Went out for the day kickin’ rocks in the Snowy-Monaro area of NSW. Ended up with this nice haul of red jasper. It will polish up a real treat! Or it will just sit in the garage with all the other rocks. 🤓
Not far from my mind, the 2/19th Bn was raised from the Snow-Monaro and Riverina areas.
This #photofriday finds me still with the Grim Glory of the 2/19th Bn so I am hoping my offering of ‘The Price of Admiralty’ by P & M McGuire might be of interest. It is the story of HMAS Parramatta and also represents the story of her sister ships shown in the list on the right. #histbookchat /2
My offering this week is my next read ‘Against All Odds: The History of the 2/18 Battalion A.I.F’ by James Burfitt. The cover shows the wooden cross erected at the site of heavy fighting in the Nithsdale Estate between the advancing Japanese and the 2/18th, Johore Bahru, Malaya. #histbookchat
The 2/29th fought the Japanese at the Battle of Muar. The CO, Lt Col Robertson, was killed in action on 18 January 1942 after being shot while riding as a pillion passenger on a motor cycle in an attempt to report to 45th Brigade Headquarters at Bakri. The CO of the 2/19th then took over command.
Lovely portrait of the CO of the 2/18th, Brigadier Arthur Varley. After entering into Japanese captivity, he commanded ‘A Force’ on the Thai-Burma Railway. Sadly, in Sep ‘44 his transport, the Rakuyo Maru, was torpedoed by the USS Sealion and Varley and his lifeboat party were never seen again.
On 27 November 1941, HMAS Parramatta II, whilst on convoy duty in the Mediterranean Sea off Tobruk, was struck by a torpedo from German submarine U-559. The ship rolled to starboard and sank quickly. All the officers and most of the crew were killed. 138 lives were lost and 24 survived.
Bit late to #histbookchat this week due to browser problems. Switched to a desktop pc for now and can finally see videos! Last week I finished the Grim Glory history of the 2/19th Bn and it was the best book I have ever read. I'm still thinking about it but now reading the 2/29th history. /2
