TheRamblingWombat Canberra

National Aboriginal War Memorial or Not?

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Each year on ANZAC Day (25 April) thousands of veterans, serving personnel and members of the general public attend the dawn service at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra to remember those who have served and those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for Australia in various wars and conflicts down the ages.

When the dawn service is over a small group of veterans and others make their way into the bush to a small clearing on the slopes of Mt Ainslie some 300 metres behind the War Memorial. Continue reading “National Aboriginal War Memorial or Not?” →

TheRamblingWombat Canberra

Bellona – The Offensive Goddess

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Dear Reader – let me tell you a story – a story of Canberra’s first statue and war memorial.

In 1916 sculptor Bertram Mackennal, unable to sell this sculpture – entitled War or Bellona – Goddess of War – decided to offer it as a gift to Australia as a tribute to Australian solders in WWI (especially the ANZACs). It was accepted but it took five years before Prime Minister Hughes sent a thank-you letter – five years during which Bellona lay hidden in a Melbourne celler. Continue reading “Bellona – The Offensive Goddess” →

TheRamblingWombat Canberra

The Forgotten War (Korean War)

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The ‘Conflicts 1945 to Today’ galleries at the Australian War Memorial commemorate Australia’s post WWII war and peace-keeping operations. The galleries cover Korea, Malaya and Indonesia, Vietnam, Afghanistan and the two Gulf Wars.

In this review I would like to go into a little more detail on what is often referred to as the ‘Forgotten War” – the Korean War. Continue reading “The Forgotten War (Korean War)” →

TheRamblingWombat Canberra

World War II at the Australian War Memorial

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“Fellow Australians, it is my melancholy duty to inform you officially, that in consequence of a persistence by Germany in her invasion of Poland, Great Britain has declared war upon her and that, as a result, Australia is also at war. No harder task can fall to the lot of a democratic leader than to make such an announcement.” Continue reading “World War II at the Australian War Memorial” →