The 13th Australian Armoured Regiment was a Gippsland militia unit that had been called up for full time duty in December 1941 as a traditional light horse regiment. The early months of 1942 had seen the regiment lose its horses, a conversion to a motor regiment and finally to an armoured regiment in May. During this period there were considerable changes in personnel, however the regiment maintained its strong links to Gippsland and its former identity. Between May and November 1942, individual soldiers had become proficient in their trade training and the regiment changed its focus to troop and squadron activities. On 16 November 1942, the unit was located at the Puckapunyal Army Camp. C Squadron's training program involved a night driving exercise where a column of armoured and B vehicles would depart camp at 0245 hours and proceed to a site to the East of Seymour and set up a bivouac between Whiteheads Creek and Highlands Road. Numerous army camps surrounded the Seymour area; and much of the surrounding farm land had been acquired for military purposes. By November 1942 exercises such as C Squadron's were commonplace and had been repeated on numerous occasions since 1939. At 0400 hrs, C Squadron's vehicles reached O'Sullivan's Paddock on the Kobyboyn Road; prior to reaching the Old Telegraph Road the column turned to the North towards a known crossing point on Whiteheads Creek. The column consisted of seven M3 Medium Tanks and four Universal Carriers. In the case of Corporal McLeod's vehicle, there were seven crewmen rather than the usual five man crew. On arrival at the creek crossing, Captain C.M.I. 'Sandy' Pearson dismounted and with the assistance of Sergeant R.J. Ball began to guide individual tanks across the creek. Four tanks had crossed the creek without difficulty when Corporal McLeod's tank, ARN 24652, began its descent. Captain Pearson stated at the Coroner's Inquiry in December 1942, "Whilst climbing out of the ford the vehicle swerved to the left, apparently striking the tree. It was not the portion of the tank (front) that struck the tree. The tank straightened and appeared to be well under control, suddenly the bank on the left collapsed to the extent of 3ft by 12ft by15ft long causing the vehicle to slide into the creek and turn upside down." Captain Pearson and Sergeant Ball were faced with a nightmarish situation: The Grant had come to rest upside down in soft mud, six crew members were unaccounted for, escape hatches could not be opened and the weight of the tank was settling deeper into the water and mud. Compounding the problem was that the location of the tank did not allow for the other tanks to safely conduct a recovery. It was truly the darkest night.Single A4 card. folded, Contains an account of the raising of 13 Armoured Regiment in December 1941and a tank accident during a night creek crossing in which six crewmen were killed, and, Order of Ceremony for plaque unveiling, Guest of Honour LtCol Stuart Cree CO/CI School of Armour13 armored regiment, tank accident, puckapunyal

Nanya Station, owned and managed by the University of Ballarat (now Federation University Australia), was purchased with assistance from the Department of Environment and Heritage Government Caring for our Country program. Nanya Station is located in the Scotia country, west of the Darling Ana-Branch in far western New South Wales and consists of the Nanya Western Lands Pastoral Lease 3281 – Perpetual Leasehold Lot 1244 in Deposited Plan 762778, Parish of Winnebaga, County of Tara and part of Lot 1242 County of Windeyer. Nanya is within the tribal area of the Danggali Aboriginal people, a sub-group of the Barkindji. Many Aboriginal sites have been recorded adjacent to major rivers in the region providing evidence that these areas supported a large population. The Scotia region has one of the shortest stock grazing histories of western NSW. Along with five other Scotia properties, Nanya was created as a pastoral lease in 1927. The first European settlement on the land followed exploration of the area by Sturt and Eyre. In 1854, the Lake Victoria lease which encompassed this area comprised 465,000ha.included Scotia blocks 1, 2, 3 and 4, Amoskeag and Winnebaga which formed the area known as the Scotia. It was described as a region of thick mallee scrub, interspersed with bluebush flats and Belah woodland. In the 1920s artesian water was found and the dry Scotia country was surveyed and divided into six Homestead leases allocated by ballot (Withers 1989). All properties were approximately 30,000ha, with a recommended stocking level of 3,000 sheep. Winnebaga (renamed Nanya) was taken up by Gordon Cumming. He initially dug a dam near the southeast corner of the property. A larger ground tank and rudimentary dwelling at the site of the present complex was later established. An adjacent area was cleared and cropped to provide feed for the horses used in digging the earth tanks. The ruins of the original building are located between the shearing shed and Homestead Tank. A cottage was built in the 1930s and a more substantial Red Gum framed homestead in the early 1950s. The lease was held by Mr Gordon Cumming until 1984 when it was purchased by Mr Norm Scadding as an extension to the adjacent lease, Belvedere. It was sold in 1995 to Mr Rob Taylor of Waikerie then in 1999 to BeMax Pty. Ltd., a sand mining company. These last three owners all permitted use of the property by the University for teaching and research. The Centre for Environmental Management at the University of Ballarat had been involved in studies of flora and fauna in western New South Wales since 1988. Studies became concentrated on the Scotia region with its variety of intact ecosystems due to a short pastoral history. Of particular significance is a system of natural salt lakes of which the most extensive is the Scotia Discharge Complex located on Nanya Station. An extensive vegetation survey of the Scotia region Westbrooke et al. 1998) highlighted the significance of the area both in terms of the range of communities in relatively intact condition and the occurrence of species and communities of restricted distribution. Nearly 400 species were recorded of which nine had either not previously been recorded or have restricted distribution in western NSW. Twenty-two plant communities occur on Nanya Station of which two, Halosarcia lylei low open shrubland and Hemichroa diandra/Halosarcia/Frankenia low open shrubland, are dominated by species not previously recorded from NSW. H. lylei and Acacia loderi shrublands are listed as endangered under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act. As noted, the area has a relatively short grazing history and, due to the presence of large areas of mallee with a Triodia understorey and restricted water supplies, stocking rates have been low. The diversity of ecosystems in relatively intact condition and extensive areas of old growth mallee made Nanya a highly significant refuge for biological diversity. This factors led to the purchase of Nanya Station by the University of Ballarat in 2004 with the assistance of the Department of Environment and Heritage for the purposes of conservation, research and education. In 2010 the southern paddocks of Nagaella Station (10,000ha.) which lie along the northern boundary, were purchased with the assistance of Lower Murray Darling Catchment Management Authority and added to the Nanya lease to provide complete protection for the communities of the Nanya Discharge Complex and further high quality Malleefowl habitat. Four digital reports documents relating to Federation University's Nanya Station, Western New South Walesnanya station, scotia country, pastoral lease, winnebaga county, darling ana-branch, martin westbrooke, environmental education, nagaella station, lower murray darling catchment management authority, conservation research education, ian gribble, pat prevett, ian henderson, danggali

Port of Portland Authority Archivesport of portland archives

Shot when Alision Kelly was caretaker at the nearby 'Mission Art Centre' and displayed there and at the Port Melbourne LibraryFour colour photos of bulldozer working on clean up process on site of former COR/BP tank farm - view to south. Archivally mounted on vertical strip of white card and enclosed in mylar. Photos all looking south; views of equipment scooping out hydro-carbons, soil from pit filled with ground water; top to bottom: Williamstown and Webb Dock in background; white Toyota EAY-921 right foreground; close up; close up; Princes Pier in left backgroundInk on back: 'A. Kelly 645 2324'town planning - proposals shelved - bayside, environment, alison kelly

.1 TANKS AT REAR OF FACTORY TO FILTER AND PURIFY WATER .2 MR. F. ANNEAR OPERATING A LARGE PLANT OF HOSIERY MACHINES .3 SOUTH CLUNES SCHOOLinterknit, tanks, machinery, south clunes school, mr f annear

21.5x15cm Is Captioned : "No. 2 . A log being removed from treatment tanks. Logs are boiled for many hours to soften the fibres and thus facilitate smoother cutting."Photograph (Mounted)