Anzac Memorial

07/06/2026

| In the early hours of 8 June 1942, Sydney and Newcastle came under attack.

One week after Japan’s fatal raid on Sydney Harbour, residents of Sydney’s eastern suburbs were jolted awake by a terrifying sound. Overhead, shells screamed through the darkness.

Shortly after midnight, the Japanese submarine ‘𝘐-24’ surfaced off Sydney's coast and fired ten shells toward the sleeping suburbs of Rose Bay, Bellevue Hill, Woollahra and Bondi.

One resident of Bellevue Hill later recalled hearing “a shell whistle by and then a thud” moments before another tore through her home. In Rose Bay, a shell smashed through the walls of Grantham Flats, showering a family with bricks and debris as they slept. In Woollahra, Alice Richards gathered her children beneath the bed as glass rained down around them. Miraculously, few of the shells exploded. The only casualty occurred near Yallambee Flats in Rose Bay, where a woman sleeping in an enclosed verandah was injured by flying glass and masonry.

Two hours later, Newcastle was shelled by the submarine ‘𝘐-21’. In all, 34 shells were fired. AWAS veteran Pat Guest remembered standing on the beach hearing the “thud, thud” of shells landing around the city as she stared out across the dark ocean in helpless understanding. Locating the submarine's unmistakable gun flashes, Fort Scratchley returned fire, sending four rounds into the night. Soon after, the attack fell silent.

Though the physical damage was limited, the psychological impact of the raids was immense. For many Australians, 8 June was the day the war came home. While air raid wardens and emergency services worked through the morning to recover unexploded shells, families fled the cities for rural towns.

Today we remember those killed in the attack on Sydney Harbour, the civilians who endured these raids, and all those who defended Australia during the uncertain winter of 1942.

Lest we forget.

📷: An Air Raid Warden's helmet, NSW, Australia, 1941. Anzac Memorial Collection (2018.20).

06/06/2026

‘The giant explosions ripped the earth, bursting through the darkness with a deep crimson hue which lit the sky for miles around and then slowly faded like a setting sun.’

At 3.10 am on 7 June 1917, 19 giant mines were detonated under German trenches along the Messines-Wytschaete Ridge to the south of Ypres in Belgium. In the largest secret operation of the Great War, British and Commonwealth mining companies (including the 1st Australian Tunnelling Company) had placed more than one million pounds of ammonal beneath and behind enemy lines. In little more than twenty seconds, thousands of German soldiers disappeared.

Watching from his vantage point high on Mount Kemmel 7 kilometres away, the British war correspondent Phillip Gibbs described the scene as ‘the most diabolical splendour I have ever seen.’ And, as the mushroom shaped clouds flung huge clods of earth and debris back to the ground, and dust and smoke shrouded the landscape, the British Second Army, including Australian and New Zealand troops were readied to advance across no man’s land to storm the ridge.

The Battle of Messines was the first large-scale action involving the AIF in Belgium. Here the Australians first encountered the German innovation of concrete blockhouses, which they dubbed ‘pillboxes.’

Messines also marked the entry of the newly formed 3rd Australian Division commanded by Major-General John Monash. The other Australians in the 4th Division under Major-General William Holmes contained a high proportion of Gallipoli veterans and had been fighting on the Western Front for over a year; they had been badly mauled at Bullecourt just six weeks earlier. This time however, the tactics for Messines had been meticulously planned and the troops on the ground were heavily supported by great volumes of artillery fire, armoured vehicles and an air force in the skies above.

The huge explosion, followed by a well-planned and well-coordinated attack - known as the ‘all arms’ offensive model - left the German strategy of static defence vulnerable, and the remaining Germans were dazed and outnumbered; many subsequently surrendered. By the end of the day, one of the strongest positions on the Western Front had fallen with relative ease.

Although another 72 hours of hell endured on the reverse side of the ridge, the Battle of Messines was the greatest British tactical victory in almost three years of war, a war which up to date had been one characterised by deadlock and stalemate. It came with a heavy price however; the 3rd Division alone lost 6,800 men killed or badly wounded, which was almost two thirds of its strength.

Lest we forget.

📷 1. View of the ruins of Messines, in Belgium. The foreground is littered with debris. AWM E01291.
📷 2. Messines, Belgium, 1917. A German Army trench near Messines Ridge which had been destroyed by the advancing British Army. AWM H09212.

05/06/2026

| On 6 June 1944 the world awoke to the dramatic news that Allied forces had sailed across the English Channel and stormed ashore onto the heavily defended beaches of Normandy in northern France.

Code named Operation Neptune, the invasion involved 7,000 Allied warships and transport vessels carrying 130,000 troops, about 70,000 of whom went ashore on that first morning. They were preceded by a vast air armada landing British and American paratroops and glider-borne infantry behind the beaches. From the skies above they were supported by 12,000 fighter aircraft, in what was the largest amphibious operation ever attempted. It was to be a defining moment of the Second World War.

Months of planning, training, reconnaissance, and a campaign of Allied air attacks on German transport networks and fortifications had led to this massive movement of troops. Beyond the initial invasion on 6 June ( D-Day) the planned overall operation (codenamed Operation Overlord) was designed to liberate France and Western Europe from N**i occupation, take the pressure off the Soviet armies in the East, and hopefully shorten the war. According to the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill it was ‘much the greatest thing we have ever attempted.’

Allied forces made a successful lodgement on D-Day and in the following weeks poured tens of thousands of troops ashore and gradually enlarged the beach-head. After ten weeks of bitter fighting in the close ‘bocage’ (hedge-row) country of Normandy, Allied forces at last broke out of the beach-head. The ten-week battle cost over 200,000 Allied casualties, but it had cost the Germans 240,000 killed or wounded and over 200,000 captured, the greatest single defeat ever inflicted on Axis forces in the war. The break-out led to the swift liberation of Paris and the whole of France and most of Belgium by the end of September 1944.

About 3300 Australians participated in the D-Day landings. They included up to 2500 members of the Royal Australian Air Force (many serving with Royal Air Force squadrons), 500 members of the Royal Australian Navy (on attachment to the Royal Navy) and about 13 officers of the Australian Imperial Force (serving with the British Army). Yet these figures consider only those involved in operations on June 6. The total number of Australians involved in the wider Normandy campaign, which lasted until the end of August, was much higher.

Thirteen Australians were killed on D-Day itself, two from the RAN and 11 from the RAAF.

These numbers might appear small yet overall Australian losses in the European theatre were significant. During the war, almost 5500 Australian airmen were killed in the air war over Europe. Losses during the air campaign in north-west Europe that supported Operation Overlord during the summer of 1944 were particularly severe and represent the peak in RAAF casualties for the entire war. According to Commonwealth War Graves records, during the Normandy campaign, 1117 Australians were killed and buried in cemeteries or listed on memorials across western Europe and Britain. Overall, almost as many Australians were killed in combat operations against the Germans and Italians (9372) as against the Japanese (9520).

Australia’s war in Europe was far from a token effort. Normandy was a major campaign for our military forces, and one of the most deadly in terms of lives lost. The number of Australians killed in Europe during the Second World War reminds us that Australia played a vital role in a global struggle – not only to defeat Japanese militarism in our own Pacific region but also to defeat the evils of N**ism and Fascism in occupied Europe. And so today on the 82nd anniversary of D-Day, we will remember them.

Lest we forget.



📷1: Image courtesy of US Naval History and Heritage Command, #26-G-2343.
📷2: Map of the Normandy Landings, Pinterest.com
📷3: The British Memorial above Gold Beach erected to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Photo by Brad Manera.

03/06/2026

New art exhibition at the Anzac Memorial – 𝘓𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦🎨

Marking 85 years since the Allied campaigns in Greece and Crete, 𝘓𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦 showcases powerful works by contemporary Australian and New Zealand artists who retraced the footsteps of those who served.

Featuring art works and short films, the exhibition explores the landscapes, stories and lasting impressions of the campaign.

📅 Open until mid-July 2026
📍 Auditorium, Lower Floor
🎟 Free entry

Full details 👉 anzacmemorial.nsw.gov.au/event/lustre

02/06/2026

Join the Military History Society of New South Wales for their next lecture at the Anzac Memorial this Saturday, 6 June.

Full details below👇

FREE LECTURE - ANZAC MEMORIAL HYDE PARK, SYDNEY
Award winning naval historian Dr Tom Lewis OAM on the combined subjects of his two most recent books about the little known maritime, aerial and anti-submarine war which raged off the coasts of Australia during the Second World War. More details here

https://militaryhistorynsw.com.au/activities/next-lecture/

31/05/2026

On the night of 31 May – 1 June 1942, 3 two-man crew Japanese midget submarines stealthily entered Sydney Harbour with the intention of attacking Allied shipping. The bold and audacious plan however, soon turned into a doomed tragedy. The first submarine became tangled and trapped in an anti-submarine boom net and the helpless crew determined on 𝘫𝘪𝘣𝘢𝘬𝘶 (self-destruction). At 10.35 pm Lieutenant Kenshi Chuma set off a powerful demolition charge which split apart the front end of the submarine. The explosion was heard all over the adjacent Sydney suburbs causing hundreds of panicked people to come out onto the streets. Both sailors died instantly.

The second submarine, commanded by Sub Lieutenant Katsuhisa Ban fired its two torpedoes at the heavy cruiser USS 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘨𝘰, from a position off Bradley’s Head, at about 12.29am. Both missed and instead hit Garden Island, the second without exploding, but the first detonated against the sea wall beneath HMAS 𝘒𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘭. The converted ferry had been taken over by the Royal Australian Navy as an accommodation ship. The explosion lifted the 𝘒𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘭out of the water and it quickly sank. Tragically, twenty-one sailors on board – 19 Australian and 2 British were killed. Ten more were wounded. That submarine then slipped out of the harbour and disappeared for 64 years. Its wreck was eventually discovered on the ocean floor off Newport on Sydney’s northern beaches in 2006.

The third submarine, piloted by Lieutenant Keiu Matsuo was damaged whilst entering the harbour and found it was unable to fire its torpedoes. It was eventually tracked down and depth charged in Taylors Bay; to avoid capture, and rather than surrender, the Japanese crew suicided.

In the days that followed the two submarines were recovered from the harbour and the bodies of the 4 Japanese submariners were placed in the Sydney morgue. On the 9 June 1942, they were given a funeral with full military honours, their bodies cremated and their ashes sent back to Japan.

The civil and military authorities sold off small pieces of the submarines as souvenirs to aid the war effort. Souvenir models and postcards of the salvaged subs were also made - like this one in the Anzac Memorial’s collection.

Nineteen-year-old Neville Rice from North Sydney was one of the men sleeping aboard the 𝘒𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘭 on that fateful night. The explosion threw him into the cold black waters of the harbour. Rice was wounded but was to be one of the lucky ones; after he was rescued, he was wrapped in this blanket which is currently on display in our permanent gallery.



📷1: The wreck of the Australian Navy depot ship HMAS 𝘒𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘭. AWM 106651.
📷2: A souvenir postcard of the midget submarine skippered by Lieutenant Keiu Matsuo raised from the floor of Taylors Bay in Sydney Harbour. Anzac Memorial Collection.
📷3: Anzac Memorial Collection.

29/05/2026

| On 30 May 1941, during the final, desperate withdrawal from Crete, HMAS 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘩 steamed for Alexandria carrying 1,188 souls — nearly half of them soldiers evacuated from the beaches at Sphakia.

But the battle was not over.

As 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘩 cleared the coast, German bombers descended once more. A direct hit tore into the ship’s boiler room, ripping through crowded mess decks and passageways. Two cooks, two sailors, and nine of the recently embarked soldiers were killed in an instant. For those men, refuge would never come.

Recently acquired and conserved by the Anzac Memorial, this watercolour by Chief Petty Officer Ray Parkin, RAN, evokes the terror and peril of the Mediterranean with striking immediacy. Ironically titled 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘋𝘰𝘻𝘦𝘯, the work depicts HMAS 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘩 and HMS 𝘈𝘫𝘢𝘹 under unremitting N**i aerial bombardment in May 1941. For Parkin, who had served aboard 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘩 since 1939, the painting was not merely artistic expression, but lived experience.

Tragically, 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘩 was lost during the Battle of Sunda Strait in March 1942. Parkin ultimately survived the sinking, but was among those subsequently captured by the Japanese. He endured more than three years as a prisoner of war on the Burma–Thailand Railway and in Japan, and was repatriated in 1945. After the war, Parkin emerged as one of Australia’s most important sailor-artists and memoirists, using both paint and prose to record the endurance, suffering, and comradeship of those who served.

Parkin's 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘋𝘰𝘻𝘦𝘯 is currently on display in 𝘓𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦, now showing at the Anzac Memorial until mid-July.

Full details 👉 www.anzacmemorial.nsw.gov.au/event/lustre

29/05/2026

This morning, we marked the 20th anniversary of the Indigenous Veterans Commemoration Service.

Students lined the Pool of Reflection and joined online for the ceremony which acknowledges the service of Indigenous veterans since the Boer War, as well as those who proudly serve in all branches of the Australian Defence Force today.

The ceremony was hosted by Master of Ceremonies SQNLDR Coen Henry, with an Acknowledgement of Country delivered by Kaleb Ellison from St Andrews College, Marayong. Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC, Governor of New South Wales, read The Coloured Digger poem, followed by a commemorative address from Lieutenant Commander Damian Briggs. The Ode was recited by Uncle Harry Allie.

The service also recognised Uncle Harry, who is retiring as Chair of the Coordinating Committee. Since the commemoration began in 2007, he has served as Chair and has been instrumental in shaping and sustaining this important service.

Lest we forget.

29/05/2026

LIVE | Watch the 20th annual Indigenous Veterans Commemoration Service live from the Anzac Memorial.

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

28/05/2026

Tomorrow is the 20th anniversary of the Indigenous Veterans Commemoration Service.

Hear from Uncle Harry Allie, Chair of the Coordinating Committee, on the importance of recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander servicemen and servicewomen.

Tune in to the live stream tomorrow from 10:40am 👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkC-Nkey-es

Full details 👉 www.anzacmemorial.nsw.gov.au/event/2026-indigenous-veterans-commemoration-service