The Australian War Memorial and Canadian War Museum will collaborate on a major exhibition of First World War artefacts and have committed to joint research and collection development opportunities in the future.
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Prime Minister Tony Abbott and War Memorial director Brendan Nelson are in Canada to attend the 70th anniversary commemorations of the Allied D-Day campaign, and the 100th anniversary of the First World War – particularly its costly Western Front battles, which Mr Abbott believes rank as Australia's greatest military contribution.
Mr Abbott also announced closer ties between the war museums of both countries, culminating in a major exhibition that will tour Australia and Canada in 2017-18.
"This is a very important collaboration as we go through the centenary of World War One ... It does help to remind people of the work that both Australian soldiers and Canadian soldiers did in World War One," Mr Abbott said. "It helps to remind people of the bonds between our two countries and also of the enduring bonds between Australia and all of the wartime allies."
Mr Abbott and Dr Nelson met officials and staff from the Canadian War Museum, including director-general James Whitham. The War Memorial presented a set of prints by First World War artist Will Dyson as well as the loan of a First World War trench sign, bearing the words "medicine hat trail", from a network of Canadian trenches at Messines.
Australians and Canadians have a shared experience forged in war having served together since the First World War, where they fought on the Somme and in Flanders on the Western Front.
In the Second World War, Australia and Canada contributed aircrew to the war in the skies over Europe and participated in D-Day operations during the Normandy campaign. Australians and Canadians fought together in Korea and in Afghanistan, and continue to maintain a presence in peacekeeping operations throughout the world.
Dr Nelson said, "In many ways, the Canadian experience of the First World War is the Australian experience. For our two peoples and for our New Zealand friends, the First World War played a significant role in shaping who we are and how we see ourselves in the world."
Dr Nelson said the two institutions would work together on projects "to develop an exhibition on the dominions at war, underpinned by research and collection development that will help both institutions to better tell that story for our respective nations, and to reflect the bond we have formed".
He thanked his Canadian counterpart Mr Whitham for his collegiality and thanked the Australian High Commission for its continued support "in bringing this shared aspiration to reality".
