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Pathfinder Kriegie And Gumboot Governor
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Book Synopsis Pathfinder, 'Kriegie' and Gumboot Governor by : Sir James Rowland
Download or read book Pathfinder, 'Kriegie' and Gumboot Governor written by Sir James Rowland and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2020-10-07 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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 RAAF in 1947, Rowland was a test pilot during the early years of the supersonic era, and played a leading role in the Mirage procurement. His leadership qualities and technical expertise saw him become head of RAAF engineering in 1972, and, in a controversial appointment, Chief of the Air Staff in 1975, the first and still the only engineer to head the RAAF. In 1981, Rowland was appointed Governor of New South Wales, a position he held with distinction for eight years. A brilliant pilot and aeronautical engineer, who combined a strong commitment to duty with a great sense of fun, Rowland has a well-earned place among the great leaders of the RAAF.
Download or read book Taking the Lead written by Mark Lax and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2020-03-01 with total page 686 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As Australia withdrew from Vietnam in 1972, few in the Australian Defence Force, none the least those in the Royal Australian Air Force could foresee the immense change that would sweep across the Service. New and emerging international relationships, changing Australian social attitudes, and a growing sense of defence self-reliance would all impact how the RAAF contributed to the application of air power in the defence of the nation and in supporting Australia’s wider national interests. For the first time, Taking the Lead brings to the reader a comprehensive and authoritative study of how the RAAF matured over its third quarter century, how it met the challenges faced, and how it finally came of age, able to take the lead when asked. By 1996, plans were in place such that the RAAF was well on the way to becoming the world’s first fifth generation air force, by making a remarkable transition. This volume also dispels the myth that the RAAF did little in the latter part of the twentieth century but train. In fact, the RAAF was at the forefront of operations as wide afield as the Sub-Continent, the Middle East, Africa and South-East Asia. Then there was aid to the civil community as well as aid to those nations seeking help in wider Asia-Pacific region. Clever force restructuring for expeditionary operations amid the stress of downsizing by almost a third, meant that future operations in the twenty-first century were to be a success. Taking the Lead is not just about aircraft, bases and flying. It considers the strategic environment of the era, the factors that affected personnel and training, how the RAAF’s force structure advanced and how the RAAF managed its successes and failures. For those seeking to learn more about their air force, then this book is essential reading. Taking the Lead covers this vital part of the RAAF’s unfolding narrative, and perfectly illustrates how the RAAF remained true to its motto – Per Ardua ad Astra – Through Adversity to the Stars.
Book Synopsis Australian Perspectives on Global Air and Space Power by : Nicole Townsend
Download or read book Australian Perspectives on Global Air and Space Power written by Nicole Townsend and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-03-01 with total page 229 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book surveys historical and emerging global air and space power issues and provides a multidisciplinary understanding of the application of air and space power in the past and present, while exploring potential future challenges that global air forces may face. Bringing together leading and emerging academics, professionals, and military personnel from Australia within the field of air and space power, this edited collection traces the evolution of technological innovations, as well as the ethical and cultural frameworks which have informed the development of air and space power in the 20th and 21st centuries, and contemplates the future. It covers topics such as the insurgents' use of drones, the ethics of air strikes, the privatisation of air power, the historical trajectory of air power strategy, and the sociological implications of an ‘air force’ identity. While many of the chapters use Australian-based case studies for their analysis, they have broader applicability to a global readership, and several chapters examine other nations’ experiences, including those of the United States and the United Kingdom. This accessible, illuminating book is an important addition to contemporary air and space power literature, and will be of great interest to students and scholars of air and space power, air warfare, military and international history, defence studies, and contemporary strategic studies, as well as military professionals.
Book Synopsis Girl with a Sniper Rifle by : Yulia Zhukova
Download or read book Girl with a Sniper Rifle written by Yulia Zhukova and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2020-11-05 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this vivid first-hand account we gain unique access to the inner workings of Stalin's Central Women’s Sniper School, near Podolsk in Western Russia. Luliia was a dedicated member of the Komsomol (the Soviet communist youth organisation) and her parents worked for the NKVD. She started at the sniper school and eventually became a valued member of her battalion during operations against Prussia. She persevered through eight months of training before leaving for the Front on 24th November 1944 just days after qualifying. Joining the third Belorussian Front her battalion endured rounds of German mortar as well as loudspeaker announcements beckoning them to come over to the German side. Luliia recounts how they would be in the field for days, regularly facing the enemy in terrifying one-on-one encounters. She sets down the euphoria of her first hit and starting her “battle count” but her reflection on how it was also the ending of a life. These feelings fade as she recounts the barbarous actions of Hitler’s Nazi Germany. She recall how the women were once nearly overrun by Germans at their house when other Red Army formations had moved off and failed to tell them. She also details a nine-day stand-off they endured encircled by Germans in Landsberg.
Book Synopsis Crossing the Wire by : David Coombes
Download or read book Crossing the Wire written by David Coombes and published by ReadHowYouWant. This book was released on 2016-04-21 with total page 728 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: So wrote an Australian prisoner - of - war, Corporal Lancelot Davies, only recently taken prisoner at the first battle of Bullecourt, on 11 April 1917. For him - like another 1,200 Australians captured at Bullecourt - the future was indeed 'blank' and unpredictable. The experiences of Australian prisoners of war (POWs) or Kriegsgefangeners held captive in Germany has been largely forgotten or ignored - overshadowed by the horrid stories of Australians imprisoned by the Japanese during World War II. Yet, as David Coombes makes known, the stories are interesting and significant - not only providing an account of what those young Australian soldiers experienced, and the spirit they showed in responding to captivity - but also for the insight it provides into Germany in the last eighteen months of the war.
Book Synopsis Teddy Sheean VC by : Doctor Tom Lewis
Download or read book Teddy Sheean VC written by Doctor Tom Lewis and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-03-03 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No-one will ever know what made him do it. In 1942, 18-year-old Edward “Teddy” Sheean was one of the youngest and most inexperienced sailors on board the the corvette HMAS Armidale. Whilst on operation in the Timor Sea this warship came under heavy attack by Japanese aircraft. Armidale began sinking while swarmed by Japanese aircraft, strafing and bombing the stricken vessel and the crew who were desperately trying to Abandon Ship. The wounded Ordinary Seaman turned back to his gun, an Oerlikon 20mm anti-aircraft cannon and strapped himself into the harness. He began firing at the attacking Japanese aircraft, a courageous young man, determined to do his best to save his mates. This selfless act of valour helped save the lives of 49 crew, before Teddy himself went down with the Armidale. No member of the Royal Australian Navy has ever been awarded a Victoria Cross. Teddy’s family and many others took up his case and fought for his recognition. It took more than 70 years for Teddy to becomes the first in Australia’s Naval history to receive this highest award ¬– confirming Teddy Sheean is an Australian hero. Sheean is the 101st VC awarded to an Australian
Book Synopsis Shockwave: An Australian Combat Helicopter Crew in Vietnam by : Peter Haran
Download or read book Shockwave: An Australian Combat Helicopter Crew in Vietnam written by Peter Haran and published by New Holland Publishers (AU). This book was released on 2004 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Book Synopsis Year's Best Aotearoa New Zealand Science Fiction & Fantasy - Volume I by : Marie Hodgkinson
Download or read book Year's Best Aotearoa New Zealand Science Fiction & Fantasy - Volume I written by Marie Hodgkinson and published by Paper Road Press. This book was released on 2019-10-31 with total page 189 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thirteen of the brightest stars in New Zealand SFF For the first time ever, the best short SFF from Aotearoa New Zealand is collected together in a single volume. This inaugural edition of the Year's Best Aotearoa New Zealand Science Fiction & Fantasy brings together the very best short speculative fiction published by Kiwi authors in 2018. Explore worlds of hope and wonder, and worlds where hope and wonder are luxuries we wasted long ago; histories given new life, and futures you might prefer to avoid. Featuring: "We Feed the Bears of Fire and Ice", by Octavia Cade (originally published in Strange Horizons) "Logistics", by A.J. Fitzwater (originally published in Clarkesworld) "The Garden", by Isabelle McNeur (originally published in Wizards in Space) "Trees", by Toni Wi (originally published in Breach) "A Most Elegant Solution", by M. Darusha Wehm (originally published in Terraform) "Mirror Mirror", by Mark English (originally published in Abyss & Apex) "A Brighter Future", by Grant Stone (originally published in Cthulhu: Land of the Long White Cloud (IFWG)) "The People Between the Silences", by Dave Moore (originally published in Landfall) "Common Denominator", by Melanie Harding-Shaw (originally published in Wild Musette Journal) "The Billows of Sarto", by Sean Monaghan (originally published in Asimov's) "The Glassblower's Peace", by James Rowland (originally published in Aurealis) "Te Ika", by J.C. Hart (originally published in Cthulhu: Land of the Long White Cloud (IFWG)) "Girls Who Do Not Drown", by Andi Buchanan (originally published in Apex)
Book Synopsis Alternative Apocalypse by : J. J. Steinfeld
Download or read book Alternative Apocalypse written by J. J. Steinfeld and published by Alternatives. This book was released on 2019-07-28 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of stories by award winning writers from across the globe take on the Apocalypse challenge.
Download or read book Duty Nobly Done written by Adam Holloway and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2018-10-05 with total page 573 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the extraordinary true story of 11 young Australian men from one extended family and their experiences in the great adventure that would change their lives — the Great War. Author Adam Holloway, a direct descendant, takes the reader into the lives of each of these men as they embark on a journey from which they are unlikely to return. These were young, confident men who revelled in the brash optimism of a young nation. They were desperate to prove themselves, eager to assert the justice of their cause and keen for a taste of the excitement and comradeship of battle. They were not expecting to be plunged into a lingering nightmare characterised by the stench of death and putrefaction, overwhelming fear and despair, and the gnawing uncertainty of survival. Holloway uses personal letters, diaries and family memories to deftly recreate the nail-biting tension as each man experiences his own baptism of fire amid the utter horror of the sights and sounds of battle. From the craggy cliffs of Gallipoli to the insatiable maw of the Western Front, these brothers and cousins step forward to take their turn in a procession of courage, each determined to do his duty and to look after his battalion brothers. This is a story that portrays the Great War on a personal level, describing in remarkable detail how it felt to fight in the worst conflict the world had known, a conflict that would change these young men and Australian society forever.
Download or read book Secret and Special written by Will Davies and published by Random House Australia. This book was released on 2021-03-02 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Soon after the declaration of war on Japan, a secret military reconnaissance unit was established, based on the British Special Operations Executive (known as SOE) and called the Inter-allied Services Department. The unit was tasked with the role to "obtain and report information of the enemy ... weaken the enemy by sabotage and destruction of morale and to lend aid and assistance to local efforts to the same end in enemy occupied territories." In 1943 it became known under the cover name Special Reconnaissance Department (SRD) and included some British officers who had escaped from Singapore. After arriving in Australia, they assembled in Melbourne, forming the nucleus of ISD and together with some Australians established what became the Z Special Unit. Training began in a number of locations around Australia including on Fraser Island off the Queensland coast, In Broken Bay near Sydney, at Careening Bay in Western Australia, at the “House on the Hill” in Cairns and at East Arm near Darwin. From these training areas and bases, Z Special undertook intelligence gathering and raiding missions throughout Southeast Asia including New Guinea, Singapore, Timor, Malaya, Borneo, Vietnam and the Dutch East Indies. The first operation was Jaywick in September 1943. Led by a 28 year old officer from the Gordon Highlanders, Captain Ivan Lyon. Using an old Japanese fishing boat renamed Krait this captured vessel was re-fitted and provisioned for a voyage from Australia to just south of Singapore where it released six commandos in three folding kayaks to attack Japanese shipping in the harbour. They placed limpet mines on several Japanese ships sinking 40,000 tons of shipping. After the successful attack, they paddled south, were picked up by the Krait and successfully returned to Australia. This was followed by Operation Rimau again led by Lyon but this time things went very wrong very early. Identified, they made a fighting withdrawal but all of the raiding party were shot or captured, with the last ten being executed just before the end of the war. Important in Z Special operations were a number of vessels designated “snake boats”. Four 66’ modified trawlers were constructed as well as a range of Asian vessels that allowed their operation in South East Asian areas of operation. One Z Special, the last in PNG, set out on the night of the 11 April 1945. Eight operatives were landed on the Japanese held island of Muschu about five kilometres off the coast near Wewak to determine the status of two 140mm Japanese naval guns that had been placed there. These guns would prove dangerous to planned naval landings at Wewak, and allied command needed to know if these were operational. The operatives were launched in four double folding kayaks from a HTML fast crash boat but the current carried them away from their landing position and the surf capsized their boats. The men swam ashore but both their radio and their signal torches had been destroyed and the men had no way of connecting with the return crash boat. Soon their lost equipment was found by the Japanese and a massive search with 1,000 troops scoured the island. Quite soon seven of the eight men had been captured, killed or died trying to swim to the mainland and only one man, Sergeant ‘Mick’ Dennis remained. Over the next three days he continued a one man war, fighting off Japanese patrols and living off the land. Unable to do this for long, he took to the dangerous shark and crocodile infested waters and with the aid of a log, paddled to the mainland. Landing on a Japanese controlled beach, he snuck ashore and after further firefights and a difficult journey travelling west, he finally was found by an Australian patrol. Mick Dennis was able to provide valuable information and for his service and bravery, was awarded a Military Medal. During the course of the war, Z Special Unit carried out 81 covert operations in the Southwest Pacific theatre. While the unit was disbanded after the end of the war, many of its techniques would be modified and used by Australian Special Forces to this day.
Book Synopsis William Lawrence Baillieu by : Peter Yule
Download or read book William Lawrence Baillieu written by Peter Yule and published by Hardie Grant Publishing. This book was released on 2012 with total page 481 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Born in Queenscliff to English migrant parents, William Lawrence Baillieu first rose to prominence as a successful auctioneer during Melbourne's feverish land boom of the 1880s. He quickly built an enormous fortune, which he then subsequently lost in the crash of the early 1890s. But, ever the astute and daring entrepreneur, WL Baillieu resurrected his fortunes and those of his family by starting his own real estate agency and investing in the mining and infrastructure that would drive Australia's economy in the 20th century. In the early days of Federation, WL entered state politics and rose to become Minister of Public Works and Health. He continued to foster his business and media interests throughout his life, and by the time he retired, WL was director of the Herald and Weekly Times, the Electrolytic Zinc Company, the Dunlop Rubber Company, and Carlton and United Breweries. Peter Yule's biography is the first ever of this significant Australian u financier, philanthropist and founding figure of the Baillieu family dynasty u whose name and influence is inextricably wound throughout Melbourne's history.
Book Synopsis Armageddon and OKRA by : Lewis Frederickson
Download or read book Armageddon and OKRA written by Lewis Frederickson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2020-12-02 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The dispatch of an Ottoman Army by Australian-led Imperial air power in the Wadi Fara on 21 September 1918 occurred just five years after the advent of military aviation in Australia. In 1914, the fledgling Australian air service operated the flimsy Bristol Boxkite; four years later it was flying the far more advanced Bristol F2B Fighter. This leap forward represented a profound progress in technology that has typified the technical development of aviation, particularly in Australia ever since. Ironically, on 21 September 2014, 96 years after the events of the Wadi Fara, Australian squadrons were again deployed to the same part of the world where they would remain for more than three years on operations against extremist terrorism. Armageddon and OKRA contrasts these events, a century apart, in the context of the development of Australian air power. The book tracks the history where Australia has maintained a balanced air service compelling high technical, logistics and engineering standards, and effective training and command and control systems, for more than 100 years. These processes were as applicable a century ago as they are today. By examining these operational events, the author establishes the connection that access to the technology associated with air power is intrinsically linked to Australia’s enduring foreign and defence policy – more so, that military power is a means to an end, and never an end unto itself.
Book Synopsis Bastard Behind the Lines by : Tom Gilling
Download or read book Bastard Behind the Lines written by Tom Gilling and published by Allen & Unwin. This book was released on 2021-02-02 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: He escaped from Singapore's Changi prisoner of war camp to become one of Australia's great World War II guerrilla fighters. 'The way I look at it is this...When you're behind the line and get yourself into trouble, you've got to get your bloody self out irrespective of anybody else. That's why I like it.' Scottish-born but a Queenslander to the bone, Jock McLaren was a true Australian hero. As a prisoner he escaped twice, first from Changi and later from the infamous Sandakan POW camp in Borneo. After paddling a dugout canoe across open sea, he fought for two years with American-led Filipino guerrillas, his exploits so audacious the Japanese put a price on his head. At the helm of his 26-foot whaleboat, the Bastard, McLaren sailed brazenly into enemy-held harbours, wreaking havoc with his mortar and machine guns before heading back out to sea. In early 1945 he joined Australia's secretive Z Special Unit, parachuting into Borneo to carry out reconnaissance and organise anti-Japanese resistance ahead of Allied landings. He cheated death on numerous occasions and saved his own life by removing his appendix without anaesthetic, using 'two large dessert spoons' and a razor blade. Drawing on Allied and Japanese wartime documents, Bastard Behind the Lines brings the story of a courageous digger vividly to life and throws light on a rarely explored aspect of Australia's Pacific war.
Book Synopsis Frederick Whirlpool VC by : Alan Leek
Download or read book Frederick Whirlpool VC written by Alan Leek and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2018-09-05 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A riveting historical mystery that sweeps four continents and fills a void in the Victoria Cross story." Frederick Whirlpool’s Victoria Cross is displayed near the entrance to the Hall of Valour at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra. It was the first VC pinned to an Australian uniform, yet almost nothing was known about its enigmatic recipient. Two acts of valour during the Indian Mutiny, won him the Victoria Cross, but 17 severe sword wounds ended his career. Arriving in Victoria in 1859, he became a volunteer rifleman and school teacher. His VC was presented in Melbourne in 1861. He was an applicant to join the Victoria Police, but a corrupt recruitment process and unsolicited political interference prevented it. Repulsed by fame, he fled and hid his cross from the world. Fragments of his story were known, but since 1895, they have been tainted by error, guesswork and in one recent British work, pure fantasy. This work solves an old mystery. It reveals his true identity and early life in Ireland before joining the East India Company Army. To understand his service, the Central Indian campaign under Sir Hugh Rose, is examined in some detail, something that has not been done before. The real horrors of that campaign are revealed to show their devastating impact on this sensitive man. Rich sources reveal his anguished story. Humphrey James’ reasons for changing his identity and leaving his family forever, are unearthed. His life in Australia is revealed, showing his fall, firstly from policing and then teaching, in NSW. He undoubtedly struggled with his demons and believed that he was destined for eternal damnation. The passage of his Victoria Cross, after his death was unknown before it appeared on the market in 1927. Its movements and those of his Indian Mutiny medal with its Central India clasp, are now revealed’ This fascinating story fills huge gaps in the narrative of this ordinary man, whose life is deserving of factual interpretation. It is a story of heroism, suffering and failure, but the forgotten man will triumph in its telling. His sad life ended as a recluse in 1899, and he was buried in an unmarked grave in Windsor. The only mourner who attended his funeral left a thread, which has allowed painstaking research to uncover the true story of this sad and purposefully enigmatic hero.
Book Synopsis Breaker Morant by : Peter FitzSimons
Download or read book Breaker Morant written by Peter FitzSimons and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2021-05-06 with total page 576 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The epic story of the Boer War and Harry 'Breaker' Morant: drover, horseman, bush poet - murderer or hero? Most people have heard of the Boer War and of Harry 'Breaker' Morant, a figure who rivals Ned Kelly as an archetypal Australian folk hero. But Morant was a complicated man. Born in England and immigrating to Queensland in 1883, he established a reputation as a rider, polo player and poet who submitted ballads to The Bulletin and counted Banjo Paterson as a friend. Travelling on his wits and the goodwill of others, Morant was quick to act when appeals were made for horsemen to serve in the war in South Africa. He joined up, first with the South Australian Mounted Rifles and then with a South African irregular unit, the Bushveldt Carbineers. The adventure would not go as Breaker planned. In October 1901 Lieutenant Harry Morant and two other Australians, Lieutenants Peter Handcock and George Witton, were arrested for the murder of Boer prisoners. Morant and Handcock were court-martialled and executed in February 1902 as the Boer War was in its closing stages, but the debate over their convictions continues to this day. With his masterful command of story, Peter FitzSimons takes us to the harsh landscape of southern Africa and into the bloody action of war against an unpredictable force using modern commando tactics. The truths FitzSimons uncovers about 'the Breaker' and the part he played in the Boer War are astonishing - and finally we will know if the Breaker was a hero, a cad, a scapegoat or a criminal.
Book Synopsis Pericleans Plumbers and Practitioners by : Peter Yule
Download or read book Pericleans Plumbers and Practitioners written by Peter Yule and published by . This book was released on 2014-06 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the urbane, learned, and widely-liked David Derham accepted the invitation to establish the second university law school in Australia's state of Victoria, Derham wrote to a friend of the challenge ahead: "I am probably mad to do it but will have some compensating fun no doubt." As the foundation dean, Derham achieved his vision of establishing a new law school with an innovative curriculum, a first-rate staff recruited from around the world, and a state-of-the-art building constructed around Victoria's best law library. Within a short time, Monash University Law School rose to be among the leading law schools in Australia and became the model that successive new law schools openly copied. If David Derham could see his law school today, there are many achievements he would be proud of, some developments that would appall him, and a few that would leave him scratching his head. In this lively and engaging 50th-anniversary history of the law school, the story of how Derham's vision has played out is told without fear or favor. While the law school's many fine achievements are fully recognized, so too are the wrong turns and backward steps. Most importantly, this is a book about the thousands of people, staff, and students who have been part of the history of the law school. There have been many extraordinary characters. No student will forget the inimitable Louis Waller, the intimidating Enid Campbell, or the remarkable Lawrie McCredie and Ron McCallum. Memorable students have been plentiful, including many who have become heavyweights in law, politics, and business. Interestingly, the authors found that the most widely remembered student was the great impersonator, Campbell McComas, aka Granville Williams; far more people recall being at his famous fake lecture than could possibly have been present on that day! (Series: Law)
