Sabretache articles from December 2006

Sabretache archives from December 2006

Editorial.
December 1, 2006... 2006 has been a busy year with the Society biennial conference at Easter and relaunch of the Society website at the new address www.mhsa.org.au I urge members to regularly check the website which is being further developed. Work is proceeding...

2008 Biennial Conference Perth, Western Australia the count down begins.
December 1, 2006... Well, with the excellent South Australian Conference now behind us it is time to start thinking about the next conference in 2008 in Perth, WA. I know, I know, it is ages away right? Yes and no. The conference team is being assembled as we...

Australia's logistical and commissariat support in the New Zealand wars, 1863-66.
December 1, 2006... The year 1863 marks the high-water mark in Australian military involvement across the Tasman. The events of 1863, though less so in 1864 (particularly when looking at reactions to the second military settler recruiting mission), were supported...

The donkey vote: a VC for Simpson--the case against.(does John Simpson Kirkpatrick deserve a Victoria Cross?)(Viewpoint essay)
December 1, 2006... The story of the AIF abounds with myths. One of the most persistent of those myths is that connected with the purported recommendation for a Victoria Cross (VC) for Private John Simpson (Kirkpatrick) of the 3rd Field Ambulance, the so-called...

Was the last strike before or after the end of the war?(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2006... In his article The Last Strike in the June 2006 issue of Sabretache, the late Alan Fraser, a pilot with 7 Squadron, RAAF, wrote of the last strike by the RAAF in WW2.7 Squadron, together with 8 and 100 Squadrons and all flying Beauforts, formed...

60th anniversary VP day air pageant and ceremony, Canberra 2005.
December 1, 2006... Canberra, the national capital, was the centre of Australian VP Day 60th Anniversary commemorations over the weekend of Saturday 13 August to Monday 15 August. The key feature of this once-in-a-lifetime event was the rolling air pageant of...

Superintendent Henry Joseph (Bunny) Storer.(Obituary)(Military Historical Society of Australia)(Obituary)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... It is with great sadness that the Victorian Branch of the Military Historical Society of Australia reports the passing of long time member Bunny Storer on Sunday 11 June 2006. Born 23rd May 1938 Bunny served with his beloved 58th Infantry...

The Arctic Emblem.
December 1, 2006... UK Veterans Agency http://www.veteransagency.mod.uk/medals/artic.html Service in the Arctic during the Second World War was recognised by the award of campaign stars at the end of the war. The criteria for the Atlantic Star include...

Around the water cart.
December 1, 2006... The 90th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme--the bloodiest engagement of WWI--was commemorated in northern France on 2 July this year. A crowd of 10,000 massed at the British War Memorial at Thiepval. On the first day of the conflict, 1...

Tobruk: a criticism.(Book review)
December 1, 2006... Tobruk is the Libyan port made famous during the Second World War through its capture and later defence by the 2nd Australian Imperial Force. It is also the title of the 'best selling' book that Peter FitzSimons has written about those events a...

Peter Nolan. Possums and Bird Dogs: Australian Army Aviation's 161 Reconnaissance Flight in South Vietnam.(Book review)
December 1, 2006... Peter Nolan. Possums and Bird Dogs: Australian Army Aviation's 161 Reconnaissance Flight in South Vietnam, Allen & Unwin, August 2006, $35.00. Back when I first visited the Australian War Memorial, about two decades ago, the Vietnam War...

Antony Beevor. The Battle for Spain the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939.(Book review)
December 1, 2006... Antony Beevor. The Battle for Spain The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939, 2006, Weidenfeld and [ Nicolson, 526 pages, 50 b&w photographs, 12 maps, bibliography, notes, sources, index. Picking up a new book on the Spanish Civil War these days is...

Peter Dornan. The Last Man Standing: Herb Ashby and the Battle of El Alamein.(Book review)
December 1, 2006... Peter Dornan. The Last Man Standing: Herb Ashby and the Battle of El Alamein, Allen & Unwin, ISBN: 9781741149890, paperback, 248 p., $26.95 Peter Dornan's latest work tells the story of Herby Ashby, a South Australian soldier in the 2/48th...

Albert Palazzo. Battle of Crete e-book plus Battle of Crete and Combat Mission--Africa Corps.(E-book review)
December 1, 2006... Albert Palazzo. Battle of Crete e-book plus Battle of Crete and Combat Mission--Africa Corps game, 2005, Army History Unit for distribution to authorised Army personnel Wearing my hat as editor rather than reviewer I hesitated to publish a...

Robert Macklin. Jacka VC: Australian Hero.(Book review)
December 1, 2006... Robert Macklin. Jacka VC: Australian hero, Allen & Unwin, ISBN: 9781741148305, paperback, $29.95 Most with an interest in military history would instantly pick Albert Jacka as Australia's greatest war hero. He was thrice decorated for...

Harry Willey. Scone's Fallen Anzacs.(Book review)
December 1, 2006... Harry Willey. Scone's Fallen Anzacs, 2005 revised 2006, ISBN : 0-9758264-0-9, perfect bound, includes over 200 b/w photographs, bibliography, index, table of contents, 214 p., $29.95 plus $10 postage. From Harry Willey, PO Box 551, SCONE NSW...

Don Dennis. The Guns of Muschu.(Brief article)(Book review)
December 1, 2006... Don Dennis. The guns of Muschu, 2006, Allen & Unwin, ISBN 978 1 74114 878 7, paperback, 264 pages, $29.95. On the night of 11 April 1945, eight Australians from Z Special Unit landed on Muschu Island which commanded the approaches to Wewak...

John Walter. The Rifle Story: An Illustrated History from 1756 to the Present Day.(Book review)
December 1, 2006... John Walter. The Rifle Story: An illustrated history from 1756 to the present day, Greenhill Books, London, 2006. ISBN 1-85367-690-X, Hard cover with dust jacket, 304 pp., 146 b & w photos and line drawings, UK19.99 [pounds sterling] plus p&p....

Nigel West. At Her Majesty's Secret Service: The Chiefs of Britain's Intelligence Agency, M16.(Book review)
December 1, 2006... Nigel West. At Her Majesty's Secret Service: The Chiefs of Britain's Intelligence Agency, M16, Greenhill Books, London, 2006., ISBN 1-85367-702-7, hard cover with dust jacket, 296 pp., 21 b & w photos plus 1 b & w map, 17 x 24 cm, UK20 [pounds...

Henry Probert. Bomber Harris: His Life and Times.(Book review)
December 1, 2006... Henry Probert. Bomber Harris: His life and times, Greenhill Books, London, 2006. ISBN 1-85367-691-8, paperback, 432 pp., 71 b&w photographs, maps and charts, 13 x 20 cm, UK8.99 [pounds sterling] plus p&p. This objective, but sensitive,...

August Kubizek. The Young Hitler I Knew.(Book review)
December 1, 2006... August Kubizek. The young Hitler I knew, Greenhill Books, Lond, 2006. ISBN 1-85367-694-2, Hard cover with dust jacket, 264 pp, 22 b & w photos, 16 x 24 cm. UK19.99 [pounds sterling] plus p&p. It seems the fascination of today's inhabitants...

Mario R Dederichs.Heydrich: The Face of Evil.(Book review)
December 1, 2006... Mario R Dederichs. Heydrich: The face of evil, Greenhill Books, 2006. ISBN 1-85367-686-1. Hard cover with dust jacket, 240 pages, 16 x 24 cm, UK19.95 [pounds sterling] plus p&p. This work is a remarkable biography that gives great insight...

John Treloar and Peter Shaw. The Kilted Battalion: The History of the 16th Infantry Battalion(The Cameron Highlanders of Western Australia).(New Books)(Brief article)(Book review)
December 1, 2006... John Treloar and Peter Shaw. The Kilted Battalion, The history of the 16th Infantry Battalion (The Cameron Highlanders of Western Australia), 2006, ISBN 0 646 49971 8, hard cover, 256 pp $45 plus p&p. The Kilted Battalion was published in...

Glenn Wahlert. The Western Desert Campaign, 1940-41.(New Books)(Brief article)(Book review)
December 1, 2006... Glenn Wahlert. The Western Desert Campaign 1940-41, 2006, ISBN 0 9757699 2 9, Army History Unit While the North African campaign has been studied in detail over the years, much of this study has been dedicated to the battles between the...

Albert Palazzo. Australian Military Operations in Vietnam.(New Books)(Brief article)(Book review)
December 1, 2006... Albert Palazzo. Australian military operations in Vietnam, 2006, ISBN 1 876439 10 6, Army History Unit From 1962 to 1972 Australia joined the United States in fighting a communist inspired insurgency war in the jungles of South Vietnam...