Posted by Brian Hartigan, Author at CONTACT magazine

Editor's Vlog

Adding a ‘secret’ extension to my basement project

03/05/202503/05/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1200 Views 0 Comments Make-n-Do

In an unusual turn of events (sarcasm), I’ve gone off on a tangent on the basement project. While I had

An Australian Centurion Mk V/1 tank of the 1st Armoured Regiment, Royal Australian Armoured Corps, guarding the approaches to the 1 Australian Task Force base located at Courtenay Hill. A hootchie has been set up over the turret as a sun screen and a sand bagged observation post is visible on the hill top. Photo by Brian Wood – AWM P07256.031

Letters to the Editor Veterans

The Plight of Australia’s Military: Its Armour at least

02/05/2025 Bruce Cameron 1481 Views 0 Comments

The Plight of Australia’s Military was the title of an email to me from Professor Geoffrey Blainey, AC, arguably Australia’s

An Australian Army soldier from 1st Armoured Regiment talks to a British Army soldier from 2nd Battalion, Royal Yorkshire Regiment, about emerging technologies during Project Convergence Capstone 5 (PCC5) in Fort Irwin, California, 9 March 2025. Photo by Corporal Nakia Chapman.

Australian Army Letters to the Editor

Army Experimentation: Is There a Better Way?

30/04/202530/04/2025 Bruce Cameron 1058 Views 3 Comments

The Chief of Army stripped 1st Armoured Regiment of its tanks, reduced it in size by two thirds, and made

Australian Army recruits in training at 1st Training Battalion, Kapooka, NSW. 1RTB photo.

Letters to the Editor Thought provoking

Rebuilding Australia through improving Defence preparedness

27/04/2025 WGCDR Wayne (Noddy) Parsons, RAAF Retd 1102 Views 1 Comment

Professor Geoffrey Blainey posits Australia was better prepared to help confront the challenge facing the Empire in 1914 at the

An M1A2 Abrams Tank arrives at Lavarack Barracks, Townsville on 14 November 2024. Photo by Corporal Guy Sadler.

Letters to the Editor

Townsville’s Armoured Brigade: Why Isn’t it Ready?

27/04/2025 Bruce Cameron 1093 Views 0 Comments

The 2024 National Defence Strategy (and the Defence Strategic Review before it) changed the ADF’s readiness from a joint force

The railway embankment which ran parallel to the Hindenburg Line south east of Bullecourt. The tank shown in the distance broke down above the shelter which housed the Headquarters of the 48th Battalion (Lieutenant Colonel R. L. Leane) during the first assault upon the Hindenburg Line (11 April 1917). The embankment was also the position of Brigadier General Gellibrand's Headquarters (6th Infantry Brigade) during the second assault (3 May 1917). AWM : E01408 COURTESY OF - Australian War Memorial

Australian Army Europe News Veterans

Four unidentified Aussie WWI soldiers found

26/04/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 3465 Views 1 Comment Bullecourt, Unrecovered War Casualties – Army Unit

The remains of four Australian soldiers have been found in northern France, almost 108 years since they died during the

Editor's Vlog

Laying more bricks in basement excavation

26/04/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1266 Views 0 Comments Make-n-Do

All work and no play makes Brian a dull(er) boy. So, this week, as well as laying more rock wall

An Australian Army soldier from the 1st Armoured Regiment with an uncrewed ground vehicle equipped with a prototype communications system and experimental drone launcher during Project Convergence Capstone 5 at Fort Irwin, California. Photo by Corporal Nakia Chapman.

Letters to the Editor Veterans

Why Hasn’t the Australian Public Been Told?

26/04/2025 Bruce Cameron 1553 Views 3 Comments

Extracts from the 2023 Defence Strategic Review: “Army’s combat brigades must be reroled and select capabilities postured in northern Australia.”

An Australian Army M1A1 Abrams Tank is loaded onto a Royal Australian Navy light landing craft, during Exercise Sea Explorer, Cowley Beach, Queensland. Story by Photo by Leading Aircraftwoman Jacqueline Forrester.

Letters to the Editor Veterans

An Open Letter to Prospective new Defence Ministers

23/04/2025 Bruce Cameron 986 Views 2 Comments

Eighteen months ago, the Defence Strategic Review stipulated that an armoured brigade should be located in Townsville. This requirement has

Centurion tanks from 1st Armoured Regiment, and armoured personnel carriers from B Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment, move along the main road of Binh Ba village. Over three days, armour and infantry dislodged a strong North Vietnamese Army group that had entered the village, for the loss of one Australian killed in action. AWM BEL/69/0389/VN. Binh Ba.

Letters to the Editor Veterans

Letter to 95-Year-Old Professor Who’s Seen it All Before

22/04/2025 Bruce Cameron 734 Views 0 Comments

Dear Professor Blainey, Thank you for your article (in the Weekend Australian) ‘We were better prepared for war in 1914

Members of Overwatch Battle Group–West get ready to participate in an ANZAC Day Dawn Service at Talil, Iraq, 2008. Photo by Brian Hartigan.

Lest We Forget Letters to the Editor Veterans

Recognising Recent Sacrifices

21/04/2025 Bruce Cameron 997 Views 0 Comments

The NSW government has released the design and location for a new war memorial to honour the service and sacrifice

Editor's Vlog

Bricking the walls in the basement pit

19/04/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1176 Views 2 Comments Make-n-Do

It’s always a significant turning point when things start going back in to a project. This week, I begin bricking

ANZAC Day Dawn Service at Talil, Iraq, 2008. Photo by Brian Hartigan.

ADF News Veterans

NSW to build memorial to contemporary veterans

18/04/202501/05/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1266 Views 0 Comments

New South Wales government has revealed the designs and location for a new war memorial dedicated to honouring the service

Letters to the Editor Veterans

Army’s Tank Numbers: A Revolving Dance Card

18/04/2025 Bruce Cameron 1724 Views 0 Comments

In terms of the standard organisation, a tank regiment comprises three sabre (fighting) squadrons, each squadron comprises four troops of

F-35A Lightning II aircraft fly in formation along the Newcastle-region coast in NSW during Exercise Lightning Storm. Photo by Sergeant David Gibbs.

News Royal Australian Air Force

Former CAF says RAAF seriously deficient

17/04/202517/04/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 2525 Views 4 Comments

“The Royal Australian Air Force must acquire a long-range strike bomber to fill a critical capability gap and enhance the

Photo of William Henry Belpitt in 1886. Source: USN Memorial Foundation

Lest We Forget Veterans

A BARE PATCH OF GROUND

17/04/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1121 Views 0 Comments

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, there were hundreds, if not thousands of carefree Australian larrikins craving adventure.

An Australian light-armoured vehicle (ASLAV) negotiates a creek crossing during an exercise at Jungle Training Wing, Tully, Queensland. Photo by Corporal Nicole Dorrett.

Letters to the Editor Veterans

Army Scraps Second Armoured Squadron

17/04/2025 Bruce Cameron 860 Views 1 Comment

I mentioned on 5 April that a squadron of tanks has been removed from Army’s order of battle. It is

An Australian Army M1A1 Abrams at Shoalwater Bay, Queensland. Photo by Private Jacob Hilton.

Letters to the Editor Veterans

Ongoing Campaign to Return 1 Armd Regt to it’s Combat Role

14/04/202517/04/2025 Bruce Cameron 728 Views 0 Comments 1 Armd Regt

“The M1A2 SEPv3 will upgrade the current Australian fleet of M1A1 SA tanks with no changes to Royal Australian Armoured

Editor's Vlog

Fitting my basement sump pump

12/04/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1037 Views 0 Comments Make-n-Do

We had a lot of rain recently. The resulting flood in my basement diggings was prompt enough for me to

Lest We Forget

Cooktown Airfield 1942, Ops Base 27 and a Story Worth the Telling.

12/04/202517/04/2025 Geoff Clarke 1310 Views 2 Comments

He left school in grade three to go to work with his father on the bullock wagons pulling huge logs