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, ...
Publications
The Australian – Indian Relationship – Part 2
Like some sections of our own armed forces who fail to acknowledge a period of colonial rule over which we had no direct control, there are those within the Indian ...
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. ...
Our Spanish Cousins: Politics and shipbuilding capabilities
Political Intrigues For centuries there was natural rivalry between Britain and Spain in the fields of colonial expansion, maritime trade and commerce. Relationships, at least from the time of the ...
Occasional Paper 19: Surgeon Commander Alexander Ruan Caw, RAN
December 2017 Surgeon Commander Alexander Ruan Caw, RAN MB BS. Adelaide. 1879-1924 These biographical notes on CMDR Alexander Caw who served in HMAS Australia during World War 1 were provided ...
Occasional Paper 20: Surgeon LCDR Jack Rupert Law Willis, RAN
December 2017 Surgeon LCDR Jack Rupert Law Willis, RAN 1888-1971 MB BS Melb These biographical notes on LCDR Jack Willis who served in HMS Prince of Wales during World War ...
Occasional Paper 18: Ensigns Associated With Ships Based at Garden Island
November 2017 Flags have a long been a fascination of founding Society member Mr Norman Rivett as well as Garden Island in Sydney where he has worked and volunteered for ...
Occasional Paper 16: HMAS Australia and Atlantic rescue of Coastal Command Sunderland – 1940
October 2017 On Monday 28th October 1940, I was serving as an eighteen year old Midshipman in HMAS “Australia”, an 8 inch gun cruiser. At that time, we had arrived on ...
Occasional Paper 17: Fleet arrival in Sydney – 4 October 1913
October 2017 At an Imperial Conference held in 1909, it was decided to deploy to Australian waters a naval unit consisting of at least a battle cruiser, three second class ...
Letter: More on “Who Took the Flag?”
Dear Editor I refer to David Quick’s letter ‘Who Took the Flag’ in the June 2017 edition of the NHR. A quick look at the RoPs of HMAS Supply tells us ...
Letter: Some Additional Aspects to the RAN’s Antarctic Involvement
Dear Editor, Further to Hugh Farmer’s article Antarctica –the forgotten Continent in the Naval Historical Review Vol. 38 No. 2 (June 2017), there are two aspects of RAN participation in ...
Book review: Under the Water Under the Wire and the men who sank the Sydney
By Grahame Wilson. Self-published via Publicious P/L in 2015. Paperback, 281 pages with b&w illustrations. Available from Amazon and Booktopia and selected booksellers from $30. EBook version is also available ...
Book review: The Flag’s Up
By Peter Poland. Published by Halstead Press, Sydney in 2017. Soft cover of 176 pages with plentiful supply of black & white and colour photographs. Available from booksellers and online ...
Book Review: Aus-Ships 2017 (CD)
Somewhat unusually we have been asked to review a CD. Aus-Ships 2017 by Tony Starke, revised by Rex Cox and Robert Fildes. This is the fourth and greatly improved edition ...
Outsourcing in the Australian Defence Forces
Sooner or later, everything old is new again From The Colorado Kid by Stephen King Outsourcing Outsourcing is a practice used to reduce costs by transferring portions of work to ...
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. ...
The Sailors of Fromelles
By Commander Tony Vine, RANR In the eyes of the Australian public the Royal Australian Navy’s role in the Great War is generally limited to the capture of New Guinea, ...
The Spectacle Island Railway
By Fred Haynes Spectacle Island is located near the suburb of Drummoyne at the confluence of Iron Cove and Parramatta rivers. It was originally named Dawes Island when surveyed in ...
A Communications Mystery
Of what avail the loaded tube, The cannon or the shell; If flags or W/T default The Fleet will go to hell. WWI – author unknown A few months ...
Australian – Indian Relationship: Part 1
This is the first of a three part series covering the Australian-Indian relationship. Australians fought alongside Indian troops in two world wars, but what do we know about them? Both ...
‘Mission to Kerguelen’ – An Australian Military Operation in the Sub-Antarctic islands in 1941
By Rohan Goyne I refer to the excellent article Antarctica the forgotten Continent by Hugh Farmer in the Naval Historical Review Vol. 38 No2 June 2017 and offer the following ...
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 ...
HMAS Platypus – a Submarine Naval Base
By Peter R. Smith This paper was prepared by the Submarine Institute of Australia to help mark the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the formation of a submarine base ...