Thomas Rogers

Front cover of WM issue 2 - the magazine of the Australian War Memorial. Theme is "Stories from the Front".

Issue 2 of our new mag ("WM") arrived on Friday! Some fantastic work inside. If you want to know more, you could always visit wm.awm.gov.au

The Australian War Memorial, Canberra, on the morning of Remembrance Day 2025 (colour photo).

A beautiful, if windy, Remembrance Day in Canberra.

HMAS Sydney (I) dressed in honour of the visit of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales in 1920 (b+W photo): https://seapower.navy.gov.au/history/units/hmas-sydney-i

#otd in 1914: the first time a ship of the Royal Australian Navy went into battle. HMAS Sydney's success meant the Indian Ocean was clear for British shipping for much of the First World War.

www.navy.gov.au/about-navy/h...

Which books shaped you? Always a tough question for historians, because there are so many!

wm.awm.gov.au/read/militar...

'Telling the truth': WA governor to apologise for Pinjarra Massacre The descendants of people who were murdered in one of Western Australia's most brutal attacks on Aboriginal people — the Pinjarra Massacre — are set to hear an apology from the WA governor.

A state governor to apologise for a frontier massacre carried out by the first governor of that colony.

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...

B+W photo of Captain Emile Dechaineux RAN, c. March 1944. Image: AWM 106692 See also https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10676779

#OTD in 1944, HMAS Australia (II) was struck by a Japanese suicide aircraft, killing 30 of the ship's crew including the CO, Captain Emile Dechaineux.

Story: seapower.navy.gov.au/ran-battle-l...

H. Septimus Power, Bringing Up the Guns (1921), AWM ART03334: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C167366. Oil painting in the collection of the Australian War Memorial.

I’ve seen two published histories recently refer to the Australian “Infantry” Force. It should be *Imperial*.

The error omits soldiers (e.g. artillery), and also downplays just how important the British Empire was in Australia.
Cf. the “expeditionary” forces: BEF, CEF, NZEF.

Radio National's Top 100 Books - ABC Radio National Radio National's Top 100 Books of the past 25 years is here. Listen on Saturday 19 October and Sunday 20 October as we count down the books you voted as your favourites.

You have 4 hours left to vote on your favourite 21st-C books in ABC Radio National's Top 100 Books:
www.abc.net.au/listen/radio...

If you're in Canberra this weekend, I can confirm that Lifeline Bookfair is, once again, awesome! Go there!!

www.lifelinecanberra.org.au/books/bookfa...

CLOSING NEXT WEEK - submit your entry by Tuesday 30 September to be in the running for the Ken Inglis Postgraduate Prize.
Did you present a paper at the AHA conference in July? Email it to us: ahs-history@unimelb.edu.au
See the pinned post for more details.

This paperweight, made of Haematite carved in shape of a grasshopper. But it was hand-carved between 1800-1700 BC in ancient Babylonia (modern-day Iraq).

It served as a functional weight and also showcases the artistic skill of Babylonian artisans. 

British Museum

#archaeohistories

More HMAS Australia (II) posting by me...

#OTD 85 years ago, Operation Menace began off the west coast of Africa.

www.awm.gov.au/articles/blo...

Were the ancient Greeks and Romans colour blind? - ABC Radio National Homer left historians with the impression that the ancient Greeks and Romans had an underdeveloped appreciation of colour. The ancients, in fact, were a shade more sophisticated than that and understo...

I've always found this "wine-dark sea" debate fascinating. Couldn't the archaic Greeks see blue?

An old article, but probably the best take I've seen on it: www.abc.net.au/listen/radio...

London museum tells forgotten story of African and Indian troops in second world war National Army Museum’s Beyond Burma exhibition examines stories of soldiers from Britain’s colonies

London museum tells forgotten story of African and Indian troops in second world war
National Army Museum’s Beyond Burma exhibition examines stories of soldiers from Britain’s colonies

www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

B+W photo: German soldier lighting a British soldier's cigarette, 1918. IWM Q 11538.

#OTD in 1918, the British (incl. Australian) assault on the Hindenburg Line. Pic is from the fighting at Epéhy.

Pic: www.iwm.org.uk/collections/...

Australian bird of the year 2025: nominate your favourite now We want to hear which Australian birds you think should be shortlisted for the Guardian/Birdlife Australia bird of the year poll next month

bird poll (Australian)

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

So who else can say that they work with an expert in Second World War-era RAAF aeroplane nose art? I can!

wm.awm.gov.au/read/nose-art

Picture shows a book cover for Dangers of Youth

I'm honoured to be speaking to @petermcphee.bsky.social on Mon 6 Oct at 1pm AEDT about my book Dangers of Youth: Age, Criminality, and Juvenile Justice Reform in Third Republic France at an online event hosted by the George Rudé Society. Please register here: uni-sydney.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

B+W photo of HMAS Australia (II) and HMAS Hobart (I), probably circa 1942. AWM 300272

#OTD in 1945, the Battle of Morotai began. HMAS Australia (pictured) and other Australian & US ships bombarded the island for some two hours prior to the landings.

HMAS Australia's history is remarkable: seapower.navy.gov.au/history/unit...

Kinda spooked by how much archaeological material is within digging distance under our feet, that I'll never see, and even if I did, I wouldn't be able to interpret...

Reading a wartime love story researched & written by my colleague Alix (...and apparently also cutting up onions...)

wm.awm.gov.au/read/colin-s...

Ken Inglis Postgrad Prize CLOSING SOON - 30 Sept.
Did you present a paper at the AHA conference? Tidy it up and email it to us at ahs-history@unimelb.edu.au
Read the flier for all the T&Cs. You might get published in the journal...good luck!

B+W photo of members of Hong Kong and Singapore Mountain Battery, in desert, February 1918. AWM B01448 (detail) Yes that is a cannon strapped to the back of a camel. No you can't take it home with you.

Fascinating reading about the Imperial Camel Corps, by one of our former Summer Scholars, Hannah Swaine:

wm.awm.gov.au/read/rough-r...

Wondering about late-19th-C British army doctrine of cold steel - a seemingly unshakeable belief that, if only the British infantry could get into close combat, the battle would be won.

I.e. the Corporal Jones doctrine: "They don't like it up 'em, sir!"

There's a cultural study in there somewhere.

Cover of Nimitz at War, by Craig L. Symonds (from https://global.oup.com/academic/product/nimitz-at-war-9780190062361)

I really enjoyed reading Craig L. Symonds' *Nimitz at War* - as you can see from my review of it: researchcentre.army.gov.au/library/aust...

B+W photo of Charles Bean at work, c. 1920s. AWM A05389.

Come and study with us! It'll be fun!

Applications are open for the Australian War Memorial Summer Scholars program, to be held in Canberra next Jan-Feb.

Apply here: www.awm.gov.au/get-involved...

'Waiting for the attack, Omdurman', Sudan, 1898 [National Army Museum, UK, image number: 36080] Sepia-toned photograph of British infantry in Sudan.

#OTD, 1898: the battle of Omdurman. The death blow to the Mahdist state. The British campaign in Sudan followed the same logic as retaliatory frontier parties, on a much grander scale. The brutal chastening of locals who had killed a high-ranking British man.

Story: www.nam.ac.uk/explore/egyp...

We are sorry to hear of the recent death of SAHR Fellow Professor John Laband, whose work on the wars of southern Africa during the 19th century will be familiar to anyone with an interest in this era. Our condolences to his family and friends.

Cover - Jonathan Richards, The Secret War, UQ Press, 2008.

I'm re-reading Jonathan Richards' *Secret War* more than a decade after first encountering it, having developed a much better understanding of British Empire history, and military history.

What an amazing and groundbreaking piece of scholarship it really is.

New research shows WWII dominates Australians’ knowledge of military history. But big gaps remain A new national survey shows the second world war dominates Australians’ understanding of their military history, but knowledge is limited to the Pacific War.

A fascinating, if sobering, read about Australians' knowledge about our military history. Spoiler: it's declining.

theconversation.com/new-research...

The team behind this research has done a fantastic job!