As told to our Editor by Ron (Dixie) Lee The December edition of this magazine contained a story The Last Coastwatchersfeaturing James (Jim) Burrowes. Mention was also made of endeavours ...
Biographies and personal histories
Book review: The Rag Tag Fleet (and George Franki)
By Ian W Shaw. Published by Hachette Australia, Sydney, 2017. Soft cover of 310 pages with black & white photographs. Available from booksellers and online from $32.99 but discounts readily ...
Bomb and Mine Disposal (BMD) Operations in the Pacific
By Hector Donohue During World War II, RAN personnel operated with their RN counterparts in the dangerous and demanding tasks of BMD in the waters around UK and on shore, ...
Malta Revisited: Wartime Memories of HMAS Vendetta’s Malta Sojourn in World War II
We are indebted to ex Supply Assistant Gordon Hill for this wonderfully illuminating description of his wartime service in the destroyer HMAS Vendetta when based at Malta. The George Cross Island ...
HMAS Suva: the ship that shaped the future of the Australian Naval Station
By John Smith Possibly not many have heard of HMAS Suva as she had an extremely short history as a commissioned Australian warship. She did however have the distinction of wearing ...
The Last Coastwatchers
Earlier this year your Editor had the pleasure of meeting James (Jim) Burrowes, aged 94, and Beryl, his ex-WAAF wife of 66 years, aged 93. They were married in 1950. ...
Dubbo born Olympian in command of His Majesty’s Australian Squadron – Robert Dalglish
By Captain John McGrath, Royal Navy This fascinating article received from a Royal Naval colleague covers an often overlooked period of our naval history leading up to the Great Depression. ...
AK 121 Aroetta
A previous edition of this magazine (March 2017) outlined the exploits of HDML 1321 and favourably mentioned her commanding officer, Lieutenant Ambrose Palmer, RANR. This article explores an earlier career of ...
Occasional Paper 9: The Sinking of HMAS Armidale on 1 December 1942
July 2017 The following address was delivered by Dr Kevin Smith OAM to members of the Naval Historical Society of Australia in Sydney 18 April 2017. In 1798 at the ...
Secret Devices used to defeat Napoleon Bonaparte
By Mick Graham-Smith In February 2016 this paper was presented to the Western Australian Chapter of the Naval Historical Society. They considered it of such merit that it should be ...
The Gospel of St John and LCDR Donald Mckenzie RAN
Recently one of our members and cherished chaplains, the Reverend Dr Gareth Clayton, presented the Society with a copy of the Gospel of St John which had been given into ...
Occasional Paper 8: The Gustavo Stefanini Story
June 2017 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 ...
Unpicking the Goldsworthy Myths
By Hector Donohue When Lieutenant Commander Leon Goldsworthy GC, DSC, GM, MID died in 1994, the New York Times published an obituary which included the following: Lieut. Comdr. Leon Goldsworthy, a ...
Occasional Paper 5: Ken Brown: Service in HMAS Nestor
February 2017 By Warrant Officer Martin Grogan Mr Ken BROWN (aged 95) a retired RAN Lieutenant Commander and World War Two veteran was recently awarded the British Arctic Star. This ...
First to Command!
Commander Norman Hamon Shaw OBE, RAN The first graduate of the RANC to command a warship By Commander Tony Vine, RANR Norman Shaw was born in Perth Western Australia on ...
Petty Officer Fredrick Harold Harvey and Colombian Naval Service
As told by his son CMDR Vic Harvey, RAN, Rtd Fredrick Harold Harvey was a proud Geordie lad, born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne’s suburb of Benwell, on 13 August 1899. Benwell in ...
Petty Officer Fredrick Harold Harvey and Colombian Naval Service
As told by his son CMDR Vic Harvey, RAN, Rtd Fredrick Harold Harvey was a proud Geordie lad, born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne’s suburb of Benwell, on 13 August 1899. Benwell in ...
Meet the Artist: Ian Hansen
The Naval Historical Society was recently privileged to receive a presentation by the renowned maritime artist Ian Hansen. We journeyed far and wide as Ian outlined a remarkable career and, ...
Occasional Paper 4: HMAS Melbourne II
December 2016 By Tom de Voil Introduction I recently had a brief article about HMAS Melbourne, the aircraft carrier, published and consequent on that I was asked to give this ...
Able Seaman William Arthur Alfred Nye (1904-1974)
As told by his son William Douglas Nye The last (June 2016) edition of this magazine contained an article relating to the life story of CPO William Henry Nye. In ...
Letter: Searching for a photograph of CMDR J. M. Jackson, RN
The NHR dated December 2015 contained an article by Leyland Wilkinson on the remarkable sixteen years that CMDR J.M. Jackson, RN served on the Australia Station and lamented the lack ...
Letter: River Cruises and the Big River
Two letters have been received in response to Leyland Wilkinson’s article on ‘River Cruises and the Big River’. These important contributions are from officers with first-hand experience of navigating far ...
Chief Petty Officer WILLIAM HENRY NYE
As related by his grandson William Douglas Nye We were recently contacted by William Douglas (Doug) Nye regarding some family papers which his grandmother had kept but were no longer ...
Who was Jose?
By Walter Burroughs The Bean Connection Most Australians interested in military history will have heard of Charles Bean, the war correspondent with a later responsibility for compiling and editing the ...
Simply a Question of Duty: A Coastwatcher in North Australia Part 2: Coastwatching on Groote Eylandt during WWII
By John Harris Japan’s sudden entry into WWII, threatening the whole Pacific region, galvanised Naval Intelligence into immediate action to formalise and expand the old pre-war Coastwatcher program in coastal ...