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The first rocket-powered aircraft to see operational service, the German Me 163 Komet, has arrived at Anzac Hall to become part of the Australian War Memorial.
The single-seater, tailless rocket-powered interceptor Wunderwaffe (wonder weapon) produced by Nazi Germany during World War II is joined in the hall by a Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter aircraft as part of the memorial’s development project.
Both aircraft will be accompanied by artifacts, photographs and stories relating to Australian participation in the campaign to free Europe. Anzac Hall is scheduled for completion before Anzac Day 2026.
“The installation and display of the Me 163 Komet and the Bf 109G fighter into the newly constructed Anzac Hall will help tell the story of the deadly threats faced by the 10,000 Australians who served in Bomber command in the skies over Nazi-occupied Europe,” Australian War Memorial curatorial business manager Shane Casey said.
The Me 163, despite being concept designed in the late 1930s, is considered to be a significant technological accomplishment which aided the future advance of other rocket-powered systems.
The Messerschmitt Bf 109 single-seater fighter, used in the Battle of Britain and throughout World War II, was employed across all fronts of the war with more than 35,000 Me 109s produced in total.
