In late 1914, over 41,000 Australians and New Zealanders left Albany, bound for the First World War. This is their story.

The National Anzac Centre honours the Anzac story. Set within Albany Heritage Park, using multi-media and interactive technologies, the Centre offers visitors a deeply personal connection with the Anzac experience. With content developed by the Western Australian Museum and Australian War Memorial, the key phases and events of the First World War are told through the voices of the Anzacs themselves. Recognising the ‘NZ’ in Anzac, it is both an Australian and New Zealand story.

The Centre opens on 1 November 2014 to mark the centenary of the Australian and New Zealand troop convoys’ departure from Albany’s King George Sound to the First World War.

Upon entering the National Anzac Centre, visitors assume the identity of one of 30 Anzac characters or two of their foes, and walk with them as they experience the war: from recruitment; through training and embarkation; ship-board life on the convoys; on to the conflicts at Gallipoli, the Middle East and the Western Front; and life after the war for those who returned.

These personal stories unfold through interactive, multimedia displays, poignant artefacts from across Australia and New Zealand, rare images and film, and audio commentary.

The National Anzac Centre experience concludes with a remembrance gallery and the discovery of each service person’s fate. Visitors then have the opportunity to document their own feelings through an interactive wall which displays their messages within the National Anzac Centre, and then the world, via the Internet.