Aussie Waves Podcast

Reg Saunders was a war hero who won the Military Medal. He was also the first Indigenous Australian to be commissioned as an officer in the Australian Army. Email me at jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com 

Australia has had censorship since Captain Arthur Phillip planted the Union Jack at Sydney Cove in 1788. During the mid 20th century Australia is said to have had one of the strictest Censorship regimes in the western world. Email me at jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com 

We finish our look at Malcolm Fraser, the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia. Why did he turn his back on the Party he led did he become a left winger after he retired from politics? Email me at jamesdampier.wap@gmail.com

In this and the next episode we look at the life and career of John Malcolm Fraser, the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia. Malcom Fraser was extremely divisive in his day, predominantly because of his role in the Dismissal of the Whitlam Government. I hope to convince you that he is a much misunderstood figure. Email me at jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com 

On Tuesday 18 January 1977 a crowded commuter train derailed and careered into the supports of the Bold Street Bridge in the Western Sydney suburb of Granville. The bridge collapsed, killing 83 people and injuring 213 others. The Granville Rail Disaster remains the worst rail disaster in Australian history. Email me at jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com 

The conflict on the Cumberland Plain and along the Hawkesbury River ramps up. Pemulwuy takes it to the colonists and leads his band of warriors in serious guerrilla warfare. In the Battle of Parramatta, he and 100 warriors fight it out with the NSW Corps.  On the Hawkesbury, the Dharug and Darkingjung people resist the encroachment of the colonists. In the end Pemulwuy is killed after Governor King offers a reward for his capture or death. Email me at jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com  

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. Email me at jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com

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 Email me at jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com

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. Email me at jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com 

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? Email me at james dampier.awp@gmail.com 

In this episode we are a taking a look at two eccentrics who lived in Sydney in the early and mid 20th Century - Beatrice Miles and Arthur Stace Email me at james dampier.awp@gmail.com  

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. Email me at jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com 

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. Email me at jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com

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. Email me at jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com 

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 Email me at jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com

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 . Email me at jamesdampier.awp@gmail.com  

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.