Calendar of Events

Military hygiene is an essential component of any war effort. In the severe tropical climate of the Second World War’s Pacific theatre, disease disabled and killed more Australian troops than the enemy did. Dr Cecil Evelyn Aufrere Cook (1897-1985) CBE, MD, DTMH, DPH, RACGP, ACMA joined the Commonwealth’s Military Reserve as an honorary captain in […]

In March 1946, the war was over. The Italian prisoners of war who had been captured several years earlier in northern Africa were interned in camps around Australia and were waiting to be returned home. One Saturday evening, the commandant of the Rowville internment camp, Captain Waterston, shot and killed a prisoner, Rodolfo Bartoli, who […]

In partnership with the National Archives of Australia and the Genealogical Society of Victoria, the RHSV presents a seminar on defence service records. Service photo of Private Albert Edward Kemp, who served in France + Belgium in World War 1 and was killed in action in 1917. Courtesy of Museums Victoria website. In this seminar, […]

In light of the recent AUKUS pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, Professor John Blaxland from the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre at ANU will explore the unreconciled dialectic in Australian consciousness between our geography, history and a lingering fear of entrapment. Professor Blaxland's talk will probe such issues as: - […]

Wednesday 10 November 2021 7:00PM-8:00PM (Australian Eastern Standard Time) The presentation General Blamey is a controversial figure in Australian military history. This presentation describes a consummate military leader at the top of his game fighting for his country in a time of deep crisis. ‘Never trust foreign generals with the Diggers’ was Blamey’s cast iron […]

It’s been a difficult couple of years for everyone, and while this year we will commemorate Remembrance Day on Australian soil, I am delighted that with the return of international travel we will be able to walk the ground on battlefields around the world in 2022. This year for Remembrance Day, I would like to […]

A joint presentation with the Genealogical Society of Victoria and the RHSV. We are delighted that Dr Charles Fahey has agreed to deliver this seminar on Soldier Settlement Schemes. The Soldier Settlement Schemes encompassed thousands of World War One returned soldiers who occupied farming land on conditional purchase leases across Victoria between 1919 and the […]

Transport yourself to the famous region of Normandy and visit picturesque Caen, a town enriched with history, nature and gastronomy. Following the success of the online event “Bordeaux vient à vous”, we are delighted to invite you to the next destination of our virtual tour of France: Caen. Embark on an exciting trip to Caen […]

As the battle for Guadalcanal dragged on the Japanese advance on the Kokoda Track culminated and they were ordered to ‘advance to the rear’. Two delaying defensive positions at Eora Creek and Oivi-Gorari imposed a toll on the Australians’ pursuit, but allowed time for the Japanese to complete a labyrinth of bunkers and trenches around […]

Tuesday 15 February 2022 7:00PM-8:00PM (Australian Eastern Standard Time) At the end of the session, Harry will take questions on the book as well as any questions related to the SAS.   The presentation Anthony 'Harry' Moffitt spent more than twenty years in the SAS. His decades of service and his multiple tours in East […]

This conference will examine the contribution of Australia’s Army, Navy and Air Force to Allied operations and campaigns in the Mediterranean Theatre over 1940-1945. From Libya, Greece, Crete, Syria-Lebanon, Egypt, and Malta, in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, southern France and the Balkans, Australians in units or as individuals were active in the theatre. What were […]