Collected: Stories from the Australian War Memorial

Collected: Stories from the Australian War Memorial explores the artefacts that make up the museum of the Australian War Memorial and uncovers the stories that the public don’t always get to hear.

Collected Episode 32: Boy Soldiers 10/01/2021

Collected Episode 32: Boy Soldiers 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. /episode/index/show/australianwarmemorial/id/20667656

Collected Episode 31: Women in the Airforce 08/12/2021

Collected Episode 31: Women in the Airforce 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. /episode/index/show/australianwarmemorial/id/20114981

Collected Episode 30: Nazi V2 Rocket 06/20/2021

Collected Episode 30: Nazi V2 Rocket 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. /episode/index/show/australianwarmemorial/id/19542887

Collected Episode 29: Sweetheart Jewellery 05/11/2021

Collected Episode 29: Sweetheart Jewellery 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. /episode/index/show/australianwarmemorial/id/19055945

Collected Episode 28: The Lone Pine 04/06/2021

Collected Episode 28: The Lone Pine 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. /episode/index/show/australianwarmemorial/id/18618032

Collected Episode 27: From Monoplanes to Fighter Jets 03/15/2021

Collected Episode 27: From Monoplanes to Fighter Jets 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. /episode/index/show/australianwarmemorial/id/18320975

Collected Episode 26: HMAS Brisbane’s Bridge 02/18/2021

Collected Episode 26: HMAS Brisbane’s Bridge 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. /episode/index/show/australianwarmemorial/id/17993258

Collected Episode 25: The tail gunner 01/12/2021

Collected Episode 25: The tail gunner 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. /episode/index/show/australianwarmemorial/id/17524232

Collected - 024 Acknowledging Indigenous Service 12/17/2020

Collected - 024 Acknowledging Indigenous Service 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. /episode/index/show/australianwarmemorial/id/17239634

Collected-023 A tale of two dresses 11/16/2020

Collected-023 A tale of two dresses 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. /episode/index/show/australianwarmemorial/id/16835081

Collected-022 Places of Pride 10/14/2020

Collected-022 Places of Pride Nearly every town across Australia has its own war memorial. They range from small monuments – perhaps a stained glass window in a church – to community halls and swimming pools. Places of Pride, the National Register of War Memorials, is an Australian War Memorial initiative to record the location and photo of every publicly accessible war memorial in Australia. In Episode 22 of Collected Louise Maher finds out how the project works and meets a volunteer who has contributed over 400 memorials to the s /episode/index/show/australianwarmemorial/id/16394720

Collected-021Peacekeeping 09/14/2020

Collected-021Peacekeeping Australia has a proud record of peacekeeping around the world, from the Middle East to Asia, Africa to the Pacific. These operations have often involved ensuring the wellbeing of children. In Episode 21 of Collected, Louise Maher discovers the peacekeeping stories behind toy guns collected in Somalia, an artwork about the conflict in Bougainville and a song about a cow recorded on cassette. /episode/index/show/australianwarmemorial/id/15995981

Collected-020 VP Day 08/03/2020

Collected-020 VP Day When the war in the Pacific ended on August 15, 1945, Australians went wild with joy. That day – VP (Victory in the Pacific) Day – was celebrated across the country with street parties and parades. But the day was also marked with sorrow for the tens of thousands of Australians killed or injured. To commemorate the 75th anniversary of VP Day, Louise Maher explores the story of a young woman’s simple knitted vest that symbolised the relief of the nation and hope for the future. /episode/index/show/australianwarmemorial/id/15469595

Collected-019 Women and War Pt 2 07/08/2020

Collected-019 Women and War Pt 2 Opportunities were limited for women who wanted to serve in World War One. But many women found a way to use their social position, skills, ingenuity or pure pluck to contribute to the war effort. In Episode 19 of Collected, Louise Maher shares the stories of three remarkable women, including the teenager who disguised herself as a young man to stow away on a troopship. /episode/index/show/australianwarmemorial/id/15125810

Collected-018 Shinyo 06/14/2020

Collected-018 Shinyo Towards the end of World War Two, Japan built and mobilised thousands of killer boats to defend its homeland and occupied territories from possible Allied invasion. In Episode 18 of Collected, Louise Maher discovers how one of these Shinyo suicide launches was captured by Australian troops in Borneo and used for joyrides after the war before finding a permanent home at the War Memorial. /episode/index/show/australianwarmemorial/id/14819810

Collected-017 Recorded letters 05/13/2020

Collected-017 Recorded letters Just months before he sailed for Gallipoli a young Australian soldier on leave in Egypt recorded a letter to send home. This unique artefact is the oldest known recording of an ordinary solider at war. In Episode 17 of Collected, Louise Maher hears the story of the Lanser disc and other recorded letters and messages which enabled families on the home front to hear the voices of their loved ones serving overseas. /episode/index/show/australianwarmemorial/id/14398352

Collected-016 Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier 04/14/2020

Collected-016 Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier In 1993, the remains of a WWI Australian soldier were brought home from the battlefields of France and laid to rest in the Hall of Memory at the Australian War Memorial. In Episode 16 of Collected, Louise Maher discovers the history of the Unknown Soldier, meets the tomb’s caretaker and hears the story of the pigeon determined to share this sacred space by building a nest of poppies. /episode/index/show/australianwarmemorial/id/13980251

Collected-015 G for George 03/13/2020

Collected-015 G for George During the Second World War, 10,000 Australians served in British-based Bomber Command. More than one in three were killed during air raids over Europe, in training, or in accidents. In Episode 15 of Collected, Louise Maher explores the remarkable history of the Memorial’s Lancaster Avro ‘G for George’ and the stories of the men who flew in these heavy four-engined bombers. /episode/index/show/australianwarmemorial/id/13532363

Collected-014 Military Working Dogs 02/17/2020

Collected-014 Military Working Dogs Dogs have always accompanied Australians to war, as mascots, messengers, scouts, guards - and comforting companions in tough times. These days, dogs in the Australian Defence Force are highly trained and serve in specific and vital roles. In Episode 14 of Collected, Louise Maher learns about the long and varied history of military working dogs and visits a new memorial that honours their courage, skill and devotion. /episode/index/show/australianwarmemorial/id/13178240

Collected -013 Against all odds 01/16/2020

Collected -013 Against all odds During the Second World War, the oceans of the world became even more perilous – for civilians and merchant seamen as well as naval forces. In Episode 13 of Collected, Louise Maher explores the stories behind four maritime disasters and the people who survived against the odds. /episode/index/show/australianwarmemorial/id/12759710

Collected. Episode 12. Christmas during wartime 12/13/2019

Collected. Episode 12. Christmas during wartime Christmas is a meant to be a time of joy and celebration. So how have Australian servicemen and women – and their families at home – coped during times of war? In Episode 12 of Colllected, Louise Maher discovers some heart-warming Christmas stories told through some of the Memorial’s more unusual items. /episode/index/show/australianwarmemorial/id/12387131

collected-011 Women and War 11/22/2019

collected-011 Women and War Women have always played a vital role on the home front, supporting the war effort in a variety of ways from factory work to fund-raising. But women have also contributed though military service and by bearing witness. In Episode 11 of Collected, Louise Maher shares the war experiences of four very different women: Alice Chisholm, Olive Sherington, Nora Heysen and Sophia Le Faucheur. /episode/index/show/australianwarmemorial/id/12133391

Collected - 010 Damien Parer and the Oscar 10/16/2019

Collected - 010 Damien Parer and the Oscar The first Oscar awarded to an Australian film shines a spotlight on the work of ace war cinematographer Damien Parer. In Episode 10 of Collected, Louise Maher learns about the mystery behind the Academy Award in the Memorial’s collection and the impact of Parer’s 1942 film Kokoda front line! /episode/index/show/australianwarmemorial/id/11660570

Collected - 009 Anzac biscuits and secret cookbooks 09/11/2019

Collected - 009 Anzac biscuits and secret cookbooks It’s 100 years since the first recipe for what we know as Anzac biscuits was published in a cookbook. In Episode 9 of Collected, Louise Maher explores the history of these sweet treats, and discovers how prisoners of war shared recipes for dozens of different dishes as a secret survival strategy. /episode/index/show/australianwarmemorial/id/11205428

Collected - 008 Jim's POW loin cloth 08/16/2019

Collected - 008 Jim's POW loin cloth Jim Easton and Lou Engledow were young men thrown together in the Second World War as prisoners of the Japanese on the Burma-Thailand Railway. In Episode 8 of Collected, Louise Maher is shown a scrap of red fabric, snatched by Jim and saved by Lou, that bears witness to their friendship and survival. /episode/index/show/australianwarmemorial/id/10894803

Collected - 007 D-Day and the Australian Connection 07/17/2019

Collected - 007 D-Day and the Australian Connection It’s 75 years since the D-Day landings in Normandy, France – the Allied invasion which led to the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi Germany. In Episode 7 of Collected, Louise Maher talks to Senior Curator Shane Casey about the small but important role Australians played in the campaign and shares first-hand accounts from some of the servicemen who risk their lives to be there. /episode/index/show/australianwarmemorial/id/10551725

Collected - 006 Framing Memory - Rare World War One Portraits 06/14/2019

Collected - 006 Framing Memory - Rare World War One Portraits Reverse-painted glass framed photographs are a rare and fragile part of the Memorial’s collection. /episode/index/show/australianwarmemorial/id/10148083

Collected - 005 Music and the First World War 05/21/2019

Collected - 005 Music and the First World War Music has the ability to express feelings and ideas in simple, relatable ways; it has the capacity to bring people together and galvanise the spirit. So it should come as no surprise to discover that music of all kinds played an important role in the First World War. /episode/index/show/australianwarmemorial/id/9860531

Collected - 004 Australia's military tattoos 04/18/2019

Collected - 004 Australia's military tattoos This episode reveals the history and meaning of tattoos in the Australian Defence Force. In conversation with curator Stephanie Boyle, Canberra tattoo artist Peter Bone and through oral histories, Louise Maher shares the ways servicemen and women, their loved ones and veterans have inked their skin in commemoration, pride - or just to pass the time. /episode/index/show/australianwarmemorial/id/9439124

Collected - 003 The Bushmaster 03/19/2019

Collected - 003 The Bushmaster Episode three examines the innovative design and overseas deployment of the Australian-made Bushmaster Infantry Mobility Vehicle. In conversation with Memorial curator Nick Fletcher, and through the oral histories of Australian service personnel, Maher explains how this much-loved vehicle transports combat troops over rugged terrain and and saves lives in war zones. /episode/index/show/australianwarmemorial/id/9058322

Collected: Stories from the Australian War Memorial

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