Showing 37 items
matching vc memorial
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Lilydale RSL Sub Branch
Magazine - paperback/magazine/series, Michael Thomas, Wartime No 18, 2002
Official Magazine of the Australian MemorialMagazinenon-fictionOfficial Magazine of the Australian Memorialkokoda commanders, breaker morant, vietnam vc, shy vc, bullecourt, air war over malta -
The 5th/6th Battalion Royal Victoria Regiment Historical Collection
Print - Reproduction, framed, The Menin Gate at Midnight
'Menin Gate at midnight' was painted by Will Longstaff to commemorate those soldiers with no marked graves on the Western Front during the First World War; also known as 'Ghosts of Menin Gate'. Longstaff attended a ceremony dedicating the Menin Gate memorial to the soldiers of the British empire forces, just outside the town of Ypres, Belgium, on 24 July 1927. The memorial was dedicated to the 350,000 men of the British and Empire forces who had died in battles around Ypres, and bears the names of 55,000 men with no known grave, over 6,000 of whom were Australians. Longstaff was profoundly moved by what he witnessed and that night, unable to sleep, Longstaff returned to Menin Road and later claimed to have had a vision of spirits of the dead rising out of the soil around him. On returning to his studio in London he painted 'Menin Gate at midnight' in a single session. Today 'Menin Gate at midnight' has achieved the status of a national icon. The painting retains its ability to provoke an emotional response and to communicate the scale of the loss of life and the devastation of war. However as people now have a very different understanding of war, the painting serves a slightly different function. Whereas in the past people responded to the painting as it related to the loss of a loved one and their own personal grief, now the painting communicates the loss experienced by a whole generation. The vast number of those who were killed, and the immensity of the damage wrought during the First World War, requires that those who sacrificed their lives should not be forgotten. Longstaff used well-known motifs to trigger emotion. His scarlet poppies are flowers that could be found in the Flanders fields, but they also carry the traditional connotations of shed blood and remembrance; they represent a floral blanket covering the bloodied bodies of unknown soldiers; at the same time, like the paper poppies worn on Remembrance Day, they are a tribute from the living to the dead. The portrayal of the steel-helmeted soldiers rising from the cornfields extends the range of visual emblems used by Longstaff: the plentiful harvest; the harvest of men; the steel-helmeted crosses covering the graves of many soldiers; and the helmeted bayonets raised in cheer and victory.ww1, menin gate, wark vc club -
Melbourne Legacy
Document - Speech, Opening of Donovan Joynt VC Club, Puckapunyal
Speech delivered by Lieutenant General Sir Phillip Bennett KBE, AO, DSO when he unveiled the Memorial Plaque and opened the Donovan Joynt VC Club at Puckapunyal on 23 March 1983. Sir Phillip Bennett himself had an illustrious career and was Chief of General Staff when he delivered this address; he became Chief of the Defence Force in 1984 and after retiring from the Army in 1987 he was appointed Governor of Tasmania. The fact that the opening was performed by the Chief of General Staff is evidence of the high regard in which Donovan Joynt was held.5 x photocopied typed sheets, black on white'Puckapunyal' handwrittendonovan joynt, memorial -
Melbourne Legacy
Document - Speech, Opening of Col.Donovan Joynt V.C. Memorial: response by Col. Sir Alfred Kemsley KBE CMG MSM ED
Colonel Sir Alfred Kemsley's reply to the opening speech delivered by Lieutenant General Sir Phillip Bennett KBE, AO, DSO when he unveiled the Memorial Plaque and opened the Donovan Joynt VC Club at Puckapunyal on 23 March 1983. Sir Alfred talks about his long friendship with Donovan Joynt, beginning with the battle in France in which Joynt won his VC, and acknowledging the difficulty he had in persuading Joynt to be memorialised by this project at Puckapunyal. He also cited Joynt's involvement with Legacy, which as a foundation member and an early Melbourne Legacy President himself Kemsley would have been aware. Together with his friend Donovan Joynt, Kemsley became one of the most committed advocates for the creation of a Shrine of Remembrance on St Kilda Road as a 'worthy' memorial to Victoria’s 'unparalleled efforts during the Great War'. He played an active role in the defeat of a counter-proposal for an Anzac Square in Spring Street. In 1938 Kemsley was appointed to the trust established to administer the Shrine, later serving as its deputy-chairman (1952) and chairman (1978-84).Not only was the opening performed by the Chief of General Staff, Lt Gen Sir Phillip Bennet, the response by such an illustrious Australian as Col Sir Alfred Kemsley is evidence of the high regard in which Donovan Joynt was held.3 x photocopied typed sheets, black on whiteMinor corrections in blue biro.donovan joynt, memorial -
Melbourne Legacy
Album - Photo album, Col. W. Donovan Joynt VC
A photo album recording highlights of Legatee Donovan Joynt's life through photographs, newspaper clippings, and typed accounts. These have been catalogued separately to prevent them deteriorating any further on the glued plastic pages which were popular in the 70s and 80s. One of the final items was an extract from the Melbourne Legacy Bulletin dated 9.11.1989. A unique indication of how highly regarded Joynt was in Melbourne Legacy.Brown vinyl photo album, engraved in gold on front cover, two screws to hold pages in.Gold embossed with 'Col. W Donovan Joynt V.C.' on coverdonovan joynt, memorial -
Melbourne Legacy
Document - Obituary, William Donovan Joynt, V.C
Joynt was the seventh member of the newly formed Legacy in 1923 and became a member of the Board of Management in 1924 and worked closely with Stan Savige. He was also instrumental in gaining the support of both General Sir John Monash and the R.S.L. to build the Shrine of Remembrance, as well as ensuring media backing and thus public support for the project. He worked tirelessly for Legacy for 38 years until he retired at the age of 84, and entered fully into comradeship activities throughout his involvement. He won his VC in 1917 at Chuignes during one of the last battles on the Somme. The Victoria Cross is the highest award for acts of bravery in wartime and was instituted in 1856 by Queen Victoria. See also Cat.Nos. 01303, 01350. This obituary adds further information about the life of L/- W.D. Joynt and includes a typed copy of an extract from 'They dared mightily' by Laurence Wigmore (Canberra: Australian War Memorial, 1963) pages 141, 142 & 143 which detail the action which won him the V.C.Provides more military information than in other obituaries of Joynt, as well as further information on his activities in the broader community.White A4 paper x 6 pages with black type.Box 16 L1.14 in black ballpen Confusingly it is dated 20/6/78, handwritten in black biro, although Joynt did not die until 1986.donovan joynt, obituary -
Melbourne Legacy
Photograph - Photo, Legatee Donovan Joynt and Captain Mick Moon, 1983
... memorial mick moon vc Typed note from March 1983 mentions ...Photo taken at the opening of the Puckapunyal Sportsman's Club which had been named after Legatee Donovan Joynt (see also Cat.No. 01352). The accompanying typed note, dated March 1983, identifies Lieutenant Colonel Donovan Joynt VC and Captain Mick Moon VC as 'the only surviving VC winners from World War 1 in Victoria.' The photo was used in a Herald newspaper article on 29 March 1983 (item 01603). The article mentions that L/ Joynt donated more than half the cost of the $130,000 for the sports club and the photo was from the opening event.A photographic record of two outstanding Victorians who after winning their VCs in WWI went on to live long and impressive lives.Black and white photo of L/- Donovan Joynt with Captain Mick Moon, accompanied by a typed note, black on white. Typed note from March 1983 mentions that Lieutenant Colonel Donovan Joynt VC and Captain Mick Moon VC were attending the opening of the Lieutenant Colonel Donovan Joynt VC Sportsman's Club in Puckapunyal. donovan joynt, memorial, mick moon, vc