My Blog
Inspiring Australian Women – Lauren Jackson
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...
A War Widow and Holbrook, NSW.
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...
The dynamic duo of the artist Margaret Hadfield and the historian Dr 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 to creativity....
A war memorial in Berridale and a bloke named Herbert Ellis Flanagan
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...
Anzac Courage: Curtis McGrath
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...
Paper planes, a school, and a Victoria Cross.
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,...
Would you like Kathryn to talk at your next event?
Kathryn Spurling served with the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service (WRANS). She completed an honours degree in History at the Australian National University and a Masters Degree with Honours and a PhD in military history at University of New South Wales (UNSW). Between 1996 and 2011 Kathryn was attached to School of History, and then the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, UNSW, Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra, where she tutored history and strategic studies.
In 1999 she organised the Women in Uniform: Perceptions and Pathways Conference the first of its kind in Australia, and edited the book of the same name.
Subsequently Kathryn was the first Australian invited to speak at NATO headquarters, Brussels, on the subject of women in the military; and the first Australian Summer Military History Fellow at the United States Military Academy (West Point). Kathryn was appointed to the ACT Veterans Council, by the ACT Chief Minister in 2011. At the beginning of 2012 Kathryn was appointed Visiting Scholar, School of History, Australian National University.
She has lectured and published extensively within Australia and internationally on military history, peacekeepers, and women in the military. Her book, Cruel Conflict: The Triumph and Tragedy of HMAS Perth I (New Holland) was dedicated to her late husband Cmdr Nigel Patrick John Spurling (RAN Rtd) and was launched by Minister for Defence onboard HMAS Perth III in October 2008. A Grave Too Far Away: A Tribute to Australians in Bomber Command Europe (New Holland) was released in October 2012, and dedicated to her late father, FO Maxwell Norris, RAAF, a WOP/AG on Halifax bombers during WWII. Her book Inspiring Australian Women will be launched in September 2013 and The Mystery of AE1 and Crew will be published in time for the centennial commemoration of the loss of Australia’s first submarine on 14 November 2014.
Marking Time: Women in the Australian Defence Force and Standing Room Only for Heroes are two future projects.