Further Links Contact Us Search Help

Syllabus | Exams | Glossary | Resources | Careers | Teachers

Modern History

Home > Modern History > International Studies in Peace and Conflict > Conflict in the Pacific 1937-1951 > The Australian War Memorial as a Resource

This article was first published in Teaching History, 34, 4. We acknowledge with thanks the journal editor's permission to reproduce it.

The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to those who have died in war. It uniquely combines a memorial, a museum and a research centre to present the story of Australia's involvement in war. The changes to the Memorial's galleries in recent years have been significant. It offers a range of exhibits and facilities which students and teachers will find valuable resources to enhance and complement their study of the Modern History HSC unit, Conflict in the pacific 1937–1951.

The Second World War galleries tell the story of Australia and the Second World War. The central focus is on the experience of Australians in that war, as individuals or as members of aircraft or ship's crews or other units. The contributions of women and the experiences of those on the home front are also included. These galleries tell hundreds of stories, of endurance, suffering, heroism and, very often, loss. The stories are as diverse as those of Sister Vivien Bullwinkel, who survived the Banka Island massacre, and spent the rest of the war as a prisoner of the Japanese, or of Len Siffleet, a young man from Gunnedah, who was executed by the Japanese in New Guinea while on a special mission as a member of Z Special Unit. Another story of suffering and survival is that of John Payne, one of a pair of twin brothers flying Spitfires with 615 Squadron in Burma, who survived being shot down by a Japanese Zero. Although wounded, he struggled to safety through rugged jungle and Japanese lines, in constant fear of snakes and tigers. The extraordinary courage of Ordinary Seaman Teddy Sheean is recorded in a painting, which shows him harnessed to an Oerlikon gun on the deck of the sinking HMAS Armidale off the coast of Timor. Although the order to abandon ship had been given, and despite having been hit twice by an attacking Zero's bullets, Sheean returned to his gun and brought down a Japanese plane, still firing as he disappeared beneath the waves.

The exhibits themselves tell their own stories with far greater emotional impact than words. A saucepan from a Sydney suburban kitchen, damaged by a fragment from a Japanese shell, tells of how close Japanese submarines came to Australia. The table on which the Allied surrender to Japan was signed in 1942 in Singapore speaks eloquently of the crisis facing Australia. The Kokoda Trail exhibit has been designed to evoke the experience of a steep, muddy, rough "stairway" in the mountainous jungles of New Guinea, giving the visitor the sensation of being there, on the Kokoda Trail. A crude cross made of two branches nailed together, with a name plate cut from a biscuit tin and punched to record the name of the soldier whose grave it marked, is a pathetic relic of Private George Clarke, a militia soldier from Wagga Wagga, who was killed in action on 6 June 1944 on Bougainville, one of 1,219 Australians killed in the island campaigns. The Changi quilt, embroidered by civilian women interned by the Japanese, speaks volumes of the qualities required by these women in order to survive such hardship. The Sandakan exhibit tells the story of the 2,400 Australian and British prisoners at this camp in North Borneo, only six of whom survived. The rest died of malnutrition, disease, or were executed, either at the camp itself or on the death march to Ranau 260 kilometres away in the mountains to the west. A wall of enlistment photos of the Australian prisoners at Sandakan who did not return home is a powerful and heart-breaking testament to the toll of human suffering which was a consequence of the Second World War. An exhibit of paper cranes, made by a little Japanese girl, in the hope that if she made 1,000 she might survive the effects of the atomic bomb, is further testament to the tragedy which affected all sides, civilian and combatant, involved in this conflict. These are just some of the thousands of stories which could be told, and a powerful adjunct to the study of the Second World War.

The Second World War gallery presents the war in five major parts:

The Australian War Memorial's exhibit, Air Power in the Pacific 1941–53, houses a dramatic display highlighting a number of classic aircraft used during the Second World War and the Korean War. Suspended at different heights or displayed on the ground in realistic settings are a Mosquito, Kittyhawk, Wirraway, the nose section of an Avro Anson training plane, a Japanese Zero, a Japanese Oscar, a Sea Fury, a Mustang and a MiG-15, as well as a mobile LW-AW radar and a Japanese anti-aircraft gun. This is a dynamic exhibit, using "object theatre", rare film footage, soundscapes and a diverse collection of aircraft, artworks, photos and artefacts to tell the stories of ordinary Australians who flew, serviced and made the aircraft. The exhibition traces the Australian experience during the Second World War and the Korean War, focussing on personal stories of aircrew, ground staff and civilians, as well as on the profound technological changes taking place during this period.

In 1941 Japan struck south across the Pacific, and Australia faced the threat of invasion. Air power was the spearhead of the Japanese Pacific campaign in 1941, but it was Allied air power, coordinated with land and sea forces, that ended the fighting four years later. New tactics, including close support and air supply, proved their worth. The aircraft carrier dominated the seas, while aircraft grew more complex and powerful, and new technologies like radar became vital to the control of the skies. The gallery presents the air war from a number of perspectives, which can be conveniently grouped under the following headings:

The Australian War Memorial, with its rich collection of primary and secondary sources, is probably the best place to address the significant historiographical issues involved in the study of Peace and Conflict in the Pacific 1937–1951. There is a wealth of resources on display in the galleries, or accessible in the Research Centre.

Web site

To find out more, visit the AWM web site . You can take a virtual tour, consult the Memorial's online encyclopaedia, locate historical documents, explore the Education Services pages, and investigate the Memorial's extensive databases of Private and Official Records, photographs, books, sound recordings and films.

Professional development

The Memorial also offers professional development for teachers, tailored to suit their specific needs.

For information about any of the services mentioned in this article or to book a program or Memorial Box call 02-6243 4268, fax 02-6243 4541 or email school.bookings@awm.gov.au