FROM A WHISPER TO A BANG! is an unforgettable podcast about wartime remembrance. Use the links below to listen to more of her audio storytelling work.
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'From A Whisper To A Bang!' is an unforgettable six-part podcast series about wartime history, remembrance and an emotional journey in historical empathy. It was commissioned by the Australian War Memorial and is presented and produced by award-wining podcast maker and remembrance advocate, Megan Spencer. On this page Megan also posts news about her latest remembrance projects/podcasts an
d other related posts of interest to the 'From A Whisper To A Bang!' community. Australian War Memorial podcasts (also on your favourite podcast platform)
➼ Listen to all six episodes of 'From A Whisper To A Bang!' - https://www.awm.gov.au/learn/podcasts/whisper)
Pleasure to snap away on Friday Virtual War Memorial Australia! Thanks for posting the album!
Thank you to everyone who joined us for our annual "Don't Forget Me! Cobber" lunch on Friday at Adelaide Oval! We had a fantastic time celebrating our 10th anniversary with all of you.
A special thanks to our guest speakers, Mark Donaldson VC and Sally Sara AM. We were also honoured by a wonderful address from our national patron, General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove. Finally, our heartfelt thanks to Jane Doyle OAM for serving as our MC for the day.
Congratulations to the Virtual War Memorial Australia for a spectacular fundraiser lunch last Friday! What a special occasion - also celebrating the 10th anniversary of what has become Australia's largest online memorial.
Here's an album of the photos I took on the day - lots of smiles, catch ups and great conversations!
Don't Forget Me Cobber! Lunch 2024 - Celebrating our 10th birthday Photos by Megan Spencer
17/08/2024
Remembering the Battle of Long Tan today and acknowledging Vietnam Veterans’ Day, with an invitation to listen to ‘The Long Shadow’, a previous podcast I made for Shrine of Remembrance.
It’s a fascinating, in-depth conversation with Dr. Peter Yule about his book of the same name, exploring the immense medical, health and psychological legacies inflicted on those who served in Vietnam (1962-1973). The long fingers of The Cold War inflicted so much damage.
Respect to all those who served and lived through this most divisive of conflicts; to the families who suffered alongside them after they returned home, and to the many thousands of people displaced from their homelands. 💚🤎
Today marks the anniversary of the loss of Private Arthur Walker in WWI, 108 years ago on 16.08.1916.
A Ramindjeri man of the Ngarrindjeri nation, he was KIA in a muddy field at Mouquet Farm, France, one cold and rainy night during the battle of Pozières, leaving an infant son at home, prophetically named ‘Anzac’.
🎧 Listen to Private Walker’s powerful story in ‘Bringing His Spirit Home’, the seven-part immersive podcast I made for the Virtual War Memorial Australia, launched 02.04.2024, just before ANZAC Day ♥️💛🖤
I’ve met and seen some amazing Defence musicians. The bands always bring such atmosphere to events, be it a lone bugler at dawn to a full military band at a parade. They occupy a unique space in the hierarchy… 🎺
"I didn't even know that this job existed, so when I found out that I could play the drums and serve it was a match made in heaven," Musician Toby Brown said.
18/07/2024
A very good news story ♥️💛🖤
Charlie Runga was awarded a prestigious Military Medal for two heroic actions in one day in 1918.
18/07/2024
WA friends - this play is on at Theatre 180 in October! Would love to see it...
Written by Jenny Davis. Directed by Stuart Halusz. Featuring Caitlin Beresford-Ord, Rebecca Davis, Michelle Fornasier, Alex Jones, Helen Searle and Alison van Reeken.
16/07/2024
Hello friends! It's a milestone year for the Virtual War Memorial Australia as they will be holding their 10th annual fundraising lunch in just a few weeks’ time, Friday 16 August, at one of the fab function rooms at Adelaide Oval.
The VWMA is Australia's largest online memorial with over 1.6 million records in its collection. So many people use it! But it's a quiet achiever and a charity that relies on donations to keep its programs and significant online collection going.
The tiny team do the work of many, and this annual fundraising lunch - upon which they rely to keep going - is super important.
So much work goes into this event to make it special! This year they have three fantastic speakers - the most yet - including ABC war correspondent who covered the Australia's longest war, Afghanistan; Afghanistan Army veteran Mark Donaldson VC and former Chief of Army/GG and Commander of INTERFET in East Timor.
The role and importance of operational and wartime remembrance is at the heart of this event; it's is also fun with lots of people from the Veteran and Commemorative community in attendance.
The VWMA have been incredibly supportive of my work as a commemorative podcast producer since arriving in SA six years ago, even awarding me a VWMA Champion Medal!
So I feel very moved to help spread the word about their annual fundraising lunch to support them, an organisation that does good work in the service of us all.
⚓️ 83 years today. Thinking of the Todd and Danswan families, who continue to keep the commemorative flame for their loved ones alive and burning brightly. Vale 💙🩵
🎧 Listen to the podcast I made about the extraordinary true story of the first two casualties of war on Australian soil during WWII, ‘When The War Comes Home: Beachport Mine Tragedy’, on the Virtual War Memorial Australia website —>
🔗 https://vwma.org.au/education/when-the-war-comes-home--beachport-mine-tragedy
09/07/2024
Congratulations to Elder Uncle Frank Wangutya Wanganeen, for his recognition at this year’s NAIDOC Week awards in South Australia. ♥️💛🖤
🎙️ I interviewed Uncle Frank in the seven-part ‘Bringing His Spirit Home’ podcast, which explores the service and sacrifice of Ngarrindjeri Anzac, Private Arthur Walker, commissioned by the Virtual War Memorial Australia.
This year's SA NAIDOC Award winners include a prominent elder who leads cultural heritage walking tours and a leader in child protection.
08/07/2024
♥️💛🖤 Listen well to remember well
NAIDOC Week 2024 🔥
🙏Paying respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who have served in the Australian Defence Forces, and to those who serve today.
Never forgotten, never forget.
🎧 An invitation to listen to some of these powerful First Nations stories in the podcasts I’ve made about Indigenous military service, for Australian War Memorial, Shrine of Remembrance and Virtual War Memorial Australia:
• Defending Country (From A Whisper To A Bang! EP05, AWM)
• For Kin and Country: Uncle Frank Lampard (Shrine)
• Walking In Two Worlds: The WWI story of Ngarrindjeri Anzacs Cyril & Rufus Rigney (VWMA), and
• Bringing His Spirit Home: Private Arthur Thomas Walker, Ngarrindjeri Anzac (VWMA).
Vale veteran artist, Guy Warren, who passed away today aged 103 (1921-2024).
“Occupations: artist, soldier” | Service number NX110908 | Bougainville 1944-45 | Enlisted: 30 July 1942 | Discharged: 03 April 1946 | Last Rank: Staff Sergeant.
“Warren began drawing seriously during service in Bougainville in World War II” - Art Gallery of NSW.
His love of rainforest began during military training in the Gold Coast hinterland, becoming his “soul country”.
“After the war I went to the National Art School, I got married and even took my wife back to Canungra for our honeymoon. Everybody thought I was crazy, but rainforest meant that much to me and these images were deeply ingrained within.”
“Warren sat for his portrait for the Australian National Veterans Arts Museum’s (ANVAM) photographic portrait series, Persona: Contemporary Veteran Artists, in 2020. The curator was ANVAM founder, Tanja Johnston, and the photographer Michael Christofas.”
A profound painter and storyteller of the Australian world war experience. 💚🤎 🎨
Image: “Self portrait in jungle green” by Guy Warren, 1946, oil on canvas.
“Deathmin is a counter-monument to the strong, upright imagery often conveyed in the Australian War Memorial. At my height and Andrew’s weight, Deathmin embodies the burden placed on veterans and their families. It asks bureaucratic institutions to care for the people they say they will” - Kat Rae, veteran artist and this year’s winner of Napier Waller Art Prize.
Secret’s out!
Finalist in two categories at this year’s MEAA SA Media Awards.
• Radio/Audio Feature: “The Sudden Storm” VWMA
• Freelance Journalist: VWMA Schools Podcasts (“The Sudden Storm”; “Walking In Two Worlds”; “When The War Comes Home”).
Thanks Virtual War Memorial Australia for the kudos!
At the gathering for Reconciliation Week in Tarndanya this morning - another beautiful, deep, commemorative cultural event. Big turn out. Big thanks. Highlights…
• FLTLT Stephen Warrior’s Welcome & Smoking
• SGT Roger Morris Keynote
• Aunty Vonda Last’ acapella version of ‘For Love Of Country’ with crowd choir
• AVSA co-chair Uncle Frank Lampard’s tribute to Bill Hignett
Always the highlight of my commemorative calendar ♥️💛🖤
29/05/2024
Thanks for sharing - and commissioning! - this important story of Indigenous service about Ngarrindjeri brothers Cyril and Rufus Rigney, Virtual War Memorial Australia.
Along with Private Arthur Walker - and Private Miller Mack who was honoured at yesterday’s Last Post Ceremony at the Australian War Memorial - they were in the group of 21 Ngarrindjeri Anzacs who volunteered for WWI.
We will never forget ♥️💛🖤
Weaving together different voices, this 7-part podcast 'Walking In Two Worlds' powerfully explores the stories of the teenage Rigney brothers, Cyril and Rufus. We visit their homelands and hear from their Ngarrindjeri relatives firsthand to learn about the brothers’ lives and wartime service.
Presented and produced by Australian remembrance podcast maker Megan Spencer.
Today at the Australian War Memorial, The Last Post Ceremony, honoured the story, service and life of Ngarrindjeri Anzac, Private Miller Mack, for .
♥️💛🖤
In the Last Post Ceremony for 28 May, we remember Private Miller Mack who served Australia in the First World War. The Last Post Ceremony streams live from t...
28/05/2024
Thanks for sharing in Virtual War Memorial Australia ♥️💛🖤
"Bringing His Spirit Home" is a compelling podcast narrating the remarkable World War I journey of Ngarrindjeri Anzac, Private Arthur Thomas Walker, who served in Gallipoli and lost his life during the Battle for Mouquet Farm in France, becoming one of the many soldiers with 'no known grave.' Despite dying in a war deemed "illegal" for him, Arthur's legacy persists through his family's active commemoration.
The podcast explores the evolving recognition of First Nations military service within the ANZAC narrative, delving into the intersection of the ANZAC legend and Aboriginal values. It also addresses the spiritual impact of Arthur's death on his community and discusses efforts to honor his memory through cross-cultural commemorative practices. Additionally, it reflects on the broader movement of "Indigenisation" in Australia's military history and highlights the enduring traditions initiated by Arthur's family. Produced by Megan Spencer with atmospheric sound design, the podcast offers a poignant exploration of remembrance and healing from a First Peoples' perspective.
📸 MS; Australian High Commission Singapore; Warren Melling; First Peoples Assembly of Victoria, Mal Jurgs.
20/05/2024
Speaking of prisoners of war… I watched this again recently.
The Peninsula Women's Chorus kindly donated use of their recording of ‘Largo’ to ‘The Sudden Storm’, the podcast I made about the Australian Army Nursing Service sisters of Bangka Island, for the Virtual War Memorial Australia Schools program.
Their music is featured in ‘Song of Survival’, the beautiful documentary below.
They survived three-and-a-half years in a Japanese prison camp in Sumatra during World War II. But these courageous women had something special going for the...
20/05/2024
Today is the 83rd anniversary of the beginning of the 13-day Battle of Crete, which marked the first significant intake of ANZAC soldiers as prisoners-of-war during WWII, my grandfather and his brother among them (2/7 Btn).
After fighting an impossible battle against the German war machine across Greece and Crete - including an unstoppable air invasion - after capture they spent the next 4 years in as many ‘stalags’ in Germany and occupied Poland.
A long march to nowhere was the bookend to Harry’s ordeal.
The Australian prisoner-of-war story - particularly in Europe - is still undertold within Australia’s wartime history, but one that had profound implications back home. Still does.
‘From A Whisper To A Bang!’ is the six-part cinematic audio podcast series I made about this story for the Australian War Memorial. It also deeply explores wartime remembrance, now, in a world which has a very short memory.
May we remember well, always.
📸 MS; Oliver Budack; Panagiota Marazioti (AWM)
17/05/2024
It was a privilege to make the podcasts for the ‘Defending with Pride’ exhibition - 5 episodes in all - including the amazing WRAAF story of Carole and Christina, pictured below. (I took this pic in their lounge room after spending a great day with them listening to their remarkable story of resilience and defence service).
As a body of work it won an award last year as ‘Best Radio/Audio Feature Based On A Single Story’ at the MEAA SA Media Awards.
Eternally grateful to each speaker for their generous, lionhearted involvement in elevating the stories of LGBTQI+ defence service and sacrifice to the centre of the military history mosaic.
‘Defending with Pride’ was a fantastic exhibition and audio project to be a part of.
Every day is Remembrance Day. Every service story is significant. Lest we forget.
🏳️🌈 🏳️⚧️💜
14/05/2024
💜
Today marks the inaugural Veterans’ Families Day in South Australia – a day to formally recognise the heroes behind the heroes. ⭐
South Australia has taken the lead as the first Australian state to formally introduce an annual day of recognition for current and former ADF families.
On this day, we celebrate and honour the strength, resilience and unwavering support shown by the families, children, partners and spouses who support our veterans each and every day.
Your contribution is immeasurable and we thank you for your service.
One of the best things about making the podcasts for the Virtual War Memorial Australia Schools program has been the chance to include the brilliant work of others in the soundscapes and storytelling.
Beautiful, immersive atmospheres recorded by form the sound of Country in both the 'Walking In Two Worlds' and 'Bringing His Spirit Home' podcast episodes. These tell the stories of three of the "Ngarrindjeri Anzacs", brothers Cyril and Rufus Rigney (WITW) and Private Arthur Thomas Walker (BHSH).
Grateful beyond words to Khristos Nizamis for sharing his beautiful audio atmospheres, and his incredible generosity - truly a "hearing being".
You can listen to his many recordings in all of their sonic glory on his SoundCloud page, below...
These recordings were made with deep respect in the country of the Ngarrindjeri peoples. With respect, with sadness, with hope. Everything here has changed; except for the sound of the ocean. Where t
13/05/2024
♥️🤍
Today we remember the 11 Australian Army Nursing Service nurses who died when the AHS Centaur was sunk by a Japanese torpedo on 14 May 1943.
At 4.10 am on Friday 14 May 1943, the 2/3 Australian Hospital Ship Centaur was struck by a torpedo from a Japanese submarine 44 kilometres off Point Lookout on North Stradbroke Island in Queensland. The fuel tank exploded, causing an inferno that spread quickly to the rest of the ship. Within three minutes, the Centaur had sunk.
The Centaur had set out from Sydney two days earlier, bound for Port Moresby. Its task was twofold: to embark Australian casualties from the fighting around Buna and Gona, and to deliver the 2/12th Field Ambulance (FA) for its tour of duty in New Guinea. Therefore, in addition its medical crew, which included 12 Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) nurses, eight doctors, a pharmacist and a Red Cross representative, the ship was carrying 193 members of the 2/12th FA.
Most of the 332 on board had been asleep when the torpedo struck and had little chance of escape. Two hundred and sixty-eight died. The speed at which the Centaur took on water meant that lifeboats and rafts could not be deployed, and the 64 survivors were forced to clamber onto whatever upturned raft or floating debris they could find.
The survivors endured 34 hours in the water. They were alternately frozen by the cold sea and cooked by a blazing sun, and constantly menaced by sharks. All attempts to attract the attention of search aircraft failed, until a chance sighting by a keen-eyed observer on an RAAF spotter aircraft led to their rescue by the crew of the USS Mugford. Sailors dived into the water to assist the exhausted and injured survivors, while marksmen lined the deck of the Mugford ready to shoot sharks if need be.
Among the 64 rescued survivors was one woman, Sister Ellen (Nell) Savage. Her 11 AANS colleagues had all been killed.
In memoriam Margaret Adams, Cynthia Haultain, Anne Jewell, Eva King, Mary McFarlane, Myrle Moston, Alice O’Donnell, Eileen Rutherford, Edna Shaw, Jenny Walker and Joyce Wyllie.
Lest we forget.
Photo
Top row: Eva King, Edna Shaw, Nell Savage.
Second top row: Alice O’Donnell, Cynthia Haultain, Jenny Walker.
Second bottom row: Joyce Wyllie, Mary McFarlane, Sarah Jewell.
Bottom row: Eileen Rutherford, Margaret Adams, Myrle Moston.
Sources
The Argus (Melbourne, 19 May 1943, p. 3), ‘Centaur Survivors Describe Terrifying Ordeal’.
The Herald (Melbourne, 19 May 1943, p. 3), ‘12 Centaur Survivors in Melbourne’.
Milligan, C. and Foley, J. (1993), Australian Hospital Ship Centaur: The Myth of Immunity, Nairana Publications.
Young, N. (2020) ‘Mary McFarlane’, Virtual War Memorial Australia.
09/05/2024
I’ll be there. Coming? 🖤💛♥️
A message from Aboriginal Veterans SA regarding their annual service on the Friday of Reconciliation Week. All welcome.
Lest we forget.
06/05/2024
Vale Bill. What a life, what a legacy.
Vale James William Hignett OAM, 1949 - 2024
We at Virtual War Memorial Australia would like to extend our condolences to the family of James William Hignett OAM who passed away on the 5th of May 2024 aged 75.
'Bill', as he was known, served in the Vietnam War with 86 Transport Platoon, Royal Australian Army Service Corps. A teacher by profession, Mr Hignett had no choice in 1970 when he was conscripted for national service under the ballot scheme.
He was a lifelong and passionate educator with a special interest in Indigenous education. He was awarded an OAM in 2014 and just last year Bill was recognised with an RSL Anzac of the Year award for his service to the community. Bill was a long time union organiser and veteran’s advocate.
I had the privilege of interviewing Fred Ellis for the ‘When The War Comes’ home podcast a few years ago, in Beachport, at the 80th anniversary of the Beachport Mine Tragedy.
Fred had come up from his home “just down the road” in Millicent with his son, and I stumbled onto him at the end of the very moving service.
Fred spoke from his lived experience aboard minesweepers at the end of WWII as a young Navy recruit. I got super lucky that day! It was a great chat.
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29/04/2024
Beaut photo by Kate Elmes Photography from last Thursday’s AVSA ANZAC Day gathering at the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander War Memorial, Torrens Parade Ground, Tarndanya.
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Videos
From 16.05.2020, my interview with Belgian remembrance pilgrim Marijke Vandevyvere, who tends the graves of ANZAC soldiers in Ypres. We discuss Marike's "Dear John" project, and the importance of her everyday remembrance practice.
Many thanks to Marijke for the interview!
My interview with Stella Tzobanakis-Dos Santos from 20.05.2020 to commemorate the 79th anniversary of the Battle of Crete. We discuss her book, 'Creforce and the Battle for Crete'.
Many thanks to Stella for the fantastic interview!
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About the podcast
From A Whisper To A Bang! is an unforgettable, award-winning six-part podcast series about wartime remembrance and an emotional journey in historical empathy, presented and produced by Australian broadcaster Megan Spencer and commissioned by the Australian War Memorial.
Beginning with her own family’s story, Megan ‘walks a mile’ in the shoes of her late grandfather, Corporal H.B. “Harry” Spencer, 2/7th Battalion, 2nd AIF. She examines the inter-generational ripple effect of her grandfather’s wartime experience as a German prisoner-of-war after being captured in the Battle of Crete in 1941.
Megan’s podcast also investigates the role of remembrance now - what we remember and how we remember it, exploring the tenet of “Lest we forget” and whether it still means what it used to. One hundred years after the end of “the war to end all war”, Megan poses, has it time has come to ask do we remember well? Do we take the responsibility of peace seriously enough? In this age of “post-truth”, “post-history” and “alternative facts”, are we forgetting the legacy of two world wars?
Recorded over 2 years in Europe and Australia, From A Whisper To A Bang! includes conversations with family members, military historians, civilians, curators, teachers, students, authors, serving members, Indigenous culture custodians and experts on empathy. It also features discussions with battlefield “pilgrims” who, just like Megan, are searching for answers about their own loved ones.
With her grandfather’s 130-page, handwritten wartime memoirs tucked into her back pocket, Megan’s sonic pilgrimage takes her around the world and back: from the crumbling ruins of Germany’s stalags and the historic battlefields and gravesites of Flanders, to the hallowed halls of Australia’s biggest shrines and its unassuming neighbourhood RSLs.
Everyone has a story.
The narrative is punctuated by field recordings and intimate voiceover links, with music by talented Cretan–Australian music duo Xylouris White, bridging the fateful shore on which Harry Spencer’s wartime fortunes changed in an instant - from a whisper, to a bang!
Listen to all six episodes now on the Australian War Memorial website, iTunes, Spotify, Youtube and wherever you find good podcasts. (Episodes originally released monthly between January 31 - June 26, 2019). The series was added to Qantas in-flight entertainment in October 2019 and on 12 June 2020 From A Whisper To A Bang! won “Best Radio News or Current Affairs or Feature Report” in the Bronze Award category for Radio, at the 2020 MEAA SA Media Awards (joint-winner with Annie Hastwell for The History Listen, Radio National, ABC, “Waterloo Bay: That word Massacre”). More here.
Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this podcast series are those of individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian War Memorial.
About Megan Spencer:
Megan Spencer is an audio maker with a distinct voice and style of her own. Known for her work as a broadcaster, writer, critic and commentator on ABC Radio and SBS Television, at heart Megan is a storyteller. Also a trained meditation teacher, Megan’s most recent podcasts are Auspicious Plastic (about precious objects and the stories behind them, nominated for a 2018 Frankie ‘Good Stuff’ Award) and From A Whisper to A Bang!, a six-part remembrance documentary series commissioned by the Australian War Memorial. She also presents a trio of interviews to commemorate ‘VP Day 75’ for World War II At Home, a remembrance project funded by the Victorian government, for the Shrine of Remembrance Melbourne, (15th August 2020).
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I acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia. I recognise sovereignty was never ceded and the continuing connection of First Nations peoples to land, waters and community. I pay my respects to First Nations people, their cultures, and to elders past, present and emerging.
