Germany

Hostages to fortune – soldiers and civilians lost and forgotten in the fog of war

19 July 2024 / 5 Comments
Rabaul and its strategic military importance

Rabaul, a town of striking beauty nestled on the north-eastern tip of New Britain in Papua New Guinea, boasts magnificent deep-water harbour encircled by a stunning volcanic flooded caldera three kilometres wide.  This natural fortification, combined with its strategic location, made Rabaul a coveted prize for colonial powers and, eventually, a significant battleground in the Pacific theatre of World War II.

… Read more

A sleepy coastal town comes alive during wartime

14 June 2024 / 3 Comments

Gold fossickers were the first settlers to the Evans Head area on the far north coast of New South Wales. Not finding gold, they turned to oyster farming and prawning, with Evans Head becoming Australia’s first commercial prawn port.

In 1919, an Italian immigrant, John Rosolen, built the first General Store.

… Read more

Timber’s role in the rise of Australian butter 

31 May 2024 / 3 Comments

While researching for my three-part series on the truth behind the rainforest wars in New South Wales (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), there was a constant theme in the historical account of utilising one species of rainforest timber. While the cutting of hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii) was undoubtedly very extensive in New South Wales, the scale of utilisation in Queensland was even more significant, and one of its primary uses was for butter boxes.

… Read more

Special ANZAC stories

25 April 2024 / 8 Comments

I have decided to write this blog to commemorate and remember the men from settlements in and around Surrey Hills who fought in wars.

In Chapter 10 of my book, “Fires, Farms and Forests”, I outlined some of the war service by men from Guildford Junction. This blog goes into more detail and includes stories about men from Parrawe and Bulgobac.

… Read more

The humble clothes peg

29 March 2024 / 4 Comments

Ever since humans have worn garments, they have had to wash them. Where to put the garments to dry has a fascinating history. We always think that pegs hung them. However, clothes pegs only have a relatively recent past. Before the nineteenth century, laundry was hung on bushes, limbs or lines without fasteners to hold the clothes in place. … Read more

Fudging the figures

1 March 2024 / 4 Comments

“The fundamentals of science are you do not tamper with the original evidence. That has happened with our temperature record, where the past has been cooled and it makes it look as if we’re warming. That is fraud.” Ian Plimer

“BOM are right often enough to be considered, but wrong often enough not to be relied upon.

… Read more

Killing koalas to “save” polar bears

22 February 2024 / 4 Comments

“They are farming us of our money, not farming the wind or solar.”

“Queensland will be covered in glass and steel to meet ambitious renewable energy targets”

In a previous post, I wrote about the mad scramble by federal and state governments to force a rapid transition to renewable energy despite insurmountable engineering constraints, costs blowouts by a factor of 20 from $78 billion to $1.5 trillion in 2030 and $9 trillion by 2050, and the refusal of our federal minister, Chris Bowen to face up to reality, even after a relentless stream of delays to major renewable projects hits the news each month.

… Read more

The cable cutters

21 September 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

An intriguing Australian animal

12 May 2023 / 4 Comments

Australia is home to a fascinating diversity of unique animals and birds. One of the most intriguing is the emu.

My only real interest in the emu was when I played rugby for the Orange Emus in my younger years. It wasn’t until I travelled around the country that the emu became part of my consciousness.… Read more