and concepts and occasional coarse language. Support: If this program raises any issues for you, feel free to call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Qlife on 1800 184 527. Or please scroll do...
May 16, 2023•59 min
Entertainers have performed in war and peacekeeping zones for decades, but what does it take to get them over there? And what happens if things don't go according to plan? In this podcast, Warrant Officer Class 1 Mark Langley shares a peek behind the curtain of a Forces Entertainment concert from recruiting to the curtain call. Listen as he unpacks stories of escorting comedians, musicians and performers to gigs all over the world. Image: Cold Chisel's Ian Moss with WO1 Mark Langley in East Timo...
Apr 30, 2023•27 min
Australian entertainers have performed for troops in war zones and peacekeeping operations since the Vietnam War. Their talent and celebrity have lifted spirits and brought a slice of home to service personnel abroad. In this podcast, hear first-hand the trials and tribulations of entertaining on the front line with host Merrick Watts in conversation with Anthony ‘Lehmo’ Lehmann, Nick Cody and Ami Williamson. This podcast was recorded live at the Shrine in November 2022 to mark the opening of To...
Feb 27, 2023•38 min
Australian entertainers have performed for troops in war zones and peacekeeping operations since the Vietnam War. Their talent and celebrity have lifted spirits and brought a slice of home to service personnel abroad. In this podcast, hear first-hand the trials and tribulations of entertaining on the front line with host Merrick Watts in conversation with Tom Gleeson, Charlie Pickering, Little Pattie and Normie Rowe. This podcast was recorded live at the Shrine in November 2022 to mark the openi...
Feb 27, 2023•46 min
Corporal Ronald Schultz has been in the Air Force for more than two decades, spanning a variety of roles and serving both in Australia and overseas. He now works in Indigenous recruiting, helping other First Nations people across Australia enter the Defence Force. In this podcast, guest host and acclaimed Gunditjmara actor Tom Molyneux yarns with Ron about his entry into the defence force, the highlights of his service and his hopes for the future of First Peoples in the ADF. Credits: Speaker: C...
Jan 30, 2023•37 min
Phil Neil, a former Leading Aircraftman with the RAAF, was one of the five members of the Gay Ex-Services Association (GESA) who tried to unsuccessfully lay a wreath at the Shrine of Remembrance on ANZAC Day in 1982. GESA formed after inflammatory and homophobic comments were made in the media about gay service people by then RSL president, Bruce Ruxton. On a cold and rainy 25th of April, 1982, Phil Neil, Mike Jarmyn, Terry Yates and two other gay ex-servicemen walked the steps of the Shrine to ...
Sep 28, 2022•36 min
When the Taliban entered Kabul on the evening of 15 August 2021, Western troops and embassy staff scrambled to flee a country of which its government had lost control. To the world, Kabul in August looked like Saigon in 1975. Andrew Quilty was one of a handful of Western journalists who stayed as the city fell. His book, August in Kabul: America's last days in Afghanistan is a first-hand account of those dramatic final days told through the eyes of Afghans whose lives have been turned upside dow...
Sep 26, 2022•52 min
Bridget Clinch is a change maker. A former captain in the Australian Army, in 2010 she challenged the Australian Defence Force over its ban on transgender service - and won. It was a hard-fought battle that paved the way for other transgender ADF service members to be able transition and to continue serving after her. High profile former Lieutenant Colonel and Group Captain Cate McGregor, was one of them. Born in Sydney in 1979, Bridget Clinch’s military story began in Victoria as an Army cadet ...
Aug 28, 2022•58 min
The Beaufort Bomber was colloquially known as the workhorse of the RAAF during World War Two and played a key role in Australia's defence. In this podcast, convenor of the Beaufort Squadrons Reunion Tony Clark unpacks the story behind the plane. Hear why they were built on home soil, how women played a pivotal part in the construction and what happened when the plane was retired. Voiceover: Keith Tucker and John Lloyd-Fillingham conducted interviews with many of the Beaufort aircrew veterans and...
Aug 15, 2022•49 min
The story of defence couple, Carole Popham and Christina Dennis, started over 50 years ago in the Women's Royal Australian Air Force. Both born in the '40s, without knowing it they grew up within 350kms of each other in northern Queensland: Carole in Townsville and Christina in Cairns. Coming of age in 1960s Australia - a time of limited work and education opportunities for women - in 1963 and ’64 respectively, Carole and Christina each jumped at the chance to join up and serve their country. Th...
Jul 28, 2022•57 min
This podcast is part of a powerful two-part series that explores the history of LGBTIQ+ military service in Australia, produced by award-winning podcast maker, Megan Spencer. It begins in 1982 with the unsuccessful attempt of five gay ex-servicemen to lay a wreath at the Shrine of Remembrance on Anzac Day, to honour their “fallen gay and lesbian brothers and sisters”. Forty years later, on ANZAC Day 2022, the story comes full circle with the annual Rainbow Wreath-laying service by DEFGLIS unifor...
Jul 28, 2022•53 min
This podcast is part of a powerful two-part series that explores the history of LGBTIQ+ military service in Australia, produced by award-winning podcast maker, Megan Spencer. It begins in 1982 with the unsuccessful attempt of five gay ex-servicemen to lay a wreath at the Shrine of Remembrance on Anzac Day, to honour their “fallen gay and lesbian brothers and sisters”. Forty years later, on ANZAC Day 2022, the story comes full circle with the annual Rainbow Wreath-laying service by DEFGLIS unifor...
Jul 28, 2022•45 min
This episode of For Kin and Country Yarns was recorded during Reconciliation Week following the Victorian Aboriginal Remembrance Service (May 2022). In this podcast, guest host and acclaimed Gunditjmara actor Tom Molyneux yarns with Ngarigo Dunghutti veteran Rex Solomon about family connection to service, experience in the forces and reflections on how First People's service is commemorated today. Credits: Speaker: Rex Solomon Interviewer: Tom Molyneux Editor: Laura Thomas Music: Title: Emu and ...
Jul 03, 2022•42 min
Take a peek behind the curtain of the 'Between Two Worlds' exhibition with veteran artists Ben Pullin and Sean Burton as they discuss their art and inspiration. The exhibition is on display until the end of July 2022. For more information about the Between Two Worlds exhibition, click here . Learn more about Sean Burton here. Learn more about Ben Pullin here. Learn more about Rory Cushnahan here. Credits Music: 'Our Bar' by Sam Barsh...
Jun 21, 2022•33 min
Uncle Frank Lampard OAM is a proud Ngarrindjeri Kaurna man and elder and one of the thousands of young Australians called up for national service during the Vietnam War. Training as a medic in the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps, he was posted to Victoria for two years and served from 1967 to 1969. Listen as Uncle Frank unpacks his experience of national service, shares stories from his time living in Melbourne and away from country and gives powerful insights into recognition and acknowledg...
May 01, 2022•1 hr 2 min
Douglas Heywood OAM was just a teenager when he discovered hundreds of letters written by his father Scott to his mother Marge during the Second World War. Many of these letters were from Scott's time as a prisoner of war and recount in great detail exactly what life was like. Listen as Doug unpacks this incredible story of enduring love and what it was like to learn about his father through the letters.
Mar 20, 2022•46 min
Lust, Love, Loss: Conversations is a three-part series produced by renowned broadcaster Megan Spencer that delves deep into stories of Australian wartime relationships. This episode follows the story of Julia and Jai Michel, who in the nine years they've known each other have spent three and a half living in the same place. Julia has navigated the trials and tribulations of organising a wedding, buying a house and weathering a pandemic all with limited communication to her husband. Listen as she...
Feb 13, 2022•1 hr
Lust, Love, Loss: Conversations is a three-part series produced by renowned broadcaster Megan Spencer that delves deep into three stories of Australian wartime relationships. For Tanja and Mark Johnston, what started as a chance meeting on the stoop of a share house in Toowoomba evolved into a relationship filled with letter writing, 90s mix tapes and good dose of humour. The couple combined Tanja’s love of art and Mark’s experience in the Army to co-create ANVAM – the Australian National Vetera...
Feb 13, 2022•1 hr
Lust, Love, Loss: Conversations is a three-part series produced by renowned broadcaster Megan Spencer that delves deep into stories of Australian wartime relationships. Justin and Kendal Brown’s story began when they were just teens in the remote defence town of Woomera, but it wasn’t until years later that they became a couple. In this episode, Megan Spencer dissects Justin’s vow not to get married until he was discharged, what it was like for them both having two children while Kendal was stil...
Feb 13, 2022•54 min
Meet our formidable team of Life Governors as they discuss their time in the defence forces and how they came to serve and support the Shrine of Remembrance. Interviewer: Mr Ray Andrews Shrine Life Governors: Colonel George Mackenzie OBE RFD, Lieutenant Colonel David Ford CVO AM GM, Lieutenant Colonel Adrian Lombardo and Mr Peter Whitelaw Videographer: Mr Keith Webb
Aug 18, 2021•27 min
