Commander Rohan Edwin (Ted) Lesh RAN Rtd; 21 May 1925 – 28 November 2010 (This obituary was first published in NOCN 84, 1 March 2011.) Ted was a soft touch for voluntary organisations needing a Treasurer (he undertook Accountancy studies from 1961 to 64 whilst in the RAN). “Are you sure that you can take […]
The Coast Watchers: Behind enemy lines; the men who saved the Pacific Book review by Jerry Lattin Lindsay, Patrick: The Coast Watchers: Behind enemy lines; the men who saved the Pacific. William Heinemann (London) 2010; Random House Australia. 416 pp; $34.95 (paperback). The Coast Watchers were an organised force established in the 1920s […]
THIS IS THE WAY IT HAPPENED … The unguided missile by Jonathan Brett Young (This article was first published in NOCN83, 1 December 2010.) It was the last opportunity for the frigate to carry out a live missile firing in the Far East before returning to Australia and a major refit. The gunnery officer was […]
THE OLD AND THE BOLD: A.J.“Nat” Gould, aviator (This article was first published in NOCN 83, 1 December 2010.) As a teenager in Queensland during the 1930s, Arthur ‘Nat’ Gould picked mushrooms in nearby fields and sold them. His earnings paid for flying lessons at Archerfield, Brisbane, and he got his ‘A’ licence at the […]
THE CHRISTMAS MESSAGE A tale of two cruisers by Colin Baxter (This Message was first published in NOCN 83, 1 December 2010.) The recent discovery of the sunken wreck of the WW II cruiser HMAS Sydney brought to a close one of the greatest maritime mysteries of our time. The ship’s loss left a nation […]
VADM Sir Richard Peek, KBE CB DSC RAN ret, 1914-2010 (This obituary is drawn from the reminiscences of Malcolm Baird, Ian MacDougall and Ian Richards, from a report by Mike Taylor, and from information provided by CN’s office.) Richard Innes Peek (who called himself ‘Peter’ because he disliked the ‘RIP’ monogram) was born in […]
Armidale ‘42: A survivor’s account Book review by Jerry Lattin Col Madigan, Jan Senbergs, Don Watson. Armidale ‘42: A survivor’s account. Macmillan Art Publishing, South Yarra. 1999. 69 pp; RRP $33.00. This book falls into no recognisable literary category, and comprises elements of formal history, personal wartime reminiscence, and theme-based graphic art. It […]
St Petersburg Artillery Museum By Fred Lane (This article was first published in NOCN 82, 1 September, 2010.) “May you live in interesting times,” is a curse attributed by many to the ancient Chinese. Regardless of the curse’s origin, St Petersburg has experienced more than its fair share of “interesting times” in […]
BOOK REVIEW: The path of infinite sorrow: The Japanese on the Kokoda Track by Fred Lane Collie C. and H. Marutani. The path of infinite sorrow: The Japanese on the Kokoda Track. Allen and Unwin: Crows Nest. 2009. 291 pp plus, maps, footnotes, references, index and 16 pp of photos. $28 to $35 […]
HMAS Nirimba – what’s in a name? by Ron Robb This article was first published in NOCN 82, 1 September 2010.) Originally parts of two land grants made in 1814 and 1816, to Major West and John Pye respectively, the site of Schofields Aerodrome, Quakers Hill, was acquired in 1941 as a satellite field […]
