This is a historic day for Australia and India as it coincides with the launch of the first edition of bilateral maritime exercise in the city

Some century-old photographs of Madras (now Chennai) that was bombed by German light cruiser SMS Emden showing the broken walls, and exploded and unexploded shells, some pictures of the daring German raider, and some of the wreck of SMS Emden are part of the week-long exhibition at the Visakha Museum on the Beach Road.

The photo exhibition, ‘Centenary of the Emden Spirit: 100 Years of Shared Military History’, organised by the Australian Government and Australian Consulate-General in Chennai was inaugurated by High Commissioner of Australia in India Patrick Suckling in Visakhapatnam on Saturday.

“This is a historic day for Australia and India as it coincides with the launch of the historic first edition of the bilateral maritime exercise AUSINDEX in the city,” Mr Suckling said speaking on the occasion.

Apart from the Emden incident, there are a large number of photographs on the bonhomie shared by Australian and Indian soldiers in different theatres of war during the two World Wars, and the recent interaction during the International Fleet Review in Sydney, among others.

Head of Australia Navy Capability Rear Admiral Jonathan Mead went round the exhibits in the museum and expressed his pleasure at the way they were maintained.

The exhibition focused on Emden as it was the first and the only time Indian city was attacked during the First World War. The German ship was finally defeated and sunk by the Royal Australian Navy ship HMAS Sydney at Cocos Island.

Incidentally, Emden was the first ship sunk by the RAN. This marked the beginning of a shared military history between the two countries. The exhibition will be on till September 23 during the museum’s timings.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Andhra Pradesh / by Special Correspondent / September 13th, 2015