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World War 2

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British Prime Minister Winston Churchill is seated at a table wearing glasses. He is signing a document. Standing behind him and leaning over his shoulder is Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies. Both men are wear dark suits with white shirts. Menzies is wearing a dark tie, Churchill a bow tie.

Portrait of Prime Ministers R.G. Menzies and Winston Churchill at Downing Street, London, 1941, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-137388175

War in Europe again - 'My melancholy duty'

Topic

At 9.15 pm on Sunday 3 September 1939, Australia’s Prime Minister, Robert Menzies (1894-1978), gave a radio address, announcing that Australia was at war with Germany.

Digital Classroom
Collection guide
Snell Collection

About 15,500 items of sheet music and about 700 music albums from the late eighteenth century to the 1980s, as well as the personal papers of Snell.

Collection guide
Collection guide
Radicalism in America

Pamphlets, journals and other publications documenting many strands of American radicalism.

Collection guide
Sepia toned photo of soldiers sitting in a trench writing letters

J.P. Campbell, Writing in the trenches, [Anzac soldiers sit in their shelters in the trench and write letters home, June? 1915], nla.obj-146168464

Letters to home from the First and Second World Wars

Take a look at some of the letters sent from overseas to friends and family back in Australia during the First and Second World Wars.

Blog
Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies sits at a desk holding several pieces of paper. He is looking melancholic and stares off camera to the left. He is a middle-aged white man with blonde hair swept to one side. He wears a dark suit and tie with a dark tie. There is a black Bakelite telephone on the table in front of him

The Rt. Hon. RG Menzies PM of Australia broadcasting to the nation the news of the outbreak of war, 1939, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136636422

Internment, World War 2 (1939-45)

Module

This resource is aligned with the Australian Curriculum: History for Year 10 students. It engages students with a rich selection of sources and challenges them to draw their own conclusions about World War 2. Using the lens of internment, this resource looks at home front human stories, impacts of war and genocide, migration and multiculturalism.

Digital Classroom
Frank Hurley and Masly Williams looking towards Jerusalem

Frank Hurley, Frank Hurley and Maslyn Williams Looking Out Over the Kidron Valley Towards Jerusalem, Mount of Olives, Palestine, 1940?, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-151339245

Hurley Collection

Over 10,000 black and white negatives and colour transparencies, about 1000 exhibition prints, several photograph albums, a group of stereographs, plus maps, diaries and personal papers.

Collection guide
Collection guide
Hertz Collection

Books, pamphlets, photographs, posters and a small number of maps relating to war and aviation.

Collection guide
Collection guide
Hall Collection

Personal papers and about 600 books and pamphlets from 1900-1960 on international relations, political biography, migration and more with a focus on the Commonwealth and United States. 

Collection guide
Scrapbook of newspaper clippings, including one full page and a cartoon, about the Gamboa family

Album of newspaper cuttings relating to the Gamboa family from the Papers of the Gamboa family, 1949–99, nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn997866

Gamboa: A family defined by race

Follow the story of Lorenzo Gamboa and his fight to return to his Australian-born wife and children after his deportation in 1946. 

Blog
A black-and-white photograph shows a group of soldiers marching down a street with rifles over their shoulders. They are accompanied by civilians, who walk arm-in-arm with the soldiers, smiling and engaging with the crowd. The street is busy with people, and buildings can be seen in the background.

Fairfax Corporation, Departing troops walking with their families down Macquarie Street, 1914, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-162908974

Find your military ancestors

Trace the military history of your ancestors using resrouces and records from Australia, New Zealand and the British Army at the Library and beyond.

Research guide
Map of the world during World War II showing Japanese and German influence and occupation, international boundaries, transportation, oil fields etc. Scattered around the map are depictions of war technology including battleships, aircraft and artillery. Some countries have depictions of animals or 'things' relevant to the country eg. in the middle of Australia is a kangaroo, emu, a platypus and sheep. Inset at bottom left and right are close ups of the Mediterranean and Solomon Islands respectively.

Japanese map of World War ll, 1942, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-234704475

Enemy aliens and war with Japan

Topic

As the outbreak of war was announced, police forces around Australia moved swiftly to ensure there were no concerns about security at home.

Digital Classroom
Charcoal on paper sketch of the head and shoulders of a young man. He has hair neatly swept back. He is wearing an collared white shirt with the collar open. He is in profile staring off to the right.

Theodor Engel, Study of a Dunera boy at Tatura, Victoria, 1943, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-152997802

Dunera

Topic

In the years leading to the outbreak of World War II, Hitler and his government’s anti-Semitism became increasingly violent.

Digital Classroom

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