“Sorry, we are about to close for the day.”
While visiting the Containbow art installation in Fremantle, I stumbled upon the Army Museum of Western Australia. It was about to close and so I was determined to visit them again this Sunday.
The Army Museum of Western Australia was established in 1977. I saw a lot of amazing stuff that are used in the military. There are many battle tanks displayed outside the museum building and they look quite cramped inside for the crew.
There are also paintings, maps, comics from the World War era, weapons, medals, and other interesting things. There are seven galleries, including the World War I and World War II exhibits.
These are some recruitment posters by the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), displayed at the museums.
I also saw a miniature matchbox replica of the Pensioner Barrack that was located in St Georges Terrace, Perth. Now only the Arch remains.
The barracks were built from 1863 to 1866. It was used to house the Enrolled Pensioner Force who were English military personnel.
The barracks were demolished to make way for the new Mitchell Freeway. However through public opinion polls in 1966, the Barracks Arch was retained from demolition. It still stands in front of the Parliament House.
There are a lot of exhibits showing trench war, prisoners of war, artillery, personal objects of soldiers, equipment used by the medical staff and a souvenir shop at the museum.
I would like to thank all the volunteers of the museum who helped me to learn new and interesting things. Special thanks to Pam Mikus who gave me a very detailed information about the Victoria Cross medals and Bob Wise about his oversees experience.
My younger sister and I really enjoyed the treasure hunt in the museum and we really appreciate some ‘hints’ provided by the gallery attendants on that day! Army Museum of Western Australia is really worth a visit to learn our history.