In 1987 the author purchased a box of early glass slides. There
was no explanation as to their origin or content. He was busy
so he put them in his loft and forgot them. Thirty years later
in 2017 when he retired he re-discovered them. He found that
they were over one hundred years old. At fi rst he thought they
were taken in South America as they showed natives with bare
feet and ancient crossbows. After having the photographs processed
into digital format, he realized that they related to a
military mission by fi ve men connected to Australia and Great
Britain in the period of the 1st World War.
They acquired one of the fastest yachts afl oat known as the
G.L. WATSON 'RAINBOW' in order to inspect and repair the
under-sea telegraph and radio systems that was tremendously
important to shipping safety and military information and
logistics.
The secretive journey took them throughout South-East Asia
and Vietnam with visits to the Cocos-Keeling Islands. They
spent a long time in Vietnam taking photographs which tell
a story of why the French Military were building huge gun
emplacements at Cape Saint Jcques (now called Vung Tau).
