When Sydney came to Newcastle
The second HMAS Sydney only visited Newcastle once, between September 10 and 13, 1938. More than 10,000 people visited the ship during the three hours it was open on Septermber 11.
The second HMAS Sydney only visited Newcastle once, between September 10 and 13, 1938. More than 10,000 people visited the ship during the three hours it was open on Septermber 11.
Many incidents of the Second World War remained unknown to most of the Australian public until the authorities considered it safe to discuss them. They feared panic among the population and damage to morale. But submarine attacks on the east coast cities were impossible to hide. On May 31 and June 1, 1942, mini-submarines, launched from a large Japanese mother-sub, the I-24, attacked Sydney Harbour.The subs caused havoc in the harbour, sinking the converted ferry Kuttabul with the loss of 21 lives before they were themselves destroyed. A few days later I-24 attacked and sank the…
A few years ago a young man offered me some photographic negatives and magic lantern slides for sale. When I looked at them, they were mostly of New Zealand subjects which at that stage were of limited interest to me. The young man, however, was very keen to sell, so we struck a bargain and he went his way. When I took the photographs home I took the names of the places on the manila envelopes in which some of the negatives were filed and searched them online, along with my estimated dates and with the…