Sport and War

Sport and War

Sport and war have fired national passions and have helped shape the Australian identity for more than one hundred years.

This travelling exhibition from the Australian War Memorial combines two themes to highlight the long association between sport and war in our history and traces how our wartime experiences are reflected in modern sporting events.

Sport and War highlights the similarities between our best sportsmen and women and those who serve our country and how war has changed favourite Australian sports and those who have played them, paying special tribute to those stars who went to war and lost their lives.

The exhibition also shows that despite the tragedy and suffering experienced by many, sport has provided servicemen and women exercise and cheap entertainment, a sense of teamwork and bonding, and an antidote to tension and boredom.

On display will be key relics from wartime sporting history such as the little known wartime medals of Don Bradman, the cricket cap worn by Keith Miller and a handmade Melbourne Cup crafted by prisoners of war in Borneo.

Inset: Recruitment Poster 1917. Australian War Memorial, Cat. No. ARTVO5666_2