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 ...
Australian Units
HMAS Melbourne in WWI – a Diarist’s Perspective
By Kingsley Perry George Henry Iles was born at Norwood, Surrey on 11 December 1883 and later joined the Royal Navy where he became a cook. On 14 October 1912 ...
Bill Boas and the Waree
Cyril Maurice (Bill) Boas was born on 10 December 1899 at Nilgiri Hills, Tamil Nadu, in southern India. He was the first of four children born to Captain John and ...
River Cruises and the Big River
By Leyland Wilkinson There are many rivers in the world with clear access from the open sea for ocean going vessels, and over the years units of the Royal Australian ...
HMAS Brisbane in the Far East 1925
By Greg Swinden The inter war period (1919-1939) is often considered a time of little activity for the RAN, but in reality the fleet was constantly active. One of the ...
The Missing DDG
By John Smith A question was recently posed why hull number 40 is not used by HMA Ships. The DDGs Perth 38, Hobart 39 and Brisbane 41 are to be followed by the ...
The New Guinea Diary of LCDR Clarence Hansby Read, RANR 1914-1915
The manuscript of Read’s diary was acquired by the Mitchell Library in 1919 for the sum of £30. It lay undisturbed for nearly a century until transcribed into digital format ...
‘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: Not a Real War – A Sailor’s Experiences in a Soldier’s War
Not a Real War – A Sailor’s Experiences in a Soldier’s War by Paul Longley. Published by Book Pal, Brisbane, 2015. Paperback, 224 pages with b & w photos. Available ...
Commander J. M. Jackson, RN – Sixteen years on the Australia Station
By Leyland Wilkinson On 18 March 1918 the Sydney Morning Herald briefly reported the death in England on 7 March of Commander J .M. Jackson, RN. It stated: He had ...