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You are here: Home / Archives for Article topics / Naval history / History - WW2

History - WW2

The Loss of HMS Glowworm: an Australian Connection

Swinden, Greg · Jun 24, 2013 ·

By Greg Swinden War at sea has no intermissions, none of the periods of recovery between advances or retreats that land warfare enjoys, no breaks safely behind the lines between ...

The Admiralty Islands

A.N. Other · Jun 24, 2013 ·

Previous editions of this magazine have focused on the histories of Cocos, Christmas and Nauru Islands as they formed part of the Government’s Pacific Solution for asylum seekers. This article ...

Letter: Sydney Sharp-Shooter and the Zero

Letter Writer · Jun 4, 2013 ·

Dear Editor On page 23 of the Naval Historical Review (March 2013), the statement is made that Sergeant Hajime Toyoshima (alias Tadeo Minami) captured on 19 February 1942 was the ...

Letter: Gallipoli and Other Stories

Letter Writer · Jun 4, 2013 ·

Dear Editor, I thoroughly enjoyed the March 2013 edition of the Review, thank you. I think it’s your best to date but I beg to take issue with a couple ...

Letter: Talbot-Booth and Sydney/Kormoran

Letter Writer · Jun 4, 2013 ·

Dear Editor No one on earth knows what information HMAS Sydney II was carrying in regards to ships’ identities either by book, signal or personal knowledge. What we do know ...

RAN Mine Countermeasure Forces: The Conception and Birth of the Australian Clearance Diver

A.N. Other · Jun 4, 2013 ·

By Sub-Lieutenant N.J. Laing, RAN Nathan Laing graduated from Emmanuel College in 2004 undertaking diploma studies in Justice Administration before joining the Queensland Police Service. During his time as a ...

Book Review: Ray Parkin’s Odyssey

Book reviewer · Mar 24, 2013 ·

Ray Parkin’s Odyssey by Pattie Wright. Published by Pan Macmillan Australia, Sydney, 2012. Hardback of 672 pages with over 100 excellent paintings and sketches, rrp $49.99. The story of the ...

Nauru – the Pleasant Isle

A.N. Other · Mar 24, 2013 ·

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 ...

Sydney Sharp-Shooter and the Zero

A.N. Other · Mar 24, 2013 ·

By David Mattiske This wreckage of a Japanese Reisen (Zero) B11-124 Cn 5349 was that of an aircraft flown by Sgt Pilot Hajime Toyoshima during the first Japanese bombing raid ...

They Also Served – Arthur Irwin Chapman, 11 January 1916 – 21 August 2012

A.N. Other · Dec 24, 2012 ·

By Jo Morrice Commander A.I. Chapman RAN (Rtd) died recently at the age of 96. This is the story of a remarkable and redoubtable man who was affectionately known to ...

Cocos and Christmas Islands

A.N. Other · Dec 24, 2012 ·

These small isles to our north represent a microcosm of historical events taking place on a larger world stage. They encompass early exploration, colonial rule, resource booms, communications technology, and ...

Wallaroo’s Submarine Attack

David Michael · Sep 30, 2012 ·

On 14 JULY 2012 a short letter was received from Mr Les Heap of Lane Cove providing brief information, which may be historically significant, on the Bathurst Class minesweeper HMAS ...

Book Review: Lost at Sea – Found at Fukushima

Book reviewer · Mar 30, 2012 ·

Lost at Sea – Found at Fukushima by Andy Millar. Published by Big Sky Publishing, Sydney, 2012 – to be launched in March. Hard cover, 260 pages with b&w photographs ...

Pages: Page 1 Page 2 Page 3

Submersible Aircraft Carriers

A.N. Other · Mar 30, 2012 ·

By Driftwood The Imperial Japanese Navy submarines I-yonhyaku-gata Sensuikan completed towards the end of WW11 were for many years the largest and potentially the most formidable submarines ever built. Displacing ...

“FORCE H” and Naval Signalman Basil Box

Editorial Staff · Sep 3, 2011 ·

A previous article by Vince Fazio in our June 2011 edition concerned the involvement of HMAS Australia with Vichy French forces off Dakar. Australia had been sent as a late ...

Pages: Page 1 Page 2

Chief Petty Officer Claude Choules (3.3.1901 – 5.5.2011) – The last veteran of two World Wars

A.N. Other · Jun 14, 2011 ·

Claude Choules was the last known combat veteran living in Australia who had served in both world wars. When he died recently, in Western Australia, our last tangible link with ...

Pages: Page 1 Page 2

Supply Chief Petty Officer Louis Nicholas Sampson (1907-1941)

Swinden, Greg · Jun 14, 2011 ·

Louis Nicholas ‘Sam’ Sampson born at St Peters, Adelaide on 30 September 1907 was the eldest child of Nicholas and Olive Sampson. In his early childhood he lived at Crystal ...

Pages: Page 1 Page 2

HMAS Australia at Dakar 1940

Fazio, Lieut. V. RANEM · Jun 13, 2011 ·

To the current generation Australia being at war with France is unthinkable but this account of events during the early days of WW2 shows the role HMAS Australia played in ...

An Historic Letter

Walker, Jefferson H., MVO, Lieutenant Commander, RAN · Dec 10, 2010 ·

Editor’s Note: This is a copy of a letter from Lieutenant Commander Jefferson H. Walker, MVO, RAN, (then CO of HMAS Parramatta (II)) to his wife, describing a particularly nasty ...

Pages: Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4

Kamikazes, Suicide Bombers and Us

Shinkfield, Des · Dec 10, 2010 ·

The following speech was delivered to the Australian Naval Historical Society on Monday, 26 June, 2006 Thank you for the opportunity to speak about kamikazes. But let me enlarge on ...

Pages: Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5

Book Review: A Hard Fought Ship

Book reviewer · Sep 21, 2010 ·

A Hard Fought Ship, The Story of HMS Venomous. By Robert J Moore and John A Rodgaard. ISBN 978-0-9559382-0-7. Published by Holywell House Publishing, Portsmouth, UK. RRP is UK£18.99. It can ...

Schooner Gerard – WW2 Service in New Guinea

NHSA Webmaster · Sep 21, 2010 ·

It was only three years after the close of WW I that Gerard, as we knew her, was built by the famous Krupp Company in, of all places, Kiel in ...

Pages: Page 1 Page 2

HMAS Maryborough – Indian Ocean May 1942

Ogle, Brian · Sep 10, 2010 ·

On 6th May  1942 the Captain of HMAS Maryborough, Commander Cant, sent the following signal by Aldis lamp: ‘Get all those bloody passengers into the stokehold.’ This is recorded in ...

Pages: Page 1 Page 2

The ‘Highball’ bomb/mine

Nicholls, Bob · Sep 10, 2010 ·

Narellan, south west of Sydney, is the site, at the local airport, of the Camden Museum of Aviation, which houses a collection of some 22 vintage aircraft. One of these ...

Pages: Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4

U-Boat Battle – Convoy ONS5

Downes, A.M., Captain · Sep 10, 2010 ·

This article is an edited version of a talk given by Captain A.M. Downes to the Company of Master Mariners, Sydney Branch, on 24th November 1993. Tonight I want to ...

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