Calendar of Events

Australia had its own Thermopylae. We’ve just forgotten it. 15 April 2026 - April 2027 In 480 BC, one of history’s most famous battles was fought in central Greece at the narrow coastal pass of Thermopylae. For three days, a few thousand Greeks—led by 300 Spartan warriors and their king, Leonidas I—held back a vast […]

Steve McCarthy recounts the extraordinary story of a real-life ‘Sharpe’, Lieutenant Colonel Jack Hill of the Royal Welch Fusiliers. In the churchyard in Hennock, Devon, a plain box tomb bears the inscription: ‘Lieutenant Colonel John Humphrey Edward Hill, CB, Royal Welch Fusiliers’. Inside the church, a plaque briefly outlines the remarkable career of a soldier […]

Celebrating 35 years of recording Polish Culture and Achievements for future generations, through documents, photographs, artifacts and multimedia. In conjunction with the Polish Community Council of Australia, the President and Committee of the Polish Museum and Archives in Australia Inc. cordially invite you to celebrate the 35th Anniversary of the Polish Museum and Archives in […]

Join us for our author talks series in the AWM theatre, bringing together some of Australia’s leading voices to talk about their new books.     When: Wednesday, 21 October Where: Theatre, Australian War Memorial Time: 12.30 pm (doors open 12.10 pm) In January 1917, a young Bathurst boy, Edward Lynch, found himself in the freezing battlefield […]

Join Jerry Palmer as he explores the personal stories of nurses who served on all sides and various fronts during the First World War. During the First World War, women were mobilised into the work force in unprecedented numbers and across all kinds of professions. It prompted anxieties in some quarters about how war work […]

In April 1941, Australian and New Zealand troops fought a series of desperate delaying actions during the Allied withdrawal through Greece. At Thermopylae and nearby Brallos Pass, they defended ground already indelibly associated with one of the most famous last stands of the ancient world. But what happens to a battle after the fighting ends? […]

Australia's WWII contribution is overshadowed by the Anzac legend, but wartime economic mobilisation transformed the nation. Joan Beaumont delivers the 2026 Robert O'Neill Lecture. AWM, Second World War, 1939-1945 The dominance of the Anzac legend in Australia’s political culture has tended to relegate World War II to a secondary place in national memory. So, too, […]

Professor Michael Snape explores the role of religion in the modern British Army, from the Korean War to Afghanistan. Drawing from his latest book, Canon Professor Michael Snape explores the history of religion in the Army since the Second World War. He considers the changing role of faith during the Cold War, the end of […]

As the saying goes, “An army marches on its stomach.” Yet the essential contributions of those who cook, research, and serve food to hundreds of hungry troops often go unrecognised. Taste of Combat honours the vital work of the Catering Corps and unveils the fascinating science and innovation behind military meals. Step into the world […]

It was Australia’s longest war, but how much do we know about what the Australian Defence Force did in Afghanistan? In this lecture, one of the authors of the Official History of Australian Operations in Afghanistan, will explain the different aspects of Australia’s contribution to the war, examining in turn the rationale for Australia’s involvement […]

When museum curator Colin Reid is handed a bullet-pierced diary for a Great War exhibition, it sets him on a decades-long quest to discover the fate of its owner, Corporal Claude Nuttall MM. This remarkable true story recounts that journey: from the heartland of England to the battlefields of France, and on to Nuttall’s homeland […]

When museum curator Colin Reid is handed a bullet-pierced diary for a Great War exhibition, it sets him on a decades-long quest to discover the fate of its owner, Corporal Claude Nuttall MM. This remarkable true story recounts that journey: from the heartland of England to the battlefields of France, and on to Nuttall’s homeland […]