© 2018 Greg & Sylvia RAY

Author: Greg Ray

This author has written 481 articles
Read more about the article When Mum made guns for Aussie soldiers
Jean Dunbar (right) and another worker in Lysaght's Owen Gun shop in Newcastle

When Mum made guns for Aussie soldiers

"Oh my God, that's my Mum!" I was showing the general manager of The Newcastle Herald, Julie Ainsworth, a proof copy of our 2011 book, Recovered Memories, which contained many rare photographs taken around the Newcastle area during World War 2. Julie was flicking through the pages, making polite noises and nodding approval, when suddenly she spotted her mother in a picture. "That's my mother, Jean Dunbar, and she's working in the Owen Gun shop at Lysaght's in Newcastle." Julie declared. It was a wonderful insight into a photo about which I knew little - beyond…

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Read more about the article Newcastle’s Gardner Memorial: Australia’s first Great War soldier statue
The Gardner Memorial, outside Newcastle's old post office building

Newcastle’s Gardner Memorial: Australia’s first Great War soldier statue

In September, 1916, as details of the horrific slaughter of Australian troops at Fleurbaix/Fromelles on the Western Front were filtering back home, preparations were underway for the unveiling of what is reputed to be Australia’s first Great War soldier statue memorial, outside Newcastle’s post office.The Newcastle Morning Herald reported on September 11 that: “The statue for the Gardner Memorial has arrived in Newcastle from Italy, and is at present at Brown’s Monumental Works, Newcastle West, where it will remain until the unveiling ceremony takes place. Mr Frank Gardner inspected the statue on Saturday, and expressed himself…

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Read more about the article Bushland find a missing link for a vintage car project
The builder's plate from the vintage Crossley tourer

Bushland find a missing link for a vintage car project

In April 2008 I took my son Oliver metal-detecting. We'd been to beaches a few times, but this particular weekend we decided to go to bushland near the Newcastle suburb of Jesmond. We chose the spot of a former settlement named "Hollywood" where people built shacks during the Great Depression of the 1930s. There isn't much left of Hollywood now, and I guess when they build the next stage of Highway 23 there will be even less. But I remember stumbling on some old hearthstones, chimneys and fruit trees when I was a kid, and learning…

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