LT Reginald Black MC

LT Reginald Black MC

Nov 17, 2025

Reading time: 12 minutes
Reginald Black was born in Double Bay on 4th July 1885 to The Hon. Reginald James Black MLC and Mrs Eleanor Black. He was educated at the Church of England Grammar School (Churchie), North Sydney, and at the time of his enlistment listed his occupation as a grazier operating the property “Jerralong Station” near Boggabri in the Liverpool Plains region between Gunnedah and Narrabri. Despite the location of his property, he was a highly regarded member of the Gordon Cricket Club and was recognized as the first member of the club to enlist in World War One.

Read More
Francis Bacon’s Essays explore the darker side of human nature. 400 years on, they still instruct and unnerve

Francis Bacon’s Essays explore the darker side of human nature. 400 years on, they still instruct and unnerve

Nov 12, 2025

Reading time: 6 minutes
It’s 400 years since the publication of the complete edition of British philosopher Francis Bacon’s Essays. Not without pride, Bacon (1561-1626) muses in the preface that his little book’s Latin version might “last, as long as books last.” The Essays have, in fact, never been out of print since 1625.

Read More
New research shows WWII dominates Australians’ knowledge of military history. But big gaps remain

New research shows WWII dominates Australians’ knowledge of military history. But big gaps remain

Nov 10, 2025

Reading time: 5 minutes
Eighty years ago this week, Japan surrendered after nearly four years of war in the Asia-Pacific. For Australia, this meant the end of not only the war in the Pacific, but also the second world war that had begun six years earlier, in September 1939. In that time, around one million Australians – approximately 15% of the population – served in the armed forces. Over half served overseas, with nearly 40,000 killed and more than 66,000 wounded. But what do Australians today know about this epochal moment in our history? We surveyed 1,500 Australians aged 18 and older to find out.

Read More
Loading

 

 

Australia's War in the Mediterranean

Military History

Latest
Anzac Guerrillas – Podcast

Anzac Guerrillas – Podcast

Oct 31, 2025

When the Germans took thousands of Allied prisoners during the catastrophic Greek campaign of 1941, a handful of Australian soldiers escaped from prison trains in occupied Yugoslavia. What awaited them was not passage home, but a brutal underground war where the fate of a nation was at stake. Told through the eyes of two of the Australian escapees - mineworker Ross Sayers and storeman Ronald Jones - Anzac Guerrillas is the incredible true story of how these men became resistance fighters, double agents and spies, evading the Nazis and exposing a group of genocidal collaborators.

Political and Economic History

Latest
Ustaše in Australia: the “Citadel” of a Fascist Legacy

Ustaše in Australia: the “Citadel” of a Fascist Legacy

Oct 22, 2025

Reading time: 14 minutes Between 1947 and 1952, for 170,000 non-Jewish “displaced persons,” Australia offered a chance to exit the dark, harrowing night of World War II in Europe. Many of these were hungry, traumatised, seeking peace and shelter, a place to work and rebuild. But with them came the kind of settlers which populate nightmares: war criminals, outright fascists, and aiders and abettors of the Nazi regime and its puppets in Eastern Europe.

Social and Cultural History

Latest
Among the Stars: A History of Space Travel

Among the Stars: A History of Space Travel

Nov 4, 2025

Reading time: 8 minutes From seeing shooting stars to picturing constellations, humans have long looked up at the night sky and imagined what might exist above us. Yet, historically speaking, humans have only very recently discovered what exists in our very own solar system, let alone sent people and spacecraft up to explore it. But how did we go from discovering our own continents to exploring the stars? Here is everything you need to know about the history of space travel and exploration – from our earliest understanding of space to the events that led to rocketry, astronauts, and landing on the moon. And with fingers crossed, this story is only just the beginning.

History Quizzes

WWII History Quiz

WWII History Quiz

Who was an Official Australian Photographer during both WWI and WWII, as well as accompanying three Antarctic Expeditions?

Try the full 10 question quiz!

Read More
Weekly History Quiz No.275

Weekly History Quiz No.275

1. When did Nicolaus Copernicus publish ‘On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres’ which explained that the Earth orbits around the Sun?
Try the full 10 question quiz.

Read More
Loading

History Guild would like to acknowledge the Boonwurrung people, the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we are based, and pay our respects to their Elders, past, present and emerging.