The Australian War Memorial commemorates the sacrifice of Australians who have suffered and died in war. Essentialy a shrine, a museum and an extensive research centre, it's a place where visitors may reflect on some remarkably poignant events as well as being compelled by some dramatically interactive exhibitions at a national institution that helps Australians remember and understand the consequences of war.
Here, inside the sandstone building with its copper-sheathed dome, selections from vast national collections of relics, personal and public records, art and media are employed to relate the story of a young nation's experience in world wars, regional conflicts and international peacekeeping. The story begins at the time sailing ships first brought European settlers, convicts and military from England in 1789 - and extends to the present.
There are some 20 galleries of exhibits at the War Memorial, including the ANZAC Hall. Exhibitions in ANZAC Hall feature large relics such as the Japanese submarine, the Memorial's Lancaster, G for George, and the guns from the HMAS Sydney and the Emden. The stories of these relics are dramatically portrayed using sound, light, and images in "object-theatre" to tell compelling stories of Australia's servicemen and women.
The complex, its contents, and wide-ranging activities, form the core of the nation's tribute to the sacrifice and achievement of the 102,000 Australian men and women who have died serving their country and to those who served overseas and at home. A central commemorative area surrounded by arched alcoves but open to the sky, houses the names of 102,000 fallen - on the bronze panels of the Roll of Honour. At the head of the Pool of Reflection, beyond the Flame of Remembrance, stands the towering Hall of Memory, with its interior wall and high dome clad in a six-million-piece mosaic. Inside lies the Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier - an official war grave and national shrine.
The Hall of Memory was also completed in 1959, but had ceased to have an obvious purpose except to inspire contemplation. In the early years the proposal was sometimes made that Australia, like other countries, should have a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. In 1993 it was decided to create such a Tomb as part of the Memorial itself, and to place it in the Hall of Memory. In this way two forms of commemoration, of one anonymous individual together with a great mass of named men and women, would be combined. On 11 November 1993, the remains of an Unknown Soldier, killed in France in the First World War, were brought home from France and interred in the tomb in the centre of the Hall of Memory.
Meanwhile, the Research Centre at the AWM is the single most important resource for researching Australia's military history. It is the first point of contact for all public inquiries about Australia's military history and the Memorial's collections, and can stir an array of emotions based on findings.
