This story was first published in the Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) Volunteers’ quarterly magazine, ‘All Hands’, Issue 129 in December 2024. The author, Geoff Barnes is a volunteer with ...
Book reviews
Book Review: Salt Horse
Salt Horse – Memoir of a Maverick Admiral, Claude Lionel Cumberlege. Published by Whittles Publishing Ltd, Dunbeath, Caithness KW6 6EG, Scotland. Admiral Claude Cumberlege RN wrote his memoirs in 1936-38, ...
Book Review: Abide With Me – The HMAS Voyager Tragedy
Abide With Me – The HMAS Voyager Tragedy by Elizabeth McCarthy This year marks the sixtieth anniversary of the collision between HMAS Melbourne and HMAS Voyager off the New South ...
Book Review: Where the Flaming Hell are we?
Where the Flaming Hell are we? This new wartime history by Craig Collie paints a vivid picture of Australian and New Zealanders desperately fighting in Greece and Crete and as ...
Book Review: The Yachties. Australian Volunteers in The Royal Navy 1940-45
The Yachties. Australian Volunteers in The Royal Navy 1940-45. By Janet Roberts Billett. Australian Scholarly Publishing Pty Ltd., North Melbourne Vic. 3051 In 1940 the Royal Navy anticipated a shortage ...
Book Review: Shanghai Demimondaine – From Sex Worker to Society Matron.
Shanghai Demimondaine: From Sex Worker to Society Matron. This biography by Nick Hordern was published earlier this year by Earnshaw Books of Hong Kong. Paperback 262 pages available from Amazon ...
Book Review: “Safe to Dive – Submarine Support in Sydney 1914 to 1999”
“Safe to Dive – Submarine Support in Sydney 1914 to 1999” by John Jeremy was published by The Naval Historical Society of Australia in 2023, under licence agreement with the ...
Book Review: Royal Yachts Under Sail
Royal Yachts Under Sail by Brian Lavery, Seaforth Publishing, Bransley, 2022. A well-presented hardcover using quality paper enhancing colourful pictures and illustrations. While only 160 pages it packs a huge ...
Book Review: Lost Women of Rabaul
Lost Women of Rabaul by Rod Miller, 2022, Big Sky Publishing, Newport, NSW, PB 350pp, RRP $32.99 This review first appeared in Reconnaissance, the magazine of the Military History Society ...
Occasional Paper 169: HMAS Vendetta and Commander Eric Eugene Johnston RAN; Vietnam Deployment 1969 – 1970
You must be a logged-in member to view this post. If you recently purchased a membership it can take up to 5 days to be activated, as our volunteers only work on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If you are not a member yet or your membership just expired you can Join Now by purchasing a new membership from the shop. ...
Book Review: Love, Oil and the Fortunes of War
Love, Oil and the Fortunes of War is a fictionalised history by Sydney-based author Paul Ashford Harris. Published by Ventura Press in 2023, a paperback edition of 288 pages and ...
Book Review: Nelson’s Lost Son.
Nelson’s Lost Son. The recently published Nelson’s Lost Son is the second part of a trilogy by author Oliver Greeves. Part One, Nelson’s Folly, was reviewed in the December 2021 ...
Book Review: The Scrap Iron Flotilla
The Scrap Iron Flotilla by Mike Carlton. William Heinemann Australia. Paperback of 448 pages. rrp $34.99 On Sunday September 3rd 1939, history was tumbling over itself. In the mess decks ...
Book Review: The Hunt for the Storozhevoy; the 1975 Soviet Navy Mutiny in the Baltic
The Hunt for the Storozhevoy; the 1975 Soviet Navy Mutiny in the Baltic. By Michael Fredholm von Essen. From Helion Books, Europe At War Series No 19. Published 2022. This ...
Book Review: The Far Land: 200 Years of Murder, Mania and Mutiny in the South Pacific.
The Far Land: 200 Years of Murder, Mania and Mutiny in the South Pacific. This 327-page paperback edition written by Brandon Presser was published by Icon Books of London in ...
Book Review: Portrait of a Working Dockyard
Portrait of a Working Dockyard. This photobook by Berylouise Mitchell comes in a limited edition, handmade in A4 landscape format by Australia’s premier photobook printer MomentoPro in Sydney and sells ...
Book Review: Flying Stations II
Flying Stations II. The Royal Australian Navy’s Fleet Air Arm 1998-2022. This fine book edited by Lieutenant Commander Desmond Woods OAM RAN is published by the RAN Fleet Air Arm ...
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 ...
Occasional Paper 148: Nautical School Ship Sobraon and Bernard Kieran – one of the great early Australian swimmers
You must be a logged-in member to view this post. If you recently purchased a membership it can take up to 5 days to be activated, as our volunteers only work on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If you are not a member yet or your membership just expired you can Join Now by purchasing a new membership from the shop. ...
Book Review: The Scrap Iron Flotilla – Five valiant destroyers and the Australian war in the Mediterranean.
By Mike Carlton, published by Random House Australia. A 448-page illustrated paperback with photographs. Available at all good booksellers from about $30.00. Some chroniclers are ideal authors for their subject ...
Book Review: On Contested Shores
On Contested Shores. The Evolving Role of Amphibious Operations in the History of Warfare. This large paperback of 452 pages edited by Timothy Heck and B. A. Friedman was published ...
Book Review: Once a Sailor
Once a Sailor. Soft cover of 324 pages by Ray Rees. RRP $32.95 also available from author Ramon.Rees@yahoo.com.au. Published by Vivid Publishing, Fremantle WA 2021. The author joined the RAN ...
Book Review: Sea Monsters – Savage Submarine Commanders of WWII
Sea Monsters – Savage Submarine Commanders of WWII, by Tony Matthews. Soft cover of 348 pages with b&w photographs. Published by Big Sky Publishing, Sydney, 2021. This book discusses the ...
Book Review: The WRENS of World War II
THE WRENS OF WORLD WAR II. By Peter Hore, a paperback of 240 pages, published by Big Sky Publishing, Moss Vale, NSW, in 2021. Available at most booksellers from $24.75. ...
A Garden Island Apprenticeship
The December 2021 edition of this magazine contained an article How did we get 16-inch Gun Projectiles to Australia?This came from the memoirs of Geoff Davidson, and using the same ...