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You are here: Home / Archives for Thomson, Max

Thomson, Max

Occasional Paper 34: Paddle Steamer Weeroona

Thomson, Max · Oct 29, 2018 ·

September 2018 Recently the attention of the NHSA was drawn to the possibility of a paddle-steamer serving in the RAN.  It appears that the closest was PS Weeroona built as ...

Torres Strait – Small-ship Refuelling Stopovers

Thomson, Max · Mar 5, 2008 ·

Thursday Island and nearby Horn Island in the Torres Strait were always welcome stopovers for fuel or water for so many WWII Fairmile patrol vessels as they ‘went north’ to ...

The “Lighter” Side of the War at Sea

Thomson, Max · Dec 3, 2005 ·

As movies, so many of the films screened to RAN personnel in rare moments of comparative leisure time in wartime ships were easily forgettable. For the author and many like ...

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Germany’s Surrender 60 years ago – Admiralty Signal

Thomson, Max · Sep 1, 2005 ·

A lifetime onwards, Navy men and women reflected inevitably during the month of May 2005 as to where they actually were when the German surrender brought about cessation of WWII ...

HMAS Hawkesbury and Singapore POWs return

Thomson, Max · Jun 10, 2004 ·

With the unveiling by CDF General Cosgrove at Ballarat on 6 February 2004 of the memorial dedicated to 35,000 Australians who became prisoners-of-war in all conflicts, journalist and Navy veteran ...

Missing were the usherettes and the popcorn

Thomson, Max · Mar 30, 2001 ·

As movies, so many of the films were easily forgettable; yet the locations and especially the settings and circumstances under which they were screened, were gems of wartime naval service ...

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Operation Downfall – The Invasion Of Japan

Thomson, Max · Sep 1, 1999 ·

Now DECLASSIFIED, only a few Americans back in 1945 ever were privileged to have access to a plan which, to this day, few Americans – and fewer Australians – still ...

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Letter: The Day It Rained Metal At Manus

Thomson, Max · Jun 1, 1999 ·

Dear Editors, Two quite enthralling packages came to me last week – one from Morton PA in America and the other from Anchorage, Alaska USA – all as a result ...

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Letters – Japanese surrender in Timor

Thomson, Max · Sep 18, 1998 ·

There was a uniqueness about the RAN involvement in the Japanese surrender ceremonies in Timor, raised in Peter Evans’s (Fairmile Association) letter in REVIEW Vol 19 No. 2 when he ...

What flag was that?

Thomson, Max · Sep 18, 1998 ·

Amid the saga of events in Jakarta over recent times, the red over white horizontal halves of the flag of the Republic of Indonesia have figured in high prominence. Displayed ...

HMAS Hawkesbury – The Pathos of Palawan

Thomson, Max · Mar 23, 1998 ·

For an RAN ship, Palawan on the edge of the South China Sea was a unique place indeed to visit; especially amid circumstances that were dramatic to say the least. ...

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The Preservation of HMAS Diamantina – Diamantina’s dilemma

Thomson, Max · Jun 4, 1996 ·

Preserving yesteryear’s warships to enhance our maritime heritage is never easy. Even in the U.K. with its big population, the task of maintaining HMS BELFAST in the Thames opposite the ...

The Bullet that Killed Nelson

Thomson, Max · Dec 29, 1995 ·

With its spectacular front cover reproduction of the portrait of Vice-Admiral Viscount Lord Nelson K.B., the September issue of NAVAL HISTORICAL REVIEW was fascinating with its feature story about “The RAN ...

Spectrum of Command -RANVR, RANR(S) and RAN

Thomson, Max · Sep 1, 1995 ·

*The first became Australia’s Minister for Defence. * The second piloted 8463 ships of the world through our major ports to set a record that probably never will be eclipsed. ...

Endeavour Replica under construction

Thomson, Max · Dec 12, 1992 ·

Pieces of oregon some 530 years old are among a whole range of woods being used to meticulously construct a museum replica of Captain Cook’s Endeavour currently nearing completion in ...

Antarctic Lubricants

Thomson, Max · Dec 11, 1991 ·

SCOTCH & ICEBERG Lieutenant John Pain RANR (Ret), an Ansett Airlines career man and personal helicopter pilot to the late Sir Reginald Ansett, gave an enthralling address recently to the ...

USS Mount Hood – Explosion At Manus Island 1944

Thomson, Max · Jun 11, 1991 ·

What is it about the name Hood? Britain’s renowned 42,000-ton battlecruiser H.M.S. Hood met a fiery wartime fate in mortal combat with the German battleship BISMARCK and cruiser PRINZ EUGEN ...

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Unique Shield for Hobart Museum

Thomson, Max · Mar 11, 1991 ·

Navy history keeps bobbing up in the most unexpected places. Browsing through an antique shop ‘up north’ a Navy enthusiast spotted the wartime shield of the RAN 817 Squadron Fleet ...

Letter – Gallipoli Commemorative Issue

Thomson, Max · Sep 30, 1990 ·

Could I just place in writing my compliments to all associated with the June 1990 – Gallipoli Commemorative Issue – of NHR just received. It makes for damned good reading ...

Adding to the Routine!

Thomson, Max · Jun 21, 1990 ·

The Human Side of the War at Sea… Backgrounded by years and years of experience, day to day life on a warship of the RAN – even in wartime – ...

RAN Frigates – the versatile warship

Thomson, Max · Jun 19, 1990 ·

When the name frigate was introduced into the RAN on November 18, 1943 with the commissioning of HMAS GASCOYNE, its ship’s company could not in its wildest dreams have envisaged ...

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HMAS Diamantina During EXPO 88

Thomson, Max · Dec 19, 1989 ·

Almost 10 years after decommissioning as a unit of the fleet, of the Queensland Maritime Museum, the River-class frigate HMAS DIAMANTINA, launched in 1944, capped its wartime and post-war career ...

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The Salvage of the USS New Orleans – 1942

Thomson, Max · Jun 14, 1989 ·

  Ships arrive off Sydney Heads under steam, under sail, under tow and even underwater in the case of submarines. But one ship arrived backwards! Amid dramatic circumstances, it was ...

The Blackout at Sea

Thomson, Max · Mar 4, 1989 ·

Logically, Naval history focuses on ships of the fleet and drama on the high seas, especially in times of war. Equally important for preservation in the chapters of our Naval ...

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The War of Words

Thomson, Max · Mar 1, 1989 ·

Few things bugged wartime Australians more than censorship. When it came to news from the far-flung battlefronts where Australians in thousands were involved in the fighting, the lack of knowledge ...

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