by Red Morgan

Warragamba Dam

The untold story of the men who built one of Australia's greatest landmarks.

A true, hard-hitting account of the people behind the building of the Warragamba Dam in the late 1940s and 1950s. It goes beyond concrete and engineering to reveal the danger, exhaustion, and sacrifice endured by the workforce and their families.

Told in a blunt, down-to-earth style, the book captures life on the site — long hours, risky conditions, floods and fire — alongside the rough humour, conflict, and mateship that defined the men who built one of Australia's most important landmarks.

$29.95 AUD

+ $10.00 flat-rate shipping (Australia only)

“The foreman looked at us like we were already dead. 'You'll work six days a week,' he said. 'Sundays you can drink or pray — your choice.' Most of us chose both.”

— from Warragamba Dam

What's Inside

Step onto the construction site of one of Australia's greatest engineering achievements. Through Red's eyes, you'll experience:

—The dangerous daily work of the dam builders
—Floods, fire, and the risks nobody talks about
—The rough humour and mateship that kept men going
—Conflict, characters, and unforgettable moments
—The families who lived through it all

“Thank God there were no Greenies!”

The Making of the Dam

Warragamba Dam was built between 1948 and 1960, rising 142 metres above the Warragamba River to create Sydney's primary water supply. At its peak, more than 1,700 men worked on the site — migrants, returned soldiers, and labourers from across Australia.

Conditions were brutal. Workers faced extreme heat, flooding, rockfalls, and the constant threat of industrial accidents. Many lived in camps with their families, creating a tight-knit community in the rugged bushland west of Sydney.

Red Morgan was one of those men. He arrived after the war, fresh from the Merchant Navy, and found himself in the thick of one of the biggest engineering feats the country had ever undertaken. His account is one of the few first-hand records of what life was really like on the site.