National Anzac Centre in Albany, WA: Review with ticket prices

The National Anzac Centre in Albany, Western Australia, gives thought-provoking insight into Australia’s World War I history.

The Western Australian town of Albany is in an enviable setting, with splendid views out over King George Sound from the Princess Royal Fortress. This fortress spreads across the tops of Mt Adelaide and Mt Clarence. It’s in remarkably good condition, given it became obsolete soon after opening in 1893.

To sort out National Anzac Centre tickets before you arrive, book here.

It’s worth visiting the fortress for the views, old buildings and hilltop guns, but the highlight of a visit is the National Anzac Centre. This museum is devoted to the thousands of Australian men who fought in World War I.

National Anzac Centre: Anzac history in World War I

Albany may now be famed for its whale watching tours but it is one of Australia’s top heritage destinations. This was where the Anzac story started. In late 1914, the first two convoys taking over 40,000 Australians and New Zealanders to Europe departed. And they set off from King George Sound. Many would never return. More than 60,000 Australians died in World War I.

The National Anzac Centre a fine job of not only telling the story of the war. But it also makes fine work of illuminating the individual stories within it. The Anzacs were volunteers from a young, only recently federated country. Many sensed an adventure on the other side of the world. But the horrors of trench warfare swamped them instead.

Biographical detail at the National Anzac Centre

Every visitor to the museum gets a card bearing the name and photograph of a different man. On the way through, you place them on light boxes to reveal part of soldier’s story. The snippets – lying about age to get called up, being wounded at Gallipolli, being evacuated to Egypt and later getting a medical discharge – are revealed as you progress through the displays. Some stories are bleaker than others. One third of the 41,265 men on the first two convoys from Albany died in World War I.

The names of those who died on them scroll across a screen, moving like a conveyor belt. It has a rippling wave effect, heading towards the Southern Ocean.

The National Anzac Centre doesn’t focus solely on the battles. There is thoughtful coverage of the after-effects too. Displays address the stigma attached to suffering from shellshock. This was something thought not to happen to ‘real men’. They also look at the disabilities incurred and the time spent waiting to go home after the war was over. Some waited up to a year for transport to become available. The over-arching narrative is not one of heroism. It’s of youthful exuberance – both the men and country – giving way to harsh, unblinkered reality.

National Anzac Museum ticket prices

At the time of writing, tickets for the National Anzac Museum in Albany cost $25. For a ticket you can save to your phone, book online.

The other genuinely excellent museum in Albany is Discovery Bay – formerly the Cheynes Beach Whaling Station. This covers Australia’s whaling history. The drive from Perth to Albany takes around four hours and 40 minutes.

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