The Sounds Of Goodbye

Sydney had shaken off the cloth of yesterday’s achievements. A Harbour Bridge had spanned a busy waterway whilst the Opera House had set sail for a world of high class music and entertainment. Old horse drawn tracks had made way for carpets of bitumen whilst ancient ramshackle buildings had surrendered to monoliths of concrete and steel. Overhead, birds on the … Read More

Vale: Joseph Lysle Roberts – Spitfire Pilot

My fellow Spitfire Association members, I send this email with a heavy heart. Our Lifetime Spitfire Association Vice President and WWII Veteran Joseph Lysle Roberts died on Monday 29th October. Lysle was married to Pam (deceased) for 69 years and they had three children, Warwick, Angus and Martin (Reg). Attending Knox Grammar School, Lysle became Captain of the School, Senior … Read More

Queen’s Birthday honour to Mr Jack Anastas OAM

It is with the greatest honour that I congratulate one of our own, Mr Jack Anastas, on being awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia. Jack was rightly recognised for a lifetime of service to the welfare of veterans of the Australian Defence Force, and the community, as follows: President, National Association of Extremely Disabled War Veterans, NSW Branch, … Read More

Interview – LTCOL Keiran Joyce

LTCOL Keiran Joyce is the Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Program Manager for the Australian Army.  He is also a Spitfire Memorial Defence Fund Fellow. LTCOL Joyce has provided an interview to Jane’s Defence Weekly, regarding the way ahead for unmanned aircraft in Army.   He has kindly allowed us to provide it here on our site. Click here for the article … Read More

Mothers Day 2018 – Spitfire Sisters Documentary

Happy Mothers Day to all our mums. As promised, here is the Spitfire Sisters documentary.  It explains the role of the women of the Air Transport Auxiliary during WWII. Duration: 50 mins   Have you joined our Facebook page yet? Feel free to kick off a discussion on this, or any of our articles, through the link below. You’ll also … Read More

Colouring Competition – Kids: Win Mum a Prize!

It’s Mother’s Day this Sunday.  We’ve decided to give some of our merchandise away to some lucky mums, with a colouring-in competition. Here’s a picture of a female pilot from the Air Transport Auxiliary getting ready to deliver a Spitfire from the factory to an airfield in England.  Life wasn’t always easy for these ladies, but their work helped win the … Read More

Big planes – Antonov AN-124 and Illyushin IL-76

This post started as a quick Defence PR video of the Antonov AN-124 delivering F-35 equipment to RAAF Base Williamtown this week.  230T useful load requires some serious lifting equipment inside, check out the internal gantry crane loading the flatbed.   Then someone in the office pulled up this video of the slightly smaller Illyushin IL-76, taking off from Canberra … Read More

Rise Of The Drones – (NOVA) Documentary of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)

One of the questions asked of our VIPs at the ANZAC Day Luncheon involved the role of UAVs in Australian Defence operations. This documentary is an American production looking at the technology and employment of UAVs in civilian and military situations. It seems quite balanced, and provides a look at the formidable technology that is yet to come into play. … Read More