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Plaque Location
Plaque Location

Photographs supplied by Glen Yeomans

The plaque commemorates the personnel who served on H.M.A.S. Westralia during World War Two.

The plaque location is indicated by the red poppy in the second image. 

 

Location

Address:Fairbairn & Limestone Avenues, Captain Reg Saunders Courtyard, Australian War Memorial, Campbell, 2612
State:ACT
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -35.280392
Long: 149.147716
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Plaque
Monument Theme:Conflict
Sub-Theme:WW2
Actual Event Start Date:03-September-1939
Actual Event End Date:15-August-1945

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:Tuesday 1st October, 2002
Front Inscription

HMAS Westralia
Armed Merchant Cruiser - Landing Ship Infantry
1939 - 1945

HMAS Westralia was acquired by the RAN in 1939 and commissioned as an Armed Merchant Cruiser on 17 January 1940. The vessel armed with seven 6-inch guns, patrolled the sea lanes and escorted convoys of merchant ships in Australian waters, the East Indies and China Sea.

Westralia was re-commissioned as a Landing Ship Infantry (LSI) on 31 May 1943.  The ship was the first Australian LSI to see action with the US Seventh Fleet at Arawe, New Britain, on 15 December 1943. 

Westralia played a vital role in the landing at Hollandia (April 1944), Leyte (October 1944) and Lingayen Gulf (January 1945) with men of the US Sixth Army and the landings at Tarakan (May 1945), Brunei (June 1945) and Balikpapan (July 1945) with men of the Australian Seventh and Ninth Divisions, AIF

 

Source: MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au