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Friday 20 January 2012 - Sunday 3 June 2012
Japan achieved a series of victories in Malaya, Singapore, Rabaul, Java, Ambon and Timor in the six month period following its declaration of war in December 1941. Thousands of Australian men and women died serving in these territories and many more became prisoners of war. 70 years have passed since these momentous events shocked Australia out of complacency and brought the war to our doorstep. The Shrine remembers these anniversaries in an exhibition which commemorates Australia’s darkest days - from Japan’s entry into the Second World War until the battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942, when Japan suffered its first setback and the tide of the war in the Pacific began to turn.
Ex POW Walter Hicks speech from the launch of the exhibition
Friday 24 February 2012 - Sunday 16 September 2012
This exhibition will tell the stories of Cass' service over two wars, the Boer War (1899-1902) and the First World War (1914-18) at Gallipoli, Krythia and later in Fromelles. These events were interwoven with the personal stories of Cass and his wife, Helena, a Canadian war nurse, who married after the Battle of Fromelles in 1916. The outstanding collection of Cass' personal photographs, letters and diaries, uniforms and medals provide the content for this exhibition.