British

Guardians of health and security: Point Nepean’s twin roles in history

18 April 2025 / 4 Comments

Point Nepean, located at the tip of Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, is a site of remarkable historical significance. It houses Australia’s second-oldest surviving barracks-style quarantine buildings and fortifications that once protected the colony’s coastline. As the primary quarantine station in Victoria until 1979, Point Nepean played a pivotal role in safeguarding public health.

Z Special Unit Part 2 – Operation Rimau: the tragic sequel to Jaywick

29 September 2023 / 1 Comment

While Operation Jaywick in its simplicity was a resounding success; Operation Rimau in its sophistication was an abysmal failure.

Brian Smith

Introduction

In just a few months, the Japanese managed to dismantle an empire in South East Asia the Europeans took centuries to build. The attack on Pearl Harbour in early December 1941 was preceded by the Japanese invasion of the Malay Peninsula, an hour before.… Read more

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The cable cutters

11 August 2023 / 2 Comments

“I’ll put a girdle ‘round the earth in forty minutes”
William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream

While travelling around the country, I came across yet another little-known wartime story which again highlights the heroics of Australians. This time it involves midget submarines and divers cutting underwater telegraph cables to thwart the Japanese communication efforts towards the end of World War II.… Read more

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Rifles, rainforests and rhetorical exuberance

2 December 2022 / Leave a Comment

Introduction

The first Federal battalion of Australian soldiers sailed to South Africa in 1901 to fight the Boer War. They joined colonial troops already serving there. One of the lessons learnt by the Commonwealth forces during that campaign was the need to develop an armament that was a happy medium between a long rifle and a carbine.… Read more

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Ships of the desert

14 January 2022 / 4 Comments

“I don’t like them [camels]…but from my point of view I reckon they were the best animals that ever looked through a collar”. Camaleer ‘Stockwhip Jim’ Clarke

Australia’s outback covers more than six million square kilometres or almost twice the size of India. As the coastal areas were first settled in Australia, questions remained about the interior.… Read more

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