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25.01.2022 Tonight we remember the crew of the Lockheed Hudson A16-173 Bomber which crashed into Bong Bong Mountain on this day in 1942 at 9:16pm. A night of bad stormy weather the bomber was one of two ordered out to check out a reported Japanese Submarine sighting. After not finding anything, the first bomber came in and landed at Mascot. The A16-173 bomber came in more south and it's believed that they mistakenly thought they were flying over Botany Bay but in reality they were flyin...g over Lake Illawarra and later crashing into the escarpment. We remember:- Sergeant Norman 'Nobby' Baxter Clark (Pilot) Flight Sergeant Bernard 'Bluey' Hubbard (Observer/Navigator) Sergeant Joseph Hall Iredell (Operator/Air Gunner) Sergeant Geoffrey Alfred Rich ( Operator/Air Gunner) Lest We Forget To read what happened, download 'Fire on the Mountain' by Brian Tate from here- https://jmp.sh/v/p8OhvE9Q0CyWO4vxPXC3

23.01.2022 Today 7th June we recall the memory of 2Lt Ian George Mathers Killed in Action during the Battle of Long Khanh during operation Overlord. 2Lt Ian Mathers will ...be commemorated at the Battle of Long Khanh commemoration on the 7th June 2021 n Canberra Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment and 1 Armoured Regiment Centurion tanks were involved in an attack on an enemy bunker system in Long Khanh province as part of Operation Overlord. During the battle Ian had moved forward to gain a better appreciation of the battle in front of 5 Platoon. During this activity he entered an enemy killing ground and received a fatal gunshot. Ian Mathers was a conscripted economic student and graduated as a second Lieutenant from the Officers Training Collage course at Scheyville, NSW on July 16 1970 after his call up six months earlier. Ian was posted to Vietnam with the RAA, he was one of three Australians including two from the RAAF, who were killed in action during an enemy contact in Long Khanh on June 7, 1971. Fourteen men were also wounded in the same battle. 2Lt Ian George Mathers will be Dedicated and Remembered by the Australian War Memorial during the Last Post Ceremony on the 24th June 2021. http://www.3rar.com.au/supportkia.html#igm Service number: 2794496 Rank: Second Lieutenant Unit: 12 Fd Regt (RAA) Service: Australian Army Conflict: Vietnam, 1962-1975 Date of death: 7 June 1971 Place of death: South Vietnam Cause of death: Killed in action Cemetery or memorial details: Mt Thompson Crematorium, Queensland Source: AWM153 Roll of Honour cards, Vietnam

21.01.2022 #OTD We Remember Private Eric Abbott Today we pause to remember the life and service of NX40023 Private Eric Arthur Abbott, who died as a POW of the Japanese... on the 21st of January 1943. Originally from Maroubra, NSW, Eric enlisted with the in the 2nd AIF on the 13th of April 1940 and was posted to the General Base Depot in Malaya. He was one of over 2000 Allied POWs held in the Sandakan POW camp in north Borneo, having been transferred there from Singapore as a part of B Force. The 1494 POW's that made up B Force, were transported from Changi on 7 July 1942 on board the tramp ship Ubi Maru, arriving in Sandakan Harbour on 18 July 1942. Private Abbott, aged 24, died as a prisoner of the Japanese on 21 January 1943. Lest we forget. --------------------------------------------------------------- If you spot an error, please send me a message. Join our group here: https://business.facebook.com/groups/2626189084317964

20.01.2022 Last Australians KIA in Vietnam On the 21st of September 1971, five soldiers from D Company 4RAR were killed in action during an assault on a heavily defended b...unker system at the Battle of Nui Le. These five soldiers were the last Australians to be killed in action in Vietnam. Today, we pause to remember 5718195 Private Brian Belikan (21) 3799449 Private James Duff (22), 56226 Private Keith Kingston-Powles (24), 3798081 Private Ralph Niblett (22) and 5718122 Private Roderick Sprigg (21). All five men were serving with D Company 4RAR on Operation IVANHOE in the Phuoc Tuy Province at the time of their deaths. On the 21st of September, 11 Platoon was assaulting the enemy bunker when the lead sections were hit by heavy sustained automatic fire from several mutually supporting bunkers. Privates Beilken and Sprigg were killed instantly during the opening engagement by heavy machinegun fire, whilst Private Niblett was struck in the chest. Despite medical attention by the Section medic, he died shortly after. Private Kingston-Powles bravely attempted to returned fire with his machinegun before being killed a few moments later. Private Duff’s section was withdrawing to form a defensive position with the remainder of the platoon when he was struck by an enemy RPG, killing him instantly, and wounding several others. These five brave men were the last Australians to be killed in action in Vietnam. Lest we forget.

19.01.2022 #OTD Five Australians killed in Vietnam Today we pause to remember the life and service of five Australian diggers who were killed on the 19th of January 1969... whilst serving in South Vietnam. The five men were: Sergeant John Cock, Private Robert Key, Corporal Harold Musicka, Private Peter Smith and Private Arnold Sykes. All five men were from 9RAR. On the 19th of January, 9RAR participated in a series of short, savage actions during which Australian troops killed a number of Vietcong and took at least two prisoners across eight separate actions before noon. Battalion patrols were covering a suspected area of enemy infiltration about 20 miles north west of Nui Dat in the Bien Hoa province. During these engagements, elements of 9RAR came under heavy machinegun and rocket fire before retreating into thick undergrowth. During one engagement, an ambush by B Company made contact with what was believed to be at least 20 enemy combatants. During these engagements, Corporal Musicka was tragically killed by accident, whilst Sergeant Cock and Privates Key, Smith and Sykes were killed by enemy fire. Lest we forget. --------------------------------------------------------------- If you spot an error, please send me a message. Join our group here: https://business.facebook.com/groups/2626189084317964

12.01.2022 #OTD 7th Division Capture Shaggy Ridge On the 23rd of January 1944, the Australian 7th Division defeated the Japanese forces at Shaggy Ridge, New Guinea, brin...ging to an end over 4 months of vicious fighting in tough terrain. A 6.5km spur dotted by several rocky outposts, Shaggy Ridge had only a single track along the ridge line which in places was only wide enough for one man to pass with sheer drops on either side. The position was defended by the Japanese 7th Infantry Regiment, with artillery support, and totalled a force of approximately 3,000 men. The Australians of the 7th Division were supported by artillery from the 2/4th Field Regiment and aircraft from the RAAF and USAF. In December 1943, the Australian assault began on one of the outcrops nicknamed by the Australians as ‘The Pimple’. After heavy artillery and aerial bombardments, the Australians captured the position on the 27th of December, and proceeded to hold it against further counterattacks. Despite their gains, the Japanese continued to hold the remainder of Shaggy Ridge in strength. In January 1944 the Australians resumed the attack in earnest, advancing on the eastern face of Shaggy Ridge. Sustaining heavy casualties against the well entrenched Japanese machinegun and artillery positions firing from fortified bunkers, the Australians nonetheless secured the Ridge in early February after continuous fighting against dug-in strong Japanese defensive positions. In total, casualties during the fighting to secure Shaggy Ridge amounted to 46 Australians killed and 147 wounded. The Japanese suffered an estimated 500 killed and an unknown number further injured. The gruelling fighting was ultimately a success, but proved to be a harrowing experience for the Australian soldiers. With the track only wide enough for one person to advance at a time, the soldiers who fought there would come to describe the battle of Shaggy Ridge as occurring on a one-man front. Image: Members of "C" Company, 2/9th Infantry Battalion digging into a newly occupied part of Shaggy Ridge. --------------------------------------------------------------- If you spot an error, please send me a message. Join our group here: https://business.facebook.com/groups/2626189084317964

07.01.2022 #OTD Aerial Battle over Rabaul On the 20th of January 1942, Wirraways from 24 Squadron RAAF achieved immortal fame during a heroic battle against Japanese Ze...ros which were attacking Rabaul. Significantly outclassed and outnumbered, the Australians nonetheless put up a brave fight and met the enemy in the skies above Rabaul. On January 20, a coastwatcher on a nearby island reported seeing a flight of 22 enemy planes headed for Rabaul from the north. Another coastwatcher observed 33 more planes approaching from the west. Another 50 bombers and fighters remained undetected and were coming in from the east. These were launched by the aircraft carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku, both veterans of the attack on Pearl Harbor. At the time, two Wirraways were in the air on standard patrol. The six others were scrambled while ground control still believed there was a single flight of 22 Japanese planes approaching. It was assumed that most of these would be bombers with a few escorting fighters. The Australians were outnumbered by more than 10 to one. Despite this, the Wirraways still launched and closed with the Japanese over Rabaul. Three Australian planes were shot down, and two others crash-landed as a result of enemy fire. One other plane landed with part of its tail shot away. Just one emerged undamaged. No Zeros were hit. Six members of the squadron were killed and five wounded or injured that day, the worst but most gallant in Wirraway history. Only three aircraft stationed at Rabaul, one Hudson and two Wirraways, remained undamaged. --------------------------------------------------------------- If you spot an error, please send me a message. Join our group here: https://business.facebook.com/groups/2626189084317964

04.01.2022 #OTD We Remember Private David Griffiths Today we pause to remember the life and service of 1530 Private David Edgar Griffiths, who died of illness whilst ser...ving in France during WWI. Originally from Deloraine, Tasmania, he worked as a labourer before enlisting in August 1915. He left Australia for Egypt with the 11th Reinforcements in October 1915, and arrived in France for service on the Western Front in May 1916 where he served with the 3rd Light Horse Regiment. After being promoted to Gunner (Gnr) in February 1917, he was wounded in action by German artillery fire at Fouilloy, France, on 27 May 1918 but remained on duty. After furlough in England in January 1919, Gnr Griffiths was admitted to the 5th Casualty Clearing Station with broncho-pneumonia on 17 January 1919 and died six days later, aged 24. Gnr Griffiths was the oldest brother of 3659 Pte Frank Gordon Griffiths, 26th Battalion, who was killed in action a Pozieres on 29 July 1916 and 3621 Pte Ralph Arnold Griffiths who was killed in action at Hamel on 27 July 1918. Lest we forget. --------------------------------------------------------------- If you spot an error, please send me a message. Join our group here: https://business.facebook.com/groups/2626189084317964

02.01.2022 Flowers laid at Lockheed Hudson A16-173 Bomber memorial at Dapto Train Station. The Lockheed Hudson crashed into the escarpment on this day, 4th November 1942. Lest We Forget

01.01.2022 Flowers laid at Norman Baxter 'Nobby' Clark's grave at Wollongong General Cemetery. He was the pilot of the ill-fated Lockheed Hudson A16-173 Bomber which crashed into the escarpment on this day, 4th November 1942. Lest We Forget