Memorial Articles
The Memorial boasts a staff of subject specialists in all aspects of military history and museum practice.
Our articles and our Encyclopedia allow subject specialists to share their knowledge on Australian military history.
They also provide a way for us to take a closer look at the people and the stories behind the history and our museum collection.
It was just before Christmas, during the bitterly cold winter of 1916, when Australian Gunner Thomas Charters Forbes etched his name into the walls of a chalky limestone cave in northern France. More than a century later, his name is one of the thousands discovered etched into the walls of the subterranean city of Naours, a vast underground system of caves and tunnels beneath the plateau of Picardy.
It’s Spring 1915 and a lone soldier stands on guard outside a prisoners’ tent, armed with his rifle. The moment was captured more than 100 years ago in a deceptively simple, but elegant, pastel and gouache drawing by the Australian artist Iso Rae. Rae was one of only two Australian women artists who were able to depict the First World War from such close quarters.