Series: A Shot of History

‘What a life! What a story! Superbly researched and wonderfully crafted ...’ - Peter FitzSimons 'Writer, journalist, barrister, larrikin' Who was the first Australian novelist? John Lang, born in a Parramatta pub in 1816 with the convict ‘stain’ upon him, was a singular character. The first native-born person to have a novel published, he was also a newspaperman, a classical...

On 4 June 1942, one of the most powerful figures of the Nazi Third Reich, Reinhard Heydrich, the ‘Butcher of Prague’ and architect of the 'Final Solution', died from wounds suffered in an assassination attempt carried out just days before. His death caused shockwaves in the Nazi State, resulting in savage reprisals, with Hitler ordering the annihilation of two village...

The August Offensive or 'Anzac Breakout' at Gallipoli was an attempt to break the stalemate of the campaign. It saw some of the bloodiest fighting since the landing as Commonwealth and Turkish troops fought desperate battles at Lone Pine, German Officers’ Trench, Turkish Quinn’s, The Chessboard, The Nek, The Farm, Hill Q, Chunuk Bair, and Hill 971. The offensive was...

Devil Been Walkabout Tonight focuses on the last three months of Robert O’Hara Burke, William John Wills, and John King on Cooper’s Creek. The original expedition, which set out in August 1860, aimed to explore the centre and northern reaches of the Australian continent. The expedition essentially concluded with the death of Burke and Wills on Cooper’s Creek from starvation...

One of the finest soldiers and most courageous leaders I have ever known. – Lt Doug McClean, D Coy, 39th Battalion If you have trekked Kokoda, then the campsite of Templeton's Crossing will be familiar. Discover the story of the man behind the name. Captain Sam Templeton was the first Australian officer to be captured by the Japanese in the...

The year 2022 marks the 200th anniversary of the establishment of the penal settlement at Macquarie Harbour. This convict penal settlement, located on the isolated, primeval, and rugged west coast of Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania), quickly gained a reputation as an ‘Earthy Hell’. Colonial historian John West succinctly recorded in 1852: ‘The name Macquarie Harbour is associated exclusively with remembrance...

The Independent Companies and Commandos were a unique form of sub-unit within the Australian army during the Second World War. They were units composed of an exceptional group of individuals with very special attributes and skills who thrived on the unconventional and doing things very much in their own way. The army found it very hard to accept this at...

On the night of 31 May 1942, Sydney Harbour was attacked by midget submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy. An accommodation vessel of the Royal Australian Navy was torpedoed, and 21 sailors died. The midget submarines were hunted down, and two were sunk. War had already come to northern Australia, and now the southern cities were made bitterly aware that...