By Mike Turner On 18 March 1915 three Allied battleships were sunk by a line of 20 Turkish mines laid by the small Turkish minelayer Nusret in the Dardanelle Straits. ...
History - WW1
The Sydney Cenotaph and its Guardians
By an unknown serviceman The majority of our members will have paid their respects at the Cenotaph in Martin Place and gazed at its two imposing cast bronze sentinels. These ...
Occasional Paper 130: Our First Fleet Commander – Admiral Sir George Patey
By Walter Burroughs A summary of this paper was presented at a conference held from 30 September to 01 October 2014 at the Universidad Andres Bello, Chile on the maritime ...
HMAS Encounter (1905 – 1932)
HMS Encounter served on the Australia Station and was later commissioned into the RAN. She played a vital role in defence of the eastern coast of Australia, and the anti raider patrols in the South West Pacific. She was regarded as “more beloved than any other unit of our fleet”. ...
Letter: RANHS Grantala
The following email was received from Mike Dowsett, regrettably not in time for our September edition. A hundred years ago today, 30th August 1914 the Royal Australian Navy Hospital Ship ...
Some Mishaps to the Grand Fleet
By John Smith Midnight on the night of 4/5 August 1914 was a momentous event in world history for, at that moment, Great Britain declared war on Germany and thus ...
Postcards Home
By Peter Brigden An interest in philately has led to a collection of post cards from a century past showing the Pacific colonies of the German Empire. These help bring ...
They Also Served: Able Seaman Herbert Charles Willans RANR (1888 – 1914)
By Leyland Wilkinson On a recent visit to the Bita Paka War Cemetery near Rabaul I came across a single headstone to the memory of Able Seaman Herbert Charles Willans, ...
Book Review: Albany’s ANZAC Convoys
Albany’s ANZAC Convoys by Roger Cunnington. Published by Digger Press, Albany, WA, 2014. Paperback of 176 pages with b&w illustrations, maps and diagrams. $46.95, from sales@diggerpress.com or albanyconvoys@westnet.com.au. The release ...
Rabaul the Garden City Revisited
This continues our voyage to Papua New Guinea in MV Pacific Dawn, with the March 2014 edition of the NHR, detailing experiences encountered at Milne Bay. Further information on Rabaul ...
The Shot that Stopped Pfalz
By Jim Craigie In August 1914, Germany was second only to Britain in merchant tonnage. In the Pacific, German territories and international trade meant German merchant ships were frequent visitors ...
Up the Dardanelles and Back
By Ken Wright This article covering the exploits of Commander Norman Holbrook, VC, RN, is a timely reminder of these events which occurred a century ago. Surprisingly, looking through back ...
SMS Komet, the RAN’s first captured warship: a valuable prize and our first aircraft carrier
By Leyland Wilkinson In the latter part of the 19th century, Germany had been actively developing her Pacific island colonies and by 1900 had large holdings to the north of ...
The Troops Depart: Mail from the 1st AIF Convoy, 1914
By Richard Breckon ‘My Darling Mother, I am writing this in a hurry. All letters are being opened and so I’m getting this posted by a civilian lady who is ...
Memoirs of George William Rayner 15 Oct 1886 – 18 July 1962
These important memoirs provided by Robert Rayner are taken from his grandfather’s handwritten notes discovered in the family’s Sydney home in 2007. Early Life in Prison! I was born at ...
Letter: SS Kanowna – did she have a mutiny?
Dear Editor I am a volunteer researcher of the Society making sure what may become history, and ensuring an extension of past facts is correct, which is important. Each issue ...
Book Review: They Sang Like Kangaroos: Australia’s Tinpot Navy in the Great War
They Sang Like Kangaroos: Australia’s Tinpot Navy in the Great War. By Anthony Delano: Australian Scholarly Press, Melbourne, Dec 2012. rrp $34.95 As his title may suggest, Doctor Delano has ...
Francis James Ranken
By Hector Donohue 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 ...
The RAN and the Capitulation of German New Guinea
In August 1914 the Australian government responded with caution to a British suggestion that it might undertake the destruction of the radio stations located in German colonial possessions in the ...
Those Amazing Young Men and their Flying Machines
…brought to life with memorabilia from an Australian air ace found on Queensland rubbish tip By Jim Craigie The Great Find A World War I pilot’s helmet worn by Australia’s greatest ...
Book Review: The Forgotten Cruiser HMAS Melbourne 1913-1928
The Forgotten Cruiser HMAS Melbourne 1913-1928 By Andrew Kilsby and Greg Swinden, Longueville Media, Woollahra, NSW, 2013. Available from cooeehistory.com RRP $49.95. On 26 March 1913, HMAS Melbourne, Australia’s first ...
They Also Served: Supply Commander Eric Kingsford-Smith
By Greg Swinden The original version of this article was first published in the Supply Newsletter and has been reproduced with minor amendment. Also included is a copy of a ...
The Kerr ‘Sydney-Emden’ Medal
By Paddy O’Brien On 9 November 1914 the RAN cruiser HMAS Sydney engaged and destroyed the German light cruiser and commerce raider SMS Emden. This one and a half hour ...
Nauru – the Pleasant Isle
By Walter Burroughs In the December 2012 edition of this magazine there appeared an article on the Cocos and Christmas Islands. This theme is continued with a discussion on Nauru ...
Gallipoli and Other Stories, by Uncle Bill
William Kinnersley was born in Wales on 20 September 1896 and died aged 95 on 17 May 1992 at Collaroy, NSW. After Royal Naval service during the First World ...