Tiger-pie

Nothing out of the ordinary, just thought that this was a nice shot of a flight of FA-18s. Regards; Johnsy

Here are some badges as worn, by a RAAF "trolley dolly", or "CA", crew attendent. I didn't realise that they got a brevet badge for that job. Regards; Johnsy

Bloody typical of officers... Thats a great link Laurence, heaps of info. We have a huge scale printer where I work, so I will be able to run off a copy of the General Plan of U-570 without cropping or resizing. Regards; Johnsy

HMAS Manoora pulling into Townsville for Operation Talisman Saber just on dusk.

Good luck; with the size of their defence force getting hold of one of these will be near impossible. If you really only have half a dozen countries to go then you have made a bloody good effort so far. See below for a rank slide of a 2nd lieutenant. Note the mix of equipment. "Lizard" cams are popular amoung the TLDF, based on a pattern that the Portuguese used, and was used extensively by the Fretlin guerillas. Regards; Johnsy

And Pompey Elliot's jacket, which shows a good example of the typical brass buttons.

Again, this one is named to Richard "Dick' Salisbury.

Here is some further examples of tunics with the same sort of buttons as above. Note that the rank is only on the one arm also. Regards; Johnsy

Fair dinkum, I should be slapping myself on the forehead!! There is a fecking great display in the main foyer of Kuttabul of original and copied photos and documents, including a cover of a Japanese newspaper covering the funeral for the sailors. I will get some photos in the near future. Because they died on our soil it was considered the honourable thing to do. Regards; Johnsy

Sorry Jim, I don't really have any decent shots. I thought that I had taken a few at the Australian War Memorial, but the only one I could find was looking up into the guts of it when it was blown up. See this thread by Bob Lyons on the mini-subs. http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=18551 Regards; Johnsy

Heh heh, thats what we call a Lima Lima Delta, Little Lie Down Regards; Johnsy

For comparison here is the original German patterns, photos from www.kamouflage.net. Compare the pattern on the fall side with the swatch on the left in post #1. Regards; Johnsy

Here is a nice little combo to a Private in 1RAR. The medals themselves are nothing unique at the moment, but it is the addtion of the Australian Unit Citation for Gallantry and the US Army MUC that makes this group a bit different. This individual is also wearing the sniper qualification badge and, not pictured, black on green para wings, though as he is a member of 1RAR I'm not exactly sure what his status is. 1RAR is an infantry regiment, not SF. He has obviouly seen some action in the frontline as indicated by the Infantry Combat Badge (ICB) above his medals. It is a decoration awarded for 90 days in an operational area as part of the infantry corp, it is not simply a badge for turning up. Regards; Johnsy

Looks a bit like the QSO, with more "petals" and in silver rather than gold. I would imagine that they will put it on the official Kiwi site soon, now that it has been approved and minted. Do you know who mints Kiwi medals? They may have a better image on their site. Regards; Johnsy

The above claim has been refuted by HMAS Sydney Search. See below excerpt from the Daily Telegraph. "...Several British experts have supported Mr Akers' findings, but Australian officials want proof. Mr Akers has refused to divulge all of the details of the technique he used to locate the sunken vessels, which incorporate satellite images and radiation readings to detect images underwater. He claims to have located the vessels in the Indian Ocean off Shark Bay and Carnarvon ? an area also favoured by Mr Mearns. However, Mr Mearns has rejected Mr Akers' claimed discovery as "total bullsh*t", The Bulletin reported. Mr Mearns said the designated search area takes in 1600 square nautical miles of depths between 2300m and 4300m. Mr Akers has offered to tell the Federal Government the location of the wreck if a formal request is made and providing "this wreck is not robbed". "I have also found a number of Japanese vessels ? two submarines and possibly a Japanese aircraft carrier in the general vicinity of HMAS Sydney," Mr Akers said. "The Kormoran and another Japanese submarine is further north." Mr Mearns said the idea of a submarine being involved "is nonsense". Although all died on board the Sydney, 317 of the 397 men from the Kormoran survived." Regards; Johnsy

A bit of a cheap shot if you ask me. Regards; Johnsy

Sneeky bugger. Well if he didn't get caught then good on him, after all it was a very effective cam pattern. Russian snipers and marksmen sometimes used German camouflage, despite the obvious dangers of being captured and shot, which was usually the end result for snipers anyway, or being shot by your own troops by mistake. Regards; Johnsy

Mr Neil Roberts is the known surviving member of the Kuttabul. Fellow survivor Neil Roberts, who served in the RAN 1941-46, had recently joined the Kuttabul from his initial training at HMAS Cerberus and was awaiting a draft to the corvette HMAS Dubbo. He was an Ordinary Seaman and only 18 years old at the time. "I was on sentry duty at Kuttabul Steps for the First Watch and when my relief had not arrived at midnight I ran onto the wooden ferry Kuttabul and up to the top deck to wake him up. I then ran back to my sentry post." "When my relief arrived he apologized for being late as he had not been given a shake. To save me the time of making up my own hammock below decks he offered me his hammock on the top deck." ORD Seaman Roberts had only just got into the hammock when at 0030 the torpedo detonated against the retaining wall at Garden Island where HMAS Kuttabul was tied up alongside. The enemy torpedo had not only passed under its target the USS Chicago but also the Dutch Submarine K-9 and the Kuttabul. The accommodation ship was lifted by a huge wave caused by the explosion and sank by the stern. The action of accepting his shipmate's hammock on the top deck probably saved Neil's life.

Headstones of those lost. They have no grave but the cruel sea, No flowers at their head, A rusting hulk is their tombstone, Afast the ocean bed.

Kuttabul after the attack by Jap subs.

Kuttabul underway.

A small ceremony was held at Rookwood Cemetary on Friday the 1st of June in rememberance of the sailors killed in Kuttabul. On 1 June 1942 three Japanese midget submarines attacked Sydney Harbour just after midnight. The Japanese submarine M24 fired two torpedos at USS Chicago. They missed their target but one torpedo detonated under the converted ferry Kuttabul, then used for sailors accommodation at Garden Island. The old ferry was badly damaged and began sinking. Twenty-one men on board Kuttabul died. Nineteen were Australian and two were from the Royal Navy. Of the three midget submarines that attacked that night, two were destroyed. The bodies of four Japanese submariners were recovered. They were given funerals with full military honours and their bodies were cremated. The fate of M24 remained a mystery until late last year when a group of recreational divers located the submarine around 5km off Bungan Head, Sydney. It is presumed the remains of the submarine's two crew members are contained in the wreck. The name HMAS Kuttabul was passed on to the Navy base at Potts Point on 1-Jan-43, which administers Garden Island Dockyard, where the ill-fated ferry was berthed. The current base was built in the 1960's. Regards; Johnsy

Contrast between the two.

Winter #3

Winter #2