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Collected Episode 32: Boy Soldiers

Collected: Stories from the Australian War Memorial

The Australian Army has always had rules about who is allowed to fight for their country. But during the First World War those rules were sidestepped by thousands of underage boys desperate to enlist. In Episode 32 of Collected, Louise Maher hears the stories of the boy soldiers who went looking for adventure, many never to return, and the project to ensure their memory is kept alive.

Collected Episode 31: Women in the Airforce

Collected: Stories from the Australian War Memorial

Women now comprise more than 25 per cent of service personnel in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and there are no restrictions on what they’re allowed to do. But it wasn’t always like this. In Episode 31 of Collected, Louise Maher is shown the clothes and hears the stories of some of the female pioneers, including members of the Women’s Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) that was formed in World War 2.

Collected Episode 30: Nazi V2 Rocket

Collected: Stories from the Australian War Memorial

The V2 rocket developed by the Germans in World War Two was the world’s first strategic ballistic missile and a forerunner of the rocket that took humans to the moon.

Collected Episode 29: Sweetheart Jewellery

Collected: Stories from the Australian War Memorial

Jewellery given and received in war is a symbol of love, pride and support. It comes in many forms, from expensive, commercially manufactured pieces in precious metals to hand-made objects crafted from whatever material was available.

Collected Episode 28: The Lone Pine

Collected: Stories from the Australian War Memorial

In Episode 28 of Collected, Louise Maher visits the tree in the Memorial’s grounds, the Lone Pine diorama which dramatically recreates the battle which took its name, as well as the nursery where the seedlings are tended and a school which has proudly planted one.

Collected Episode 27: From Monoplanes to Fighter Jets

Collected: Stories from the Australian War Memorial

The history of military aviation is told in the stories of the Memorial’s oldest and newest aircraft. Built 70 years apart, these two planes demonstrate the huge and rapid shifts in design and technology in the 20th century. In Episode 27 of Collected, Louise Maher visits the Treloar Technology Centre to see a 1910 monoplane that was purchased for Australia’s first military flying school and an FA-18 Classic Hornet recently retired from service with the RAAF.

Collected Episode 26: HMAS Brisbane’s Bridge

Collected: Stories from the Australian War Memorial

HMAS Brisbane was one of the first three major Australian war ships designed and built in the United States and the last steam powered ship in the Royal Australian Navy. After the destroyer was retired from service in 2003, its command and control centre, the bridge, was placed on display at the Memorial. Join Louise Maher on a tour of the bridge to learn about HMAS Brisbane’s role in the Vietnam and Gulf Wars.

Collected Episode 25: The tail gunner

Collected: Stories from the Australian War Memorial

The Australian tail gunners who served in World War Two had a particularly dangerous job. They spent hours in cramped, freezing conditions, perched in Perspex turrets at the rear of bomber planes, vulnerable to enemy fire and often exposed to the elements.

Collected - 024 Acknowledging Indigenous Service

Collected: Stories from the Australian War Memorial

In 1945, a young Indigenous Australian solider recently released from a German prisoner-of-war camp sat to have his portrait painted by war artist, Stella Bowen. It was nearly 70 years before his identity was discovered. In Episode 24 of Collected, Louise Maher explores the work of the ‘ghost-hunters’ behind the Memorial’s Indigenous Defence List which acknowledges and honours the service of Indigenous Australian defence personnel.

Collected-023 A tale of two dresses

Collected: Stories from the Australian War Memorial

How do you preserve fragile items of clothing that tell remarkable stories about two young women whose lives were transformed by World War Two? Henryka’s cotton frock was made from Nazi curtains to give her something to wear when she finally walked free from a concentration camp. Maud’s satin wedding gown was packed away for three years while she waited to be reunited with her American fiancé.

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