Explore New Content at Anzac Square Memorial Galleries

Have you visited Anzac Square Memorial Galleries lately?  

If it has been a while since your last visit, now is the perfect time for a trip to Anzac Square Memorial Galleries. A range of new and exciting digital content has been added to the interactive screens in the World War I Crypt, World War II Memorial Gallery and Post World War II Gallery. This latest update of content includes digital stories of Queensland service personnel, personal stories of WWII veterans, new 3D scanned mementos, updated battalion stories, quizzes and additional photos all drawn from State Library’s extensive military collections.  

WWI Memorial Crypt  

In the WWI Memorial Crypt, the Battalion Stories screen has been updated to include information on the Submarines Association Australia plaque, laid at Anzac Square in 2019. This new content allows visitors to dive into the ill-fated histories of the AEI and AEII, Australia’s only WWI submarines. A favourite among staff has been the addition of underwater photographs of the wreck of the AEI, which was only discovered in 2017 during a search off the Duke of York Islands, near the New Britain capital Rabaul.  

WWII Memorial Gallery  

In the WWII Gallery our Battalion Stories screen has been updated to include content on 2/15th Infantry Battalion, 26th Infantry Battalion (Logan and Albert Regiment) and Submariners Association. All the memorial plaques in the WWI and WWII Gallery now have digital content, including a history of the unit and supporting imagery.  

Several new images have been added to the Middle East screen, including photos of German POWs, downed aircraft, pyramids, the first Libya campaign and Australian soldiers posing between the Egypt and Palestine border. The majority of these images have come from the Patrick McHugh collection, a Queensland soldier who served with the 2/13th Australian Infantry Battalion in the Middle East, Morotai and New Guinea. They provide a fantastic insight into the experiences of Australian soldiers stationed in the Middle East during WWII.

Located beside the Middle East screen is the Mementos screen, which allows visitors to get a close-up look at collection items. Several new 3D scanned objects have been added to this screen, which remains by far the most popular screen at Anzac Square. Visitors can now interact with a WWII chess set, a trench art souvenir ashtray, a liquid hosiery packet and more. 

At Anzac Square we are committed to sharing the personal stories of our First Nations service personnel. We now have two new Indigenous stories of service in the WWII gallery. On the “Women at War” screen we have added Mavis Ford, an Indigenous serviceperson who enlisted in the Australian Women’s Land Army in October 1942 and spent three years serving her country as a ‘Land Girl’ across regional Queensland. The final story picked for this update was Richard Thomas Ball, who was mobilised for service on 27 November 1940 and served in the navy as an able seaman on several ships across the duration of WWII. After demobilising he rejoined the Navy in 1950 to serve during the Korean War.

Post WWII Memorial Gallery  

In our Post World War II Gallery, ten new digital stories of Queensland service personnel have been added, giving further insights into the differing experiences of those who have served our nation. These include:  

• Romi Gynergyak, a UN Peacekeeper who enlisted in the Australian Federal Police in 1982 and served in numerous overseas operations, such as South Sudan and Afghanistan.  

• Joe Cazey, who served 12 months in Vietnam as an engineer and ‘tunnel rat’ clearing the extensive Vietcong underground tunnel system.  

• Jon Fallows, who served with the RAAF and spent 319 days in South Vietnam.  

• Norm Hunter, a national serviceman who was deployed to Papua New Guinea to educate local authorities in anticipation of national independence.  

• Peter Hegarty, who was born in Cherbourg and served in the Army for six years, nine months of which he spent with the Royal Australian Engineers in Vietnam. 

We also now have three new quizzes for those wishing to test their military knowledge. These quizzes explore WWI, the Vietnam War and the history of Remembrance Day. Can you get a perfect score?  

If you’ve never visited us, now is the perfect time to come in and enjoy all the amazing stories we have on offer. If you are a regular visitor, come back and explore our new content. The Galleries are open 10am-4pm Sunday to Friday, excluding public holidays. You can plan your journey here: https://www.anzacsquare.qld.gov.au/visit