Following the 1932-33 Ashes series held in Australia in which English captain Douglas Jardine employed ‘Bodyline’ tactics to combat the batting skills of Don Bradman a much lighter match was ...
Biographies and personal histories
Occasional Paper 40: Secret History of the First Australian to be given Penicillin
On Thursday 9th August 2018 the ABC 7.30 Report broadcast a story by Tracy Bowden about the first use of penicillin in Australia. Tracy has given permission to the Naval ...
Occasional Paper 39: Compelled to Resign THE STORY OF COMMANDER PAUL HUGILL HIRST RAN 1899-1963
by Lieutenant Commander Terry Feltham RAN Ret’d “Just because something ends doesn’t mean it never should’ve been. Remember, you lived, you learned, you grew and you moved on”. Anon. Why ...
Occasional Paper 36: HMAS Sydney (3) Delivery to Australia: 1949
Our thanks go to Debbie Irwin for the letter by her uncle, Stoker Mechanician James (Jim) Ashwood of HMAS Sydney (3) to his sister Nancy dated 8 May 1949 about ...
Occasional Paper 35: Loss of HMAS Parramatta (II): First Hand Accounts
Recently the Naval Historical Society of Australia was favoured with two handwritten letters from survivors of the sinking of HMAS Parramatta (II) off Tobruk overnight 27 November 1941. The first ...
Occasional Paper 29: Captain Frederick Melbourne Piggott RD RNR
Captain Frederick Melbourne Piggott RD RNR was born in the UK in April 1915 and moved to Australia in 1943 where he trained young men to handle a Dutch submarine. ...
Occasional Paper 27: Royal Naval House, ‘Johnnies’: Some Personal Reminisces
Royal Australian Naval House has always been known affectionately as ‘Johnnies’, although the origin of the name is hard to trace. From 1968 to 1970 a young Able Seaman Brian ...
Occasional Paper 20: Surgeon LCDR Jack Rupert Law Willis, RAN 1888-1971 MB BS Melb
Surgeon LCDR Jack Rupert Law Willis, RAN 1888-1971 MB BS Melb These biographical notes on LCDR Jack Willis who served in HMAS Prince of Wales during World War 1 were ...
Occasional Paper 19: Surgeon Commander Alexander Ruan Caw, RAN MB BS. Adelaide 1879-1924
Surgeon Commander Alexander Ruan Caw, RAN MB BS. Adelaide. 1879-1924 These biographical notes on CMDR Alexander Caw who served in HMAS Australia during World War 1 were provided by ...
Occasional Paper 8: THE GUSTAVO STEFANINI STORY
The following story was provided by Commander Stephen Youll, OAM RAN Retd in relation to the matter of the first RAN ship to sink a submarine in World War 2. ...
Occasional Paper 5: Ken Brown: Service in HMAS Nestor
By Warrant Officer Martin Grogan SBLT Ken Brown, RAN Mr Ken BROWN (aged 95) a retired RAN Lieutenant Commander and World War Two veteran was recently awarded the British ...
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: Gordon’s Nuggets: The Principles of War and How They Help in Love, Life & Work.
Gordon’s Nuggets: The Principles of War and How They Help in Love, Life & Work by Gordon Ramsay.The book is now available through the Society’s website shop and all good booksellers. ...
A Naval Family: The Hixsons
By Dr J.K. Haken While the Hixson family is well recorded in colonial naval history, that of one member, Edward Manwell Hixson who went to Queensland, has only recently come ...
A Non-Combatant at War: Palestine, Greece and Crete 1941 – Pt 1
Dr. Richmond Jeremy, OBE MB ChM FRCP FRACP 1899 – 1995 Notes made by Dr. Jeremy were transcribed and published in 1998 by his son Richmond Jeremy. With permission of ...
Captain Jack Bolton Newman RAN – The Grandfather of Information Warfare Officers and RAN Communications
By SBLT Cináed Finall RAN We are pleased to publish this essay, which was written in 2023 in support of the inaugural Information Warfare Officer Course dux award. Cináed joined ...
The Last National Serviceman – Part 3
Part II of this series appeared in the December 2023 edition of this magazine. By Robert Stephenson In 1952, after the acquisition of HMAS Sydney III, the Royal Navy lent ...
HMS Devonshire and King Haakon VII
By James (JO) Morrice It is with great sadness that we hear of the recent passing of our friend and comrade Captain JO Morrice RAN and trust this short article ...
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 ...
Thelma’s Story and Recollections of Newcastle
Introduction When my wife first went to work at West Pennant Hills Public School in the early 1970s she met Thelma Tame, a slightly older colleague; the two became friends, ...
Yachties Piece: Lieutenant Peter Smith RANVR Rtd: A ‘Roy-Boy’ at War
By Dr Simon Smith AM FRHSV Dad, what did you do in the war? A question most baby boomers would have posed as they grew up and became conscious of ...
‘No Cloak, No Dagger’
By Tim Proust This story was provided by Tim Proust of the Orbost & District Historical Society from an original unpublished family history prepared by his grandfather Walter Hugh Brooksbank. ...
Occasional Paper 176: A Ship is Burning
By Ken Wright As the attractive blonde seventeen-year-old rode her push bike to work on the cold morning of 22 July 1942, the Japanese submarine I-11 had already torpedoed the American ...
A War Artist’s Nude Painting
By Beryllouise Mitchell In 1999, after the 30 August ballot in East Timor (later Timor-Leste) that was to determine the territory’s future went drastically wrong, the United Nations sanctioned an ...
Queensland Mining meets First Sea Lord and Strikes Oil
Prepared from inspiration provided by our Queensland member and mining engineer Colin Randall. William Knox D’Arcy and John Arbuthnot Fisher both came from families with prominent distant relatives but they ...