The centre overlooks King George Sound where two convoys departed for the battlefields of the First World War. It was opened on 1st November 2014 to coincide with the centenary of the departure of the first convoy.
Through interactive displays, it tells the stories of soldiers, nurses, army chaplains, surgeons, war correspondents, photographers and even the horses who left in the convoys. You are given a card at the entrance which lets you follow the story of one particular person, from embarkation to the end of the war, when you find out if they returned home.
An amazing amount of thought has gone into the design of the building and the exhibition to take advantage of its position. The pool of reflections is a quiet room for visitors to sit and contemplate whilst looking out across the bay. The names of all the men and women who left on the conveys slowly move across the screen underneath the water. For thousands on those ships, it was the last time they would see Australia.
Thousands of horses were sent across with the convoys but only one Australian horse returned home – Sandy, who was the mount of Major General Sir William Bridges. When Sandy died in 1923, his head and hooves were mounted and his head can be seen at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
The Convoy Walk leads up to a lookout and information boards along the walk provide details about all the ships in the convoys. At the start of the walk is a sculpture of a torn and crumpled letter and scripts from original letters and postcards written during the war.
The centre is within the grounds of Princess Royal Fortress which was built to protect the shores in times of war.
You could easily spend a whole day at the complex. The entrance fee for the centre is $24 but everything else is free.
