Korean War 'Mig Killer': Bill Simmonds, RAAF
Bill Simmonds was from Bunbury, Western Australia. A pilot with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) 77 Squadron, during the Korean War he...
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Backyard Battlefields
Backyard Battlefields is a military history program which explores historical sites throughout Australia and beyond. Backyard Battlefields gives Australia’s military history a context by exp...
Backyard Battlefields Podcast Guide
Listen to Backyard Battlefields, a News & Politics podcast. Stream 59 episodes in English, follow new audio stories, and play episodes online on Radio and Podcast.
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Episodes
20 of 59 episodesOperation Hurricane: Britain's First Atomic Test
On October 3, 1952 Britain detonated an atomic bomb on the MonteBello Islands, 50 miles off Western Australia's Pilbara coast. The success o...
Land of the Eendracht: Dirk Hartog, 1616
'Eendracht' means 'Concord' or 'Unity' and is taken from the motto of the Dutch republic 'Eendracht maakt macht' - 'Unity makes strength'. I...
'Emily Taylor' & Augusta, 1830
Today 'Emily Taylor' is a bar in the fashionable port City of Fremantle, but first it was the name of a ship built in Bombay for the British...
Kimberley Incursion: Japanese Landing 1944
In 1944 a special Japanese unit, the 'Matsu Kikan' ('Matsu' meaning Pine Tree) was tasked with gathering intelligence on bases and allied ai...
The Koolama Incident, 1942
The 'Koolama' was a ship of Western Australian State Shipping Service. It was built in 1936 by Harland and Wolff, ominously the same firm th...
Z SPECIAL UNIT: An Interview with Gavin Mortimer
The 'Z Special Unit' was one of the most audacious and little known clandestine forces of WW2. It comprised Australian, British, New Zealand...
LAKE MONGER - GALUP: WESTERN AUSTRALIA
'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 on...
The Lioness & Cape Leeuwin, Western Australia, 1622
Leeuwin means 'Lioness'. A Dutch Galleon of the Dutch East India Company it charted the South coast of Western Australia in 1622. Leeuwin le...
Guardians of the Gates: Princess Royal Fortress, Albany, Western Australia
Albany's Princess Royal Harbour was named by British Explorer George Vancouver in 1791. He chose to honour Princess Charlotte, Queen of Wurt...
Fremantle's Secret Submarine Base: An Interview with Lynne Cairns
During World War II, the Western Australian port of Fremantle was host to over 170 US, British and Dutch submarines. Braced for invasion and...
Billion Dollar Baby: Campbell Barracks, Swanbourne WA
Campbell Barracks is a defence establishment in Swanbourne, Western Australia. It was named for Lt. Colonel J.A Campbell, the former Command...
The Invisible Airfield: Corunna Downs, Western Australia
Corunna Downs was a top secret WW2 airbase in Western Australia. Called the 'Invisible Airfield', it was located in desert and spinifex coun...
Rule .303: The Welshpool Small Arms Factory, 1942
An Australian plan was established in 1939 for the domestic production of armaments in the event war cut off the continent from the oceanic...
An Army Reserve: Axford Park, Mount Hawthorn
Axford Park is a small reserve in the suburb of Mount Hawthorn, Western Australia. It is named for soldier and local resident, Thomas Leslie...
Freemasons & Fighter Command: Mount Lawley, Western Australia
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 W...
The Empire Strikes Broome: 3rd March 1942
On the 3rd of March 1942, Japanese Zero fighters operating from Kopang, Indonesia attacked the Western Australian Pearling port of Broome. I...
Amity and Albany: Western Australia
The Brig 'Amity' was the ship which carried Major Edmund Lockyer and a contingent of troops to form the first European settlement in King Ge...
South West Sentinels: Cape Naturaliste Radar Station and Lighthouse
Cape Naturaliste was named for a ship of the French Baudin Expedition of 1800. It's a prominent location, overlooking Geographe Bay on one s...
The 'Diamond Dakota Mystery' and the Bombing of Broome
In March 1942 terrified refugees are fleeing the Dutch East Indies as Japanese forces march South. One of the last planes out, destined for...