19/11/2022
This photo was taken at sunset from Sublime Point at Bulli Tops as a hole opened up in the clouds and the light shone and reflected down onto Bellambi Point, whilst two other beams of light shone down from the west.
This is a story my grandparents often told of the war years in Wollongong; During WWII many of the Illawarra's beaches were heavily fortified with barbed wire, tank traps and trenches. Food was rationed and many homes had built bunkers including my great grandfather's. He was in charge of the air raid sirens at Bulli and my other great father run the Corrimal air raid siren. These sirens did go off quite often with the Japanese off our coast and many false alarms. The windows of homes and the lights of cars were painted black and fines were issued if this was not done. It was to prevent the Japanese planes from finding targets at night. Port Kembla of course was heavily fortified at Hill 60 and Fort Drummond. When a test shot from Fort Drummond was fired out to sea it blew out the windows of neighbouring houses. Albion Park Airport was built in 1942 to protect the steelworks and for pilot training.
My grandmother went to Corrimal Public school and beneath the hills of the school yard were bunkers, the children were given dummies when the air raid sirens went off to prevent them from biting their lips.
The Japanese did land on our coast many times in mini submarines to collect fresh water and they were spotted and reported by locals.
Today we remember all of the fallen Australian and allied soldiers and military personnel that gave so much to ensure our freedom today.
WWI: Over 60,000 Australians were killed with over 156,000 wounded.
WWII: Almost 40,000 Australians were killed with 66,000 wounded.
Vietnam: 521 Australians died with 3000 injured.
It's a huge toll and price to pay from these 3 wars alone let alone the others.
