By Geoff Barnes The following story by Geoff Barnes who created a diorama of the RAN Bridging Team at Suvla Bay in 1915 was first published as a blog by ...
WWI operations
Occasional Paper 183: The RAN Bridging Train – Dry Land Sailors
The Bridging Train which existed as a small but highly effective unit of the RAN operated essentially on dry land as field engineers between 1915 and 1917. They served with ...
Occasional Paper 171 : Tasmanian leads the African Naval Expedition 1915-18
By Ross Gillett Some of the most exotic campaigns of the Great War (1914 to 1918) were fought in Africa. All but forgotten today, they are fascinating stories in their ...
Occasional Paper 159: River Class Torpedo Boat Destroyers
This article was originally published in LE GROGNARD!, the newsletter of the ACT Branch of the Military Historical Society of Australia, January 2023 edition – Issue #2023/1. Tim Lyon is ...
Book Review: Australia’s Secret Army.
Australia’s Secret Army. A story of the Coastwatchers, the unsung heroes of Australia’s Armed Forces during World War II is told by Michael Veitch, published by Hachette, Sydney, 2022. Soft ...
Mission Creep in the Dardanelles
By CMDR Max Speedy DSC RAN Rtd Captain Arthur Edward Dunn CBE RD ADC RNR was married to my great-aunt and as a result I have his voluminous papers and ...
Action of Cape Spada – 19 July 1940
Plan for operations against enemy submarines and shipping in the Aegean. On 18 July 1940, four destroyers departed Alexandria for an anti-submarine hunt towards the Kaso Strait and then along ...
Bombardment of Bardia, 21 June 1940.
Operation MD 3 Bombardment of Bardia, 21 June 1940. An Allied force sailed on 20 June 1940 to carry out operation MD 3, the object was to destroy military objectives ...
Letter: Commander Frederick Campbell Darley RN: More News
An article by Greg Swinden appeared in the June 2017 edition of this magazine outlining the story of Commander Frederick Darley RN who played a significant part in the establishment ...
Occasional Paper 91: Invidious Choices – The German East Asia Squadron and the RAN in the Pacific, August to December 1914
By Lieutenant Commander Desmond Woods RAN This paper was first published by the Australian Naval Institute online and in an abbreviated form the by the UK Naval Review and by ...
Letter from Frederick Merrill RAN on the sinking of the S.M.S. Königsberg
Butcher, 2nd Class Frederick Priest Merrill, R.A.N., H.M.A.S. Pioneer, wrote to his parents in Sheffield with his account of the sinking of the S.M.S. Königsberg in the Rufiji delta, German ...
The Royal Australian Navy in World War One
The following note was provided by Captain Sean Andrews, RAN Director of the Sea Power Centre -Australia. Thanks also for the link to a short film made by the Sea ...
Occasional Paper 59: Francis James Ranken
July 2019 Early Career Francis James Ranken was born in 1864 at ‘Saltram’, Eglinton, near Bathurst. He was the eldest son of James Australian Ranken and was educated at All ...
Occasional Paper 55: Reuben Mitchell DSM, RAN – Survivor of HMS E14
June 2019 The following story is of an Australian Able Seaman whom some military historians believe should have been awarded the Victoria Cross for his courage and compassion while under ...
Scapa Flow Revisited
By Walter Burroughs The name Scapa Flow was synonymous with naval operations in both world wars as a safe anchorage for vast fleets seeking to control access to the seaborne ...
Book Review: THE LAST CRUISE OF A GERMAN RAIDER – THE DESTRUCTION OF SMS EMDEN
THE LAST CRUISE OF A GERMAN RAIDER – THE DESTRUCTION OF SMS EMDEN by Wes Olson. Seaforth Publishing, Pen and Sword Books, Barnsley, United Kingdom, 2018. Hard Cover, 274 Pages, ...
The Emden Guns
By Wes Olson When the small German cruiser SMS Emden was destroyed by HMAS Sydney at the Cocos-Keeling Islands on 9 November 1914 the British Admiralty was presented with a unique opportunity ...
Rear Admiral Claude Lionel Cumberiege and his influence on the RAN
The Naval Historical Society was recently favoured with copies of two volumes of an unpublished five volume set comprising the autobiography of Rear Admiral Cumberiege. The volumes came from his ...
Occasional Paper 20: Surgeon LCDR Jack Rupert Law Willis, RAN
December 2017 Surgeon LCDR Jack Rupert Law Willis, RAN 1888-1971 MB BS Melb These biographical notes on LCDR Jack Willis who served in HMS Prince of Wales during World War ...
The Sailors of Fromelles
By Commander Tony Vine, RANR In the eyes of the Australian public the Royal Australian Navy’s role in the Great War is generally limited to the capture of New Guinea, ...
Occasional Paper 15: Battle of Bita Paka 11 September 1914
September 2017 The Battle of Bita Paka (11 September 1914) was fought south of Kabakaul, on the island of New Britain, and was a part of the invasion and subsequent ...
Commander Frederick Campbell Darley 1886 – 1926
Frederick Campbell Darley was born at Elizabeth Bay, Sydney, NSW on 12 February 1886, the eldest child of Cecil West Darley (Public Works Engineer) and Constance Leila Annette Darley (nee ...
HMAS Melbourne in WWI – a Diarist’s Perspective
By Kingsley Perry George Henry Iles was born at Norwood, Surrey on 11 December 1883 and later joined the Royal Navy where he became a cook. On 14 October 1912 ...
The Awkward Art of Getting Ashore and Off Again
By Geoff Barnes The author, a keen amateur historian and model maker, gathered most of the information used in this article from research undertaken in building a diorama of the ...
Book Review: The Digger’s View – WWI in Colour
The Digger’s View – WWI in Colour by Juan Mahony. Published by The Digger’s View Pty Ltd, Newcastle, NSW, 2014. Hardback quarto size, 270 pages of high quality printing and artwork ...