In this episode we learn about Tilly Aston, the blind Australian writer and educator, who founded The Victorian Association of Braille Writers and The Association for the Advancement of the Blind. Tilly Aston is remembered for achievements in promoting the rights of vision-impaired people.

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On Remembrance Day I want to bring you the story of two best friends - Harold West and George Leonard. Private Harold West and Private Leonard were among about 5,000 Indigenous Australians who served during the Second World War.

Here is a link to a YouTube video which is a trailer for a film about Harold West and George Leonard. Alas the film has not yet been made.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvLCu1i0m-w&feature=youtu.be

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In June 1826 local Campbelltown farmer Frederick Fisher disappeared. Four months later John Farley ran into the local pub claiming to have seen Frederick Fisher's ghost sitting on a bridge pointing to where his body lay.  

Email me at jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com 

On 15 October 1970, 50 years ago, workers were busy constructing a new bridge over the Yarra River in Melbourne. Suddenly the bridge started to groan, a pinging noise filled the air and the bridge just fell away. As a result of this tragedy 35 workers died.

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On 1 January 1915 Badsha Mahommed Gool and Mullah Abdullah shot dead four people and wounded seven more just outside the western NSW mining town of Broken Hill. Was this incident an act of war during WWI, a terrorist attack, or simply a criminal act by the two men concerned?

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In this episode we are a taking a look at two eccentrics who lived in Sydney in the early and mid 20^th Century - Beatrice Miles and Arthur Stace

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The Bathurst Rebellion of 1830 was the strangest rebellion of the convict era. It took place around Bathurst about 170 kms to the west of Sydney. And it all started from a skinny-dipping incident.

Remember you can email me at jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com

On 13 August 1940 a Royal Australian Airforce Lockheed Hudson aircraft crashed near the Canberra airport, killing all 10 passengers and crew on board. This crash had a significant impact on the Australian Government as the passengers on board included three Cabinet Ministers. The crash contributed to the downfall of the UAP Government of Robert Menzies.

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From 1950-53, 17,000 Australians in the Army, Navy and Air Force fought in the Korean War. In this episode we delve into some of the battles Australians fought in and the stories of a number of Australians who served in Korea.

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June 2020 marks the 70th anniversary of the start of the Korean War. The Korean War is often called the forgotten war. But, from 1950-53, 17,000 Australians fought as part of the United Nations Multinational Force, defending South Korea from the Communist forces of North Korea.

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It's back to bushrangers. In this episode were are focusing on Frank Pearson also known as ‘Captain Starlight' and James Alpin McPherson who went by the moniker the 'Wild Scotchman'. Check out the following YouTube video on the 'Wild Scotchman' and his escape attempt from St Helena prison island: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wITSpdaZj9g

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In this episode we take a gander at one of Sydney’s most iconic landmarks – the Sydney Opera House. Sitting on Bennelong Point, the Sydney Opera House sits resplendent, with its white sails dominating Sydney Cove.

Take a look at Stevie Wright performing Evie Parts 1, 2 and 3 at the Sydney Opera House in 1979. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPveBD6WWXc .

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Francis Greenway was an English-born architect who was transported to New South Wales  as a convict for the crime of forgery. He was the colony’s first Government architect. Greenway is admired for his buildings such as St Matthew’s Church in Windsor and St James’ Church and the Hyde Park Barracks in Sydney. He was an extremely talented, but deeply flawed man.

Email me at jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com. I answer every email.

In this episode we learn about Douglas Grant, an Indigenous man who served in the trenches in World War I. He was treated as an equal in the AIF but faced discrimination upon his return home. Then there is Douglas Berneville-Claye, my English teacher at St Greg's Campbelltown. He passed himself off as a war hero. But he was actually a traitor, a British officer who joined the SS.

The conflict between the British settlers and the local Indigenous people is heating up. The settlers push into the extremely fertile river flats along the Hawkesbury River near Windsor, Richmond and Wilberforce. This deprives the local people of access to traditional food sources.

Email me at jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com. I answer every email.

In 1813 Gregory Blaxland, William Lawson and William Charles Wentworth made the first successful crossing of the Blue Mountains. Or did they? Were Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth really the first to cross the Blue Mountains? And what of the implications of their explorations for the local Indigenous people? 

On 17 February 2020, General Motors announced the end of the Holden brand. This has shocked the nation and it truly is the end of an era. Watch the Holden TV advertisement 'Football, meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGW-WX77zjY

On Wednesday 26 May 1971, a man calling himself “Mr Brown" telephoned saying that Qantas Flight 755 from Sydney to Hong Kong was carrying a bomb. It was set to detonate as the plane came in to land and it could only be prevented if he was paid $500,000.

Check out the movie 'Call me Mr Brown' on YouTube athttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUDku9ha0-A

PLEASE DONATE TO THE RED CROSS BUSHFIRE RECOVERY APPEAL AT: www.redcross.org.au

Today we are into Aussie cryptozoology; the Bunyip and the Blue Mountain's Panther. Do they really exist? Well yes!. There is a real Bunyip right here in Canberra - Alexander the Bunyip - and you can find him at Gunghalin Library.

Check out the truly remarkable ABC cartoon 'Bluey'. For you parents and grandparents out there it provides great parenting tips for toddlers. You can watch episodes on the ABC website or the ABC i-view App for free. Here's a YouTube video of highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1SgpcIULLY&list=PLUptLdhc0cdHxTE1_ZBNP5ZaPgjePZGWC

The local Sydney people continue to find it tough going after the arrival of the British. A smallpox epidemic breaks out killing many Indigenous people. Bennelong is captured and Arthur Phillip is speared and recovers from his wound.  Arthur Phillip then orders reprisals after the apparently unprovoked killing of John McIntire.

Email me at: jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com