This blog has been developed to provide information and encourage sharing for the Premier's Anzac Spirit School Prize students participating in the study tours to Darwin in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
The Larrakia people are the traditional owners of the Darwin region. As shown on the above map, their country runs from Cox Peninsula in the west to Gunn Point in the north, Adelaide River in the east and down to the Manton Dam area southwards. Acknowledging when in place “You have come by way of the Larrakia Land. You will hear the voice of Larrakia ancestors. When you leave, the Larrakia message will stay with you.” - The late Reverend Walter Fejo As mentioned, this tour is more than history and will involve considerable cultural and geographical learning. In fact, we cannot understand the history of a place without knowledge of the geographical and cultural context of a place. To this end, we will be travelling quite a few kilometres and visiting plenty of locations. During these travels we will be engaging with the indigenous culture of the area and learning about their culture. Wherever we are, we need to acknowledge the attachment to place of the Aboriginal people. See...
Cecil Grant Cross was born in Cobar NSW, 712 Km northwest of Sydney, in the year 1920. He was one of 5 children to parents Frank Cross and Ethel Maud Satterthwaite married in the year 1910. On the 5th of March 1941 at the age of 21 Cross enlisted in the Merchant Navy as the 7th engineer on the ship Neptuna. Neptuna was a cargo ship used to transport people, troops, and supplies. On the 19th of February 1942 when the first Japanese attack occurred. The ship was moored at Stokes Hill Wharf in Darwin Harbour where it suffered from three direct hits from the bombers. The ship eventually exploded killing forty-five men. The explosion was so extreme, it killed both crew and people on the wharf. As well as shooting shrapnel hundreds of metres in all directions. Although he has no known grave, Cecil is commemorated on the commemorative roll in a book, at the Australian War memorial. He is also remembered at the Adelaide River War cemetery via a memorial plaque. Documenting the lives of ve...
Eileen Carrig Mullen and Jean Carrig Mullen were sisters who spent their child hood in South Australia. They lived in Port Augusta with their father and mother and went to school at St. Aloysius’ Collage Adelaide. The sisters spent their whole lives together went to school together, had their first job at the telephone department at the Adelaide G.P.O., then went to Darwin together (TROVE, n.d.) . Eileen and Jean both became trained as telegraphists and in 1941 Eileen was transferred to Darwin to operate the new telephone service and Jean shortly followed. What were they doing in Darwin After the bombing of Pearl Harbour and attack on Darwin was imminent, Prime Minister Robert Menzies’ War Cabinet instructed over 2000 women and children, including my grandmothers aunt and cousin, to be evacuated from Darwin via any method of transport available (Library and Archives NT, n.d.) . Only 70 females remained in Darwin after the evacuation which included secretaries, nurses,...
Comments
Post a Comment