OUR GUEST SPEAKERS
The highlight of our meeting each second Tuesday of the month is our Guest Speakers. They address an incredible range of topics, providing fascinating insights. Recent topics have been:
May 2022: Teddy Sheean VC RAN. Teddy was the only member of the RAN to be awarded a VC, albeit 80 years after his incredible act of bravery protecting fellow survivors leaving a sinking ship under brutal Japanese attack, and after relentless petitioning to have his bravery appropriately acknowledged.
April 2022: The Age of Discovery – Portuguese and Spanish maritime explorers of the 15th and 16th centuries in the East Indies. We learned of the commercial imperatives that drove these intrepid explorers to establish colonies and supply lines for spices and other commodities so valued in Europe.
March 2022: Africa, the Hope and the Horror. The speaker took us through different countries in Africa, with insights into their governments, social and economic conditions. It made us realise how lucky we are to live in Australia.
December 2021: The Last of the Bushrangers. This is a book outlining the life and times of a bushranging family in southern Queensland circa 1900.
April 2021: Pompey Elliott. We learned much about the life of one of the great military commanders of World War 1 Australian Brigadier General Harold “Pompey” Elliott. After the war he served as a Senator for Victoria in the Australian parliament. We learned of the many incidents involving him in WW1 which made him such a well loved character by Australian soldiers
March 2021: Costa Concordia. The speaker outlined the size and scale of the ship, the status of the skipper (gaoled for manslaughter), the diversion the ship took from normal course and the failings of both the skipper and the general management of cruising operation
