by Kathryn Spurling | Feb 23, 2022 | Blogs - Kathryn Spurling
It all started with a rather beaten up discarded painting. It was a brown pen and ink painting of a mine shaft, with the signature W.Carter 1979. No one in the auction paid any interest but history attracts historians. What was more architectural artworks are complex...
by Kathryn Spurling | Feb 10, 2022 | Blogs - Kathryn Spurling
On 30 December 1911 the Australian Government advertised for ‘two competent mechanics and aviators’ to be appointed to the Department of Defence. One of the requirements was for the applicants to advise if they were married or single perhaps an indication as to the...
by Kathryn Spurling | Feb 7, 2022 | Blogs - Kathryn Spurling
(25 April 1918–14 April 1993) Joan Streeter was born on 25 April 1918 in the Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn. She entered the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS) as an Assistant Wran Writer WR625) on 25 January 1943. Following her training at HMAS Cerberus,...
by Kathryn Spurling | Dec 4, 2021 | Blogs - Kathryn Spurling
Robyn Rosenstruss would visit her grandmother in Balmain, Sydney, where the elderly lady would gesture to the small timber chest of drawers which took pride of place in her home. ‘That’s Jimmy’s Box’ she would say. Robyn the child never knew who ‘Jimmy’ was – she...
by Kathryn Spurling | Sep 28, 2021 | Blogs - Kathryn Spurling
Oh, these poor men! It is simply heartbreaking. Sister Hilda Knox, June 1915. Hilda Mary Knox was born in the pretty Victorian town of Benalla on 29 December 1884. Positioned on the banks of the Broken River it was a pleasant environment in which to grow up. Her...
by Kathryn Spurling | May 23, 2021 | Blogs - Kathryn Spurling
The achievements of Lauren Jackson are legendary and now recognized by her inclusion in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, only the second Australian, and first Australian woman to be so honoured. Basketball was pretty much Lauren’s life from when she...
by Kathryn Spurling | Apr 27, 2021 | Blogs - Kathryn Spurling
How many of us have driven to Melbourne passing through the town of Holbrook? And thought how odd it was to have a couple of submarines landlocked in this tiny place? Well, it is in part due to a War Widow named Gundula Holbrook. Lieutenant Norman Holbrook commanded...
by Kathryn Spurling | Apr 13, 2021 | Blogs - Kathryn Spurling
ABC Four Corners Interview Mon 13 Jun 2011, 8:00pm Transcript of Interview KERRY O’BRIEN, PRESENTER: A former naval recruit recalls an experience in the Defence Force that she says has marred her life forever. Welcome to Four Corners. Back in 1970 Four Corners...
by Kathryn Spurling | Apr 12, 2021 | Blogs - Kathryn Spurling
Article in the Canberra Times… It’s been all systems go lately for Canberra artist Margaret Hadfield and historian Dr Kathryn Spurling, who are now being dubbed – what else but?- The Artist and The Historian. They are also proving age is no barrier...
by Kathryn Spurling | Apr 7, 2021 | Blogs - Kathryn Spurling
It is Easter Sunday and a sunny day for a drive. A lunch-stop in Berridale. Across the road a memorial to service and sacrifice. It is difficult to miss, not only because it commands a prominent position on the corner of Jindabyne Road and Myack Street, but the...
by Kathryn Spurling | Jan 25, 2021 | Blogs - Kathryn Spurling
During August and September 2015 Australian Army Sapper Curtis McGrath, added more medals to the cabinet. At the ICF Canoe Sprint & Paracanoe World Championships in Milan, Italy, in late August he defended the World VL2 200m title he won in Moscow in 2014. Even...
by Kathryn Spurling | Jan 24, 2021 | Blogs - Kathryn Spurling
There are paper planes in the foyer dangling on string from above. As the door is opened the rush of winter air makes them flutter and bob playfully. This is fitting because there are children’s names festooned on fuselages, and this mid-west New South Wales school,...
by Kathryn Spurling | Jan 23, 2021 | Blogs - Kathryn Spurling
Invariably the history of war is presented from the perspective of campaigns, strategic and tactical delineations and, generals. The story of war, however, is about the people and the ongoing legacy suffered by families, communities, and the nation. They fell in...
by Kathryn Spurling | Jan 22, 2021 | Blogs - Kathryn Spurling
When I climbed into the bus it was near full. Onboard were the most amazing survivors – crew of the first HMAS Perth. I knew these men well by now after many interviews for my book Cruel Conflict: the triumphs and tragedies of HMAS Perth 1. I had delighted in their...
by Kathryn Spurling | Jan 20, 2021 | Blogs - Kathryn Spurling
My 2007 trip to Washington DC was for a Women’s Research Institute two-day conference organized admirably by Captain Lory Manning (USN Rtd). It wasn’t the first or last time Lory invited me to be a keynote speaker and it was always an honour, I was there in 1999 and...
by Kathryn Spurling | Jan 18, 2021 | Blogs - Kathryn Spurling
I first met Midshipman Megan Anne Pelly (RAN) during her final year at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA), Canberra in 1997. I was teaching history at the UNSW campus and doing research on women in the military. Megan offered to be interviewed for that...
by Kathryn Spurling | Jan 16, 2021 | Blogs - Kathryn Spurling
It was a journey which took me from the Sydney harbourside to a quiet and distant Dutch church ground. I stood and listened to John Skarrett. His front yard was small but what a magnificent view. A cruise ship, something which became rare in 2020, reversed carefully...
by Kathryn Spurling | Jan 13, 2021 | Blogs - Kathryn Spurling
The words from ‘I am Woman’ bounced around in my head. They had inspired me to stand up and have an opinion. Yes, I am one of the older generation, and yes, I had adolescent memories of being ignored because I was a girl. This might be hard to believe by later...
