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Thbeng Mean Chey, Cambodia. 1993-02-18. Lance Corporal (L Cpl) Dave Hurrey (left), and L Cpl Paul Astbury, Australian Signals Corps, United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC)

Australians as peacekeepers

By David Horner

Peacekeeping 1947 - today

Devastation after the tsunami hit Banda Aceh. Photo: Ben Bohane. AWM P04779.001

The Good Neighbour

REGION: Disaster Relief

By Dr Steven Bullard

Peacekeeping 1947 - today

A Face to Remember: The story of Astrid Wagstaff

Letters to a model reveal wartime longing, connection and a life cut tragically short.

By Alix Heraid

Second World War 1939 - 1945

Colin Douglas Simper and his wife Irene on their wedding day

Wartime love story: Colin and Irene Simper

Letters reveal Colin and Irene Simper’s wartime love story.

By Alix Heraid

Second World War 1939 - 1945

Papua New Guinean experiences of the Pacific War

Australian war artists captured striking portraits of Papua New Guineans who served in WWII.

By Dr Sylvia Cockburn

Second World War 1939 - 1945

LINCOLNSHIRE, ENGLAND. 1943-09-09. CORPORAL W. E. DAWSON OF ALBERTON, SA, RIDING ON A "COOKIE" (4000LB BOMB) TO BE LOADED ONTO "A2" AUSSIE, A LANCASTER AIRCRAFT OF NO 460 SQUADRON RAAF BASED AT RAF STATION BINBROOK. THE NOSE ART ON THE AIRCRAFT IS THE AUSTRALIAN COAT OF ARMS. AWM UK0487

More than just paint

RAAF Nose Art in Europe

By Garth O'Connell

Second World War 1939 - 1945

A man with a flamethrower on his back sets fire to the grass as smoke billows ahead.

Assault by Fire

Flame-throwers aroused terror and revulsion, but they came to be used by all sides in warfare.

By Shane Casey

First World War 1914 - 1918

An Australian officer and a group of the 1st Papuan Infantry Battalion

Skin in the Game

Australia’s long defence relationship with Papua New Guinea is based in shared history.

By Tristan Moss

Second World War 1939 - 1945

Collection of our expert's favourite military books

The books that shaped our historians

Historians share the books that first inspired their passion for history.

John’s niece, Rae Maree Curtis, studies a photograph of her uncle.

Dear John: Letters from home

A moving collection of letters written to an Australian prisoner of war

Second World War 1939 - 1945

He belonged to Wagga

Ian Hodges

By Duncan Beard

Sybil Craig, Weighing cordite, Commonwealth explosives factory, Maribyrnong, 1945

Sybil Craig: for the war effort

Sybil's artworks capture the vital role of war industry workers on the home front.

By Michael Grant

Second World War 1939 - 1945

Official Army Public Relations cinematographer David Combe

The Other Side of the Lens

A PR photographer’s perilous patrol on the Saigon River, Vietnam, 1969.

Vietnam War 1962 - 1975

Blair Swannell (centre) with fellow Anzac soldiers in Egypt

Rugby Heroes: Remembering Swannell and Richards

Families unite at the Memorial to honour rugby greats who served at Gallipoli.

First World War 1914 - 1918

Soldiers of 8RAR en route to the task force base

A Nasho's Service

What seemed like destiny became an experience that has lasted a lifetime.

By Simon Kleinig

Vietnam War 1962 - 1975

Group portrait or four National Servicemen recruits and room-mates in front of the new three-storied brick accommodation blocks at Kapooka in which they lived while undergoing basic training.

What is a Nasho or National Serviceman?

Discover the history and role of Australia’s National Servicemen, known as ‘Nashos’.

Vietnam War 1962 - 1975

Deperdussin taxi-type single seat training monoplane with 35hp Anzani Y-type three cylinder engine radial. Its serial number is CFS.5. The fabric has been replaced but most other parts are original.RELAWM12614_2

The Deperdussin "The Dirty Dustbin"

The Deperdussin is the oldest existing Australian aircraft.

By Ashleigh Wadham

Geoffrey Mainwaring, "Australian action at Buna", 1962, oil on canvas, 175 x 313 cm. AWM ART27547

The Japanese Experience

The Allied victory at Buna–Gona was harrowing for the Japanese soldiers

By Haruki Yoshida

Second World War 1939 - 1945

Sergeant Brian Walsh and 2nd Lieutenant Jim Fitzsimon, both of 7RAR, checking an American .30-06 calibre M1917 rifle and a 7.92-mm German Mauser Model 98

From the East and the West

Enemy weapons encountered by the Australian Army in South Vietnam.

By Garth O'Connell

Vietnam War 1962 - 1975

An Australian "Scarlet Pimpernel"

A little-known group of Chinese spies, organised and led by an Australian

By Stuart Braga

Second World War 1939 - 1945

Survivors of the 1st Light Horse regiment’s attack at Pope’s Hill assemble after the battle. There were fewer than 50

A chain of disasters

The battle at Lone Pine was only part of a series of attacks in August 1915

By Peter Burness

First World War 1914 - 1918

Australian soldier crouches on the ground with a Bren light machine gun

Down the Buin Road

Sweat, mud, fatigue, stress, fear and constant patrolling in Bougainville, 1945.

By Dr Karl James

Second World War 1939 - 1945

Australians of the Imperial Camel Corps on parade near Rafa, 1918

Rough, rude & coarse men

Australians in the Imperial Camel Corps.

By Hannah Swaine

First World War 1914 - 1918

The spirit of the bayonet

An outdated weapon still played an important psychological role.

By Dr Aaron Pegram

First World War 1914 - 1918