Hundreds of Australians and New Zealanders fought throughout central Europe during the Second World War. 43 Australians died here, and are interred at the Klagenfurt War Cemetery in Austria and at the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Solymár, Hungary.
Four of those men's stories are set out below.
Through the interactive map, you can also discover where some of the Anzacs fought in central Europe and where they died and lie buried.
Jack Emmott
Jack Emmott was a 20 year old pilot flying his 8th mission in Wellington bombers when his aircraft went missing in an attack on rail yards in Hungary on 22 November 1944.
After the war it was learned that their target had been heavily protected by enemy fighters and that his aircraft had exploded mid-air, falling to the ground over a wide area near Kámaházapuszta. Jack and his crew were buried by locals and later reinterred at Solymar CWGC near Budapest. At 20 years of age Jack was the youngest member of his squadron to die in the war. |
Bob Flegg
Bob Flegg was a member of the St Kilda Football Club side in 1941, and was its top goal kicker, having kicked 47 goals that year. He left his promising career to become an RAAF bomber pilot in 1942. Bob was allocated to number 70 Squadron RAF and flew numerous missions into Europe. |
Jack Irwin
Jack Irwin was a New Zealander working in Melbourne for The Age newspaper when he enlisted in the RAAF in 1942. He was trained to fly Mosquito fighter bombers and had completed numerous ground attack and photo reconnaissance missions before he was killed near Vienna in 1944. |
Albert Reynolds
Albert Reynolds was a Western Australian who fought as an infantryman in numerous battles including Bardia, Tobruk, Derna, Benghazi, Greece and Crete. |
The contents of this page were kindly provided by Nigel Earnshaw.
Photo credits: National Archives of Australia, www.saints.com.au, Nigel Earnshaw.