Page 152 - Australian Defence Magazine November 2021

152 BOOKS OF INTEREST
NOVEMBER 2021 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
COMPILED BY PETER MASTERS | BRISBANE
WITH MY LITTLE EYE
THE INCREDIBLE TRUE STORY OF A FAMILY OF SPIES IN THE SUBURBS By Sandra Hogan
Published by Allen & Unwin
RRP $29.99 in paperbacks ISBN 9781760878467
As incredible as it sounds from what we believe we know and understand of 1950s Australia, a seemingly everyday family of Mum, Dad and three kids actively participated in the activities of ASIO in the 1950s and
GUY GRIFFITHS
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF AN AUSTRALIAN ADMIRAL
By Peter Jones
Published by Australian Scholarly Publishing
RRP $39.95 in paperback ISBN 9781922454683
This is the authorised biography of Rear Admiral
Guy Griffiths, RAN. Griffiths joined the Navy in 1937 having successfully negotiated the rigorous application process for the Royal Australian Naval College. His navy career began in earnest with his appointment,
60s. Father Dudley Doherty was an ASIO officer as was his wife Joan until the arrival of their first child. Together, they made the extraordinary decision to involve their children in their espionage work, which became the ‘family business’. Most notable among their missions was hosting Soviet defectors Vladimir and Evdokia Petrov on a Gold Coast holiday. The book contains some never- before-seen photographs of this period. But we see, too, the confusion of a daughter who could never quite separate her father’s work from the man himself, even
to the extent of not believing for some years that he had died, believing instead that he had disappeared on a job for ASIO. Verdict: A fascinating insight into activities that are mostly hidden from view or whispered of in dark corners.
in March 1941, to the Royal Navy ship HMS Repulse, one of three battlecruisers in the fleet, initially tasked as an escort for Atlantic convoys. Repulse was later sunk by
the Japanese near Singapore with 508 casualties. Griffiths was among the lucky ones to be picked up by a destroyer. Later, for his efforts defending against Japanese attack onboard the cruiser HMAS Shropshire, he was awarded the DSC. He was to witness the last act of the Pacific
War – the surrender in Tokyo Bay. His remarkable career would go on to cover two more wars – the Korean War and
the Vietnam War - and also include significant Navy Office postings. He retired as a Rear Admiral after 42 years’ service. Peter Jones, who himself retired as a Vice Admiral, has produced a very thorough and highly readable account of Guy Griffiths’ life and achievements.
BARBAROSSA
HOW HITLER LOST THE WAR By Jonathan Dimbleby Published by Viking/Penguin RRP $35.00 in paperback ISBN 9780241979181
This work by the renowned writer Jonathan Dimbleby has been variously described as ‘the best single-volume account of the Barbarossa campaign
to date’ (Andrew Roberts) and a ‘fast-paced gripping read’ (Julia Boyd). Barbarossa is the code name for Hitler’s
TEDDY SHEEAN VC
A SELFLESS ACT OF VALOUR By Tom Lewis
Published by Big Sky Publishing RRP $29.99 in paperback
ISBN 9781922387905
The words of one survivor from the sinking of HMAS Armidale on 1 December 1942 describe, first hand, the heroic deeds
of 18-year-old Teddy Sheean, already wounded by the bullets of an attacking Zero, having turned back from abandoning ship and, “strapped himself in, and brought down a Jap plane, still firing as he disappeared
invasion of the Soviet Union
on 22 June 1941, which Dimbleby describes as the ‘biggest, bloodiest and most barbarous military enterprise
in the history of warfare’.
With this plan, Hitler hoped to annihilate the Soviet Union and become master of Europe’s destiny, his ultimate aim to establish the Thousand Year Reich. This fatal overreach saw him postpone plans to invade England while he concentrated on taking the Soviet Union first. Using a vast array of sources, Dimbleby delivers a detailed yet highly readable account of the geopolitical environment which led ultimately to
Hitler’s disastrous decision
to invade the Soviet Union
and the subsequent military engagements that ended in defeat for the German army. He has skilfully used eyewitness accounts to bring the story of this brutal campaign to life.
beneath the waves”. This selfless act of valour was to save many lives but it took more than 70 years for this act of heroism to be officially recognised with the awarding of the Victoria Cross, the first in Australia’s naval history. Tom Lewis is highly regarded for his work in naval history. With this book, he has traced the short trajectory of Teddy Sheean’s naval career against the backdrop of the often brutal conflict that was war in the Pacific. It was Sheean’s nephew Garry Ivory who spearheaded the campaign for posthumous recognition of his uncle. Recognition came too in the form of the naming of the fifth of six Collins- class submarines. But it was the awarding of the VC to Sheean’s family in December 2020 that was the final instalment in his life story.
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