© 2018 Greg & Sylvia RAY

Militaria

Read more about the article Wartime fears of a seaman’s daughter
Wounded seaman being carried from the damaged freighter Allara in Newcastle, 1942

Wartime fears of a seaman’s daughter

FOR young Daphne Roper the most important thing about any ship entering Newcastle Harbour in the difficult years of World War II was its funnel. Daphne’s father Alexander McMorran was a chief engineer with the “iron ships” of BHP, and she knew the company’s ore-carrying vessels bore two blue bands on the top half of their funnels. Seeing a ship with the two blue bands make its way around Nobbys was an exciting sight for Daphne, her mother Anne and her little sister Annie. “During those years, with Japanese submarines haunting Australia’s east coast, each goodbye…

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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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