Port Melbourne Uniting Church in Bridge St, 9 February 2023 image Janet Bolitho
The Rev. John Tansey conducted the final service of he Port Melbourne Uniting Church congregation at 5 pm on Sunday, November 2022. Anne Garrow, a member of the congregation since 1984, gave this overview of the Church's history
Before this church was built, this land was…
by David Radcliffe
In early 1942, Australia urgently needed a fighter aircraft to defend against possible invasion. The result was the CA-12 Boomerang, designed by Fred David at the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation in Fishermans Bend. Before coming to Australia, Fred David had worked for aircraft makers in Germany and Japan. This included helping to design the Aichi dive bomber used…
by Jim West and David Radcliffe
The premises of the Port Melbourne Engineering Works, built by Albert T Harman in Derham Street, Port Melbourne in 1902, included a foundry for casting components out of iron and brass.[1] In November 1934, this foundry was purchased by his son, Alfred Henry Harman, and James Robertson and registered as JV Robertson Pty Ltd.…
by David Radcliffe
Eighty years ago this month, the Second World War came very close to Port Melbourne. Early in the morning of February 26, 1942, a small float plane, launched from a Japanese submarine, conducted a reconnaissance flight around Port Phillip Bay, observing the port and other facilities.
That morning, Marlene Firman and her younger sister, Gloria, were sound…