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, ...
Biographies and personal histories
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By Tim Proust This story was provided by Tim Proust of the Orbost & District Historical Society from an original unpublished family history prepared by his grandfather Walter Hugh Brooksbank.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
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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 ...
Our First Patrol Boats – Part 2
By Walter Burroughs The December 2022 edition of this magazine contained an article Our First Patrol Boats concerning a class of five topsail schooners built in Sydney in the 1870s, ...
Tristan da Cunha and a Tribute to John Smith
The Naval Historical Society is an association of individuals bound together by a love of the navy. Occasionally a member of this band of brothers and sisters stands out from ...
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 ...
Occasional Paper 160: Shipwright First Class Patrick Daniel Murphy BEM
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Occasional Paper 158: John Palmer: The Colony’s First Principal Commissary
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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 ...
The Enterprising Enderbys
By Walter Burroughs The English Civil War During the 18th and 19th centuries the name Enderby was well-known in shipping circles in Great Britain and its colonies in America and ...
Remembering Platypus and the Mothballed Fleet
By Vince Fazio We recently became aware of a proposal to upgrade the Watsons Bay Wharf and have written of our concerns (see Letters) to the Manager of the Project ...
Letter: A Christmas Story
In the December 2019 edition of this magazine we ran a ‘Christmas Story’ relating to the naval service of Temporary Lieutenant Ernest Joseph Huson Christmas RANVR. Lieutenant Christmas was in ...
Skywest Aviation in the Coastwatch Role
By Steve Chaplin Background As an island continent, Australia has an extensive coastline, not only to patrol, but also to protect. As a result of a number of events occurring ...
The Greatest Event in our Time – Moon landing
By Doris Shearman ‘I Think It’s Gonna Be a Long Long Time’ – from Elton John’s 1972 iconic song ‘Rocket Man’ about an astronaut preparing for a space mission. Introduction ...
Occasional Paper 148: Nautical School Ship Sobraon and Bernard Kieran – one of the great early Australian swimmers
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What’s in a Name: The Ben Boyd National Park
By Walter Burroughs The French Revolution of 1789 declared ‘All men are born and remain free and equal in rights’. This virtually brought about the end of slavery but it ...
Emperor to General: the last days of Napoléon Bonaparte
By Fairlie Clifton In 2021 at the time of the 200th anniversary of the death of Napoleon, the author of this article was reminded that Napoleon’s surrender to England had ...
Third Officer Ruby Boye BEM WRANS
The remarkable story of Mrs. Ruby Boye has recently received considerable media attention. This version, dictated later in her life by Mrs. Boye to her friend and neighbour Mrs. Joy ...
My Father’s Service in the RNZAF during WWII: Airman Pilot Ian Speedy RNZAF
By Max Speedy This article first appeared in the June 2022 edition of the RAN Fleet Air Arm magazine Slipstream Vol 33 No 2 and is reproduced by kind permission ...
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 ...