It would seem that the collecting of military artefacts and memorabilia has always struck a chord with Australians.
Trench art, bring backs of captured enemy uniform items, hate belts and the like are scattered across many Australian homes, and all too often sadly neglected.
The emotions, stories and history attached to each item are often sadly lost when people lose the link with Grandparents, Parents and Uncles etc who traveled, fought and brought back mementos of their adventures.
The collecting of militaria in Australia is alive and well today, an interest often started in a young person by finding one of the above-mentioned treasures in a relatives’ home, and hearing the tales attached to it.
The collecting of Australian military is thus not merely an investment (as values of historical military antiques never seems to drop) but it’s also a valid way to conserve our military heritage.
The many private collections of militaria across Australia still capture the imaginations of those ushered into the man caves to peruse them, and spark a new generation of interested parties in our military history.
Over the years I have been thrilled to see many private collections, some quite general in nature with military antiques of all styles to those that focus purely upon one field such as military badges, sweetheart picture postcards and pins, military headgear, shell casings, trench art or military uniforms of a particular era or corps.
Whilst there does seem to be a decline in the number of larger private or RSL style museums housing militaria, thankfully private household collections seem to be on the increase.
When collecting Australian militaria, or that of the many opponents our forces have gone up against, it can not only preserve the interest but also be a sound investment.