Army Museum Fremantle Open Day 2024

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The Army Museum in Burt Street, Fremantle was constructed in the early 1900s to house artillerymen manning the gun emplacements on the piers at the end of Fremantle harbour. Although the buildings are a considerable distance from the gun emplacements, they make logistical sense in that the site is close to the Old Fremantle Traffic Bridge, allowing the artillerymen to reach both sides of the harbour from this point. The only alternative arrangement would have been to build two barracks and given that Fremantle is very far from just about every other place on Earth, building two barracks to defend against attacks that would never come, would have been somewhat insane.

The grand old buildings now house the Army Museum of Western Australia. Every year they hold an open day with free entry. At other times the museum is open at limited times during the week. It's best to check the museum's website as hours and open days are limited. https://armymuseumwa.com.au/

We had long wanted to visit the museum (it is only five minutes drive from our house), so this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Several military vehicle collectors in our car club were also attending. This is our friend John's 1944 KdF Kubelwagen. This car had been used in the movie "The Eagle Has Landed."

Volvo military jeep

Light Horse Great War re-enactors put on an excellent display. This reminded me of the filming of "Before Dawn" in Esperance a few years ago. Several of the attendees also participated. The film is now available on Netflix. https://militarymuseum.blogspot.com/2024/03/before-dawn-2024-australian-first-world.html

Great War field tent

Red Cross post

Get on your bike!

Or on your horse

WW2 field gun

One of the 100 tracked carriers (known colloquially as 'Bren Carriers') built at the Midland Railway Workshops (we visited the workshop museum only the day before: https://heinkelscooter.blogspot.com/2024/10/old-midland-workshops-and-powerhouse.html )

Jeep with recoilless rifle (aka bazooka)

Chevrolet Blitz truck

M3 Grant tank

M2 Stuart light tank

These were mainstay tanks for the Australian army during the Second World War

Armoured personnel carrier

M113A Medium Reconnaissance Vehicle

Leopard Tank (you could probably pick up a few of these for scrap in Ukraine right now)

Saracen armoured car

Greyhound armoured car

Ferret armoured car

I can remember when these were 'a dime a dozen' on the second hand car market. You could pick up a disarmed Ferret for as little as $500 Australian dollars. When we were kids, my dad teased my brother and I about buying one. We were keen, but he was only joking.

Willys Jeep the ubiquitous American military vehicle

Centurion Tank.

The galleries - lots of hats

Hat box for a pith or ceremonial helmet

Colonial uniforms and equipment from the 1880s.

The age of Redcoats

Ceremonial dress and the uniform of a local militia officer 1890s

West Australian army uniform 1890s (before Federation)

Uniforms around the turn of the century. Red is replaced with a less conspicuous deep blue.

Commemorative plate with the Allied national flags during the Great War (1914-18).

German Great War helmets

Great War flying uniform

Turkish uniform from the Great War

Australian Light Horse

Japanese bombing attacks on Australia. Note that Darwin was bombed 82 times!

Motorized one man canoe. These were used by special services to infiltrate harbours and lay mines. They were used in Singapore.

Afterwards we had a wander through the George Street Precinct of Fremantle. Very nice area.

The Army Museum in Fremantle is actually quite excellent with an interesting collection of artifacts and well put together displays. I expected we would spend an hour or so there but it took us at least two and half to three hours to visit. It does suffer from not being open very often however so do check the website for opening hours. https://armymuseumwa.com.au/ This all reminds me that I still have to finish my posts about the National War Memorial and Museum in Canberra https://militarymuseum.blogspot.com/2023/10/national-war-memorial-canberra.html and the Albany War Museum. So little time....

National War Memorial, Canberra

416,000 Australians enlisted to serve in the Great War (1914-18). Some 62,000 died and more than 150,000 returned wounded. In a country of only 5 million, there was no town in the country that wasn't touched by these losses and by the 1920s monuments to commemorate the sacrifices sprang up everywhere. Thanks to the lobbying of journalist and official war historial, Charles Bean, the federal government began considering a national monument in the 1920s, however, plans would be delayed by the Great Depression.

With private funds and donations a competition was held to design the memorial. Architect John Crust's design, although controversial, was selected. Construction did not commence until the mid-1930s and was not completed until 1941.

The focal point of the memorial is the Shrine of Remembranc.

Modelled on a Byzantine cathedral with a reflecting pool, eternal flame and flanking arcades.

The dome is decorated with mosaics.

On each of the four supporting pillars are mosaics of heroic representations of the Australian armed forces. This one represents the army.

The women's forces are represented.

The navy. The styling reminds me of Soviet realist artwork of the 30s and 40s.

The names of the dead are listed by unit along the walls of the arcades. In 1951, during the Korean War, the memorial's mandate was expanded to commemorate all Australian war dead in all wars.

The Museum Collection

Beneath the memorial is the museum collections. The entry hall contains a display of Second World War aircraft. The showpiece of the display is the Lancaster Bomber M is for Mother, but the Lancaster is currently undergoing restoration.

Hawker Sea Fury. These aircraft were used by the Royal Australian Navy as a carrier fighter from 1945 through the Korean War (1950-53).

Later model Supermarine Spitfire and a Mig-15

Japanese Mitsubishi Zero

Avro Anson cockpit.

Victoria Cross Collection

The medal room includes a commemoration of all Australian VC recipients, explaining what they did to earn their awards. 

For some, the VC was their own award, but others recieved numerous, conspicuous commendations.

I think this set belonged to Harry Murray, Australia's most decorated soldier.

"Mad Harry" Murray enlisted in the Australian Imperial Forces in 1914, he served at Gallipoli and later in the Western Front right through to the end of the war. He served in the Russian capmpaign against the Communists and returned to Australia in 1920. He enlisted again at the outbreak of the Second World War and served in the home guard until retiring in 1944.

More photos to come so check back soon - work in progress.