Uncover Albany's Anzac History

Natasha Dragun explores Albany’s significance in WWI, and where you can honour the Anzacs today. 

As you wander around the landscaped gardens of the National Anzac Centre, it’s hard to imagine that this serene pocket of Western Australia is one of the country’s most significant wartime sites. Overlooking Albany’s Heritage Park, the five-year-old museum sits within the grounds of the heritage-listed Princess Royal Fortress.

Built in the late 19th century to guard intercontinental trade routes, the fort was the first federal defence of Australia. It was therefore the ideal place for the country’s forces to gather in large numbers when preparing to set out for battle on the eve of WWI. This patch of land, five hours south-east of Perth, was the last thing some 41,000 young men and women saw as they sailed across King George Sound. They travelled in two convoys of more than 50 ships, bound for Alexandria in Egypt and the battlefields of the Great War. 

The earliest boats carrying the First Australian Imperial Force and the New Zealand Expeditionary Force left the whaling port of Albany on 1 November 1914. By April 1915, tens of thousands of casualties had already been recorded, most of them in Gallipoli, along the beaches and hillsides of the Turkish coast. 

The war had a huge impact on Australian history, with almost a tenth of the population enlisting, about half of whom were killed, wounded, gassed or taken prisoner. The incredible story of the soldiers who left Albany more than a century ago lives on at the acclaimed National Anzac Centre. This superb gallery will give you goosebumps. Upon entry, you’re assigned one of 32 photographs of real servicemen or women; then, as you move through the space, learn about their life (and fate) through interactive displays and multimedia installations. 

While the architect-designed gallery is deeply haunting, perhaps the most poignant part of this museum is its outlook: its views extend over the waterway that carried thousands of Anzacs to sea. You’ll also glimpse Albany itself, with its charming colonial buildings built by European settlers to establish Western Australia’s first colonial outpost. 

Hemmed by a number of low-slung mountain ranges and with a rugged coastline, the pretty city enjoyed a prominent position as the colony’s only deep-water port for more than 70 years, until the opening of the Fremantle Inner Harbour in 1897. Today, you can still see signs of Albany’s importance in its grand heritage buildings, from shingled churches to classical revival-style clock towers, with many of the historic homes now galleries, restaurants and boutiques. 

Visit the National Anzac Centre in Albany on Travelmarvel's 14 Day Wonders of the South West to discover more of Australia's history.

Images in article courtesy of Tourism Western Australia, Dan Avila Photography and City of Albany