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Second Lieutenant Nakanishi formerly Commandant of the Notogawa prisoner of war (POW) camp surrenders his sword (and command) to Lt Goddard who was captured at Singapore on 15 February 1942

The Spirit of the Samurai

At surrender ceremonies in 1945, Japanese leaders were made to do the unthinkable.

By Haruki Yoshida

Second World War 1939 - 1945
The Lone Pine diorama at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.

Courage at Lone Pine

The Lone Pine diorama depicts the attack on 6 August 1915.

First World War 1914 - 1918
The cemetery near Hell Spit on the southern horn of ANZAC Cove. The grave on the left is that of Captain Bage.

A quiet hero

Already a hero of the Antarctic, a gifted man’s life was wasted at Gallipoli

By Peter Burness

First World War 1914 - 1918
Horace Moore-Jones, NZ & A Headquarters, North Beach below the Sphinx, Gallipoli,

Gallipoli in art

Paintings by Horace Moore-Jones and Sidney Nolan

First World War 1914 - 1918
An RAAF convoy, transporting the V2 rocket through Sydney, September 1957.

Rocket Science for Australians

The Memorial’s V2 rocket and Meillerwagen trailer have many stories to tell

By Duncan Beard

Second World War 1939 - 1945
Australians cleaning off mud, France, December 1916

Somme Sort of Life

Mud and mortality on the Western Front.

By Stephanie Boyle

First World War 1914 - 1918
Meteor jets No.77 Squadron

Lessons of the Korean War

The Korean war redefined Australia's armed force development and contribution

By John Blaxland

Korean War 1950 - 1953
Side profile portrait of Adolf Hitler.

Hitler as military leader

By his own account a genius, was Hitler chiefly responsible for Nazi Germany's military defeat?

By Sir Richard J. Evans

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 2001 - 2021
Horses in France: Nord Pas de Calais

Animals in war

Australians have had a long history of fighting alongside animals.

By Meleah Hampton

Private Victor Nelson of 2/3 Pioneer Battalion at Tarakan, Borneo, 1945

Service as Citizenship

After the First World War, Indigenous soldiers struggled to gain rights and recognition.

By Rachel Caines

First World War 1914 - 1918
General Douglas MacArthur and Prime Minister John Curtin, 1943

The Final Campaigns

Australian forces were more engaged in 1945 than in any other year of the Second World War.

By Dr Karl James

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

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
British troops along the beach at Cape Helles

The Evacuation of Helles

After the Australian escape from Anzac Cove on Gallipoli would similar deceptions work again?

By Peter Hart

First World War 1914 - 1918
Private Henry Horneman - Korea

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
Portrait of Agnes Betty Jeffrey

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