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Read more about the article The sailing ship Lawhill at Newcastle in 1944
Lawhill off the coast of Newcastle, NSW, 1944

The sailing ship Lawhill at Newcastle in 1944

On September 9, 1944, when the veteran four-masted barque Lawhill arrived at Newcastle, NSW, on a trading visit, the city must have responded with excitement. With the world still at war - although by now it was clear the Allies were on the front foot in both Europe against Germany and the Pacific against Japan - the appearance of a big sailing ship would have taken the minds of old-timers back to their youth, when such vessels were regular visitors in the busy harbour. Younger people would have realised too, that this was likely to be…

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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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Wilfred Hayler’s Newcastle Harbour photographs

Wilfred Hayler was in his late teens when he decided to photograph the ships and other activities around the busy harbour of his home town, Newcastle, NSW. Wilfred with one of his photograph albums. It doesn't seem as though young Wilfred had particularly sophisticated camera gear, but he did have a good eye for a picture. And at the time he was taking his hundreds of photos, the world of shipping in Newcastle Harbour was in a fascinating state of transition from sail to steam. The six-masted barquentine E.R. Sterling at the coal cranes, with the…

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