One of the most intriguing wartime dramas occurred off the Western Australian coast in February 1942 concerning attacks made by Japanese aircraft on the motor vessel Koolama. The story of ...
A Mortar Mystery
In November 2020 the Naval Historical Society was approached by colleagues from across the Tasman for help in finding a Mortar Mark 10 which was required for their museum. During ...
Occasional Paper 114: Rescue of Vietnamese Refugees (MG99) by HMAS Melbourne, 21 June 1981
On Sunday 21 June 1981 HMA Ships Melbourne and Torrens were participating in Exercise Starfish 81 in the South China Sea when they rescued 99 Vietnamese refugees, now known as ...
Occasional Paper 116: Navy Veterans Salute the ‘Forgotten War’
On Thursday 24th June 2021 the N.A.A. (Naval Association of Australia Queensland) highlighted the service of members of the Royal Australia Navy in the Korean War. At 4am on June ...
Leonard Roy McLeod – Soldier and Sailor
A recent photograph of some veterans at the 75th anniversary celebrations of the great Battles of Leyte Gulf showed Rear Admiral Guy Griffiths and ex-Able Seaman David Mattiske who both ...
Quarantine and the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020
The spread of Coronavirus and its worldwide impacts have brought home the need for quarantine as a means of segregating those with suspected infection from the general population. This paper ...
George Hermon Gill: Writer of History
The name George Hermon Gill might mean little to a new generation of men and women serving in the RAN but in your careers you will almost certainly come across ...
A Tribute to Norman Rivett
Norman (Norm) Rivett, an esteemed founding father of the Naval Historical Society, passed over the bar on 8 March 2021 just shy of his 96th birthday. He will be ...
Memories of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
News of the death of Prince Philip was received with great sadness when he recently crossed the bar just short of his century. Not only was he a magnificent consort ...
Occasional Paper 113: A Sailor’s Life in the Mediterranean, 1940/41: Pictorial Record
An insight into the lighter moments in the life of Stores Assistant Gordon Hill who served in HMAS Vendetta from September 1938 until May 1941. ...