Tiger-pie

Here is a shot of the SAS wings being worn by a Sergeant at the recent funeral of Private Josh Porter. Regards; Johnsy

Discs.

My ID discs, the coin is a keepsake from the Great Wall of China, we did a ship visit to Shanghai and our Ship Liason Officer organised flights and accomadation for us Beijing

An assortment of badges and emphera.

Not a patch as such, my tally band from Success.

Not sure on this one Bob, I have seen 'FE' before, which is Flight Engineer in the RAF circa WW2. This is not an Australian badge, as we have a half-wing with an 'E' on it to indicate engineer, regardless of whatever specialisation they have. I would hazard a guess at Armaments Engineer, though it could also be Airframe or Aeronautics. Sorry, no definative answer this time... Regards; Johnsy

They were officially formed on the 25th July 1957, but based on previous special forces units that fought in WW2, in particular the "Z' Force units.They came into their own during the Vietnam conflict, but got "blooded" during the Indonesian Confrontation in Borneo. They have been involved in most of our major operations since then, including East Timor, where I got to look after their weapons for them while they were using HMAS Success as a mobile platform to deploy from. It was a pleasure working with them, very professional, no bullshit about them. As with their British counterparts, they have a military and counter-terrorism role to play. They are every bit as professional as the Brits, and often work together in exchanged personnel programs, though with the operational tempo we have now that has been put on the backburner. Regards; Johnsy

Here is my brassard that I was issued when I was in East Timor on HMAS Success, nicknamed by us "The Steath Tanker" as we got no recognition from the press. As it was it worked in our favour, the SAS used us as a mobile platform to conduct recon missions into West Timor near Suai and beach "sweeps" at Ocussi Enclave.

WW1 Tank contd. The picture on the right is taken through the left vision port.

WW1 Tank contd.

I'm not sure what Mark this tank is, but I sure that someone with more expertise than myself can.

Parachute Jump Instructor. Regards; Johnsy

Your welcome, just imagine how good these pictures would be if I had a decent camera !! I have shamelessly promoted the AWM on many military forums for the benefit of not only my own countrymen who can't get to Canberra to see it, but also those overseas militaria collectors that may never get to visit. There is more to come. Regards; Johnsy

Still more.

More.

The Australian War Memorial has some impressive dioramas that were built in the early days of its existance. I believe they were built in the early 1920's. The main models have figures that are 30cm (12") or larger. They now have an interactive display on their website, The Battle of Lone Pine is the only interactive one at this point. I have included some shots that I took on one of my many visits. http://dev.links.com.au/diorama/index.htm www.awm.gov.au

Oto Breda 20mm cannon captured by the 9th in North Africa. This campaign was probably the only one where captured enemy equipment from uniforms to weapons were utilized on a regular basis by both sides on an immediate basis. For example the Germans found the wool trousers used by the Brits and Commonwealth troops superior to their cotton issue and captured stock was highly prized. The Allies were much impressed with mortars, anti-tank guns and artillery that the Germans were equipped with and often used these against their former owners. Both sides used all manner of captured vehicles.

LT. GEN. Sir Leslie Morshead was the commander of the 9th Division AIF, attached to the Eighth Army in North Africa. The 9th was to play a key role in the first and second battles of El Alamein in late 1942. Due to the rapid nature of advances and retreats it was necessary for a commander to be able to keep up with the action. This truck was converted to a caravan to allow Morshead the flexibility of movement. Transport was exceedingly important to all ranks, and without it an army in the desert is virtually useless. The much maligned Italian army was a victim of this and thus surrendered in droves, had they been better equiped then the campaign would have been much harder on the Allies.

Whoops, you are right. Referred to the wrong notes. Regards; Johnsy

Spitfire 2

Supermarine Spitfire

Bombay and undercarriage.

There is an light and audio every hour giving a quick overview of a bombing mission. I was surprised how moved I was by the display.

G for George. This was a Lancaster that was crewed predominately by Aussies. The hall it is in has low lighting so some of these photo are dark, the fact that it is matt black didn't help.

Yes, that is the SASR mess dress wings. Across the top is the ARA wings, Commando, Commando Subdued, RAN work dress wings, SAS mess dress, SAS subdued, RAN metal badge for dress uniform (commonly know as the "squashed moth"). Regards; Johnsy