The Shortfin Barracuda submarines we are buying from France represent the worst military equipment purchasing since Federation. Slow, vulnerable and not yet anywhere near being designed, I'm tempted to make a joke and say the first should be named HMAS Pyne Box. But this is no laughing matter

There are many fine war poets, and I particularly like […]

Traffic in Vietnam is 'organised chaos'. Double white lines are ignored, traffic lights turning red are regarded as suggestions rather edicts, and the reminders of the carnage can be harrowing. I think in particular of a dead little girl and the roadside memorial that chills me every time I ride past

Our paths crossed briefly, just long enough for me to recognise in Sergeant Tom Birnie a good man, soldier, father and husband. It would not be until decades later that I came across one of the poems he wrote between patrols in Vietnam

The nature of spying requires its operatives to commit the […]

The Dawn Services once more have come and gone, attended by many thousands who honour the heroism, valour and, if you will, the essential Australian-ness of those who served and died. Tomorrow, business as usual for the grant-funded left as it tears down that which is good and noble

Need a present for an irritating pal? I have a copy of "No Front Line" to give away. It's by the ABC's Chris Masters, whose recounting of his time in Afghanistan is good in parts but mostly what you might expect from a 'friend' who is on your side but can't curb the urge to nitpick and bemoan

Chester Wilmot was rejected by the AIF and could have sat out the war in a homefront newsroom. Fortunately, the ABC made him its chief Middle East reporter, which turned out to be an inspired choice. All these years later, the work of a courageous and intrepid journalist still sings on the page

Peter Ryan's character was forged in the horrors and losses of war. Peter was self-reliant, principled, trustworthy, willing to sacrifice everything, and embodied the best Australians of his era. We have changed and there are few like him today, yet we will need his kind again