'Most veterans were either alcoholics or workaholics and I fitted into the latter category.' — Chris Cannin (6RAR, 1967; 7RAR, 1967-68)'When I look back and I see what I used to do … there were a lot of things wrong that I would never ever admit to at the time … I thought I was fine, but I wasn't.' — Alan Thornton (17 CONSTRUCTION SQUADRON, 1968–69)The medical and psychological legacies of the Vietnam War are major and continuing issues for...

A unique and outstanding military and industrial achievement, the Collins class submarine project was also plagued with difficulties and mired in politics. Its story is one of heroes and villains, grand passions, intrigue, lies, spies and backstabbing. It is as well a story of enormous commitment and resolve to achieve what many thought impossible. The building of these submarines was Australia's largest, most expensive and most controversial military project. From initiation in the 1981–2...

For five generations, the Buxton family has contributed to the growth of Melbourne through their real-estate and Property development businesses. They have left their mark in every epoch, rom the magnificence of Rochester Terrace to the to the elegance of 333 Collins Street, from inner-city developments in South Melbourne in the 19th century to Docklands in the 21st, and from eastern suburban projects to fully planned communities at University Hill and Merrifields.The Buxtons are on...

A descendant of early pioneers of New South Wales, James Rowland combined a thirst for adventure with a strong sense of duty. Aged just 22, he became a Lancaster pilot in the elite Pathfinder force, flying 34 missions over occupied Europe and being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. In January 1945, he was the only survivor of a collision with a Canadian aircraft over Germany. After narrowly escaping being shot as a spy, he spent the rest of the war as a POW.Returning to the R...

The compelling and very human story of the first foreign assault on Australian soil since settlement - the attack on Darwin by the Japanese in February, 1942. Darwin was a battle Australia would rather forget. Yet the Japanese attack on 19 February 1942 was the first wartime assault on Australian soil. The Japanese struck with the same carrier-borne force that devastated Pearl Harbor only ten weeks earlier. There was a difference. More bombs fell on Darwin, more civilians were killed, and ...

This fascinating historical revelation goes to the very heart of British and Allied Intelligence during World War II, specifically in the context of planning, control and implementation of the combined bomber offensive against Germany. There are sound arguments based on official archives that the handling of much air intelligence was faulty and reasons to believe that some departments within Whitehall were influenced by parochial and personal attitudes that interfered with the selection of...

A comprehensive history of Canada’s submarine service and the people who have served in it.Through a Canadian Periscope’s second edition celebrates the story of the Canadian submarine service on the occasion of its centenary in 2014.Created in 1914, at the beginning of World War I, Canada’s submarine force has overcome repeated attempts to sink it since then. Surprise, controversy, political expediency, and naval manipulation flow through its one hundred-ye...

"We are thus not only the first country in the world with the capability to produce nuclear weapons that chose not to do so, we are also the first nuclear armed country to have chosen to divest itself of nuclear weapons."Pierre Trudeau United Nations, 26 May 1978From 1963 to 1984, US nuclear warheads armed Canadian weapons systems in both Canada and West Germany. It is likely that during the early part of this period, the Canadian military was putting more effort, money, an...

Alan Turing saved millions of lives. But Bletchley Park wasn’t the only major code-breaking operation during World War II. Down under, there was Central Bureau.Central Bureau — Australia’s own large and sophisticated intelligence network, built from scratch. It was this group of mathematicians, code-breakers, and radio experts who intercepted the travel plans of the architect of the Pearl Harbor attack, Admiral Yamamoto, leading to his ambush and death. Australian ...

An ebook contianing eyewitness accounts of the sinking of the British aircraft carrier HMS Courageous in the first month of the war. Complete with explanatory text and background on the men and machines involved.When war broke out in September 1939, the British Royal Navy knew its deadliest enemy would be the German U-boat fleet - which was already at sea and sinking merchant ships. The British put into action a plan developed in peacetime: Hunter-Killer Groups designed to track dow...

The idea of a heavy cruiser emerged in the aftermath of World War I, and was closely linked to the limits set by the inter-war Washington Naval Treaty.The pre-World War I concept of armoured cruisers had been abandoned, but in their stead the Admiralty saw a place for powerful cruisers, able to patrol the sea lanes of the British Empire, and which were well-armed enough that they could destroy enemy commerce cruisers. The result was a group of British warships, kno...

From 1942 to 1944, 15 German submarines destroyed or severely damaged 27 ships, including three Canadian warships, a U.S. Army troop transport, and the Newfoundland ferry Caribou. More than 250 lives were lost. It was the only battle of the twentieth century to take place within Canada’s boundaries, and the only battle to be fought almost exclusively by Canadian forces under Canadian, rather than alliance, high command. And for more than 40 years the battle was characterized as a ...