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There is a famous line in The Ode that is recited each Anzac Day as we remember Australia's fallen soldiers.
"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn," it reads.
Yet for the thousands of our returned veterans, the years did age them.
Now, an ambitious project to photograph more than 6,500 of our former soldiers has just concluded.
Among these men and women there is a former Rat of Tobruk; a soldier who went without food for 13 days on the Kokoda Trail; and a Lancaster bomber pilot who was shot over Germany, but somehow managed to get his plane to safety.
The not-for-profit project, Reflections, was managed by the Australian Institute of Professional Photography in partnership with the RSL and Australian War Memorial and included more than 450 volunteer photographers.
Their subjects fought in bunkers, flew in planes, ran communications programs and even met future partners during wartime.
Paul Royle was part of the Great Escape in WWII, and recounted to his photographer Garry Sarre how they managed to hide the dirt they dug out of escape tunnels.
"We used to put the legs of our long johns filled with dirt inside our pants," he said.
"We'd put a nail in the bottom and that was attached to a string leading to my pocket.
"When I found somewhere in the camp that's colour was the same as in my pants, I pulled out the nail and shuffled it into the ground, when the guards weren't looking."
Then there was infantry battalion solider Ross Foreman, whose medals are a reminder of the mates who couldn't follow him home.
"A few of my mates got shot and killed alongside me. I take it with me when I wear these medals," he said.
Kelly Snow was a key link in the communications chain and recounted the frantic aftermath of an air raid one night.
"On the night of the raid, I saw Barnes Wallis and Bomber Harris sitting there and knew something was on," she said.
"As soon as I heard the special code word I had to get through to [British] Prime Minister Winston Churchill ... and tell him."
For others, like David and Helen Richards, they found love amongst the heartache of WWII.
"The best thing ever in my life happened when I met a beautiful lady playing the piano in our band," Mr Richards said.
"Helen swept me off my feet and now we have been 69 years married."
Reflections' national project manager John de Rooy said the project aimed to provide a "compelling" pictorial record of our former soldiers.
"A sensitive portrayal of their elderly state will provide a cognisant comparison to wartime footage of young active men and women photographed in their youth," he said.
Louise Bagger photographed at least 200 veterans and said it was an honour to take part.
"There's a deep admiration and respect for these people," she said.
"They shook our hands in gratefulness; we thanked each one of them for their service and we all walked away happy."
A single printed book containing the collection will be presented to the Australian War Memorial in August, and a website has been created for the public to search the images.
Topics: world-war-2, unrest-conflict-and-war, history, photography, australia
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