Australia 2018
Are you travelling? Do you have some artillery/military pictures and a story (or two) that may be of interest to other gunners? Email the story to me and we'll put it on line!

Here's my story - In December 2017 we were informed that our new house was delayed until February 2018. What to do? Stay in a rental house for an additional two months? or run off to a hot, exotic locale? We chose option 2! As in most holidays, I seem to find a lot of artillery or army items to explore. Check out the following pictures and I'll fill you in on the story when I return to cold, wet North America!
Travelling by car from Sydney to Melbourne, we came across a few memorial sites with L5s mounted as a memorial to those that had fallen. The L5 was used by the Australians during part of the Vietnam conflict and for years afterwards.
Off to the side of the road we came across this Canadian Military Pattern (CMP) Radio van manufactured by General Motors of Canada in Oshawa, ON. The freight charges to retrieve it from Australia makes it somewhat prohibitive of an investment. The last photo is that of a "Maple Leaf" truck. I believe these were also manufactured in Canada for the export market.
Our Bendigo schedule included a stop at the local Returned and Services League (RSL) club Museum but it was undergoing considerable renovations. It was then discovered that the Puckapanyal museum was closed for the day. Fortunately, we found the Vietnam Veterans Commemorative Walk in Seymour. Maybe I can get my Rotary Club to sponsor a Leopard Park in Langley?
Our wanderings through Western Australia brought us to the Princess Royal Fortress in Albany. The site is operated by the City as a tourist attraction with two guns and a Battery Observation tower. The Mark VII 6-inch BL guns are still in position and the elevation and traversing mechanisms are still intact on one, which allows visitors to experience the actual operation of the gun. The museum also has a considerable collection of artifacts and other equipment. Of interest are their fiberglass molds used to manufacture replica 6"barrels and 6" projectiles. Hmmmm.
The harbour below the fort was used to gather the ANZAC fleet prior to its convoy to the First World War making it the last part of Australia to be seen by the thousands of Diggers that never returned. To commemorate this event, a large, first rate ANZAC museum was constructed.
On our return to Perth we booked into the Fremantle Gaol Hostel and set off to check out the Quokkas on Rottnest Island. Cute enough little guys but the real story is the Coastal Artillery that was established on the island during World War II. One 9.2 inch gun remains as well as a youth hostel set up in the old artillery barracks.
The Army Museum Bandiana in Wodonga was an impressive find. Hidden away on an Army base, the museum had a security regime imposed on it that limited visitors but the collection was quite extensive. I did discover that the stickshift in our Field Artillery Tractor may have been installed facing the opposite direction. I also found quite the quantity of L5s.
It is near impossible to do the the Australian War Memorial justice with the  few pictures that I have. After spending three hours there (and this was my second visit) it felt as if I had barely scratched the surface. There was a 9.2 inch howitzer which was the same model that the 5th Canadian Siege Battery was equipped with. In addition there was a well restored 18 pounder similar to that fired by the 31st Battery Canadian Field Artillery at Vimy Ridge and the 4.5" howitzers that the 85th Battery had been equipped with on the formation of the 15th Brigade, Canadian Field Artillery in 1920. The Australian War Memorial in Canberra should be on everyone's bucket list!
That was a lot of military touring packed into 5 weeks that involved travelling from Sydney to Melbourne to Bendigo to Perth to Albany to Adelaide to Wodonga to Canberra and finally back to Sydney. It's a good thing my travelling partner doesn't mind coming along. In return I made sure we had time for the Love Is... Australian Wedding Fashion exhibit at the Powerhouse Museum.