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Read more about the article Radioactive bomber at RAAF Williamtown
A Lincoln bomber at an airshow at Williamtown RAAF base. This is presumably not the same plane as the one referred to in this article.

Radioactive bomber at RAAF Williamtown

In the 1950s Britain was upset that the USA wouldn't share its atomic bomb secrets. The Brits decided to build their own bombs and they chose to test them in Australia. Nobody will ever know how much sickness and premature death of Australians in the years that followed can be attributed to exposure to radiation and to lingering fallout from the tests. Much negligence and carelessness appears to have surrounded the exercise. The story of RAAF and other aircraft deliberately flown through radioactive mushroom clouds immediately after the atomic explosions is just one example. Sometime in…

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Donald MacRae, brave Newcastle harbour master

Captain Donald MacRae, former harbour master of the Port of Newcastle, Australia, was credited in some quarters with being the last Allied serviceman to be evacuated after the failed British invasion attempt at Gallipoli, Turkey, in World War 1. His long career was punctuated by acts of great bravery. He died and was cremated in 1963 and his ashes remained among the possessions of his son-in-law until 2015, when some of his grandchildren scattered them off Big Ben Reef, Newcastle, the scene of one of his famous rescues. In 2023 those grandchildren fixed a plaque at…

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Read more about the article Park to Beach: Anzac Day in Newcastle
Anzac Day march in Newcomen Street, Newcastle, 1959

Park to Beach: Anzac Day in Newcastle

From our book, The Hunter Region in The Great War Most of the work of the returned services association in its early years was focused on supporting its direct constituency. But another major role was remembering and honouring the sacrifices and achievements of those who had fought and who were still fighting in a war whose scale and nature was without precedent.From the moment that news arrived in Australia of the action at Gallipoli it was clear that this was an event with immense resonance. Australian families had sent thousands of their sons to fight battles…

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