Military History & Heritage Victoria is excited to announce that tickets are now on sale for our next conference – Fighting to the Finish: Australia in 1945 – Strategy, Victory and Legacy – which will be held on 11th October 2025 in Melbourne. History Guild is proud to support this conference.
Join an esteemed group of presenters who will be exploring the part Australians played in the closing chapter of the war, and the impact this had on the 80 years that has followed.
Which were the key battles Australians were fighting in? What impact did Australia have on the Allied strategic position? How did returning Australian veterans shape Australian society, and how did they want the war to be remembered? What role did Australians play in the transition from Japanese occupied South East Asia to the postwar world? How did the experience of the conflict shape the Australian Army, RAN and RAAF?
Keynote will be delivered by Emeritus Professor David Horner, Official Historian and Professor of Australian Defence History, ANU.
Other presenters include:
Phil Craig, Author of 1945: The Reckoning
Dr Nicole Townsend, Director of the Second World War Research Group
Tim Gellel, Head of the Australian Army History Unit
Professor John Blaxland, Professor of International Security & Intelligence Studies, ANU
Dr Peter Williams, Author of Japan’s Pacific War
Program coming soon
This promises to be a day of fascinating insights into Australian military history. MHHV conferences are open and accessible to everyone, we welcome anyone with an interest in history to come along and enjoy the presentations.
Fighting to the Finish: Australia in 1945 – Strategy, Victory, and Legacy One Day Conference
Date: 11th October 2025
Location: Caulfield RSL, 4 St Georges Rd, Elsternwick VIC
MHHV Members $85.00
Concessions/Students $95.00
Non-Members $110.00
Includes lunch, morning and afternoon tea.
Articles you may also like
Best Historical Films 2010-2020
There may be many historically based films, but only a few can be rightfully called striking, emotional, and informative. As 2020 comes to a close here is a look back at some of the best historical films from the last decade of moviemaking. The King’s Speech (2010)- Directed by Tom Hooper As the stirring exceptionalism […]
Menace at Home – Australia Under Attack 1939-1945 Conference – Melbourne 10th May
10th May 2025, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. This one-day conference will explore the numerous ways Australia was attacked during the Second World War. Between 1939 and 1945, over 1,800 enemy air raids targeted northern Australia, while the nation’s coastal waters were patrolled by raiders, sea mines, and submarines. People of various backgrounds—friends, foes, […]
After 140 years, researchers have rediscovered an important Aboriginal ceremonial ground in East Gippsland
Reading time: 5 minutes
After 140 years, researchers have rediscovered an Aboriginal ceremonial ground in Victoria’s East Gippsland. The site was host to the last young men’s initiation ceremony of the Gunaikurnai back in 1884, witnessed by the anthropologist A.W. Howitt.
Howitt’s field notes, combined with contemporary Gunaikurnai knowledge of their country, has led to the rediscovery. The site is located on public land, on the edge of the small fishing village of Seacombe. Its precise location had been lost following decades of colonial suppression of Gunaikurnai ritual and religious practices.
