U.S. Warships USS William P. Lawrence-- Part 2

A full page picture comes with the month of August showing the USS William P. Lawrence (DDG-110) and amphibious transport dock USS Green Bay (LPD-20) sailing with 15 other U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, Australian Navy, Canadian Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ships in formation during Talisman Sabre 2019.

Talisman Sabre 2019 illustrates the closeness of the Australian and U.S. alliance and strength of the military-to-military relationship.  This is the eight iteration of this exercise.

--Cooter

McDonald's Kiwi Burger: With an Egg an a Beet

In the last post I mentioned McDonald's Kiwi Burger as being one of my favorite things I've ever eaten.  Sadly, the only place you can get it is in New Zealand and a bit too far to go for take out.  So, I am hoping that McDonald's has this on their limited-time foreign menu.

As I said, I go into American fast food places in other countries to see if they have stuff we don't have here.  My family was visiting Australia and New Zealand back in the the 2000s and I had one of these great sandwiches.

This was the first time I had ever had a fried egg on a burger (now several places in the U.S. have that including Steak 'N Shake).  Wikipedia describes a Kiwi Burger:  four ounce burger patty, griddle egg, beet, tomato, lettuce, cheese, onions, mustard on a toasted bun.  I kind of think I also might have had several thin slices of kiwifruit on my Kiwi Burger.

It was introduced in 1994 and withdrawn in 2004 and has since returned for limited times several times.

This could be my new McRib.

Well. I'm Sure Hoping They Have It Here Now.  --CootKiwi

World War I Chronology, July 1918: Allied Cooperation in Amiens Sector

JULY 4

AMIENS-SECTOR

First instance of U.S. (33rd Infantry Division)- British (Australian) close cooperation.

They captured Hamel and repulse three counterattacks.

First real use of British tanks and machine guns as close infantry-support weapons.

Strength of the two sides:  Germany:  5,600  Allies:  7,000
Casualties'  Germany:  2,000 killed,   1,600 captured    Allies:  1,400 killed or wounded

--Cooter

1886 Message In a Bottle Found

From the March 11, 2018, Chicago Tribune  "1886 message in a bottle found in Australia" by Theresa Vargas, Washington Post.

Before computers and FPS, ocean currents were tracked by little slips of paper in bottles, the proverbial "Message in a Bottle."

The world's oldest "Message in a Bottle" was found recently on a beach in Australia, 132 years after it was tossed into the Indian Ocean as part of an experiment on ocean shift patterns.  Experts call it "an exceedingly rare find."

The bottle is less than 9 inches long and 3 inches wide and was found in January north of Perth by Tonya Illman.  Was it a hoax, though?

Experts found two significant details on the message inside the bottle.  The date June 12, 1886, and the name of the ship, "Paula."  This links the bottle to German scientist George von Neumayer who was running the experiment. from 1964 to 1933 which involved throwing thousands of bottles overboard with pre-printed messages inside.

Only 662 message slips were returned with information as to where it was found.  The last one before this one was in January 1934.

What Was that Old Police Song?  --CootBot

World War I Australian "Diggers" Get Photographed in Front of the Great Pyramidin Front of the Great Pyramid

From the July 25, 2014 Yahoo! 7: The West Australian "The story of the Cheops pyramid picture" by Malcolm Quekett.

Just weeks before many of them died at Gallipoli, Diggers (what Australian soldiers in WWI were often called) of the 11th Battalion, 703 Australians, camped out in Egypt and receiving final training were ordered to a nearby landmark for a group picture.  It was likely the last picture ever taken of some of them as many died at Gallipoli.

The 11th Battalion was raised primarily in the state of West Australia, Australia.

Captain Charles Barnes wrote:  "After Church this morning, the whole Battalion was marched up to the Pyramid (Old Cheops) and we had a photo took or at least several of them."

The officers were in the front and the men on the steps of the pyramid.

Legend has it that one of the men in the photo was actually a dead body, dressed in uniform and propped up.

So far, 154 in the photo have been identified.  They want Australian families to help with identification.

At Gallipoli, on the first day, April 25, 1915, the 11th Battalion was among the first Australian units to land and they lost 57 men of the 620 Australians killed that day.

A very interesting picture.  Look it up.

--Cooter

Some Other World War I Names: Diggers and Dogfaces

From Wikipedia, which has articles on each of these:

**  FRANK BUCKLES--  The last and longest-living of America's "Doughboys."  Died February 27, 2011.

**  DIGGER--  Term used for Australian soldiers.

**  DOGFACE-- Military term

**  POILU--  Name used for French soldiers during the war.

**  TOMMY AKINS--  Term used for British soldiers during the war.

--Cooter

Britain Insists Australia and New Zealand Represented in World War I Centenary Plans

From the January 1, 2014,  Global Post.

Prime Minister David Cameron said it is "completely wrong" to suggest ANZAC troops were being airbrushed out of the centenary events in favour of troops from other parts of the former empire.

Reports from Australia suggest otherwise.

From 1914 to 1918 62,000 Australian and 18,000 New Zealand troops died.

These ANZAC troops will be fully honoured next year on the centenary of the Gallipoli landings in Turkey.

British Spellings.  --Cooter

What Was the A.I.F.?

While researching this past week, I came across the letters A.I.F. on several occasions.  I'd not come across it before so good old Wiki time.

A.I.F. stood for Australian Imperial Force.  This was the main expeditionary force of the Australian Army in the First World War.  It was formed 15 August 1914 and originally consisted of one division and one light horse brigade.  It fought at Gallipoli from April to December 1915.

--Cooter

HMAT Hororata A20-- Part 2

There is a photo accompanying of the site of the Hororata being loaded with troops.  Perhaps one of these men was Herbert Leach?

I found another photograph of the Hororata c. Nov. 1914 with the caption: "HMAT Hororata A20 cleaning engines.  In the distance is Japanese cruiser Ubuki, one of the battleships that escorted the first Australian and New Zealand convoy.

The Japanese were among the Allies in World War I.

There is another photograph of the Hororata at the Gallipoli Association Forum.

--DaCoot

ANZACs: Australian and New Zealand Army Corps

From Wikipedia.

For those of you unfamiliar with what an ANZAC is.

Herbert Leach was an ANZAC.

This was the first World War Army Corps of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, formed in Egypt in 1915 of units from Australia and New Zealand.  They operated during the Gallipoli Campaign.

Disbanded in 1916 after withdrawal from Gallipoli. Reformed as the I and II ANZAC Corps.

Also fought in Second World War.

--Cooter

Herbert Leach's Embarkation to the War

Yesterday, I mentioned this Australian from Sydney who left his name at Naours Cave near Flers, France, and the fact that he was killed a month later.  Doing further research on him, I came across his Embarkation Roll from Australia to the war.

From the Australian War memorial site.

HERBERT JOHN LEACH:  Service number 1975/  Tank: Private /  Roll Title: 10th Infantry Battalion--  1-8 Reinforcements (December 1914-September 1915.  //  Date of Embarkation: 20 April 1915  //  Place of Embarkation:  Adelaide  //  Ship Embarked On:  HMAT Hororata A20.

Just Some More Information.  --DaCoot

Australian Cemetery in Flers, France-- Part 2: Where Tanks Used for First Time

Flers was captured during the Battle of Flers-Courcelette, where tanks were used in combat for the first time.  The village was later recaptured by the Germans in March 1918 and recaptured by the Allies in August.

The cemetery was begun by Australian medical units posted in neighboring caves from Nov. 1915 to Feb. 1917.  The original graves are in Plot 1, Rows A and B.The great majority of the graves date from the autumn of 1916, but there is one from 1914.

Other bodies were moved here after the war.  Currently there are graves for 3,475 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War either buried or commemorated.  Some 2,263 are unidentified.  In addition, 170 French military and even there Germans are buried here.

--Cooter

Names of 731 Anzacs Found at Naours Cave in France: "Merely a Private"

From the April 6, 2015, AuWorld "Rge Names of 731 Anzacs found in cave under World War I battlefield in France' by Greg Keller.

ANZACs were soldiers from the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.

Allied soldiers left similar inscriptions in the tunnels of Arras and Vimy, but Naours, well back from the front lines in World War I, were not used as shelters and hospitals like other Western Front quarries.

Naours is just a few miles from Vignacourt, a town used as a staging area for troops moving up to and back from the Somme battlefield to the east.  Young soldiers would take a break for some sightseeing and these were nearby.

The diary of Wilfred Joseph Allan Allsop, 23, private from Sydney noted on Jan. 2, 1917, "At 1 pm 10 of us went to the famous caves near Naours where refugees used to hide during time of Invasion."

Herbert John Leach, 25, from Adelaide wrote his name, a message and the date, "H.J. Leach.  Merely a private.  13/7/16.  SA Australia."  Sadly, he was killed August 23, 1916, at the Battle of Pozieres barely a month after he left his message.

On his grave at the Australian Cemetery in nearby Flers, his father inscribed this on his marker "Duty Nobly Done."

--Cooter

Search Does Not Find Australia's First Submarine

From the Oct. 28, 2011, Stuff.co.nz

The Australian Navy has examined images of a newly found shipwreck and believe it to be that of a Japanese submarine sunk during World WarII and not Australia's first submarine, the AE-1.  The Australia Daily Telegraph had earlier speculated that it might be the World War I Australian 600 ton submarine.

It sank with the loss of all 35 crew on September 14 or 15, 1914, Australia's first naval loss in World War I. The new find is near the last AE-1 sighting at Mioko Harbor, about 20 kilometers away near Duke of York Island. 

An Australia naval court of inquiry at the time ruled that it sank during a dive and hit a reef.

The AE-1 was the very first Australian submarine.  At the time of its loss, it was part of a Royal Australian Navy expedition heading for an attack on German New Gunea..

Still Not Found.  --Cooter

Ned Kelly's Body Found-- Part 2

Tests showed that the skull was not Kelly's.  There were 33 other men in the mass grave.

It is believed that Ned Kelly was born in 1854 or 1855 and he had a two-year outlaw career where he took on corrupt police and greedy land barons.  In 1878, the police had a shoot out with Kelly, his brother Dan and friends Joe Byrne and Steve Hart.  As a result, an 8,000 pound bounty was placed on him, the largest ever offered to the time in the British empire.

Over the next 18 months Kelly and his band went on a bank robbery spree.  The final gun battle took place in Glenrowan.  Three gang members died.  Kelly, wearing a home-made plate metal armor and helmet survived, was put on trial and sentenced to death. 

In 1970, a movie was made about Ned Kelly's life starring the Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger.  In 2003, another one was made starring Heath Ledger.

An Australian Robin Hood?  --Cooter

Ned Kelly's Body Found-- Part 1

From the September 1, 2011, AFP.

The headless remains of the infamous Australian outlaw Ned Kelly have been identified 130 years after his death.  Considered a cold-blooded killer by some, he has his followers.  He murdered three police men and was captured in Victoria State in 1880 and hanged at Old Melbourne Gaol November 1880 and his body thrown into a mass grave.

In 1929, the grave was transferred to Peatridge Prison where it was until exhumed in 2009, when a skull believed to have been his that was stolen in 1978, was recovered.

The body was found in the remains of a wooden axe box.  Identification was based on DNA from Melbourne teacher Leigh Oliver, Kelly's sister's great grandson.

Getting Ahead of the Game.  --DaCoot

HMAS Sydney: Design Flaws Led to Destruction

From the Jan. 14, 2009, Stawell (Au) Times-News.

Design flaws on the HMAS Sydney led to its destruction by making it vulnerable to shellfire from the German raider Kormoran. The lifeboats were clustered too close to the aircraft and their highly flammable fuel. Plus, when the attack started, all the senior officers were on the bridge, a major German target in the initial seconds of the battle.

The Kormoran evidently took the Sydney by surprise and were able to fire with pinpoint accuracy, immediately knocking the fore and aft turrets out of action along with the gun control tower.

Doors in some internal bulkheads were made of thin metal and plywood.

It is estimated that 70% of the crew would have been incapacitated by shells and bullets or because they were trapped below decks and overcome by smoke and fumes.

The court on inquiry was being held because there were no survivors of the Sydney's crew.

A Horrible Day in Australian History.

HMAS Choules (L-100) Ready for Service

From the December 22nd Adelaide (Aus) Herald Sun "Navy's new landing ship ready for action."

The HMAS Choules arrived in Sydney from Freemantle after being commissioned by the Royal Australian Navy December 13th. The 16,000 tons ship was acquired from Britain and is named for the last World War I veteran to have seen combat, Claude Choules who died in April at the age 110 who also served in World War II.

Its 158 member crew will be joining a task force along with the HMAS Tobruk, New Zealand Navy ship Canterbury and leased vessel Windermere to conduct humanitarian and disaster relief in the Pacific Ocean.

An Honor to Mr. Choules. --Cooter

70th Anniversary of the Sinking of the HMAS Sydney

Today marks the 70th anniversary of the Nov. 19, 1941, sinking of the Australian Navy's light cruiser HMAS Sydney with the complete loss of its 645 crew members after a battle with the German raider Komoran.

Some 2,000 are expected to attend a memorial service at Geraldton, on Australia's west coast.

The wreck was found in 2008.

there was some confusion as to whether the even was to be public ot private, but it will be open to all.

This commemoration will also have the unveiling of the Pool of Remembrance at Geraldton's Mt. Scott Memorial.

A Sad Day in Australian History.

HMAS Sydney II Conspiracy

From the Oct. 7th West Australian.

These conspiracy theories just won't go away and probably never will. Last week, a series of e-mails were sent to the German embassy in Canberra saying that the photos of the ship and its adversary, the German raider Kormoran were faked by the expedition that found them of Australia's west coast.

Queensland resident James Eagles, who has claimed different conspiracy theories all along, now claims that the photos of the HMAS Sydney are actually of the German battleship Bismarck.

Eagle also points out that the characters "08 KO" painted on the Kormoran's bilge keel is false because the ship was launched in 1938 as the merchant vessel Steirmark.

The images of the Sydney's shattered lifeboats, identified by the ship's crest badge on their sides, is also incorrect. Eagle says these are just a compilation of various wrecks Mearms' group have discovered.

Finding Sydney Foundation member Bob Trotter dismisses the claims. Archival footage of the Sydney show the same badges on the life boats. As far as the "08 KO", the Steirmark would have had to have been dry docked for its conversion to a raider.

They examined photographs of the Bismarck and there is now way they resemble the Sydney.

Mr. Eagles also had extensive conspiracy theories in the Cole Commission Report.

Who Is Right? --Cooter