I visited the Australian War Memorial in Canberra this weekend, as they have just opened a major extension that roughly doubles the museum display area. They have spent some serious money here and have produced a pretty impressive museum. Most of the new space seems to have been allocated to army and air force displays, and from a naval perspective, there probably isn't that much that is new here compared to before the reconstruction, however it is much better displayed, and they have done a much better job of lighting and signage etc. Anyway, I will summarise some of the naval highlights:They have had a German 11-inch gun on display outside the museum for as long as I can remember, but I never knew its origins before now. It was originally fitted to the battleship Hessen, and was on her at the Battle of Jutland. Shortly after the battle, the gun was removed and converted into a railway gun. Captured at the end of the war, it was brought back to Australia as a trophy.The museum has a composite Midget Submarine made from parts of two of the submarines that participated in the attack on Sydney in 1942. From my perspective, this is one of the major improvements in the museum - the boat used to be suspended from the ceiling with dreadful lighting which made it almost impossible to get a clear photograph of it. Now it has a large display area with extensive information boards, and you can get a lot closer to it.There is another large display area covering the Sydney vs Emden battle, which has one gun from each of the two vessels. The guns were in the old museum, but the War Memorial pulled rank, and swiped the breech block from an ex-Brisbane gun held by the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Nowra to complete their Sydney gun.The bridge structure and one of the 5-inch guns from HMAS Brisbane - the Charles F Adams class Destroyer - have been mounted, and you have access into the Bridge.They have the breech mechanism from one of the 12-inch guns from the Battlecruiser AustraliaAnd one of the eight-inch guns from the Heavy Cruiser HMAS Australia.And, as you would expect, all manner of models, uniforms, documents, missiles, mines, torpedoes, and all of the other things you would expect in a museum.The museum is free to visit, and has free parking as well. There is a very good gift shop, with a wide range of books, and all the other souvenirs you would expect. They also have an extensive library/archives section. You have to plan a visit to the library, give them 5 days notice of any items you want to view - and also juggle between two different catalogues - one on their website, and the other which is a subset of the National Archives of Australia catalogue. But they have a lot of information there which I don't believe is held anywhere else, so it is worth putting the effort in.All in all - worth the drive from Sydney (about 2.5 hrs each way).
