The Military History Society of NSW

Record of Society member Les (Lech) Gade’s experiences in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. As told to Reconnaissance editor John Muscat on 22 February 2018. Originally appeared in the Autumn 2018 edition of Reconnaissance, the Society's quarterly magazine. Editor: After Hitler’s occupation of Poland in September 1939, the Polish Government-In-Exile in London sponsored an underground movement within Poland, including a military force called the Home Army or Armia Krajowa (“AK”). As the Red Army approached Warsaw in late July 1944, Soviet authorities encouraged the Polish underground to launch an uprising against the Germans, promising all necessary aid. For their part, AK leaders were concerned that Stalin would extend the control he acquired over eastern parts of Poland to the rest of the country, leading to the imposition of a post-war Communist regime.  Hoping to take Warsaw before it was “liberated” by the Red Army, the AK acted on the Soviet call to revolt. Under Com...

Statement of the Council of the Military History Society of New South Wales on the proposed Australian War Memorial expansion, adopted at the Council’s meeting on 6 April 2019 We note that 83 familiar academics, bureaucrats, journalists, professionals, writers and activists signed an open letter dated 23 March 2019 expressing opposition to the Commonwealth Government’s plans to expand the Australian War Memorial for an estimated cost of $498 million. Essentially, the Memorial argues that the redevelopment is necessary to (1) create more spaces where veterans and families can find a quiet moment to reflect, (2) plan for the entire precinct’s future including visitor parking, transport options, heritage significance, ceremonial areas and connection with Anzac Parade, (3) cater for visitors as diverse as veterans and families, school groups, national and international tourists, amateur and academic researchers, (4) create more gallery spaces for items from ongoing war, peacek...

Below are the "From the Editor" comments of the Autumn 2019 edition of the Society's quarterly magazine, Reconnaissance .  Welcome to the Autumn 2019 edition of Reconnaissance . In this edition Robert Muscat expands on a theme he initially spoke about at a Society lecture in August 2017.   Did the Americans win the Revolutionary War or did the British lose it? Of course in any military engagement the winners contribute to their victory and the losers to their defeat to some extent. But it is often possible to assign the outcome predominantly to one side of the other after weighing up the factors at play. Robert argues that while the courage, initiative and tactical creativity of the American militias can’t be dismissed, the British were poised to snuff out the Revolution in 1777 by virtue of far superior resources, including maritime support, abundant materiel and better trained regular troops. All they needed was a bold plan to deliver the decisive stroke. ...

Militaristic and ambitious, by the 1880s Kaiser Wilhelm’s Germany had acquired an overseas empire including a 3,000 kilometre cordon of Pacific islands marking the Coral Sea’s northern boundary, linked by powerful wireless stations and Admiral Graf von Spee’s navy. Did Australia have reason to fear Germany’s Pacific power? Most definitely yes argues Dr Bruce Gaunson, having examined the views of competent analysts at the time and dramatic evidence from the Kaiserreich’s records supporting those pre-1914 analysts. Thus long before the AIF fought the Germans in Europe, Australians defied the Kaiserreich in Papua, Rabaul and on the seas, leading to the ultimate defiance on the Western Front. The lecture will cover aspects of this epic struggle, why so many fought, the purpose behind their sacrifice, and how the AIF crowned its ordeals with a series of superb victories in 1918 which helped break the Kaiserreich. Dr Gaunson has been a teacher, author, academic and intell...

The Military History Society of NSW Presents: Sunk Warships, 1942: HMAS Perth and USS Houston A lecture by Dr Natali Pearson, Saturday 2 March 2019 The lightening advance of Japanese forces south to the Netherlands East Indies (Indonesia) in March 1942 spelt doom for two proud warships of the Allied navies. Australia’s HMAS Perth and America’s USS Houston were attacked by Japanese destroyers and tragically sent to the bottom of the Sunda Strait separating Sumatra from Java. In the decades since, these underwater wrecks have been the subject of expeditions, illegal salvaging and other cultural impacts, which have grown in scale over recent years. Taking the history of salvaged bells from HMAS Perth (pictured) and USS Houston as a starting point, Dr Pearson will examine the meaning of protection and preservation in the case of underwater shipwrecks. Should they be left undisturbed or is loss inevitable? Or should there be judicious intervention to remove symbol...

Here are some images from our fascinating and well-attended lecture on Saturday 2 February 2019, "Militaria from the Gallipoli Campaign" by Gary Traynor, Army reservist, battlefield guide and Assistant Curator at the Australian War Memorial.  The images represent just a sample of the items and subjects covered by Gary in his wide-ranging discussion of the inventiveness and resourcefulness displayed by Australian diggers in the horrendous conditions at Gallipoli. Assembling a mock-up of the Beech Periscope Rifle, invented at  Gallipoli by  Lance Corporal William Beech, 2nd Battalion AIF        More assembling of the mock-up of the Beech Periscope Rifle Gary with assembled mock-up of Beech Periscope Rifle in background Mock-up of Beech Periscope Rifle from another angle         Items collected from Gallipoli battlefields, including bullets, slouch hat fastening  pin, pipe cleaner, bolt from .303 L...