Backyard Battlefields

During WW2 the Western Australian island of Rottnest hosted a key link in the Fremantle Coastal Defence Fortress. It was there to protect Fremantle, a strategic port and submarine base from enemy attack.

How many thousands of people have walked past a lonely ships cannon in Macquarie Place and not known that it belonged to the flagship of the First Fleet? This podcast tells the story of HMS Sirius, it's connection to Australia's military history and how a Royal Navy cannon came to be sitting amongst the bars and cafes of Macquarie Place.

On the 8th of June 1942 a Japanese submarine I-24 bombarded Sydney's eastern suburbs. It was a postscript to a profound event in Australia's military history, the daring midget submarine attack on Sydney harbour.

During WW2, the US Navy's Patrol Wing Number 10 operated PBY Catalina Flying Boats from Matilda Bay in Perth.

The Leighton Battery in Mosman Park WA was part of the defences protecting the port of Fremantle during the second world war.

A brief history of the Boer War Memorial and captured Krupp Boer cannon located at Kings Park in Perth. The memorial was established to honour the men of the Western Australian Mounted Infantry who served in South Africa.