Backyard Battlefields

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 East India Company and subsequently sold to a private concern. It was chartered by the Western Australian goverment to transport settler families to establish the colony's third settlement, the town of Augusta on Cape Leeuwin in 1830. Not long after 'Emily Taylor' would forever became part of the history of WA when it was blown ashore and wrecked on its return voyage to Fremantle.

In 1944 a special Japanese unit, the 'Matsu Kikan' ('Matsu' meaning Pine Tree) was tasked with gathering intelligence on bases and allied air activity in Northern Australia. Sailing from Timor in a disguised fishing vessel the 'Hiyoshi Maru', the team, all experienced in unconventional warfare, successfully made landfall in Western Australia and conducted a reconnaissance in the remote Kimberley region before returning to Koepang.

The 'Koolama' was a ship of Western Australian State Shipping Service. It was built in 1936 by Harland and Wolff, ominously the same firm that built 'Titanic', for the servicing of the remote ports of the North West and Northern Territory. In 1942, bound for Darwin with a cargo of 180 passengers and war material it was attacked by Japanese bombers 35km off the Western Australian coast. Severely damaged, 'Koolama' limped into a remote bay in the Kimberley. What followed was a murky tale of bravery, malice and possible mutiny. This episode of Backyard Battlefields tells the story of 'Koolama', from it's halcyon days as the pride of the WA state ships to it's final resting place at the bottom of Wyndham harbour.

The 'Z Special Unit' was one of the most audacious and little known clandestine forces of WW2. It comprised Australian, British, New Zealand, Dutch, Timorese and other Allied personel. One of their most famous missions was 'Operation Jaywick'. This saw a disguised fishing vessel the 'MV Krait' sail from Exmouth Gulf to Singapore where the operatives, after paddling more than 50km, attacked Japanese ships at anchor before making their escape back to Australia. This extraordinary operation was followed by 81 other covert missions including the ill-fated Operation Rimau and Operation Semut. I had the privilege of speaking with Gavin Mortimer author of the Osprey Publication 'Z Special Unit' about the history and events surrounding this incredible force. Gavin is also the author of some other seminal books on the history of Special Forces including David Stirling: The Phony Major, The SBS in World War II and Merril's Marauders.

'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 to the shores of the lake. Subequently called 'Mongers Lake' after migrant John Henry Monger, who was given a land grant between the present day suburbs of Wembley and Subiaco, the Lake area underwent continual reclamation works and from the 1920s was dedicated for the purpose of 'public recreation, health and enjoyment'.

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 T Landt Van de Leeuwin, 'The Land of the Leeuwin'.

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 magnificent harbours, construction began in 1891 on the Princess Royal Fortress 'The Forts', paid for by the British Imperial government and the various Australian colonies.

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 Lynne Cairns, author of 'Secret Fleets: Fremantle's World War II Submarine Base'

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 Australia for more than 60 years from the Vietnam War to the Bali Bombings. This episode of Backyard Battlefields is a brief history of Campbell Barracks.

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.