The History Book Club discussion

This site is interesting:

Ahoy - Mac's Web Log
Naval, Maritime, Australian History and more

http://ahoy.tk-jk.net/

In regards to Australian Military history another good site is the Australian War Memorial http://www.awm.gov.au/

Thank you Michael for the add.

And you can also try the Australian National Maritime Museum:


Australian National Maritime Museum

Thanks Aussie Rick for another wonderful link.

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "And you can also try the Australian National Maritime Museum:


Australian National Maritime Museum"

A great place to visit went there a few months ago and had a ball

I bet you did...I am sure it was right up your alley (smile).

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "And you can also try the Australian National Maritime Museum:


Australian National Maritime Museum"

Thanks for this link Aussie Rick, didn't know they had got online. They have some fantastic material, haven't been there in years but want to follow up on some research. Makes it easier with the library catalogue online now.

Below is a small book of 180 pages that tells a great story of bravery and self-sacrifice during WW2.


(no cover) HMAS Armidale: The ship that had to die by Frank Walker

For the full story on this incident and the bravery of Ordinary Sailor Edward "Teddy" Sheean check out the link below:

HMAS Armidale

Here is a brand new book covering the Dardanelles-Gallipoli campaign by a local Australian; "Churchill's Dilemma: The Real Story Behind the Origins of the 1915 Dardanelles Campaign" by Graham T. Clews.

by Graham T. Clews
Publishers blurb:
Churchill's Dilemma: The Real Story Behind the Origins of the 1915 Dardanelles Campaign is an entirely original study of the origins of the disastrous Dardanelles Campaign of 1915 and Winston Churchill's role in it. The work challenges long-held beliefs about Churchill's actions as First Lord, including the perceptions that he had a preoccupation with the Dardanelles bordering on obsession, and that he only reluctantly promoted a naval-only attempt to force the Dardanelles because there were no troops available for a full-scale amphibious assault on the Peninsula.

Opening with a brief study of prewar naval policy in the age of the mine and submarine and the implications of the growing threat from Germany, this in-depth study shows that neither perception is true. Churchill's preoccupation was with northern Europe, not the Mediterranean. He promoted his naval-only operation because he hoped this would preempt a major British military commitment to a southern theatre that would compromise his northern aspirations. In studying the motivations that drove and the other key players in this drama, this groundbreaking work does nothing less than unlock the true origins of the Dardanelles campaign.

Review:
“This detailed analysis of the origins of the Dardanelles campaign gets to the heart of a matter that is still shrouded in mystery and mired in controversy. Graham Clews is to be congratulated on his meticulous scholarship." - Trevor Wilson, Emeritus Professor of History, University of Adelaide, and author of ‘The Somme’

“This is the most thorough study yet produced of the Dardanelles campaign and the part played by Winston Churchill in it. No specialist on Gallipoli or those with an interest in Churchill should ignore it.” – Robin Prior, Emeritus Professor, Trevor Wilson School of History, University of Adelaide, and author of ‘Gallipoli: The End of the Myth’

“It’s clear that the planning process for the Dardanelles-Gallipoli campaign went badly wrong. Looking for a way to employ Britain’s superior strength in 1915, First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill sent an ill-fated fleet to the Mediterranean. As Graham Clews argues, the Dardanelles was never anything more than a secondary operation to Churchill, who remained fixated on his true obsession: an amphibious assault on the island of Borkum, followed by a massive amphibious landing along Germany’s Baltic or North Sea coastline. Clews has written an important book, showing us how what happened in the Straits, an all-naval operation starved of troops until it was arguably too late, was not an accident, but exactly what Churchill intended all along.” – Robert M. Citino, Professor of History, University of North Texas, and Author of ‘Blitzkrieg to Desert Storm’

For those interested in some Australian naval history from WW2:


by Mike Carlton
Publishers blurb:
Of all the Australians who fought in World War II, none saw more action nor endured so much of its hardship and horror as the crew of the cruiser HMAS Perth. Most were young, many still teenagers, from cities and towns, villages, and farms across the nation. In three tumultuous years they did battle with the forces of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, the Vichy French, and, finally, the Imperial Japanese Navy. They were nearly lost in a hurricane in the Atlantic. In the Mediterranean in 1941 they were bombed by the Luftwaffe and the Italian Air Force for months on end until, ultimately, during the disastrous evacuation of the Australian army from Crete, their ship took a direct hit and 13 men were killed. After the fall of Singapore in 1942, HMAS Perth was hurled into the forlorn campaign to stem the Japanese advance towards Australia. Off the coast of Java in March that year she met an overwhelming enemy naval force. Firing until her ammunition literally ran out, she was sunk with the loss of 353 of her crew, including her much-loved captain and the Royal Australian Navy's finest fighting sailor, "Hardover" Hec Waller. Another 328 men were taken into Japanese captivity, most to become slave laborers in the infinite hell of the Burma-Thai railway. Many died there, victims of unspeakable atrocity. Only 218 men, less than a third of her crew, survived to return home at war's end.

Review:
"Cruiser is an heroic work of over 700 pages which tracks the two-and-a-half years’ service of the light cruiser, HMAS Perth, and all who sailed in her from July l939 until her sinking in the Sunda Strait on 1 March l942. Over this period, Perth did battle with the forces of all the King’s enemies – Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, the Vichy French and the Japanese. Cruiserʼs author, Michael Carlton, is a member of the Institute and is a well-known and respected Sydney journalist and broadcaster. He served as a war correspondent during the Vietnam War and has had an interest in naval history for many years. The book was launched on 28 August 2010 onboard HMAS Sydney at Garden Island dockyard by Her Excellency the Governor of New South Wales, Professor Marie Bashir, AC, CVO, who spoke in glowing terms about the book and suggested it should be held in all libraries and schools. Of the author, she said: “There is no doubt that Mike Carlton is one of Australia’s finest journalists and broadcasters, and having just read this extraordinary and beautifully written account of Cruiser: The life and loss of HMAS Perth and her crew, I would add, one of our finest contemporary writers.”

Carlton begins his narrative with the 500 crew of Perth leaving Sydney on 13 May l939 in the Blue Funnel ship, Autolycus, bound for Portsmouth, England, to commission the ship. Perth, previously known as HMS Amphon, left Portsmouth on 26 July l939 for New York and service in the Caribbean followed under Royal Navy command. Following the declaration of war against Germany on 3 September 1939, Perth, under the command of Captain H. B. Farncomb, DSO, MVO, RAN, spent her time blockading German merchant ships in harbour and acting as a convoy escort. On arrival in Sydney on 31 March l940 to a tumultuous welcome, Farncomb1 was relieved by Captain Sir Philip Bowyer-Smyth, RN. The ship was constantly at sea towards the end of l940, escorting troop convoys and dealing with reports of German raiders operating against Allied shipping. Service in the Mediterranean followed in 1941, involving incessant air raids by the Luftwaffe and the Italian Air Force, the Battle of Matapan, the evacuation of troops from Greece and Crete during which Perth took a direct hit and 13 crewmen were killed, and difficult times at Malta and Tobruk. Perth’s last captain was Captain H. M. L. Waller, DSO*, RAN, who assumed command on 24 October
l941. Known as “Hec”, he had achieved legendary status as commander of the Scrap-Iron Flotilla in the Mediterranean. Indeed, Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean, had introduced him to the prime minister saying: “and now you are going to meet one of the greatest captains who ever sailed the seas”.

Praise indeed from one who was regarded as the best fighting admiral of the Second World War. After the fall of Singapore in February 1942, Perth was recalled to Australian waters. On 1 March 1942, she was part of a small Allied naval force that encountered the might of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Java Sea. After firing until her ammunition was expended, she was sunk. Of her crew of 681, only 328 survived long enough to be picked up by the Japanese. Carlton’s account of this disastrous battle and the final and fatal action of HMAS Perth and USS Houston in the Sunda Strait against overwhelming odds is splendidly told. Carlton is an accomplished naval historian with a great gift for descriptive writing. There are those who believe that, after the Battle of Sunda Strait, Waller should have been awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross, particularly as the captain of USS Houston, Captain Albert Rooks, USN, was awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor for his role in this action.

The final chapters record the fight for survival by the 328 Perth prisoners-of-war, who faced potential death by starvation, illness, beating and beheading. The narrative brings back the savagery of 70 years ago and the courage and spirit of those gallant men. Of the Perth prisoners employed on the Burma-Siam Railway, 58 would die. Slave labour in Japan followed for some. Only 218 lived to be repatriated to Australia in l945. The end of the war with Japan and the homecoming and joyous reunions are covered well. With Perth as its centrepiece, Cruiser is an extremely well-written account, both militarily and politically, of significant events of World War II. Carlton has based his narrative on meticulous research, including examination of diaries maintained by the ship’s company and interviews with surviving members of the crew. Many interesting details have emerged from this research that give a compelling insight into life onboard ship, particularly in the Mediterranean, and in the harrowing years of Japanese cruelty to prisoners-of-war. It is a compelling read." - David Leach (Vice Admiral Leach is a former commanding officer of the guided missile destroyer HMAS Perth II.)

I just purchased a copy of this new book on the 'Batavia' by Peter Fitzsimons that may interest other readers who enjoy naval history and sea wrecks.


by Peter FitzSimons
Description:
In the seventeenth century, the world's prime trade super-power was Holland. They fiercely and ruthlessly protected and controlled the passage from the East Indies to Europe, trafficking priceless spices back at enormous profit. And their flagship, Batavia, named after the Dutch stronghold port in Fiji, was the pride of the Dutch East India Company. But in the early hours of early June 1629, during its maiden voyage en route to the Indies, the ship struck the unseen and treacherous reef in the Abrolhos Islands, which lie just off the coast of Western Australia. And as the weather deteriorated and Batavia threatened to founder on the reef, Commander Francisco Pelsaert made the regrettable decision to strike out for help leaving behind Jeronimus Cornelisz, a traitor-in-waiting; a man of great delusion and greed. So as the Captain left with a small amount of crew, Cornelisz's plans started to take root: while the cat was away ,Cornelisz played.
Having muttered darkly about mutiny throughout the journey now his plans could come to fruition and with a loyal and bloodthirsty band of sympathisers, Cornelisz started a reign of terror over the remaining passengers and crew on the island.
Batavia, the flagship of the Company, was carrying treasure beyond belief. And the calculating Cornelisz planned for the treasure to be his. As too did he wish for the merchant's wife Lucrezia to be his. As he instructed his bloodthirsty, loyal brigands to execute the remaining survivors, he enslaves the proud Lucrezia and continues brutal mini-dictatorship, Cornelisz waits for the return of Pelsaert and the rescue boats, his plan to overthrown the ageing Commander and foolish skipper and claim the treasures and rescue boats for himself and his followers.
One man, however, stands in his way. Wiebbe Hayes, foolishly sent to an outlying island by Cornelisz to find precious fresh water, could be his undoing. Unless Cornelisz reaches him first...
Peter FitzSimons thinks this is the greatest story in Australia's history. He is the perfect man to write this bloody, chilling, stunning tale.



And I cannot recommend highly enough Mike dash's account on the same subject:

by Mike Dash
Review:
"In 1629, the Dutch India Company's ship Batavia, on her maiden voyage out from Holland, round the Cape of Good Hope, en route to Batavia (now Jakarta), sank after running aground on the Houtman Abrolhos Islands, 40 miles off the coast of Western Australia.

MIKE DASH tells what must surely be one of the most dramatic, deranged, bloodthirsty, sex- and alcohol-laden stories in maritime history.

Even before the ship ran aground, there was a mutiny being planned. The under-merchant (the number two company representative) Jeronimus Corneliusz persuaded the skipper Ariaen Jacobsz (who wasn't the boss but served the East India Company's top representative, merchant Francisco Pelsaert) that they should steal the ship and its cargo before arriving in the Indies.

The Abrolhos were true desert islands, with neither water nor shelter. Pelsaert and Jacobsz and a few dozen others set sail in a smaller boat for Batavia leaving the rest (several hundred) behind, intended to return to rescue them (as they indeed did).

The Islands did not in fact kill the survivors off. But Corneliusz had not given up his idea of mutiny and seizing an East India Company ship (as well as all the money and jewels that had been left behind). And what follows is an astonishing tale of cold-blooded murder as Corneliusz and his henchman killed off others one by one.

Pelsaert returns to save the day, or what's left of it.

(If this sounds like an opera, that's because it is: an opera based on the story of the Batavia premiered in Australia just two years ago.)

Pelsaert may not have managed to save the more that 100 people that Corneliusz bumped off, but he did manage to salvage most of the East India's Company valuables and cargo, losing several more men in the process, displaying an entrepreneurial spirit that still characterizes much East Asian trade today.

Corneliusz was a real piece of work. He had been an apothecary, had a most peculiar marriage, went bust and went to sea. He also appears to have been completely deranged (imagine Anthony Perkins from the old Hitchcock film Psycho dressed like a Pilgrim)

Dash (in the 100 pages of notes that follow the story itself) presents evidence that Corneliusz was a clinical psychopath. He was also a heretic (an Anabaptist) and Dash argues that he was also belonged to a sect of Rosicrucians who believed (or claimed to believe) that it was impossible to sin, because (conveniently) any ideas we have come from God.

Bloody good story; it hardly matters whether it is exactly true. MIKE DASH tries to tread a fine line between historical research and writing a book that people will actually read. On the whole, I think he succeeds; it is truly something that we know with any exactitude at all what happened day-by-day, and what people said and thought almost 400 years ago.

On the other hand, the historical record isn't exactly complete: Dash relies largely on Pelsaert's account which is (as he acknowledges) self-exculpatory. And some of the connections that Dash draws between Corneliusz and other individuals and groups that might have influenced him are, while not implausible, not entirely proven either.

A bit speculative, perhaps. This is unfortunate, because the story stands by itself: we didn't need to know why Anthony Perkins was carrying the knife ...

I can't imagine why this hasn't been made into a movie yet." - Peter Gordon (In 1629, the Dutch India Company's ship Batavia, on her maiden voyage out from Holland, round the Cape of Good Hope, en route to Batavia (now Jakarta), sank after running aground on the Houtman Abrolhos Islands, 40 miles off the coast of Western Australia.

MIKE DASH tells what must surely be one of the most dramatic, deranged, bloodthirsty, sex- and alcohol-laden stories in maritime history.

Even before the ship ran aground, there was a mutiny being planned. The under-merchant (the number two company representative) Jeronimus Corneliusz persuaded the skipper Ariaen Jacobsz (who wasn't the boss but served the East India Company's top representative, merchant Francisco Pelsaert) that they should steal the ship and its cargo before arriving in the Indies.

The Abrolhos were true desert islands, with neither water nor shelter. Pelsaert and Jacobsz and a few dozen others set sail in a smaller boat for Batavia leaving the rest (several hundred) behind, intended to return to rescue them (as they indeed did).

The Islands did not in fact kill the survivors off. But Corneliusz had not given up his idea of mutiny and seizing an East India Company ship (as well as all the money and jewels that had been left behind). And what follows is an astonishing tale of cold-blooded murder as Corneliusz and his henchman killed off others one by one.

Pelsaert returns to save the day, or what's left of it.

(If this sounds like an opera, that's because it is: an opera based on the story of the Batavia premiered in Australia just two years ago.)

Pelsaert may not have managed to save the more that 100 people that Corneliusz bumped off, but he did manage to salvage most of the East India's Company valuables and cargo, losing several more men in the process, displaying an entrepreneurial spirit that still characterizes much East Asian trade today.

Corneliusz was a real piece of work. He had been an apothecary, had a most peculiar marriage, went bust and went to sea. He also appears to have been completely deranged (imagine Anthony Perkins from the old Hitchcock film Psycho dressed like a Pilgrim)

Dash (in the 100 pages of notes that follow the story itself) presents evidence that Corneliusz was a clinical psychopath. He was also a heretic (an Anabaptist) and Dash argues that he was also belonged to a sect of Rosicrucians who believed (or claimed to believe) that it was impossible to sin, because (conveniently) any ideas we have come from God.

Bloody good story; it hardly matters whether it is exactly true. MIKE DASH tries to tread a fine line between historical research and writing a book that people will actually read. On the whole, I think he succeeds; it is truly something that we know with any exactitude at all what happened day-by-day, and what people said and thought almost 400 years ago.

On the other hand, the historical record isn't exactly complete: Dash relies largely on Pelsaert's account which is (as he acknowledges) self-exculpatory. And some of the connections that Dash draws between Corneliusz and other individuals and groups that might have influenced him are, while not implausible, not entirely proven either.

A bit speculative, perhaps. This is unfortunate, because the story stands by itself: we didn't need to know why Anthony Perkins was carrying the knife ...

I can't imagine why this hasn't been made into a movie yet." - Peter Gordon (The Asian Review of Books)

Below is the official site of the Royal Australian Navy and it contains everything you would ever want to know about that proud organization. Very interesting.

http://www.navy.gov.au/history

Despite the unusual title, this book provides a history of the RAN from it's inception in 1901 to the present day.

No Pleasure Cruise: The Story of the Royal Australian Navy

by Tom Frame (no photo)

Synopsis:

This comprehensive history of the Royal Australian Navy covers the naval branch of the Australian armed forces from its inception in 1901 to the present day. The early days as the government created a national navy out of the remnants of old colonial fleets, the decades of using the British model, the transformation to a more American style of navy, and the gradual growth into one of the world's strongest and most respected forces on the seas are outlined in this historical retrospective.

The first of a two volume set on the RAN during WWII.

Royal Australian Navy, 1939-1942

by G. Hermon Gill(no photo)

Synopsis:

This volume tells briefly the story of the Royal Australian Navy and of Australian naval policy between the wars, and then records the part played by the ships and men of that Navy on every ocean and particularly in the eastern Mediterranean and Indian and Pacific Oceans from 1939 until the end of the first quarter of 1942. When the volume ends most of the surviving ships are on the Australia Station again and the Japanese fleets dominate half the Pacific Ocean and the seas to the north of Australia.

The historian describes not only the actions of the Australian ships but the problems and policies of the British fleets of which they often formed a part, and discusses the strategical and administrative questions encountered by the senior leaders in Australia. A second volume will tell the story of the Australian Navy in the last three years and a half of the war.

Health, medicine, and the sea: Australian voyages, c.1815-60

by Katherine Foxhall (no photo)

Synopsis:

During the nineteenth century, over 1.5 million migrants set sail from the British Isles to begin new lives in the Australian colonies. Health, Medicine and the Sea follows these people on a fascinating journey around half the globe to give a rich account of the creation of lay and professional medical knowledge in an ever-changing maritime environment. From consumptive convicts who pleaded that going to sea was their only chance of recovery, to sailors who performed macabre "medical" rituals during equatorial ceremonies off the African coast, to surgeons' formal experiments with scurvy in the southern hemisphere oceans, to furious letters from quarantined emigrants just a few miles from Sydney, this wide-ranging and evocative study brings the experience and meaning of voyaging to life. Katherine Foxhall makes an important contribution to the history of medicine, imperialism, and migration which will appeal to students and researchers alike.

Thank you Teri on all of these.

Here is something a little different.

Voices From The Ships: Australia's Seafarers And Their Union

by Diane Kirby (no photo)

Synopsis:

In this captivating maritime history, seafarers tell their story of the struggle for equality, democracy, and social justice and of the role that unionism played in changing their lives for the better. For more than 50 years Australian seafarers have worked for a socialist vision of world peace--fighting against war in a nuclear age and apartheid in South Africa, taking sides on the 1980 boycott of the Moscow Games, and promoting health and safety at sea. This collection of achievements offers an exciting look at one part of history that has bought success to their members while reaching far beyond Australia and changing world history.

Another excellent account of the the heroic men of Australia's most famous ship in WWII.

Cruel Conflict: The Triumph and Tragedy of HMAS Perth

by Kathryn Sterling (no photo)

Synopsis:

Cruel Conflict is the story of the men who served in HMAS Perth between 1939 and 1942. The courage and humour of those who were taken as prisoners of war, who endured the hardships of the camps and laboured on the Burma-Thailand railway is a story of triumph and tragedy. Kathryn Spurling has interviewed the survivors and their families as well as mining thousands of documents to weave together a moving tale. It is ultimately a story of chance, endurance and the power of the human spirit.