8-February-1917. While serving as a Stretcher Bearer as part of 55th Australian Infantry Battalion, Australian Imperial Force during the First World War. Corporal Ernest Albert “Ernie” Corey, was awarded an unprecedented four Military Medals, the third highest award for gallantry in the British System of Awards for his tireless and continual devotion to rescuing wounded soldiers during the war on the Western Front. Despite the claim of being the Highest Decorated Australian Soldier, Corey was a timid man who took great pride in the knowledge that he received four Military Medals for saving people and never fired a shot in anger.
Category: Transcripts
Summary 28-OCTOBER-1950, This is the conclusion of the life service and Legacy of Professional Soldier Lieutenant GeneralRobert Harold Nimmo, who served in both the First and Second World Wars in Brigade and General Staff Roles before his retirement in 1950. He would then go on to serve as the longest continuously serving Chief Military Observer … Read More “The Greatest Peacekeeper: Lieutenant General Robert Harold Nimmo CBE Part Three” »
Summary 29-SEPTEMBER-1946, This is part two of the life service and Legacy of Professional Soldier Major General Robert Harold Nimmo CBE, who at the commencement of the Second World War was a Staff Officer of the 1st Cavalry Division. An officer tasked with introducing armoured warfare into the Australian Army, Nimmo would continue to serve … Read More “The Armoured Trial of the Greatest Peacekeeper: Major General Robert Harold Nimmo CBE Part Two” »
21-DECEMBER-1914, This is part one of the life service and Legacy of Professional Soldier Major Robert Harold Nimmo, who at the commencement of the First World War was an Officer Cadet at the Royal Military College Duntroon. Enlisting upon accelerated graduation he was posted to the 5th Australian Light Horse Regiment at the rank of … Read More “The Beginning of the Greatest Peacekeeper: Major Robert Harold Nimmo: Part One” »
Summary 7-JANUARY-1945 While Serving with No 619 Squadron Royal Air Force, Flying Officer Colin Kelvin Flockhart, was the pilot of a four-engine Avro Lancaster Heavy Bomber tasked with a raid over Munich Germany when for unknown reasons his plane disintegrated over the French countryside during poor weather. This episode is dedicated to Alison Aitken, the … Read More “Cheerio and Keep Smiling: FLGOFF Colin Kelvin Flockhart” »
Summary 27-AUGUST-1942 While Serving with No. 3 (Army Cooperation) Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force, Flying Officer Peter St George Bruce Turnbull, in North Africa became one of the first Australian Fighter Aces of the Second World War, with downing eight enemy aircraft, an act that would award him the Distinguished Flying Cross. He would go … Read More “80th Anniversary of the Battle of Milne Bay: The Story of SQNLDR Peter St George Bruce Turnbull DFC” »
Summary 14-JULY-1918. The 30-ton German Heavy Tank was set to participate in the Second Battle of Villers-Bretonnaeux until it drove into a shell crater outside Monument Wood, becoming stranded, three months later it would be captured by the 26th Australian Infantry Battalion in the Allied counter-attack, in an action that has captured the imaginations of … Read More “The Australian Capture of Mephisto” »
Summary 19-OCTOBER-1917. While serving within the Australian Remount Depot, Australian Imperial Force as a Squadron Commander, Major Andrew Barton “The Banjo” Paterson served with distinction as part of the Desert Mounted Corps during the First World War. He is also widely known as the most famous Bush Balladist of the 20th Century, having penned the … Read More “The Ballad of the Horsehold Cavalry: Maj Andrew Barton “The Banjo” Paterson” »
Summary My Silent Hero is a project to honour and preserve the memory of those who have served Australia during times of war. Each of these servicemen and women had lives before they enlisted and, if they survived, after the war. They were, or are, humble human beings who, for a great many current Australians, … Read More “My Silent Hero Episode 1: 29919 Gunner Eric William Benjafield” »
1-MARCH-1942. While serving within the Royal Australian Navy as a Signals Officer, Captain Hector MacDonald Laws Waller served with distinction aboard several warships of the Royal Australian Navy and Royal Navy during both the First World War and the Second World War.
Having graduated from the fledgling Royal Australian Naval College during the First World War, his posting would be to the Royal Navy Battleship HMS Agincourt, and would predominately perform escort duties for the duration of the war.
As a career sailor, he would progress through the ranks until he was in command of the 19th Destroyer Division at the start of the Second World War. He would be in direct command of two vessels during the Second World war, the Destroyer HMAS Stuart I where he led the ‘Scrap Iron Flotilla’ and the Cruiser HMAS Perth I. He would go down with the HMAS Perth when it was sunk during the one-sided Battle of Sunda Strait alongside 356 fellow personnel of Perth.