The personal stories of remarkable Australians who served in the Defence Forces in multiple conflicts are being told in a new exhibition at the Australian War Memorial.
Director of the Memorial, Brendan Nelson said that while many had served their country during wartime, fewer had followed the call of duty in more than one conflict.
“This exhibition, A Lifetime of Service for Australia, tells the stories of those who served their country, and then chose to redeploy in subsequent conflicts or theatres of operation throughout the last century,” Dr Nelson said.
“William Cope, for example, was already a military veteran of two conflicts, the Sudan and the Boer War, when he was rejected for active service during the First World War.
“Instead, Cope made his contribution to the war through voluntary organisations such as the French Red Cross, the Australian Voluntary Hospital, and the Australian Comforts Fund.”
He said the stories told in A lifetime of Service for Australia demonstrated how much the world had changed, and illustrated more modern experiences in the Australian Defence Forces, where multiple deployments were becoming the new normal.
“In doing so, they also show how experiences more than 100 years ago continue to resonate today,” Dr Nelson said.
The exhibition, located in the Mezzanine Gallery in the Memorial’s Anzac Hall, will be on display until April 2019.
