Backyard Battlefields James De Leo

St Albans Church in the Perth suburb of Highgate was named for the first British Christian Martyr, Saint Alban. Built in 1889 in a Romanesque style, it was an early design of soldier Architect Lt. General Joseph John Talbot Hobbs. 

On the 17th of August 1832 a duel was fought on the shores of the Swan River in the newly established colony of Western Australia. The combatants were two prominent citizens, 28 year old Solicitor William Naire Clark and former Naval officer and merchant George French Johnson.

The Baudin Expedition 1800 - 1803 was a French Scientific journey to chart the coast of 'New Holland' (Australia) It was approved by Napoleon Bonaparte as First Consul of France and began with two warships Le Geographe and Le Naturaliste. The expedition charted large parts of the Australian continent and 'discovered' more than 2000 animal and plant species unknown to European science.

Perth's 'Barracks Arch' is all that remains of the 'Pensioner Barracks'. It was a Tudor style bulding designed by colonial architect Richard Roach Jewell in 1863. It is located at the Western end of St Georges Terrace, Perth and once housed the members and families of the 'Pensioner Guards'. These were ex-soldiers who served as guards on convict ships en-route to Australia and were given employment and land on arrival to continue in this militia role. The building was demolished in the 1960s to make way for Perths Mitchell Freeway. 
 
 

In 1942 a Japanese submarine I-21, operating off the East coast of Australia shelled the port of Newcastle in New South Wales. This attack was in the context of the bombardment of Sydney's Eastern suburbs and the audacious midget submarine attack on Sydney Harbour.

The Chinook (or 'Chook') is a twin-rotor heavy lift helicopter manufactured by Boeing and used by the Australian Army. A detatchment was deployed to Afghanistan in support of the Special Operations Task Group (SOTG)