Four museums and historic sites in Brisbane, QLD, Australia

G'day PHG fans! I was recently going through some old photos on my phone and saw some shots taken during my most recent deployment in 2023. The USS America made port in Brisbane, Australia, as so many ships have, during an international exercise that took place off the coast. My previous visit, in 2013, didn't offer as much free time as I'd hoped and so I didn't do much by way of searching for history. Luckily, this time I was able to make my way to quite a few museums, monuments, and memorials around the city. Here's four museums and historic sites that I hope you'll take the time to check out next time you're in town!

My first stop was the Queensland Museum, down the street from the hotel. The museum itself has a lot to offer, including (at the time) a special dinosaur exhibit that was really cool. My favorite bit, however, was in the basement; the only First World War German tank in existence, Mephisto. This is an A7V tank, one of 20 produced by Germany during the Great War. It was brought to Australia in 1919, and has been in the Queensland Museum's ever since. The Australian War Memorial (AWM) has a page dedicated to Mephisto, you can read about that here. The AWM has sites all over the country, and I've added links throughout the Pacific History Guide Australia pages that point you in the direction of monuments and history near you.

Mephisto, the only A7V tank in existence, at the Queensland Museum in Brisbane

Note: those are my legs, not the tank's!

In each Australian state and territory you'll find war memorials, and typically these are centered around some kind of ANZAC monument. ANZAC stands for Australia and New Zealand Army Corps; these were initially formed during the First World War, where their first action was the Gallipoli Campaign, one of the bloodiest and wasteful of the war. Although the ANZACs were disestablished after the Great War, the term has come to mean Aussie and Kiwi troops in general. The Shrine of Remembrance memorial in ANZAC Square was my next stop.

Shrine of Remembrance at ANZAC Square, Brisbane

ANZAC Memorial, Brisbane

Inside the memorial itself is a crypt containing plaques that commemorate not just the First World War, but every conflict in Australia's military history. The docents here are incredible; welcoming and knowledgeable. The crypt itself was opened in 1952, and over the years the requirements for the size and shape of plaques has changed to prevent overcrowding. Some of these plaques were brought in from other locations over time, such as older buildings and public spaces that couldn't give them the proper care they require. Each one of these have details that feel at once terrible and hopeful; individual shots of them wouldn't do them justice. Further down this hall is a large space dominated by a multimedia display, what feels like a hundred more plaques and markers, and this stunning mosaic, which contains 140,000 pieces of Venetian glass tiles:

Mosaic at the ANZAC Memorial, Brisbane

Brisbane played a pivotal role for the Allies in the Second World War, due to its strong maritime heritage and naturally protected waterways. Brisbane was home to the Submarine Repair Facility, which has since been torn down but is where the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet subs put in for rearm, refit, and resupply during their very effective campaign against the Imperial Japanese Navy. In addition to an exhibit on the submarine activity in Brisbane, the Queensland Maritime Museum also has displays on local and trans-oceanic travel, including the movement of immigrants into Australia, and this insane map of known and suspected shipwrecks in Queensland. I love maritime museums, and while this one isn't the biggest I've ever seen, it is very well taken care of, and informative. The docents are the awesome, funny old salts you'd expect in a Navy town.

Known and suspected shipwrecks in Queensland

My final stop was to the MacArthur Museum. General Douglas MacArthur established his HQ here in Brisbane after his escape from Manila via Corregidor in 1942. This museum is small, but does have some cool relics, such as this colonial money used in Japanese-occupied territories, and a captured Japanese flag. You can see the office where MacArthur first heard of the Bataan Death March, and where he took some of his toughest decisions.

Imperial Japanese currency, on display at the MacArthur Museum in Brisbane, Australia

Captured Japanese flag from the Second World War, on display at the MacArthur Museum in Brisbane, Australia

Brisbane has a lot of cool things to see, aside from these four locations. There's famous bridges, landmarks, and other local history on top of the Australia-specific markers. It's easy to get around the city, it's very walkable and the river ferries are free to ride. I look forward to hearing what you have to say about Brisbane, if you've been please let me know in the comments! If you are going for a port call, TDY, or just want to take some vacation time, remember that local and regional history is easy to find if you know where to look, and Pacific History Guide is dedicated to getting you connected.

Keep Discovering!