With the Dry Season in full swing, Palmerston Probus members made the most of the magnificent Top End weather with a visit to the Darwin Military Museum at East Point.
Car-pooling once again proved the perfect way to travel, with members heading to the museum to explore Darwin’s wartime history.
Set among tropical gardens and historic gun emplacements, the museum tells the story of Darwin’s wartime past through an impressive collection of military vehicles, weapons, uniforms and memorabilia from Australian, American and other Allied forces. Audio-visual displays also bring history to life through the experiences of those who lived through the bombing of Darwin in 1942.
For some members, the visit also stirred memories of the museum’s own history. They recalled its much humbler beginnings in the 1960s, when it was essentially a large fenced-off paddock containing guns, military vehicles and wartime relics.
Originally established by the Royal Australian Artillery Association (NT), the collection has grown over the decades into the impressive museum it is today.
The visit proved that sometimes it is not only the exhibits that tell the story. Members who remember “how it used to be” added another piece to Darwin’s history and made the outing all the more memorable.
