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Jack Read (coastwatcher)
William John (Jack) Read (born 18 September 1905, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia; died 29 June 1992, Ballarat, Victoria (Australia), was an Australian Coastwatcher on Bougainville Island in New Guinea during World War II. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by the United States for his service during World War II in the Solomon Islands campaign and the New Guinea campaign. His experiences and reports have become an important source for historians regarding the history of the coastwatchers. Early life Read was born on 18 September 1905 in Hobart to William George Read and Eleanor Elfridine, (née Absolom). He attended Hobart State High School and after worked as a bookkeeper. In 1929, he married Gwenneth Ballantyne in 1929 before leaving for public service in the Mandated Territory of New Guinea. He and Gwen had one child together, Judith. Read served his cadetship in New Britain; in 1932 he was promoted to patrol officer and stationed in Madang. In 1936 he was promoted to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hobart
Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-smallest if territories are taken into account, before Darwin, Northern Territory. Hobart is located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, making it the most southern of Australia's capital cities. Its skyline is dominated by the kunanyi/Mount Wellington, and its harbour forms the second-deepest natural port in the world, with much of the city's waterfront consisting of reclaimed land. The metropolitan area is often referred to as Greater Hobart, to differentiate it from the City of Hobart, one of the five local government areas that cover the city. It has a mild maritime climate. The city lies on country which was known by the local Mouheneener people as nipaluna, a name which includes surrounding features such as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit
The Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit (ANGAU) was a civil administration of Territory of Papua and the Mandated Territory of New Guinea formed on 21 March 1942 during World War II. The civil administration of both Papua and the Mandated Territory of New Guinea were replaced by an Australian Army military government and came under the control of ANGAU from February 1942 until the end of World War II. Civil officers from both Papua and the Mandated Territory of New Guinea were posted to ANGAU based in Port Moresby. ANGAU undertook civil tasks of maintaining law and medical services in areas not occupied by the Imperial Japanese and was responsible to New Guinea Force. The major responsibility of the unit was to organize the resources of land and labour for the war effort. ANGAU was also responsible for recruiting, organising and supervising local labour for the Australian and American armed forces in New Guinea included rehabilitation of the local inhabitants in reo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fleet Radio Unit
Fleet Radio Units (FRU) were the major centers for Allied cryptological and signals intelligence during the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Initially two FRUs were established in the Pacific, one at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, called Station HYPO or FRUPAC (Fleet Radio Unit, Pacific), and the other, called Station CAST or Belconnen, at Cavite Naval Yard, then Corregidor, Philippines. With the fall of the Philippines to Imperial Japanese forces in April and May 1942, CAST personnel were evacuated to a newly established FRU at Melbourne, Australia, called FRUMEL (Fleet Radio Unit, Melbourne). HYPO and FRUMEL supervised detached field units scattered at various locations and aboard ships throughout the south, central, and north Pacific areas until the end of World War II. A third center, NEGAT, was based at OP-20-G headquarters in Washington DC. The entire cryptanalysis effort conducted by the units was called ''Operation Magic''. Liaison between the units and with the Far East Combined Bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Axis Naval Activity In Australian Waters
There was considerable Axis naval activity in Australian waters during the Second World War, despite Australia being remote from the main battlefronts. German and Japanese warships and submarines entered Australian waters between 1940 and 1945 and attacked ships, ports and other targets. Among the best-known attacks are the sinking of HMAS ''Sydney'' by a German raider in November 1941, the bombing of Darwin by Japanese naval aircraft in February 1942, and the Japanese midget submarine attack on Sydney Harbour in May 1942. About 40 Allied merchant ships were damaged or sunk off the Australian coast by surface raiders, submarines and mines. Japanese submarines also shelled three Australian ports and submarine-based aircraft flew over several Australian capital cities. The Axis threat to Australia developed gradually and until 1942 was limited to sporadic attacks by German armed merchantmen. The level of Axis naval activity peaked in the first half of 1942 when Japanese s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samuel Eliot Morison
Samuel Eliot Morison (July 9, 1887 – May 15, 1976) was an American historian noted for his works of maritime history and American history that were both authoritative and popular. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1912, and taught history at the university for 40 years. He won Pulitzer Prizes for ''Admiral of the Ocean Sea'' (1942), a biography of Christopher Columbus, and ''John Paul Jones: A Sailor's Biography'' (1959). In 1942, he was commissioned to write a History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, history of United States naval operations in World War II, which was published in 15 volumes between 1947 and 1962. Morison wrote the popular ''Oxford History of the American People'' (1965), and co-authored the classic textbook ''The Growth of the American Republic'' (1930) with Henry Steele Commager. Over the course of his career, Morison received eleven honorary doctoral degrees, and garnered numerous literary prizes, military honors, and nat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walter Lord
John Walter Lord Jr. (October 8, 1917 – May 19, 2002) was an American author, lawyer, copywriter and popular historian best known for his 1955 account of the sinking of the RMS ''Titanic'', '' A Night to Remember''. Biography Early life Lord was born in Baltimore, Maryland to John Walter Lord Sr. and Henrietta MacTier (Hoffman) Lord on October 8, 1917. His father, who was a lawyer, died when Lord was just three years old. Lord's grandfather, Richard Curzon Hoffman, was president of the Baltimore Steam Packet Company ("Old Bay Line") steamship firm in the 1890s. In July 1925, at the age of 7, Lord traveled across the Atlantic Ocean with his mother and sister, from New York to Cherbourg and Southampton, on the RMS ''Olympic'', the ''Titanic''s sister ship. Like many other boys who attended high school at Baltimore's Gilman School, he spent his summers at Hyde Bay Camp for Boys at Hyde Bay in Cooperstown, New York, where he was awarded the honorary title of "The Commodore" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Leckie (author)
Robert Hugh Leckie (December 18, 1920 – December 24, 2001) was a United States Marine and an author of books about the military history of the United States, sports books, fiction books, autobiographies, and children's books. As a young man, he served with the 1st Marine Division during World War II; his service as a machine gunner and a scout during the war greatly influenced his work. Leckie's war memoir, ''Helmet for My Pillow'', along with Eugene B. Sledge's book ''With the Old Breed'', formed the basis for the HBO series '' The Pacific'' (2010), the follow-up series to '' Band of Brothers''. In the miniseries, Leckie is portrayed by James Badge Dale. Early life and education Leckie was born on December 18, 1920, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to an Irish Catholic family of eight children. He grew up in Rutherford, New Jersey. Early career and military service He began his career as a writer in high school, as a sports writer for ''The Bergen Evening Record'' in H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New Ireland (island)
New Ireland (Tok Pisin: ''Niu Ailan'') or Latangai, is a large island in Papua New Guinea, approximately in area with 120,000 people. It is named after the island of Ireland. It is the largest island of New Ireland Province, lying northeast of the island of New Britain. Both islands are part of the Bismarck Archipelago, named after Otto von Bismarck, and they are separated by Saint George's Channel. The administrative centre of the island and of New Ireland province is the town of Kavieng located at the northern end of the island. While the island was part of German New Guinea, it was named Neumecklenburg ("New Mecklenburg"). Geography The island is part of the Bismarck Archipelago and is often described as having the shape of a musket. New Ireland is surrounded by the Bismarck Sea in the southwest and by the Pacific Ocean in the northeast. For much of its in length, the island's width varies between less than to , yet the central mountainous spine is very steep an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kavieng
Kavieng is the capital of the Papua New Guinean province of New Ireland and the largest town on the island of the same name. The town is located at Balgai Bay, on the northern tip of the island. As of 2009, it had a population of 17,248. Kavieng is the main port for New Ireland, and is both a trading and tourist destination. Several dive companies operate from the town, as the area is known for its diving, both for natural sites and wrecks dating from the Second World War. There are plane and shipwrecks in Kavieng Harbor itself, as well as several more nearby. The town is serviced by Kavieng Airport, with daily connections to Port Moresby. It lies at one end of the Boluminski Highway which runs of sealed road to Namatanai. Kavieng has all the usual services of a local administrative center: local government offices; shopping; hotels (such as the Kavieng Hotel, the Malagan Beach Resort hotel and the Kavieng Club (the former "colonial club" in the town)); a hospital providing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Territory Of Papua And New Guinea
The Territory of Papua and New Guinea, officially the Administrative Union of the Territory of Papua and the Territory of New Guinea, was established by an administrative union between the Australian-administered territories of Papua and New Guinea (the latter being a United Nations trust territory administered by Australia) in 1949. In December 1971, the name of the Territory changed to "Papua New Guinea" and in 1975 it became the Independent State of Papua New Guinea. Background Ancient history Archeological evidence suggests that humans arrived on New Guinea around 50,000 years ago. These Melanesian people developed stone tools and agriculture. Portuguese and Spanish navigators sailing in the South Pacific entered New Guinea waters in the early part of the 16th century and in 1526–27, Jorge de Menezes came upon the principal island "Papua". In 1545, the Spaniard Iñigo Ortiz de Retes gave the island the name "New Guinea" because of what he saw as a resemblance between t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William F
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of England in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is sometimes abbreviated "Wm." Shortened familiar versions in English include Will, Wills, Willy, Willie, Bill, and Billy. A common Irish form is Liam. Scottish diminutives include Wull, Willie or Wullie (as in Oor Wullie or the play ''Douglas''). Female forms are Willa, Willemina, Wilma and Wilhelmina. Etymology William is related to the given name ''Wilhelm'' (cf. Proto-Germanic ᚹᛁᛚᛃᚨᚺᛖᛚᛗᚨᛉ, ''*Wiljahelmaz'' > German ''Wilhelm'' and Old Norse ᚢᛁᛚᛋᛅᚼᛅᛚᛘᛅᛋ, ''Vilhjálmr''). By regular sound changes, the native, inherited English form of the name shoul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
USS Guardfish (SS-217)
, a ''Gato''-class submarine, was the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the guardfish. Construction and commissioning ''Guardfish'' was laid down by the Electric Boat Company at Groton, Connecticut. She was launched there on 20 January 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Edward J. Marquart, and commissioned at Naval Submarine Base New London New London, Connecticut, on 8 May 1942, Lieutenant Commander Thomas B. Klakring in command. First and second war patrols, August – November 1942 After conducting shakedown out of New London, ''Guardfish'' left that base on 28 June 1942 for Pearl Harbor via the Panama Canal, and arrived there on 25 July to prepare for her first cruise. Her first war patrol was in previously unpatrolled waters off northeast Honshū. ''Guardfish'' left Pearl Harbor on 6 August 1942, sank a trawler on 22 August, and two days later sank 3,114 ton cargo ship ''Seikai Maru'' off Kinkasan Harbor. Evading escort vessels, she proceeded up the coas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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