Military Museums in Australia

[Keith Webb]

What Military Museums are there in Australia? Or even farm and other museums which contain MVs?
There must be quite a few and I'd like to compile a listing so I can make a page or 5 with a map reference.

While travelling North recently I was surprised to find places like the Uralla Military Museum
which I had no idea existed... there are of course lots of well known museums here, like our good friends in Adelaide, the Melbourne Tank Museum, Pukapunyal, Bandiana to name just a few, but there must be many other small ventures dotted around the place like Uralla too...

What do you Aussies think?
Can you submit a few...with pictures?

[Wayne Henderson]

Hi Keith, I can send you a few photos of some of the West Australian Army/Military museums I have visited this side of the paddock.

Western Australian Army Museum in Fremantle.
This museum showcase such exhibits as an original Z force sleeping Beauty, Tanks, Accos, Staghound, Carriers, Artillery, Medals, uniforms and documentation.

BullCreek Aviation Museum.
Lancaster, Spitfires, Wirraway, Junkers, Camberra, Vampire, DC3 etc.

Merredin Army Museum.
Grant, Valintine, Stuart, CMP trucks, Ferrets, Dingos, Artillery and more.

Nungarrin Army Museum.
Grant tanks, StagHound, Halftrak, CMP's, Trucks, tons of Dingoes, Bren gun Carriers, militaria etc

Kalgoorlie Museum.
Trucks, jeeps, Staghound, ferret, tanks, etc.

There have also been a number of "Private Museums" that had very impressive collections that were auctioned off and no longer exist.

Also there are collections at Alice Springs and Darwin but maybe you can get details for someone a little closer...

[Richard Farrant]

Originally posted by Keith Webb
What Military Museums are there in Australia? Or even farm and other museums which contain MVs?
There must be quite a few and I'd like to compile a listing so I can make a page or 5 with a map reference.

Keith,
There is one near Cowra, NSW, about 4 klicks out of town. It has a bit of everything, but quite a good military display with a feature on the Japanese POW camp which was nearby. From memory on the last visit, there were Blitz, Dodge, Stude, Centurion, Ferret, etc.

Another that you did not mention, is of course the national truck museum at Alice Springs, NT, there are mv's restored and on display and a good number of potential projects laying in the yard, inc. a Bedford QL. This is the home of the Diamond T road train built by Kurt Johansen, which has now been restored.

Richard

[Keith Webb]

Yes, please, Wayne!
If you could please make them as large as possible... and if you also have some info on the museums, that would be great too.

[Richard Farrant]

Originally posted by Wayne Henderson
Also there are collections at Alice Springs and Darwin but maybe you can get details for someone a little closer...

Wayne,
You reminded me of Darwin, its at the East Point artillery museum. we went there at the end of Back to the Track in 95. There were rows of rusty old wrecks, a good few carriers and blitzs amongst them. May have changed since then of course.
I do have some photos somewhere, Keith, will have to send them to you.

Richard

[Keith Webb]

Thanks to the magic of the internet, Richard Farrant has sent me some pictures he took in 1995 at this museum.
East Point Military Museum page on the Old CMP Site



and



The official site for the Museum is here

[Tony Smith]

Dubbo, NSW has the "Big M" museum which has a great collection including a flamethrower Matilda, staghound, a MG carrier, a 2pdr carrier and 12 cab C8

[Keith Webb]

Thanks, Tony
I visited and photographed this museum many years ago and I'll dig out some pictures too .
This is their website

[Bob Moseley (RIP)]

Hi Keefy

Well there's ours

www.military-vehicle-museum.org.au/

You have Bernie Dingles and the Liberator Museum on your site.

Lincoln Nitschke's Museum - I just pasted the below info.

TravelDownunder.com.au - Australia's largest travel directory
Click to explore a region
Australia > South Australia > Barossa > Lincoln Nitschke's Military And Historical Aircraft Collection

The museum proudly displays the following items, over 1400 1/72 scale model aircraft, early piston and jet engines, including the famous Rolls Royce Merlin which powered the legendary Spitfire, historic World War II Avro Anson and Airspeed Oxford, Percival EP9 fuselage, one of five surviving in the world. There is an early De Haviland Vampire jet which has a fuselage built of wood, British built Canberra bomber which was used in the AUD7,000,000 dollar movie, 'Ground Zero'. DH Devon used by the Royal New Zealand Air Force as an advanced trainer for its pilots and navigators together with a mobile radar tracking unit and other aviation memorabilia, replica P51 Mustang Fighter. You will also see a cockpit/nose section De Haviland Mosquito MK4, cockpit/nose section of Fairey Battle, full length Fuselage of De-Haviland Mosquito FB 40 under construction and a cockpit section of C.A.C. Boomerang Fighter, cockpit section of C.A.C. Wirraway Trainer, cockpit section of C.A.C. Wackett Trainer. Construction is almost completed of a gift shop. Items for sale will include art and craft, and local cottage industry produce, souvenirs, ceramics and antiques.

Address:
Kapunda Road
Greenock, South Australia, 5360

Then there's www.classicjets.com

Then there's the Aviation Museum in Port Adelaide.

Thats just for starters off the top of my head.

Bob

[Mike Kelly]

Keith ,

Ian and Mary Ledwidge have a military vehicle museum near Echuca , it doubles as a holiday cottage / winery business .

The museum was formerly at Pakenham on the highway just out of town .

He has a good collection , including my ex Fordson WOT2 and a Morris CS8 . Studebaker Weasel , a cab 12 CMP ambulance mock up .

Mike

[Tony Smith]

Of course, there's also the BRILLIANT Small Arm's Factory museum here in little 'ol Lithgow! It is the largest collection of museum piece collectable firearms in the southern hemisphere (nice qualifier, that. It puts us in the same league as Bolivia, Tonga and Namibia!) and has many many rare specimens of firearms from all around the world including a specimen of every firearm manufactured at lithgow, from single shot .22 rifles thru to Mk XXI Tank Vickers guns and much in between. Did you know that the F88 rifle (Steyr AUG) used by the Aust army was also produced in .22LR as a trainer? What use would an Aussie LP2 Carrier be without a Lithgow built Vickers or Bren?

[macca004]

G-day Keith,
There is a museum at Bandiana logistics area in Wodonga that has a lot of interetsing vehicles and equipment I was in there about 4 months ago droolling whilst on a SGT course it is worth a look.

Phil.

[Keith Webb]

Originally posted by macca004
G-day Keith,
There is a museum at Bandiana logistics area in Wodonga that has a lot of interetsing vehicles and equipment I was in there about 4 months ago droolling whilst on a SGT course it is worth a look.

Phil.

Thanks, Phil
This is the Bandiana Museum

[Richard Farrant]

Originally posted by Keith Webb
What Military Museums are there in Australia? Or even farm and other museums which contain MVs?
There must be quite a few and I'd like to compile a listing so I can make a page or 5 with a map reference.

Keith,
As no one has mentioned them, what about the museum at the Lancers barracks in Parramatta. There were on my last visit, a Staghound, Ferrets, Daimler Dingo, Covenanter Bridgelayer and Matilda there.

And also the Royal Australian Artillery National Museum at North Head, Sydney. No vehicles, from memory, just artillery.

Richard

[Tony Smith]

The School of Military Engineering at Moorebank, Sydney has a collection of engineering related vehicles in their museum. Being an active base, the museum is only open certain days.

[RAEMETIFFYSGT]

This is only my second day as a member, and I am just doing a 'recce' throughout the site.

Some that I know of at the top of my head are as fol:

- North Fort RAA Museum, Sydney, NSW
- Fort Scratchley, Newcastle, NSW
- Infantry Museum, Singleton, NSW
- RAAC Museum, Puckapunyal, Vic
- SME (RAE) Museum, Steel Barracks, Moorebank (Sydney), NSW
- RAAOC and RAEME Museum, Bandiana, Vic (Albury/Wadonga)
- Naval air museum, Nowra, NSW
- Cowra Military Museum and PoW Camp, NSW
- Dubbo Military Museum, NSW
- RAAF Museum Williamtown, NSW; and finally
The Australian War Memorial, and AWM's Mitchell Annex, Canberra, ACT

These should be listed on the web, and best to do a search by the names listed above. There is more, but I have been to every one of these, some being govt, and others being private. Some of the private are disappointing (dubbo). The Cowra one too, is private, and under poor cover, and mainly exposed to the elements, but its informative, and fouther out of the town is the site of the former Cowra PoW Camp, and Japanese gardens. Also cemeteries both CWGC and Japanese. This is well worth the drive from Sydney. Plus you get fair dinkum country Aussie hospitality too!

Hope this helps ya out.

Cheers,

Wes

[Keith Webb]

...and welcome to the forum too.
If you like aircraft, you might also enjoy the Temora Aviation Museum with it's flying collection of 8 aircraft types from Tiger Moth to Canberra, the Moorabbin Air Museum, the RAAF Museum at Point Cook, the B-24 restoration at Werribee amongst others.

[Philliphastings]

There used to be a small aircraft and armoured vehicle museum at Camden NSW which had some very interesting gear but I'm talking many years ago...

Also there was the Armadillo militaria museum on the northern beaches of Sydney. A small museum under an old guys house it was packed to the roof and beyond with goodies.

Cheers

Phill

[Keith Webb]

Here's the address of the RAAC Museum at Puckapunyal which, despite the miserably small images is an otherwise good site.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally posted by Tony Smith
Dubbo, NSW has the "Big M" museum which has a great collection including a flamethrower Matilda, staghound, a MG carrier, a 2pdr carrier and 12 cab C8

This museum is now "releasing and exchanging units" - see ad on MilWeb:

Releasing and exchanging units

Including Matilda Frog,Staghound,Carrier,Tank/attack Carrier,BSA B40 ex Aust army 3000 miles,uniforms. Jeep,Munga,Champ,DiamondT trucks etc. Dubbo Military Museum,NSW Australia
612 68845550

Dubbo Military Museum <dubbo_tourist_park@bigpond.com>