Australia’s Unknown Coastal and Anti-Submarine War of WW2
A Public Lecture by Dr Tom Lewis OAM
In World War II, there were 1,993 enemy attacks around Australia. Scores of submarine and ship fights, and many hundreds of individual enemy air actions, from Darwin to Hobart, from Townsville to Melbourne, which saw thousands of lives lost. Yet Aussies know little of it.
Two new works, from one of Australia’s foremost military historians, for the first time brings together all of the actions in World War II around the country’s coastline – and reveals an 86-man Japanese submarine sunk off Sydney.
The Secret Submarine and Australia’s Coastal War, both detailed in this 60-minute talk, will perhaps surprise you but certainly inform you. From mines on South Australia’s coast, to the sinking of HMAS Sydney, to air raids across the Top End for two years, to submarines fought and sometimes forgotten, this talk touches on them all.
Dr Tom Lewis, who received his Order of Australia Medal for service to naval history, will also take questions from the audience after his photo-packed presentation.
Lecture Time & Venue
Saturday, 6 June 2026, 10:30AM-11:30AM, Auditorium, Anzac Memorial Hyde Park, corner Elizabeth and Liverpool Streets, Sydney CBD. Admission is free of charge but a donation would be appreciated. For further information call 0419 698 783 or email: president@militaryhistorynsw.com.au.
About the Author
Dr Tom Lewis OAM is a military historian, the author of 22 books, and a public speaker and presenter. He is also a retired naval officer who served in combat; a retired secondary school teacher, pilot, and scuba divemaster. He was the Director of Darwin Military Museum in its redevelopment from 2009 to 2013. His Order of Australia was bestowed on him for services to naval history. He has won numerous prizes for his literary works, the most recent being as the national winner of the 2021 Australian Naval Institute’s Commodore Sam Bateman Book Prize for Teddy Sheean VC. His latest books, published by Big Sky Publishing, are The Secret Submarine and Australia’s Coastal War.
Our Venue – Anzac Memorial Hyde Park
The current venue for The Military History Society of New South Wales lecture program will be the Auditorium at the Anzac Memorial Hyde Park, corner of Elizabeth and Liverpool Streets, Sydney CBD. Numerous bus services stop at the location and Museum railway station is only 160 metres away. The venue will be opening its doors at around 10:00AM.
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