Collected: Stories from the Australian War Memorial

The Australian Army has always had rules about who is allowed to fight for their country. But during the First World War those rules were sidestepped by thousands of underage boys desperate to enlist. In Episode 32 of Collected, Louise Maher hears the stories of the boy soldiers who went looking for adventure, many never to return, and the project to ensure their memory is kept alive.

Women now comprise more than 25 per cent of service personnel in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and there are no restrictions on what they're allowed to do. But it wasn't always like this. In Episode 31 of Collected, Louise Maher is shown the clothes and hears the stories of some of the female pioneers, including members of the Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) that was formed in World War 2.

The V2 rocket developed by the Germans in World War Two was the world's first strategic ballistic missile and a forerunner of the rocket that took humans to the moon.
In Episode 30 of Collected, Louise Maher is shown a captured V2 that was brought to Australia after the war and hears the testimony of a Jewish concentration camp survivor forced to work on the Nazi weapons project.

Jewellery given and received in war is a symbol of love, pride and support. It comes in many forms, from expensive, commercially manufactured pieces in precious metals to hand-made objects crafted from whatever material was available.
In Episode 29 of Collected, Louise Maher is shown a range of sweetheart jewellery, including a tiny gold brooch, a silver identity bracelet and a necklace made from shells.

The Lone Pine
The magnificent Lone Pine planted at the Memorial is 1934 is a living symbol of the sacrifice of war.
It was grown by a bereaved mother from the seeds from pine cones gathered by her son at Gallipoli. Since the late 1940s, around 70,000 seedlings have been propagated from this one tree for distribution around Australia and the world.
In Episode 28 of Collected, Louise Maher visits the tree in the Memorial's grounds, the Lone Pine diorama which dramatically recreates the battle which took its name, as well as the nursery where the seedlings are tended and a school which has proudly planted one.