The unit, equipped with A6M Zero fighter aircraft, was involved in several major battles in the south and central Pacific from 1942 to 1943, including the Battle of the Bismarck Sea.
Notable displays on the Western side include a complete and particularly historic Lancaster bomber known as G for George, a Japanese Ko-hyoteki class midget submarine sunk during a raid on Sydney Harbour in 1942, rare German aircraft such as the Me 262 and Me 163, and a restored Japanese A6M Zero, that was flown in combat over New Guinea.
His A6M Zero was the first of that type (after those recovered after the Attack on Pearl Harbor) to be recovered relatively intact on Allied territory when he crash landed on Melville Island, Northern Territory, Australia.
Since 1940 was the Japanese year 2600, the new fighter was named as "Model 00" or "Zero" or A6M Zero, in Japan also known as the "Rei-sen" (literally meaning "zero fight," shortened for Model zero fighter airplane).
Between 1939 and 1946 the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) produced 755 Wirraways for use as a general purpose trainer, though they saw action in the desperate defence of Malaya and Papua New Guinea where they were lost at an appalling rate to superior Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero
Taking heavy fire from the planes, PT-350 shot down one of the two attacking fighters, believing them to be A6M Zeros.
The first floor entrance hall can be entered free of admission, and contains an A6M Zero fighter aircraft and a Class C56 steam locomotive number C56 31 used in Thailand during the post-war period.