The Army Museum Bandiana is dedicated to collecting, housing, displaying military equipment, weapons and vehicles associated with the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

. It is the largest and most diversified military museum in Australia The museum is based within Australian Army base property, at the

Gaza Ridge Barracks Gaza Ridge Barracks is an Australian Army base in Bandiana, located about to the east of Wodonga. Part of the Army Logistic Training Centre The Army Logistic Training Centre (ALTC) is an Australian Army training establishment that is part of ...

, near Wodonga South

Bandiana Bandiana is a Suburb of the City of Wodonga local government area in northeast Victoria, Australia. History Bandiana takes its name from the early name for the area, probably from a First Nations toponym. The hill now known as Bears Hill appea ...

, in the Australian state of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. The museum houses over 150 military vehicles, as well as artillery, infantry weapons, uniforms, and militaria - including material brought back from war, as well as items retrieved from battlefields.

History

The museum was originally established in 1972, as the ''Royal Australian Army Ordnance Corps Centre at Bandiana''. As the collection grew in size, it was moved to a large shed in 1976. In 1996 the collection was enlargened through the merger of it with various smaller collections, and then renamed The Army Museum at Bandiana. In 2009, Australian

military historian Military history is the study of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, cultures and economies thereof, as well as the resulting changes to local and international relationships. Professional historians norma ...

and

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

John Laffin John Laffin (21 September 1922 – 23 September 2000) was an Australian 20th century military historian. Early life John Alfred Charles Laffin was born on 21 September 1922 at Mosman, Sydney, Australia. Both of his parents had served with the ...

's collection of memorabilia was added to the collection."John Laffin Collection" http://fffaif.org.au/?p=6769

Contributing units

The museum holds collections derived from many Australian army units, including the Royal Australian Corps of Transport, Royal Australian Army Chaplains Department, Royal Australian Army Ordnance Corps, 2/23rd Australian Infantry Battalion, Royal Australian Army Medical Corps, Royal Australian Army Dental Corps, Royal Australian Electrical & Mechanical Engineers, Australian Army Catering Corps, Australian Army Psychology Corps, Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps, Australian Women's Army Service, Australian Service Nurses, Army Apprentices, and the United Nations. It also include in its entirety, the John Laffin Collection.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Army Museum Bandiana, The Military and war museums in Australia Museums in Victoria (Australia) Museums established in 1972 1972 establishments in Australia