3 minute read
REFLECTIONS
FROM THE DIRECTOR, MATT ANDERSON PSM
This edition of Wartime focuses on intelligence, with articles on topics ranging from the establishment of Australian naval intelligence before the First World War, to clandestine intelligence operations during the Second World War.
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One of the first objects to grab my attention in our Second World War Gallery is the Enigma Machine. Conceived for commercial purposes, it was quickly adopted as the standard cipher machine for Germany’s military services, intelligence agents, and secret police. It was used at all levels, from high command to front-line tactical units, including on individual aeroplanes, tanks, and ships.
The Enigma Machine is a reminder that every object in our collection is personal. Operators sat perched before our Enigma machine; they might have used it to decipher messages of Australian ship, aircraft or troop movements. Certainly, people were also involved in its capture. The next time you visit, either in person or online, please take the time to visit our collection, spread throughout the galleries, related to intelligence. The nature of that service means much of it, of necessity, went unnoticed, but it is nevertheless vital to our understanding of the Australian experience of war.
As always, please remember to book your free ticket if you are going to visit the Memorial. In October we extended opening hours to coincide with Night Fest at Floriade, which allowed visitors to experience the atmosphere of the Commemorative Area of an evening.
During a recent visit to the United Kingdom, I received into the National Collection the medal group, photo albums and an HMAS Sydney II wardroom silver cigarette box belonging to Sir Robert Gillman Allen Jackson, AC, KCVO, CMG, OBE. They were donated by his generous family. Sir Robert was an Australian naval officer, public servant and United Nations Under-Secretary-General who specialised in technical and logistical assistance to refugees and the developing world.
And on 29 October I opened the latest in our series of Musical Requiems, Prisoners of War. It was a remarkable achievement by Chris Latham, our Musician in Residence, who dealt with a difficult subject with great empathy and in a spirit of reconciliation. His next Requiem will be devoted to Peacekeeping.
From codebreakers to coast watchers, requiems to refugees, this edition is a reminder of the diverse nature of the Australian experience of war, and of the stories told at the Australian War Memorial: in our galleries and touring exhibitions, online and through the hard work of the contributors to Wartime.
Supervising Editor Karl James Editors Duncan Beard, Andrew McDonald Manager Michael Kelly Memorial Editorial Staff Lachlan Grant, Thomas Rogers, Craig Tibbitts, Duncan Brown, Meghan Adams Editorial Contributions The Editor, Wartime Australian War Memorial GPO Box 345, Canberra ACT 2601 E: wartime@awm.gov.au Image sales (02) 6243 4542 General enquiries (02) 6243 4211
Wartime is published for the Australian War Memorial by Hardie Grant Media Level 7, 45 Jones Street, Ultimo, NSW 2007 (02) 9857 3700 Needwww.hardiegrant.com.au Group Managing Director Nick Hardie-Grant Managing Director Clare Brundle Publishing Director Christine Dixon Account Manager Kellie Hammond Managing Editor Mary Weaver Senior Designers Sue Morony, Geraldine Lanzarone Production Coordinator Shahirah Hambali Advertising Manager Kerri Spillane Print Ovato Subscriptions Magshop 136 116 For advertising enquiries please contact Kerri Spillane on kerrispillane@hardiegrant.com or 0419 897 490
WARTIME
ISSUE 101
WARTIME
OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL | ISSUE 101 | SUMMER 2023
SUMMER 2022 |SECRET INTELLIGENCE
SECRET INTELLIGENCE
THE WALLS HAVE EARS
Eavesdropping on German prisoners in England provided crucial intelligence.
SUSPICIOUS MINDS
e heightened interest in Korean War ex-prisoners of war after their return home to Australia.
THE BATTLE FOR CRETE
Early Australian intelligence systems played an important but misunderstood role.
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Cover: Lt. Col WS Howden and men of 2/8 Battalion, Wewak, June 1945. AWM093473
