Shrine of Remembrance

In 1941, Australian troops were far home fighting Axis forces across North Africa and the Middle East. By 1942, Japan had advances on Singapore and seized Australian territories in New Guinea while America joined the Allies in the Pacific. John Edwards discusses the leadership of Prime Minister John Curtin during this pivotal time in Australian history.

Wing Commander Alexandra Douglas MG, one of the first Australians to be awarded a Medal for Gallantry, reflects on her three decade career as a medical officer in the army and air force and shares the key issues underpinning effective medical treatment on the front line. Read more about Alexandra's service in the For Humanity special of the Shrine's Remembrance magazine released for Anzac Day 2018...

Join Chris Masters as he goes to the heart of some of the fiercest combat in Afghanistan with the Special Forces. Following a ten-year investigation, Chris gives a voice to Australia's most highly trained soldiers and examines what it is like the be a member of this country's elite fighting forces. No Front Line  is available for purchase through the Shrine Shop . For more stories from our militar...

Shrine CEO Dean Lee is joined by Mrs Xanthula Wrigley and Professor Peter Monteath in the launch for our newest exhibition  Resistance: Australians and the European Underground 1939–45.  Resistance  is on display daily from 10am to 5pm in the Shrine's West Gallery.   Discover important stories of courage in the face of adversity, the overcoming of extraordinary obstacles and demonstrations of prof...

There were fifty miles to victory and defeat, fifty miles to collapse and renewal, and fifty miles to a new place for Australia among the nations of the world. They were among the most significant fifty miles in our history. Join Adam Wakeling as he explores the final battles for the Australian troops in the First World War and their significance. Adam's book The Last Fifty Miles is available for...

Tuesday 1 May 2018 - Melinda Martin, Matthew Sleeth, Wendy Sharpe and Tanja Johnston Australian war artists as historians, documenters and first hand witnesses must confront their own experience of the tragedies of war. In partnership with Linden New Art Gallery, join us for a special conversation with two contemporary Australian war artists about their experience in war-torn countries.

Recorded Thursday 8 March 2018 Sister Florence James-Wallace was stationed at Villers-Brettoneaux during the early stages of the 1918 German offensive. She described it as resembling 'Dante's Inferno'. The hospital overflowed with badly wounded men and hundreds more lay in the streets on stretchers needing her nursing skills. This is her story.   You can learn more about Sister Florence James-Wall...

Recorded Friday 13 April 2018. Guest speakers Dr James Villiers and Air Vice-Marshal Tracy Smart AM. For Humanity: Medicine in war and peacekeeping since 1945   is the Shrine's latest special exhibition and can be viewed daily between 10am and 5pm until March 2019.  For more stories from our medical personnel, check out the latest edition of  Remembrance . Become a Friend of the Shrine for invitat...

Recorded 5 April 2018. In 1918 a few daring low ranking Australian infantrymen, alone among all the armies on the Western Front, initiated stealth raids without orders. Lucas Jordan examines this distinct but neglected group who killed Germans, captured prisoners and advanced the line, sometimes thousands of yards and almost always without command on either side knowing. Stealth Raiders  is availa...

Join Shrine Curator Neil Sharkey as he unravels the many myths and legends of the Australian Light Horse in the Middle East. While Australian infantry served in the grim trenches of the Western Front, their Light Horse comrades fought a mobile war against the Ottoman Turks in the desert wastes of Sinai, Palestine and Syria. This special centenary exhibition extends beyond the legendary attack on B...

Recorded Friday 23 February 2018. This podcast is an extract from the launch of the Recent Conflict Gallery redevelopment featuring Sergeant David Robertson MG. David started the first of his two deployments to Afghanistan in October 2010. A member of the Royal Australian Artillery, he served as a Joint Fires Officer, accompanying Australian Operational Mentoring Liason Team members on patrol in t...

Recorded live at the Anzac Day Dawn Service at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne.   MC Mr Peter Meehan The Ode recited by Dr Robert Webster OAM Veteran speaker Group Captain Annette Holian In Flanders Fields recited by Ms Sarah Trewick   Musical accompaniment by the Australian Army Band Melbourne and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Special centenary talk The immense German onslaught in March 1918 caused Britain's gravest crisis of the war. The culmination of the Australians' vital contribution in this climax of conflict was the stunning counter attack at Villers-Bretonneux. Historian Dr Ross McMullin illuminates what occurred.   Dr Ross McMullin is an award winning historian and has published many books on military history i...

Recorded Wednesday 4 October 2017. Entranced by the myths surrounding the army's Kokoda campaign in Papua, few Australians appreciate or even know of the role played by the Royal Australian Navy between December 1941 and August 1945. Ian Pfennigwerth demonstrates that our ships and men were in the forefront of the fighting, not in backwaters, and their professionalism and skills in many warfare ar...

Recorded Tuesday 26 September 2017. The battle of Polygon Wood, the second of the step-by-step victories east of Ypres, has often been depicted as a relatively straightforward victory: the AIF advanced behind an irresistible barrage that resembled a Gippsland bushfire, and there were inevitable casualties but no major hiccups. This interpretation is fundamentally flawed. Dr Ross McMullin explains...

Recorded Thursday 7 September 2017. The Shrine of Remembrance was inspired by classical architecture, especially the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Although the Mausoleum did not house the war dead, its decoration depicted scenes of mythical combat common throughout the ancient Greek world, particularly in Athens—where special arrangements were made for...

Recorded  Wednesday 9 Aug 2017. Meet some of our last surviving Second World War navy veterans Jim Paizis, Norm Tame, Hiram Ristrom, Ray Leonard and Pamela Nicholls of the WRANS as they recount tales of their service. From taking part in the Battle of Coral Sea to decoding and encoding war-winning intelligence, these vets reflect upon their time at sea. Chaired by Shrine Trustee Tracey Curro. This...

Recorded Tuesday 15 August 2017. Hear Paul Field discuss his recently released book  Gimme Shelter,  a collection of stories of endurance, courage and survival told by returned members of the armed forces and other first responders. Paul is joined by Vietnam veteran Don Barnby and Paul Stewart, brother of Balibo Five journalist Tony Stewart. For upcoming talks and events at the Shrine visit shrine...

Recorded 25 October 2017. October 23 marked the 75th anniversary of the Battle of El Alamein, one of the turning points of the Second World War. The 9th Australian Division was crucial to the victory of Montgomery's 8th Army at Alamein. Although the Australians represented only 10 per cent of the 8th Army, they suffered 20 per cent of its casualties in what an admiring British general described as...

Recorded Wednesday 18 October 2017 Join Dr David Holloway OAM, historian of the 4th Light Horse, as he reflects one hundred years later on their legendary attack on Beersheba in October 1917. Discover more about this remarkable regiment—Australia's only unit to fight on all three fronts during the First World War. The Shrine's latest special exhibition  The Light Horse: Australians in Middle East...

Rear Admiral Guy Griffiths AO DSO DSC, Jim Paizis and Margaret Hattersley share memories from their time in the navy during the Second World War.   Uncover these and other extraordinary stories of our navy veterans in the Shrine's  Nerves and Steel  exhibition. On display until July 2018. For more information, visit shrine.org.au/nervesandsteel

Second World War veteran Jim Paizis recounts the day HMAS Colac was almost sunk by Japanese artillery in the Solomons. Uncover more extraordinary stories for our navy veterans in the Shrine's exhibition Nerves and Steel: Australians in the Pacific 1941 – 45, on display until July 1918. For more information visit shrine.org.au/nervesandsteel

Second World War navy veteran Ray Leonard recounts the fateful day in December 1942 when HMAS Armidale came under attack by thirteen Japanese aircraft off the coast of Timor. Uncover more stories from our navy veterans in the Shrine's Nerves and Steel: Australians in the Pacific 1941–45  exhibition, on display until July 2018. For more information visit shrine.org.au/nervesandsteel

Over the next few weeks we will be releasing behind the scenes videos and stories from  Nerves and Steel:Royal Australian Navy in the Pacific 1941-45 .  Nerves and Steel  is an historical exploration of the naval battles in the Pacific during the Second World War and Australia's role in securing the ultimate Allied victory. Nerves and Steel  will be on display at the Shrine until July 1918. Visit...

Recorded Tuesday 25 July 2017. Join Naval Historian John Perryman for a journey through time from colonial naval days to contemporary operations in the Middle East as he discusses the evolution of naval uniforms, badges and accoutrements. Learn how changing operating environments, climate and even religion have all influenced changes to naval uniform at sea, ashore and in the air.