© 2018 Greg & Sylvia RAY

Newcastle Harbour

Read more about the article Postcards from the Past, by Greg and Sylvia Ray

Postcards from the Past, by Greg and Sylvia Ray

I've long been fascinated by postcards - especially old ones. They speak of a time when communication was a more leisurely business than it is today, and yet they symbolise the desire of people for quick and snappy means of staying in touch. Printed in vast numbers in the early years of last century, postcards were a collecting craze too, and many families still have old albums full of these intriguing ambassadors from the past. Our 13th book, Postcards from the Past, is a collection of cards depicting Newcastle, NSW, and its Hunter Region hinterland. The…

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Read more about the article The Wellen: Soviet ship in Newcastle, NSW, 1942

The Wellen: Soviet ship in Newcastle, NSW, 1942

A slowly evolving story, with some plot holes remaining to be filled. Why was the Wellen in Australian waters? And what about the Minsk, whose officers apparently visited the damaged Wellen in Newcastle? Why is information about that ship so hard to find? In May 1942 Japan and Russia were not at war. And yet in the opening salvos of Japan's submarine war against merchant shipping in Australian waters, it carelessly managed to attack a Soviet ship. This was the freighter Wellen, an elderly vessel of 5000 tons. It was apparently built in Britain, taken over…

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Read more about the article A BHP mail-room boy and shipping clerk remembers

A BHP mail-room boy and shipping clerk remembers

When Neville Chant started work as a clerk at the BHP Company's Newcastle steelworks in 1936, he was allocated to the correspondence department as a mail-room boy. He'd just finished his school leaving certificate and he started at the BHP just before Christmas. It was a different world from that of 2021, but although communications technology might seem primitive compared to today's, it was capable of great efficiency. While BHP's headquarters were in Melbourne, it had important interests in many parts of Australia. The BHP steelworks and its satellite industries were a huge presence in Newcastle,…

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