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In a warehouse the size of a football field and the height of hangar stand the objects the Australian War Memorial says show why it needs its controversial extension. On the outside, the building in Mitchell could be just another warehouse on an anonymous industrial estate. But inside is a disarmed arsenal of the weapons which Australia has deployed since (and including) the very first wooden plane the RAAF deployed a century ago. They stand alongside some of the weaponry deployed against Australian forces, from torpedoes to Japanese war planes. The Australian War Memorial has gone through a contested planning process to get final approval for its $500 million proposal to expand. Opponents argue that the large amount of public money could be far better spent. They say the expansion involves the destruction of valued structures like the Anzac Hall which won architectural awards and is barely two decades old. Some critics argue that the war memorial over-glorifies war by emphasising the technology while it under-emphasises the death and destruction. Earlier in the month, the federal environment minister, Sussan Ley, approved the plan. “In making this decision, I acknowledge the diverse range of community and stakeholder submissions made during the consultation period and the public interest in the project,” she said. The people who run the memorial say that they have so much material that a significant part of Australia’s history remains hidden from public view. “The memorial tells very well the stories of the First World War and the Second World War,” Major General Brian Dawson, the AWM’s Assistant Director National Collection, said. “But we have limited space to tell the very extensive story of what the Australian Defence Force has done since the end of the Cold War – multiple peace-keeping missions and then major operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and then back to Iraq and Syria.” The memorial’s head of military heraldry and technology, Nick Fletcher, said there were about 700,000 objects in the memorial’s collection, but only about 20,000 objects were on display at the memorial itself at any one time. The people who run the museum side of the AWM argue that a full display would allow people of all ages to see some of the larger objects. These visitors, they say, would include former soldiers who may have used the equipment. There is a troop-carrying Chinook helicopter in the warehouse, for example. It flew in the Middle East wars and in Afghanistan where it was damaged by enemy fire in 2009. One of the aircraft – the F-111C – is the only remaining aircraft of its kind to have taken part in reconnaissance missions over East Timor in 1999. “It is a significant part of the story of Australia’s military history,” Nick Fletcher said. There is also an RAAF Douglas Dakota which was used to transport the body of Prime Minister John Curtin from Canberra to Perth for his funeral. While the bulk of the Treloar Technology Centre where the warehouse is sited is devoted to the storage of large heavy objects, particularly aircraft, the unseen collection also includes smaller items such as art, uniforms, flags and military equipment. This collection spans centuries, and includes artillery guns from the mid-1870s.
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The hidden machinery of battle at the Australian War Memorial
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On the outside, this AWM building in Mitchell could be just another warehouse on an anonymous industrial estate.
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2020-12-29T02:30:00+11:00
https://players.brightcove.net/3879528182001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6218165487001
https://players.brightcove.net/3879528182001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6218165487001
Behind the scenes at the Australian War Memorial
In a warehouse the size of a football field and the height of hangar stand the objects the Australian War Memorial says show why it needs its controversial extension.
On the outside, the building in Mitchell could be just another warehouse on an anonymous industrial estate.
But inside is a disarmed arsenal of the weapons which Australia has deployed since (and including) the very first wooden plane the RAAF deployed a century ago.
They stand alongside some of the weaponry deployed against Australian forces, from torpedoes to Japanese war planes.
The Australian War Memorial has gone through a contested planning process to get final approval for its $500 million proposal to expand.
Opponents argue that the large amount of public money could be far better spent. They say the expansion involves the destruction of valued structures like the Anzac Hall which won architectural awards and is barely two decades old.
Some critics argue that the war memorial over-glorifies war by emphasising the technology while it under-emphasises the death and destruction.
Australian War Memorial assistant director Major General Brian Dawson. Picture: Steve Evans
Earlier in the month, the federal environment minister, Sussan Ley, approved the plan. “In making this decision, I acknowledge the diverse range of community and stakeholder submissions made during the consultation period and the public interest in the project,” she said.
The people who run the memorial say that they have so much material that a significant part of Australia’s history remains hidden from public view.
“The memorial tells very well the stories of the First World War and the Second World War,” Major General Brian Dawson, the AWM’s Assistant Director National Collection, said.
“But we have limited space to tell the very extensive story of what the Australian Defence Force has done since the end of the Cold War – multiple peace-keeping missions and then major operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and then back to Iraq and Syria.”
The memorial’s head of military heraldry and technology, Nick Fletcher, said there were about 700,000 objects in the memorial’s collection, but only about 20,000 objects were on display at the memorial itself at any one time.
The people who run the museum side of the AWM argue that a full display would allow people of all ages to see some of the larger objects. These visitors, they say, would include former soldiers who may have used the equipment.
There is a troop-carrying Chinook helicopter in the warehouse, for example. It flew in the Middle East wars and in Afghanistan where it was damaged by enemy fire in 2009.
One of the aircraft – the F-111C – is the only remaining aircraft of its kind to have taken part in reconnaissance missions over East Timor in 1999.
“It is a significant part of the story of Australia’s military history,” Nick Fletcher said.
There is also an RAAF Douglas Dakota which was used to transport the body of Prime Minister John Curtin from Canberra to Perth for his funeral.
While the bulk of the Treloar Technology Centre where the warehouse is sited is devoted to the storage of large heavy objects, particularly aircraft, the unseen collection also includes smaller items such as art, uniforms, flags and military equipment. This collection spans centuries, and includes artillery guns from the mid-1870s.
