Geoffrey R Fink volunteered for military service in early 1940. He served initially with 3rd Division A.A.S.C. but was discharged as being in a reserved occupation at the Aircraft Production Commission. He resigned from the Commission and joined the AIF on 28 July 1941 and was allotted to 2/8th Armoured Regiment. He served with the regiment in New Guinea and on return to Australia was transferred to No 41 Landing Craft Company serving out the war in the South Pacific. Geoffrey Fink died 14 March 2008 aged 86 at Wangaratta Victoria.This object is a well provenance, in good condition and completeness, and is a fine example of the uniform worn by a soldier who served in the Second World War (1939-45) in an unusual combination of roles, armoured corps and water transport. Service dress winter jacket with 'Australia' metal shoulder titles, 'Rising Sun' collar badges, miniature 2nd/8th Armoured Regiment colour patches above Landing Craft Company colour patches. Overseas service chevron on right sleeve. Ribbon bar: 1939-45 Star, Pacific Star, British War Medal 1939-45 and Australian Service Medal 1939-45. Jacket worn by VX60307 Trooper Geoffrey R Fink, 2nd/8th Armoured Regiment and 41st Landing Craft Company, WWII. uniform, metal, fink geoffrey r mr

UnknownMendenbach, Marilyn. The Transplant. 1982, pencil sketch, Brimbank City Council Art Collection, BrimbankMixed media, water soluble pencil and gouchemarilyn mendenbach, 1982

Marilyn Medenbach was a local community craft worker at Deer Park community health centreWater soluble pencil and gouache

The fireplace was the main heating source for small houses before 1900, so a bellows to coax a flame from a dying fire was important. They would also be used to keep the fire going in a woodfire oven for cooking. In later cooking ranges, domestic water supply was also heated through the cooking range so bellows helped to maintaing a supply of hot water. These bellows were handcrafted by Mr James Ripper, a great uncle of Mrs. Jean Raper. An item of signifance throughout Australia, bellows were used in homes to coax a domestic fire into flame for heating and cooking purposes. It was probably used in late 19th to early 20th century homes.A set of hand carved wooden bellows. Each side of the bellows was crafted from one piece of timber. The bellows were joined with leather, brass studs and a metal nozzle.bellows, handcragted items, domestic items

The boat landings, Derwentwater. large tree leaning to the right, Small jetty, five small craft along the shore. Rear. Addressed to Miss A Absalom, Lester St, Sailors Gully, Eaglehawk.

Tuesday August 6 1959 trawler 'Minotaur' crossing western end of sandbar near entrance at 2.30pm, big wave struck craft broadside, rolling it onto its side, next wave smashed the wheelhouse, skipper Dave Allen and mate Cam Stuckey were rescued from the water by another trawler, 'Minotaur' was salvaged and rebuilt.Black and white photograph showing trawler Minotaur beached at western pier, Lakes Entrance, Victoriacoast, fishing industry

The Shipwreck Board is a feature of Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village/ its subject is explained briefly in the Museum's handbook, The Flagstaff Hill Navigator, published in 2008: - "Known as the ‘Eye of the Needle’ the treacherous entrance to Bass Strait is littered with the wreckage of large international vessels and smaller sail and steam craft used in coastal trade. The vessels bringing emigrants and cargo to Australia found the western entrance to Bass Strait the most dangerous part of their voyage. They had to thread their way between the southern point of Victoria (Cape Otway) and the northern point of King Island, a stretch of water less than 90 km wide. Many smaller coastal vessels were lost at Portland, Port Fairy, Warrnambool and Apollo Bay which are not safe harbours in certain weather conditions. "The Shipwreck Board shows shipwrecks, strandings and collisions which occurred in this area up to the year 1940. Wrecks are identified by a yellow light and collisions/strandings by a green light. These lights also identify the decade the wreck occurred by lighting up when the relevant decade button is pushed. Interesting happenings of the decades are listed next to the buttons." The Shipwreck Board's demonstration of The Eye of the Needle is an interactive visual display that helps teach the perils and dangers faced by early settlers in Victoria. It tells of the vast number of lives lost. It lists the names of many infamous shipwrecks and significant events.The large stained and lacquered timber board is mounted in a timber, frame. It is painted with a small sketch of Australia, and an enlarged outline of the southern coast of Victoria, King Island and the North West coast of Tasmania. The interactive display highlights the shipwrecks, standings and collisions suffered by many vessels as they navigated the 'Eye of the Needle', a narrow stretch of Bass Strait. The locations of the Lighthouses are pinpointed. Lists of groups of ships are below the coastlines. A painted scroll shows eight major shipwrecks with the number of lives lost for each one. A table shows historical facts associated with the decades from pre-1830 to 1940. A system of coloured lights compares the decades with the vessels that suffered damage. The board was created by artist and signwriter, Alex O'Flynn Computer Signs.flagstaff hill, maritime museum, maritime village, shipwreck coast, eye of the needle, shipwreck locations, bass strait, basses strait, king island, north west tasmania, south coast of victoria, cape otway, victorian lighthouse, king island lighthouse, strandings, coastal tracers, emigrant ships, sea trade, 1930s-1940s, shipwreck board, the eye of the needle, collosions, alex o'flynn, alex o’flynn computer signs, shipwrecks of western victoria

Model of HMAS Swan built by Shipwright Charles Axiak. Original ship construction in Melbourne and entered service 1970. Was a River Class Destroyer. Model maker worked in British Dockyards during WW2 and emigrated to Australia in 1955. He worked in Williamstown dockyards involved with construction of the Swan,1. Model of River Class Destroyer. green in colour from water line. Black line and brown at bottom. Small Australian flag at front and naval flag at back. 2. Wooden stand, tailor made to hold the model of the 'Swan'. Brown in colour with long flat board and separate pieces of wood embedded in the base to make the cradle. High points of cradle covered by some white felt to protect boat. Bottom of stand has felt studs."50" painted at front of boat.ships model, hmas swan

Model of HMS Kashmir built by Shipwright Charles Axiak. He originally trained and worked in British dockyards during WW2. Emigrated to Australia in 1955 and finished working in Williamstown dockyards building the River Class Destroyers K Class Destroyers built in UK in 1930's.1. Model of K-class Destroyer UK. Grey in colour above water line and brown below water line with black stripe dividing. Model has complete details of deck, guns and screws. 2. Wooden stand tailor made to hold the model of the ship. Brown in colour with long flat board. Small individual pieces of wood glued to the top to form the cradle for the boat. Also 4 felt footings at bottom of cradle.G.12 painted on side.ships model, hms kashmir

This distress EPIRB unit (Emergency Position Indication Radio Beacon) was found on the beach at Levy's Point, Warrnambool, in December 2000 by a Warrnambool resident. Local police were alerted at the time. This distress signal unit is a world-wide COSPAS/SARSAT, satellite assisted, SAR (Search and Rescue) system for location of distress transmissions emitted by an EPIRB. Offshore cruising vessels must have such a unit as part of its essential safety equipment. This model EPIRB relies on four satellites with orbit times of approximately 100 minutes. Earlier units relied solely on aircraft flying overhead to detect and forward on the EPIRB’s location to Search And Rescue authorities, whereas this new system utilises satellites. An employee from the Lokata firm provided additional information about the Lokata EPIRB units. They had a machined aluminium case with labels that were also made on site. The units could be activated manually or automatically released when a magnetic switch in the case casing was activated. This later model, circa 1983, would have been mounted externally on a vessel's bulkhead in a spring-loaded, stainless-steel protective 'skeleton' mounting, The unit released when the water pressure sensor detected a set time it was under the water, in a similar way that life crafts were released. Each unit was registered to a particular vessel - the vessel's details on this unit are indecipherable. The Lokata Company was established in 1970, designing and manufacturing marine products including communications. The company no longer makes products with the “Lokata” brand. In 2001 Sartech Engineering Ltd. took over the support for the Lokata EPIRB beacons. This emergency location device is a late 20th century invention to help save lives at sea. It adds to the history of maritime life, its risks, the lives lost as sea, and the many inventions aimed as rescuing and saving lives. The local area is notorious for the number of lives lost through shipwreck. It also carries stories of heroic efforts to save lives, and other inventions to help reduce the chance of accidents at sea.EPIRB unit; “Emergency Position Indication Radio Beacon”. A distress communication unit for sending a distress location transmission in an emergency at sea. The EPIRB is a yellow, rectangular box with dials, buttons, indicator lights and instruction. An antenna protrudes from the top of the unit. The EPIRB unit sends a 406P (X) EPIRB, with 406M-Hz frequency, 48-hour duration signal. The maker was LOKATA Ltd in England. Remnants of a white label remain on the side. Circa 1980s."NAME OF VESSEL 'SERVICE IF SELF TEST FAILS' " “LO-KATA” moulded into the body. "406P (X) EPIRB" “Model 406” "Lokata Type No 92408" "UK Type approved to MPT 1278" "Class 2" "Made by Lokata Ltd, Falmouth Cornwall England TR10 8AE"" "LOKATE LTD. New North Road Hainault, Ilford Essex IG6 2UR" "ARMED / SAFE / TRANSMIT / CODE / DISPLAY / SET / wait / pass / fail / TEST" "IDENTIFIER / 1349:24034234N" [some characters may be different] "COUNTRY / DENMARK" "VESSEL IDENTITY / 124 [the rest is indecipherable]flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, emergency position indicating radio beacon, epirb, lokata ltd, marine safety equipment, satellite transmitting beacon, safety equipment, distress signal, life saving, safety at sea, shipwreck location, lo-kata, falmouth, emergency, beacon, radio signal, communication, marine equipment