In mid 1941 the British naval defence of the Malayan peninsula comprised a small number of old cruisers and destroyers, all dating from the end of WW I or shortly ...
Battles and operations
HMAS Maryborough & Charles Moses-Escape from Java 1942
Lieut. R B Stannard VC – HMS Arab – Norway 1940
The Contribution of Merchant Seamen During the Fall of Crete – 1941
It is not always appreciated that British and Australian merchant seamen served ashore (probably inadvertently) during the withdrawal of Allied forces from Greece and subsequently, Crete. One such story deserves ...
Book Review: Stoker’s Submarine
Title: Stoker’s Submarine Authors: Fred & Elizabeth Brenchley Publisher: Harper Collins Nearly every Australian could tell you the history of the landing at Anzac Cove, on 25 April 1915, of ...
The Alchiba Travail
The Battle of the Atlantic – Western Approaches Command
HMS Cossack
The name COSSACK, to many people, means a fierce sabre-wielding horseman from southern Russia. To most World War II naval veterans it reminds them of the exploits of the Tribal ...
The Role of the RAN in the Liberation of the Philippines
Missing were the usherettes and the popcorn
Christmas Day Off Korea
I recall this amusing little story as told by my former captain of a large destroyer, from his earlier days during the Korean War (1951-53). My CO was a gunnery ...
Naval involvement in the Boxer Rebellion – 100th Anniversary
Torpedoing of SS Ormiston – 1943
The HMAS Sydney – HSK Kormoran Engagement (November 1941) – Part 2
Operation “Meridian” – Palembang Oil Refineries, 1945
Book Review: Alone on Guadalcanal – A Coastwatcher’s Story
ALONE ON GUADALCANAL – A Coastwatcher’s Story, By Martin Clemens CBE OBE AM MC High on anyone’s list of largely unsung heroes of the Pacific War must come the British and ...
HMAS Sydney Inquiry (Letter No. 2)
A further detailed letter has been received from member James Eagles, ex-RAN Communicator, documenting many instances of the Germans decoding British naval and merchant ship signal traffic in 1941, etc. ...
HMAS Sydney Inquiry (Letter No. 1)
Earlier correspondence from a member concerning an important point of ship recognition vis-a-vis Kormoran and Straat Malakka deserves response. He queries how the Dutch merchantman with a distinctive counter stern ...
The Sound of Torpedoes
At least once a year, somewhere in Australia, the Oscar winning movie “The Sound of Music” is aired on television. Many members are aware of the main plot; the story ...
Disaster at Bari
Mustard gas in World War II? Let me tell you of the happenings at Bari in Italy on the evening of 2 December 1943. Bari had recently become the main ...
Letters – Loss of sea language
Sir, Reading Roger Puttman’s letter (NHR 20-2) and his shared complaint concerning the loss of sea language put me in mind of an incident aboard Quiberon during Arch Harrington’s command ...
Letter – The discovery of AE2
Dear Sirs, I read Mark Spencer’s article… “The Discovery of the AE2 – a WW1 Submarine” with great interest and agree that it is a story largely unknown in this ...
The Sydney – Kormoran Engagement – Part 1
Operation Downfall
Regarding “The Century’s Greatest Untold Story” in Vol. 20, No. 4, although OPERATION DOWNFALL may have been top secret, it was generally known, even in the BPF, that an invasion ...
Operation Downfall – The invasion of Japan – a sequel
Almost as sensational as “OPERATION DOWNFALL” – the top-secret plan for the invasion of Japan as detailed in the last issue of Naval Historical Review (Vol. 20, No. 4) – ...