About 14,000 Australian soldiers were besieged at Tobruk in 1941 by German troops under the command of General Rommel. Photographers Damien Parer and George Silk are seen here in a dug-out at the edge of Tobruk Harbour waiting for an air raid. Parer holds a movie camera while Silk has a telephoto lens fitted to his Contex camera. The image was collected by Alan Anderson, who served in the Middle East as a sound engineer in the Commonwealth Department of Information photographic unit under the command of Frank Hurley.
by unknown photographer
gelatin-silver print
State Library of New South Wales, PXE 1005 collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/YoldJR29/ZDb473Lppyd5J
On display in State Library of New South Wales Exhibition 'Shot' www.sl.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/shot
Tags: Tobruk World War two Damien Parer Dgeorge Silk Photojournalists Australia War WW2
Man disembarking from seaplane Rose Bay, Sydney, c. 1938, Sam Hood, State Library of New South Wales, ON 204/Box 64/nos. 118-171 collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/1kVWxlpn/62lvbZwrMePKx
Tags: Airplane seaplanes Rose Bay 1930s Aircraft Flying Boat Airlines Airliners Aviation Short Brothers Short S.23 Short S.23C Short S.23 Empire Tender Boat
Qantas’s first fatal crash, 1927
by unknown photographer
The twisted wreckage of Qantas aeroplane G-AUED was photographed after an accident on 24 March 1927. The airline had been operating for six years before its first fatal crash. The plane was flying between outback Queensland towns Charleville and Mount Isa, when it crashed while landing at Tambo, a secondary destination. Pilot Ian Douglas Davidson and two passengers, WR Donaldson and AW Bell, died in the crash.
State Library of NSW PXA 1063/277a–303 collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/9arp7yOn/b00zzWkbaqlB8
On display in State Library of New South Wales Exhibition 'Shot'
www.sl.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/shot
Tags: Aircraft aeroplanes crashes Australia QANTAS Tambo Queensland G-AUED Fatal Plane Crash Airco DH.9 Airco DH.9C de Havilland DH.9 de Havilland DH.9C DH.9 DH.9C Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Service Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services, Ltd.
Sydney Harbour Bridge opening, 1932
by Hall & Co
The opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge on 19 March 1932 attracted huge crowds. Prior to the official opening some 50,000 schoolchildren walked across the bridge, and on the day the general public made the journey for the first time. The event was given added drama when right-wing activist Francis de Groot slashed the opening ribbon with his sword before the official ceremony began. Over the following days thousands crossed the bridge as they walked to and from work, putting pressure on the footpaths designed for occasional pedestrians.
Home and Away – 38540
On display in State Library of New South Wales Exhibition 'Shot' www.sl.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/shot
Tags: Sydney Harbour Bridge celebrations Sydney Port Jackson crowds 1930s 1932
Extension to Wollongong Harbour, New South Wales, 1868
by Johann Nepomuk Degotardi
Degotardi worked as a printer in Itzehoe, Germany before arriving in Sydney in 1853, with his wife Nina. By 1855 he had set up the business John Degotardi and Co, Engravers, Lithographers and General Writers, in York Street. The small population in Australia limited Degotardi’s ability to make a living as a printer and he set himself up as a professional photographer after buying the studio and photographs of William Hetzer in 1867. His high standards won him awards at four exhibitions: Victoria in 1866, Sydney Intercolonial in 1870, London ‘All Fine Arts’ in 1873 and Sydney International in 1879. This photograph is of extensions to Wollongong Harbour needed for the expanding coal trade at the port.
hand coloured albumen print
SV/197
On display in State Library of New South Wales Exhibition 'Shot' www.sl.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/shot
Tags: Wollongong Degotardi Itzehoe Engravers Lithographers SYdney 1860s