© 2018 Greg & Sylvia RAY

Miscellaneous

Read more about the article What’s in a name, and a coat of arms?

What’s in a name, and a coat of arms?

WHAT’S in a name? A fair bit, according to my 1904 copy of the Atlas and Cyclopedia of Ireland, a bulky tome that graces my bookshelf. View the book's index to names, coats of arms and mottoes by clicking here. This book’s greatest feature is the colour plates in the front depicting the coats of arms of “the leading Irish families”. A few pages later are the mottoes - where applicable - translated from Latin inscriptions on the coats of arms. Many familiar names pop up in these pages. Ludicrous Lion from Living Island (left), Australian…

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Read more about the article Trucks, DUKWs and surfboats were heroes of the flood at Maitland in 1955
DUKW crew rescuing flood victims in 1955.

Trucks, DUKWs and surfboats were heroes of the flood at Maitland in 1955

Trucks WHEN senior officers at Williamtown RAAF base called for volunteers to take the base construction crew’s big, high-level trucks to help in Maitland on the afternoon of Thursday, February 24, 1955, Corporal Jim Carney, a 24-year-old air force accountant who had served in Korea, put his hand up. He had been planning a visit to the Newcastle Show with his fiancée, Elaine Frear, who was turning 21 next day. “At 10am they asked for volunteers for a few hours,” Jim recalled. “I ended up being there three days. I had a lot of explaining to…

Continue ReadingTrucks, DUKWs and surfboats were heroes of the flood at Maitland in 1955
Read more about the article The great flood of 1955: Part 1
The Belmore Bridge across the Hunter River at Maitland, as seen in the 1955 flood.

The great flood of 1955: Part 1

IT started high in the sky, somewhere near Indonesia. A huge mass of warm, moist air drifted south towards Australia. Somewhere about Queensland it met an obstacle: another mass of moist air from the Pacific. As the two masses collided, the warmer one was pushed high into the atmosphere where it cooled. The water vapour it was carrying condensed and formed into liquid droplets. Down on the ground in NSW, people looked for umbrellas as the rain began to fall. They didn’t have to look far: rain had been falling steadily, on and off, for five…

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