Tag: Australian

From the bookshelf: ‘The Scrap Iron Flotilla’

From the bookshelf: ‘The Scrap Iron Flotilla’

by | Nov 30, 2022 | | 0

Reading time: 4 minutes
Mike Carlton has emerged as a gifted historian of Australia’s outstanding naval contributions in two world wars. He polishes this reputation in his new book, The Scrap Iron Flotilla: five valiant destroyers and the Australian war in the Mediterranean. Carlton has always been persuasive in print. His earlier books, Cruiser on the wartime record of HMAS Perth, and First victory 1914, detailing HMAS Sydney’s destruction of the German raider Emden, suggested both the enthusiasm for and appreciation of Australian naval history which the author has in abundance.

Read More
The Battle of the Beachheads – Podcast – Part 3 Added

The Battle of the Beachheads – Podcast – Part 3 Added

by | Nov 17, 2022 | | 0

By late 1942, the Allies had pushed the Japanese forces back along the Kokoda Track and were now down on the coastal plains of northern New Guinea. The Japanese may have been retreating, but they intended to hold the vital beachheads from Gona down through Sanananda to Buna. The fight to take the beachheads would be bloody and brutal, but first the Australians and their American comrades had to get there.

Read More
The Scrap Iron Captain: Hector Waller DSO and Bar – Podcast

The Scrap Iron Captain: Hector Waller DSO and Bar – Podcast

by | Oct 28, 2022 | | 0

While serving within the Royal Australian Navy as a Signals Officer, Captain Hector MacDonald Laws Waller served with distinction aboard several warships of the Royal Australian Navy and Royal Navy during both the First World War and the Second World War. Having graduated from the fledgling Royal Australian Naval College during the First World War, his posting would be to the Royal Navy Battleship HMS Agincourt, and would predominately perform escort duties for the duration of the war.

Read More
The Chungking Legation: Australia’s first diplomatic mission to China, as soon to be wartime allies

The Chungking Legation: Australia’s first diplomatic mission to China, as soon to be wartime allies

by | Oct 27, 2022 | | 0

Reading time: 6 minutes
Gough Whitlam’s visit to China in 1971 is an iconic moment in the history of Australia-China relations. As prime minister, he officially recognised the People’s Republic of China the following year, heralding a new era of engagement with China.
But Whitlam’s visit overshadows an earlier and equally significant moment in Australia’s relationship with China.
On October 28 1941, Australia opened its first diplomatic mission in China, a legation in the wartime capital of Chungking (Chongqing) in central Szechwan (Sichuan) province.

Read More
Recognising the warriors

Recognising the warriors

by | Oct 12, 2022 | | 0

Reading time: 7 minutes
It was a sudden and unexpected announcement. Late last week, the chairman of the Australian War Memorial, Brendan Nelson, declared the governing council had decided to develop a much broader, a much deeper depiction and presentation of the violence committed against Indigenous people, initially by British, then by pastoralists, then by police, and then by Aboriginal militia.

Read More
Archaeology is unravelling new stories about Indigenous seagoing trade on Australia’s doorstep

Archaeology is unravelling new stories about Indigenous seagoing trade on Australia’s doorstep

by | Oct 3, 2022 | | 0

Reading time: 6 minutes
It has long been assumed that Indigenous Australia was isolated until Europeans arrived in 1788, except for trade with parts of present day Indonesia beginning at least 300 years ago. But our recent archaeological research hints of at least an extra 2,100 years of connections across the Coral Sea with Papua New Guinea.

Read More
Japan’s Pacific War – Podcast

Japan’s Pacific War – Podcast

by | Oct 2, 2022 | | 0

This podcast episode was commissioned by History Guild as part of our support of THE BLOODY BEACHHEADS: THE BATTLES OF GONA, BUNA AND SANANANDA – ONE DAY CONFERENCE. Angus Wallace, creator of the fantastic WW2 Podcast is joined by Peter Williams, author of Japan’s Pacific War: Personal Accounts of the Emperor’s Warriors.

Read More
The Australians who Captured Rommel’s Intelligence Unit, Company 621

The Australians who Captured Rommel’s Intelligence Unit, Company 621

by | Sep 28, 2022 | | 0

Reading time: 5 minutes
Though the North African campaigns of World War 2 have a reputation for mainly being fought by tanks, both sides relied as much on spying as they did on cold, hard steel. When the 9th Australian Division captured the German signals intelligence unit, company 621, right before the first battle of El Alamein, they dealt Field Marshal Erwin Rommel a fatal blow.

Read More
The Bloody Beachheads: The Battles Of Gona, Buna And Sanananda – One Day Conference

The Bloody Beachheads: The Battles Of Gona, Buna And Sanananda – One Day Conference

by | Sep 12, 2022 | | 0

The Battle of the Beachheads was the bloodiest of all the Papuan campaigns. The resolve and tenacity of the Japanese defenders was, to Allied perceptions, unprecedented to the point of being “fanatical”, and had not previously been encountered. Please join a group of well-qualified speakers as we examine the Battle of the Beachheads in a one-day conference.

Read More
Loading