Read

Portrait of Flight Sergeant Keith Mills in his uniform

Australian airmen at Buchenwald

Downed Australian airmen were sent to a concentration camp, instead of to a military prison.

By Emily Hyles

Second World War 1939 - 1945

Holly with her paternal grandparents and sisters during the Bicentennial Naval Review, January 1988.

An Arc of Service

A Wollongong builder, a nurse, an Ararat grocer and a bank clerk. Normal Australians. My family.

By Holly Pritchard

Chasing Shadows

Kristy Campion

Reviewed by Duncan Beard

Roy Hodgkinson, 14 Australian Anti-aircraft Battery (Militia) Fixed Defences, Darwin (1942) AWM ART22719

Bombing Darwin 1942

A successful Japanese raid caught the Allied forces unprepared.

By Dr Thomas Rogers

Second World War 1939 - 1945

Life in the Line

Soldiers of 1RAR in Korea

By Rose Dryzek

Korean War 1950 - 1953

Reg Saunders and Tom Derrick shake hands after graduating from the Officer Cadets Training Unit

In his own words

The combat diaries of Diver Derrick

By Dr Mark Johnston

Second World War 1939 - 1945

Australian Army soldiers from Special Operations Task Group conduct a range practise in Uruzgan province, southern Afghanistan, in 2012.

Assessing war trauma

The health costs of the war in Afghanistan raise unanswered questions.

By Alexander McFarlane

Afghanistan

The landing beaches at Normandy from the air, 1944

The Royal Australian Navy at Normandy

Australian sailors played many important roles in D-Day’s Operation Neptune.

By Dr Lachlan Grant

Second World War 1939 - 1945

Forbidden diaries

Sister Betty Jeffrey's story of survival, courage, and comradeship as a prisoner of war.

By Robyn van Dyk

Second World War 1939 - 1945

Private John ‘Dogger’ Dick examining his negatives

Darkroom on the 38th Parallel

War zone Korea posed difficulties for photographers who shot and developed their film in situ.

By Greta Wass

Korean War 1950 - 1953

General Hans-Jürgen von Arnim and other senior officers arrive at Trent Park

The Walls Have Ears

Eavesdropping on German prisoners in England provided crucial intelligence.

By Dr Helen Fry

Second World War 1939 - 1945

Three members of the 3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR), confer with a North Korean interpreter (left) who is serving with the battalion. Saunders is second from the right, smoking a pipe.

The fighting Gunditjmara

Indigenous people have fought for Country and for nation, from frontier wars to world wars.

By Dr Lachlan Grant

Painting by Roy Hodgkinson, titled Americans and Aborigines.

The Flying Bunyips

An American squadron that recognised the support of the Aboriginal community.

By Garth O'Connell

Second World War 1939 - 1945

Inspiring stories - Expert insights

Last updated: 8 April 2025

Watch

Watch more

Premium

The V2 rocket on display in Trafalgar Square, London in September 1945.

The Vengeance Weapon Series: What is the V2 Rocket?

The first video in a new series about the V2 rocket.

Second World War 1939 - 1945

Ripples of Wartime: Chas Martin

Chas Martin was called up for National Service in 1969 - and disobeyed.

Vietnam War

Major Peter Clay crouches in a field with two men.

Mine clearance in Mozambique

In 1994, Major Peter Clay filmed this home movie while deployed to Mozambique.

By Ally Roche

Peacekeeping

Engraved fountain pen belonging to Lieutenant Ronald Lister

From capture to liberation: a pen’s journey

The engraved fountain pen of Lieutenant Ronald Lister.

Second World War 1939 - 1945

Listen

Listen to more

Lawrence H. Cecil of the ABC, recording messages home on board HMAS Perth, 1941.

Dust in the grooves

During WW2 the ABC sent out units to record audio for radio broadcast.

By Jennifer Selby

Second World War 1939 - 1945

Trapped

Trapped is a six part series about a group of Australian airmen stranded on Timor during WW2.

By Tom Trumble

Second World War 1939 - 1945