'Galup' is a Whadjuk Noongar word meaning 'Place of Fires' and refers to what is called 'Lake Monger' a remnant of the series of wetlands once known as the 'Perth Great Lakes'. In 1830 it was the site of a colonial era massacre when Redcoats of the British 63rd 'West Suffolk' Regiment and armed settlers pursued a party of Noongar from Mount Eliza t…

Leeuwin means 'Lioness'. A Dutch Galleon of the Dutch East India Company it charted the South coast of Western Australia in 1622. Leeuwin left Holland bound for the capital of the Dutch East Indies, Batavia (modern day Jakarta, Indonesia) blown off course, the Captain Jan Fransz would encounter Western Australia, and thereafter it would be known as…

Albany's Princess Royal Harbour was named by British Explorer George Vancouver in 1791. He chose to honour Princess Charlotte, Queen of Wurttemberg and eldest daughter of King George III. The local Minang - Noongar people call it 'Mammang Koort' meaning 'The Heart of the Wild Whale'. Recognising the strategic importance of Albany and it's magnifice…

During World War II, the Western Australian port of Fremantle was host to over 170 US, British and Dutch submarines. Braced for invasion and taking the war to the Japanese in South East Asia, these submarines made 416 war patrols between March 1942 and August 1945. Many never returned. This episode of Backyard Battlefields is an interview with Lynn…

Campbell Barracks is a defence establishment in Swanbourne, Western Australia. It was named for Lt. Colonel J.A Campbell, the former Commandant of Commonwealth military forces in WA. Located in the heart of what is colloquially known by locals as the 'Golden Triangle' it has played a role in almost every major international event affecting Australi…

Corunna Downs was a top secret WW2 airbase in Western Australia. Called the 'Invisible Airfield', it was located in desert and spinifex country in the Pilbara region. Its strategic location allowed Australian and American bombers to launch surprise attacks on Japanese targets in the Dutch East Indies.…

An Australian plan was established in 1939 for the domestic production of armaments in the event war cut off the continent from the oceanic supply lines which sustained it. As a result a number of factories were built thoughout the country. One of these was established in Welshpool, Western Australia. Factory No. 6 as it was known produced one of t…

Axford Park is a small reserve in the suburb of Mount Hawthorn, Western Australia. It is named for soldier and local resident, Thomas Leslie 'Jack' Axford, who was awarded the Victoria Cross for actions during the Battle of Hamel in 1918. This operation was directed by Australian General John Monash and was considered a 'text-book' victory which in…

Nestled in the quiet suburb of Mount Lawley there is a Masonic Hall built in the 1928. It was designed by George Herbert Parry, a prolific Western Australian architect in an interwar 'Beaux Arts' style. During WW2 it found a new purpose, used by the Royal Australian Airforce (RAAF) as the 6th Fighter Sector Headquarters responsible for the air defe…

On the 3rd of March 1942, Japanese Zero fighters operating from Kopang, Indonesia attacked the Western Australian Pearling port of Broome. It was a target rich environment with the harbour packed with military and civilian aircraft filled with refugees from the Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies. One of the victims was a Dutch Dakota carryi…

The Brig 'Amity' was the ship which carried Major Edmund Lockyer and a contingent of troops to form the first European settlement in King George Sound, Western Australia. It was initally called 'Frederick Town' after Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (King George IIIs favourite son) and was later renamed 'Albany'. The local Menang people call it '…

Cape Naturaliste was named for a ship of the French Baudin Expedition of 1800. It's a prominent location, overlooking Geographe Bay on one side and the vastness of the Indian Ocean on the other. The high ground made it the perfect location for a lighthouse, guiding ships through the sometimes treacherous waters surrounding the Cape. During WW2 it w…

In March 1942 terrified refugees are fleeing the Dutch East Indies as Japanese forces march South. One of the last planes out, destined for Broome, Western Australia is a Dakota DC-3 piloted by Russian WW1 Ace Captain Ivan 'Turc' Smirnoff. Unbeknownst to those on board it's carrying a mysterious package filled with a fortune in Diamonds. Attacked b…

In 1941 sailors from a German merchant raider HSK Kormoran came ashore at Red Bluff, Western Australia following a battle with the Australian Cruiser HMAS Sydney. Before they reached the beach they disposed of any items which could complicate their capture. This episode recounts a unique 2007 discovery at Red Bluff and the key events of the engagem…

Garden Island is a thin limestone sliver, 5km off the coast of Western Australia. It was an idyllic holiday destination until it became an important part of the defence of Fremantle during World War 2, protecting the Cockburn Sound and Southern approaches to the port. It was also the training ground of the famous 'Z' Special Unit, who paddled their…

William Dampier was a Pirate, Author and Explorer. He published numerous books including 'A New Voyage Around the World (1697) which was a unique blend of adventure and natural history which made him a popular sensation. He was the first English person to explore the coast of Western Australia in the ship HMS Roebuck which was the first Royal Navy …

In 1925 during a charity ball at Perth's Government House, in front of hundreded of witnesses, Cyril Gidley was shot in the chest at point blank range and killed. The assailant was his 20 year old former fiance Audrey Jacob. It was one of the more dramatic trials which took place at Perth's Old Courthouse. What appeared to be an open and shut case …

The Old Perth Courthouse is the city's oldest surviving building. It was built in 1836 to assert the supremacy of British law in the Swan River Colony and soon became integral to legal and civic life. It was designed in a classical 19th century Greek revival style and is one of two remaining examples of the work of Colonial Engineer Henry Revelly. …

In 2016 two Russian MI-24 attack helicopters were buried at the Darwin tip. The story of how they came to be there is a tale involving spies, diplomats, mutineers and mercenaries in a scandal that came to be known as 'The Sandline Affair'.Oleh James De Leo

Built in 1870 in a Victorian Gothic and French Second Empire Architectural style the Perth Town Hall was designed by Architect Richard Roach Jewell and James Manning. It is the only Town Hall in Australia built primarily by convict labour.Oleh James De Leo

On the 10th of June 1940 Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini declared war on Great Britain and France. That day the Italian Motorship 'Remo' was in the Western Australian port of Fremantle. It was loaded with cargo and carrying 229 passengers. It was siezed by Australian authorities as a 'Prize of War' and drafted into service.…

In 1932 the Australian Army was deployed with machine guns to 'fight' thousands of Emus (large flightless birds indigenous to Australia) destroying crops in the Western Australian wheatbelt town of Campion. The operation became known as 'The Emu War'.Oleh James De Leo

St Albans Church in the Perth suburb of Highgate was named for the first British Christian Martyr, Saint Alban. Built in 1889 in a Romanesque style, it was an early design of soldier Architect Lt. General Joseph John Talbot Hobbs.Oleh James De Leo

On the 17th of August 1832 a duel was fought on the shores of the Swan River in the newly established colony of Western Australia. The combatants were two prominent citizens, 28 year old Solicitor William Naire Clark and former Naval officer and merchant George French Johnson.Oleh James De Leo

The Baudin Expedition 1800 - 1803 was a French Scientific journey to chart the coast of 'New Holland' (Australia) It was approved by Napoleon Bonaparte as First Consul of France and began with two warships Le Geographe and Le Naturaliste. The expedition charted large parts of the Australian continent and 'discovered' more than 2000 animal and plant…

Perth's 'Barracks Arch' is all that remains of the 'Pensioner Barracks'. It was a Tudor style bulding designed by colonial architect Richard Roach Jewell in 1863. It is located at the Western end of St Georges Terrace, Perth and once housed the members and families of the 'Pensioner Guards'. These were ex-soldiers who served as guards on convict sh…

In 1942 a Japanese submarine I-21, operating off the East coast of Australia shelled the port of Newcastle in New South Wales. This attack was in the context of the bombardment of Sydney's Eastern suburbs and the audacious midget submarine attack on Sydney Harbour.Oleh James De Leo

The Chinook (or 'Chook') is a twin-rotor heavy lift helicopter manufactured by Boeing and used by the Australian Army. A detatchment was deployed to Afghanistan in support of the Special Operations Task Group (SOTG)Oleh James De Leo

In September 1943, Japanese Navy Kawanashi 'Emily' Flying Boats operating out of Surabaya, Indonesia bombed the Western Australian town of Onslow, Western Australia.Oleh James De Leo

The Pinjarra Mounted Volunteers were raised in 1862 by prominent citizen Captain Theodore Fawcett, formerly of the British 6th Dragoon Guards. It was the first mounted unit raised for policing and defence in the Western Australian Perth (Boorloo) area, known then as The Swan River Colony.Oleh James De Leo

Born in the town of Northam, Western Australia, Hugo Throssell won the Victoria Cross (VC) at Gallipoli in 1915 and later became a Socialist and outspoken advocate on the futility of war.Oleh James De Leo

The Monte Bello Islands have a unique place in Western Australian history. They form an archipelago lying approximately 130KM off the Pilbara coast and in the 1950s they were the site of 3 British nuclear weapons tests called 'Operation Hurricane' and 'Mosaic.'Oleh James De Leo

Kojanup Barracks is an important piece of Western Australian history. Built by British Redcoats of the 51st Regiment it was a staging post on the road to the strategically important town of Albany. Kojanup is located 256km South East of Perth, Western Australia.Oleh JAMES P. DE LEO

The Fremantle Artillery Barracks was built to service the forts defending the Western Australian port of Fremantle. Sitting atop Cantonment Hill on the corner of Burt and Tuckfield Streets, it is now home to the Army Museum of Western Australia.Oleh JAMES P. DE LEO

The IJN Ibuki was a Japanese battlecruiser which in 1914 escorted the Gallipoli bound Australian and New Zealand troops from Albany at the Southern tip of Western Australia to the Middle East.Oleh JAMES DE LEO

Now a backpackers hostel, the Old Swan Barracks on Francis Street in Northbridge, former headquarters and home to Perths Central Drill Hall, was an important feature of the pre-Federation military forces in Western Australia.Oleh James De Leo

Dilhorn is a Federation Queen Anne style house located in the Perth suburb of Highgate. It was designed by Soldier Architect Joseph John Talbot Hobbs in 1897.Oleh JAMES DE LEO

Following the audacious Japanese midget submarine raid on Sydney Harbour in 1942 the remains of 4 Japanese submariners were recovered. The officer commanding Sydney Harbour Rear Admiral Muirhead-Gould ordered that the men be cremated with full military honours. This was done both out of respect for their bravery and in the hope that the conditions …

In March 1944 a powerful Imperial Japanese Navy flotilla entered the Indian Ocean with the purpose (it is believed) of attacking the Western Australian port of Fremantle, then the largest submarine base in the Southern hemisphere. Artillery expert Phil Rowson gives a brief account of the details of the incursion.…

This episode is an interview with Peter Grose, author of 'A Very Rude Awakening' an excellent account of the May 1942 Japanese raid on Sydney Harbour.

On the 19th of February 1942 Japanese carrier and land based aircraft attacked the Australian port of Darwin. The 1st Air Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy was fresh from it's attack on the US Naval base at Pearl Harbour just 10 weeks prior and focused its attention on Darwin to prevent the allies using it as a base to interfere with the Japanese…

Melon Hill is located at Allen Park in a beach side suburb of Western Australia. It was the site of an observation post which would have acted in support of nearby coastal defence batteries during the Second World War.

K-Heavy Battery was a 155mm gun position located at Point Peron, Western Australia. During WW2 it protected the Southern approach to the strategically important port of Fremantle during WW2. Featured is part of an interview with artillery expert Phil Rowson on the history of K-Battery.

A long way from the deadly battles of the North Atlantic, the German Kriegsmarine sent a number of U-Boats to operate out of Japanese bases in British Malaya and the Dutch East Indies. Their role was stalk the strategic shipping lanes of the Indian Ocean and disrupt commerce in the coastal waters off Australia.…

Melbourne's Victoria Barracks was named after Queen Victoria and was built between 1856 and 1872. It was once the home of British redcoats before becoming the headquarters for Victorian and then Australian military forces. It is a beautiful building, which is framed by 4 guns captured during conflicts with the Britain's various enemies over the pas…

Anzac Cottage is a house on Kalgoolie Street in the Perth suburb of Mount Hawthorn. It was built in 1916, in a single day by local and enthusiastic volunteers and given as a gift to a wounded veteran of Gallipoli. It was intended to be a 'practical' war memorial and a tribute to all those that served in the first world war. It is a wonderful and un…

During WW2 the Western Australian island of Rottnest hosted a key link in the Fremantle Coastal Defence Fortress. It was there to protect Fremantle, a strategic port and submarine base from enemy attack.

How many thousands of people have walked past a lonely ships cannon in Macquarie Place and not known that it belonged to the flagship of the First Fleet? This podcast tells the story of HMS Sirius, it's connection to Australia's military history and how a Royal Navy cannon came to be sitting amongst the bars and cafes of Macquarie Place.…

On the 8th of June 1942 a Japanese submarine I-24 bombarded Sydney's eastern suburbs. It was a postscript to a profound event in Australia's military history, the daring midget submarine attack on Sydney harbour.

During WW2, the US Navy's Patrol Wing Number 10 operated PBY Catalina Flying Boats from Matilda Bay in Perth.