WWI – CONTACT magazine

Second Lieutenant Duncan McKenzie has been identified a century after World War I.

Unknown no more: two WWI soldiers identified

29/04/202603/05/2026 Posted by Mike Hughes 723 Views 0 Comments Battle of Fromelles, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Passchendaele, Third Battle of Ypres, WWI

More than a century after they were killed in action in World War I, the remains of two missing Australian

Gunner Daniel Mazzaferri, of Australia’s Federation Guard, at Lone Pine Cemetery on the Gallipoli Peninsula, Türkiye. Story by Flying Officer Freya Hansen. Photos by Corporal Andrew Shaw.

ADF People History Lest We Forget

Gallipoli’s living legacy

24/04/2026 Posted by Mike Hughes 310 Views 0 Comments ANZAC Day, WWI

Australia’s Federation Guard has made its annual trip to the battlefields on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Türkiye. CAPTION: Gunner Daniel

Able Seaman Rachel Brandt lays poppies for her great-great uncle at the Bapaume Communal Cemetery in Bapaume, France. Story by Captain Annie Richardson. Photos by Sergeant Jarrod McAneney.

ADF People History Lest We Forget

Sailor’s personal connection to the Western Front

24/04/2026 Posted by Mike Hughes 267 Views 0 Comments ANZAC Day, WWI

On March 25, 1917, in Bapaume, France, Lance Corporal Jules Schuller of the 20th Infantry Battalion was sheltering in a

Lieutenant Clinton Shiell in his full-time role as a pilot of Qantas A380 aircraft. Photos by Major Jesse Robilliard.

ADF People Australian Army

Army career veered off on a different flight path

25/03/2026 Posted by Mike Hughes 270 Views 0 Comments 11th Engineer Regiment, Army Reserve, WWI, WWII

When Lieutenant Colonel Clinton Shiell joined the Royal Australian Artillery, flying a Qantas A380 wasn’t on his radar. CAPTION: Lieutenant

Signaller Ashlee Chivers with a photo of her great-grandfather’s cousin, Sergeant Henry 'Harry' James Chivers, at the Australian War Memorial. Story and photos by Warrant Officer Class 2 Max Bree.

ADF People History Lest We Forget

Last Post reading a personal one for signaller

29/08/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 3289 Views 0 Comments AWM, Last Post, WWI

Blaring bugle sounds and reading stories of Australia’s fallen is nothing new for Signaller Ashlee Chivers. CAPTION: Signaller Ashlee Chivers with

RAAF musician Corporal Robert Scott plays the bagpipes during the Anzac Day dawn service in Villers-Bretonneux, France. Story by Flight Sergeant Vicki Shelley. Photo by Corporal Robert Whitmore.

ADF People History Lest We Forget

Pack your bagpipes, tour the world

21/03/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 1896 Views 0 Comments Air Force Band, Villers-Bretonneux, WWI

In 2015 Corporal Rob Scott was studying at the Conservatoire de Versailles, only a few hundred metres as the crow

The new ADF bible, supplied by the Bible Society Australia, at the launch ceremony at Russell Offices in Canberra. Story and photos by Corporal Michael Rogers.

Australian Army News Royal Australian Air Force Royal Australian Navy

A new source of light for the ADF

19/03/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 2649 Views 0 Comments Chaplains, WWI

Two large shells exploded near Lance Corporal Phillip Davies while he was digging in telephone cables at Messines Ridge during

Trooper Nigel Cox has a proud association with former Mt Alford State School leadership team Guy, Tilly and Klancie. Story by Captain Cody Tsaousis. Photo by Mt Alford State School

ADF People Australian Army History Lest We Forget

WWI memorial links ‘Trooper Nigel’ with school

18/02/202503/03/2025 Posted by Mike Hughes 1882 Views 0 Comments WWI

Trooper Nigel Cox has developed a strong and continuous bond with Mt Alford State School over the past six years,

Private William Higgs’ newly installed headstone at Commonwealth War Graves Commission's (CWGC) Crucifix Corner Cemetery, Villers-Bretonneux, France. Story. by Aaron Pegram. Photo courtesy of CWGC.

ADF People History Lest We Forget

Search goes on for the lost but not forgotten

12/11/2024 Posted by Mike Hughes 1797 Views 0 Comments Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Unrecovered War Casualties – Army (UWC-A), Villers-Bretonneux, WWI

On Remembrance Day, as Australians reflect on the sacrifice of those who have served, the Manager of Unrecovered War Casualties

Photos of Lieutenant McWilliam, foreground right, and Captain McWilliam, foreground left; his diary, back left, and his midshipman’s journal, back right. Story and photo by Lieutenant Commander John Thompson.

ADF People History Lest We Forget Royal Australian Navy

Extraordinary tale behind extraordinary documents

18/09/2024 Posted by Mike Hughes 1879 Views 0 Comments AWM, WWI

The story of coincidence, persistence and happenstance – a set of historic documents uncovered at the Australian High Commission in

Second Lieutenant Cecil Healy is the only Australian Olympian to have died in combat.

ADF People History Lest We Forget

Remembering Aussie Olympic Gold medalist killed in action

24/07/202430/07/2024 Posted by Mike Hughes 2267 Views 0 Comments France, WWI

Olympians Kaarle McCulloch and Michelle Ford have honoured the memory of Cecil Healy, the only Australian Olympic gold medallist to die

Leading Seaman Peta Binns' great-great uncle, 2nd Lieutenant George Oakley Newton, is circled in a photo of his cadet class. Story by Leading Seaman Peta Binns. Photo supplied by Australian War Memorial (P00864.001).

ADF People History Lest We Forget

Feeling the weight of a military legacy – Anzac Day

03/05/2024 Posted by Mike Hughes 1780 Views 0 Comments ANZAC Day, Gallipoli, WWI

A pilgrimage to Anzac Cove prompted Leading Seaman Peta Binns to reflect on the sacrifice and valour etched into her

Singer-guitarist Bill Waterhouse performs at the Majors Creek Anzac Day service. Story and photos by Corporal Luke Bellman.

ADF People History Lest We Forget

Honouring shared history among the magpies – Anzac Day

02/05/2024 Posted by Mike Hughes 1535 Views 0 Comments ANZAC Day, Vietnam War, WWI

The warble of magpies and chuckling of kookaburras filled the country air at Majors Creek as residents marched behind Australian

Leading Aircraftwoman Hunter Westbrook, of Australia’s Federation Guard, visits the resting place of her distant cousin, Private Victor Westbrook, at the Bailleul Communal Cemetery in Northern France. Story by Flight Lieutenant Lily Lancaster. Photos by Sergeant Oliver Carter.

ADF People History Lest We Forget

Cousins ‘unite’ in France a century later – Anzac Day

23/04/2024 Posted by Mike Hughes 1837 Views 0 Comments ANZAC Day, Australia’s Federation Guard, AWM, Villers-Bretonneux, WWI

As told by Leading Aircraftwoman Hunter Westbrook, of Australia’s Federation Guard, to Flight Lieutenant Lily Lancaster. CAPTION: Leading Aircraftwoman Hunter Westbrook,

Australia's Federation Guard members, Corporal Michael Byrne, left, Able Seaman Christopher Innis and Corporal Julie Kling with photos of their relatives at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra. Story by Captain Karam Louli. Photos by Leading Seaman Susan Mossop.

ADF People History Lest We Forget

Honouring past relatives on French soil – Anzac Day

23/04/2024 Posted by Mike Hughes 1932 Views 0 Comments ANZAC Day, Australia’s Federation Guard, Villers-Bretonneux, WWI

Almost 106 years after guns fell silent in the battle of Villers-Bretonneux, one of the descendants of a soldier killed

Navy sailor Able Seaman Rachel Brandt at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Story and photos by Corporal Luke Bellman.

ADF People History Lest We Forget

Family history motivates Defence service – Anzac Day

23/04/2024 Posted by Mike Hughes 1411 Views 0 Comments ANZAC Day, AWM, WWI

A booby trap detonated and collapsed the Bapaume town hall in France on March 25, 1917, killing Lance Corporal Jules

The bronze statue honouring Sister Greta Towner's service in Blackall’s Memorial Park, Queensland. Story by Captain Cath Batch. Photos by Major Edward Dahlheimer.

ADF People Health and Wellbeing History Lest We Forget

Nursing service wrought in bronze

17/11/2023 Posted by Mike Hughes 1920 Views 0 Comments Service Nurses, WWI

Once just a name on the Blackall State School honour roll in Queensland, Sister Greta Towner (1891-1961), who served as

Wreaths adorn the foot of the Loxton Avro Anson Crash Memorial in Loxton, South Australia. Photos by Sergeant Nicci Freeman.

ADF People History Lest We Forget Veterans

Lost airmen remembered 80 years on

10/10/202310/10/2023 Posted by Mike Hughes 2024 Views 0 Comments RAAF Edinburgh, WWI, WWII

RAAF Edinburgh aviators joined the Air Force Association (South Australia) in commemorating the 80th anniversary of a crash that resulted

The Australian Imperial Force Mouquet Farm Memorial near the village of Pozières, France. Story and photos by Corporal Jacob Joseph.

ADF People Europe History Lest We Forget

Mates first, then and now

30/08/2023 Posted by Mike Hughes 2362 Views 0 Comments 31st/42nd Battalion Royal Queensland Regiment, France, Pozières, WWI

Private Wayne Drage’s voice wavered as he spoke about the day his great-great uncle was wounded during the battle of

The Brothers in Arms memorial to Privates James and John Hunter near Ypres, Belgium. Story and photos by Corporal Jacob Joseph.

ADF People Europe History Lest We Forget

Soldiers retrace diggers’ footsteps

30/08/2023 Posted by Mike Hughes 2952 Views 1 Comment 6th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment, Battle of Polygon Wood, Belgium, WWI, Ypres

On the night he died in 1977, Jim Hunter called for his older brother Jack. CAPTION: The Brothers in Arms memorial

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