Allan a Murray

HMAS Australia Allan a Murray

This fifth book in the Series is a description of the service during World War II of the Australian heavy cruiser, HMAS Australia, including the period when Allan's great-uncle, Bobby Forbes, was a crew member.

HMAS Australia was a lucky ship. By mid-1943 she had served in the Arctic, Atlantic, Indian and Southern Oceans and completed five sea patrols in the hotly contested Coral Sea. She had narrowly averted disaster on several occasions, including in the Battle of Savo Island off Guadalcanal, where her sister ship, HMAS Canberra, was sunk. Her luck continued in the second half of 1943 with Bobby Forbes on board as the War progressed from the Coral Sea to the waters north of New Guinea. But this period was the last of her luck. In late 1944 and early 1945, off the Philippines, HMAS Australia was struck by numerous Japanese aircraft flying into her deliberately. HMAS Australia had the most colourful service of any Australian Navy ship in Word War II, but that service was ended by the kamikazes. She did not sink, but her war was over.

The story of HMAS Australia brings to an end the trilogy of books on the service of Bobby Forbes. By January 1944, when he left HMAS Australia, he had sailed in all of the world's oceans and fought against all of Australia's foes of World War II.