Lest We Forget : Australian War Memorial
We are a family that has been relatively untouched by the scars of war. To the extent that we don’t have close relatives that died in battle. We do have a couple of relatives that went to war and one who has been awarded a civilian medal for civilian service during a war. However, without having anyone personal to “remember”, it’s easy to allow thoughts of war and remembrance to become a lower priority in our lives.
So when we were planning a trip to Canberra with our children, a visit to the Australian War Memorial was high on our list of priorities. We saw it as an opportunity to give them some sort of understanding as to what has happened in the past and how important remembering is, to honour the lives of those who were lost and to ensure we work hard not to let anything so terrible happen again.
As it turned out, the War Memorial was running special tours designed particularly for children at the time we were in Canberra.
I was SO impressed with the way the War Memorial was run. I believe most of the staff are actually volunteers. The attention to detail they gave and the overall service and information was second to none. The kids were fussed over and treated very well and what they learnt through the entire experience was fabulous.
We were able to take them into the Discovery Zone where they were really able to get hands on and do things like sit in the cockpit of a helicopter, search for mines, get inside a submarine and see what trench foot looks like.
By far, the most significant part of the whole experience though was a visit to the tomb of the unknown soldier. I was stunned by how this group of children, some of them quite young, were very solemn and quiet during the minutes silence we had. It was a very special and poignant moment.
If you’ve never been to the Australian War Memorial, I can highly recommend it as a place suitable for all ages. I’m so thankful to all the wonderful volunteers who work hard to keep the place running smoothly and making it a worthwhile experience for all.
you know what… it’s funny but given all my years in one uniform or another, I’ve never actually been! I’ve even been there in Canbarra, and still haven’t been - not out of any particular design to not see it, but more that a life in uniform has you living a little of it at times, and you don’t always get a good opportunity to reflect on that in any really useful way whilst you’re wearing it. I’d love to go now - and take my family - make it an experience that wrapped around my families experiences in the wars since WWII. I hadn’t really considered this though, until you mentioned this. Cheers for giving me a new perspective L…
Hi Belongum,
It would be interesting to see the memorial through someone like your eyes. We all see things differently, coloured by our own experiences and knowledge. It’s one of those places where you’re not sure you should really enjoy yourself and yet becomes quite a poignant and growing experiences. To be honest, I’ve always been an ostrich when it comes to war and remembering war. I’d rather forget (or not think about it). Remembrance Day took on a whole new meaning for our 10 year old. You can see that he’s learnt so much through his experiences at the War Memorial which helped to make the “theory” they’ve been talking about at school make so much more sense (and become more real).
Funny how that tends to happen eh Lightening… sad that we have to learn such lessons - but it does no-one any good to forget lessons learned in lifes passing - even the bad ones. People are incredibly cruel to each other, and WWI was an amazing example of such cruelty and gross stupidity. The lesson’s learned in that war changed the face of ‘warfare’ as they then knew it… I don’t know if this is necessarily a good thing or bad thing - but it’s a poignant point - depending on how you look at this thing called ‘war’ I guess… hmmm - food for thought. Cheers
I think the War Memorial is fascinating. My kids, however, seem to have an allergy to museums, so they hate it. I can spend hours looking around. The best part of the memorial in my opinion is the room with all the VC’s and the stories behind them.