Java is heaven, Burma is hell but you never come back alive from New Guinea – Japanese wartime saying An eagle-eyed member of our Society drew attention to this short ...
History - WW2
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 ...
Mine Hazards during Mine Clearance Operations by the RAN
By Mike Turner Awards for Rendering Mines Safe (RMS) operations give some indication of the hazards involved. The George Cross (GC) was awarded four times and the George Medal (GM) ...
The Battles for Leyte Gulf: where Australian ships fought in one of the greatest battles in naval history
By David Scott David Horace Ford Scott grew up on a soldier-settler block near Holbrook, NSW but his parents were forced to walk off the property during the Depression and ...
Occasional Paper 1: Battle of Australia Day Commemoration
By Commander Rebecca Jeffcoat, RAN Sydney 07 Sep 16 Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, First I would like to acknowledge the Gadigal people, the Traditional Custodians of this Land on ...
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 ...
Japanese surrender at the end of World War II
By Mike Turner A bombing/mining blockade campaign against mainland Japan in 1945 was very successful. By June Japan recognised that she was defeated, and all she could do was negotiate ...
A Disproportionate Consequence: The Significance of Effective Joint Operations Doctrine and Technology on the Battle of Cape Matapan
By MIDN Conor Byrne, RAN This essay from the 53rd New Entry Officer Course intake won the Naval History Society prize. Introduction In modern naval doctrine the importance of maintaining ...
Australian War Brides at Sea
By Liz Colthorpe In the autumn of 1946 the British aircraft carrier HMS Victorious undertook possibly her most unusual task, in transporting approximately 700 Australian war brides to their new British ...
‘Simply a Question of Duty’ A Coastwatcher in Northern Australia Part 1: Coastwatching Before World War II
By John Harris Around Australia’s northern coast and islands before and during World War II a small band of civilians in remote locations was asked to volunteer as official Coastwatchers. ...
Book Review: The Sea Devils
The Sea Devils by Mark Felton. Published by Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2015. Softback, 320 pages with photographs, rrp $27.99. A fascinating book on the exploits of the XE Midget ...
United States Naval Base Ulithi
By Noel Burgess We might be forgiven for not knowing much about the United States Naval Base at Ulithi, as for a long time its existence was kept secret, but ...
The Witu Islands – were these the Wolf’s Lair?
P & O’s Pacific Dawn recently completed a two week cruise to Papua New Guinea (PNG) with calls at Alotau (Milne Bay), Madang and Wewak. Unfortunately a low on-shore swell precluded ...
HMAS SydneyII vs HSK Kormoran
By MIDN H. F. Roberts, RAN In joining the RAN MIDN Hannah Roberts follows her grandfather’s footsteps. She grew up on a eucalypt plantation in Maryborough, Queensland and received her education ...
The Role of the Admiralty in the Loss of HMAS Sydney
By Kim Kirsner Kim Kirsner is an Adjunct Professor at the School of Medicine, University of Notre Dame and from 1972-2006 was Professor at the School of Psychology, University of ...
Some Memories of Darwin in 1942
By Alan Jacobs Alan Brian Jacobs was born at Port Lincoln on 28 January 1922; on leaving school he worked for the major stock and station agents Goldsbrough Mort. Aged ...
An Interesting Naval Family
By John Smith John Clement McFarlane was born in Melbourne in 1887, his forebears having arrived there in 1838. At some stage, he joined the Royal Navy as a sailor ...
Winston Churchill and the Navy
As fifty years have now elapsed since his passing this article may serve as a small tribute to the memory of this great wartime leader. A meteoritic rise upon the ...
Book Review: The Forgotten Flotilla – The Craft of Heroes Greece, Crete & North Africa 1941
The Forgotten Flotilla – The Craft of Heroes Greece, Crete & North Africa 1941 by Michael James Bendon. Published by Ligare Book Printers, Sydney, 2014. Landscape format hardcover of 198 ...
Letter from HMAS Yarra II survivor
After lying dormant for many years a 73 year old letter written by a survivor from HMAS Yarra II has recently surfaced.The original recipient of the letter, George Vooles died in ...
The Battle of the Coral Sea
MIDN Lachlan Montgomery joined the RAN in February 2014 coming from a family of five in Ringwood Victoria. His father is a serving member of the Victorian Police Force and ...
The Battle of Cape Matapan
By MIDN John McClelland – winner of the Naval Historical Society Prize. John McClelland grew up on a sheep property near Bendigo in central Victoria .His primary and secondary education ...
Lieutenant Commander Arthur Callaway, DSO, RANVR and the courage of HM Trawler Lady Shirley
Courage of HM Trawler lady Shirley Tow hundred miles west-south-west of the Canary Islands the Atlantic rollers surge endlessly eastward towards the African shore. In October 1941, these were dangerous ...
The Cross of Lorraine in the South Pacific
By Jim Craigie Following great reversals of fortune early in WW II the French nation was bitterly divided between those who wished to appease the Axis powers and those who desired ...
Cry Havoc
Brian Luttrell entered the RANVR in September 1939; a short while later he was off to war as an Ordinary Signalman in HMS Kanimbla. More than two years elapsed before ...