DARWIN MILITARY MUSEUM - DMM Blog

Their names liveth forevermore

Tue, 08 Oct 2019 00:41:05 GMT

Author
Norman S Cramp, Director of Darwin Military Museum

Over 400 Territorians volunteered for service during the Great War, most returned, these are just four who did not make it home.

Edmond (Ted) Woodward Johnson with the children of Flossie Woodward. (Source: Edmond Johnson, Territory Stories, Northern Territory Library)

Charles George Chapman. Service Number 942

Charles Chapman, the son of astronomer Professor Robert William Chapman, CMG., MA., BCE., and FRAS., and Eva Maud Chapman of the Adelaide University South Australia, was born in Adelaide South Australia on 19th November 1891. At the time of his birth and when Charles enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) his parents and he resided at the High Street, Burnside, Adelaide.

Charles studied surveying and graduated from the Adelaide University and was registered as a qualified Surveyor in Adelaide in January 1913 and took a position with the NT Lands and Survey Department that year. After arriving in Darwin, he carried out surveys of land sections at the Daly River, one of which Albert Borella VC., MM. MID., during the initial agricultural development of the region. He effected a traverse of the Daly River to Brooks Creek in 1914 during the period of Ryland’s administration of the Lands Department.[1] He served in the role of Surveyor until 1914 at which time he enlisted in the AIF for overseas service.

He enlisted in Adelaide on 1st September 1914 at the age of 23 years. He was posted to E Company, 10th Infantry Battalion (a South Australian battalion). He embarked for overseas service on 20th October 1914 aboard the troopship Ascanius (A11). He was discharged from the AIF on 21st April 1915 due to gaining a commission with the Royal Engineers, Imperial (British) Army. He was Mentioned in

Dispatches for bravery and was killed at Basra, Iraq on 16th April 1916.
He was awarded all three British World War One (Great War) Medals and is commemorated on the Commonwealth War Dead panels 5 and 61 in the Iraq Memorial. His name lives on in Chapman Road and Chapman Court, Rapid Creek being named in his memory and honour.

Percy Davies. Service Number 21469

Percy Davies, the son of Sam Stephen and Kate Mary Davies, was born at Walsall, England in 1892. It is unclear as to when Percy and his parents arrived in Australia but it is known his parents were residing at 16 Denmark Hill, Upper Hawthorn, Victoria in 1915 when Percy enlisted in the AIF, although Percy nominated Sam Stephen Davies of Pine Creek, NT as his next of kin on his Attestation to Enlist in the AIF form.

Percy was employed as a Labourer prior to enlisting on 6th October 1916 at Darwin, NT (later confirmed at Brisbane) at the age of 23 years. He departed Darwin as a member of the 4th official contingent in October 1915 and was attached to the 35th Field Artillery Battery of the 9th Field Artillery Brigade, AIF with the rank of Gunner. After completing his basic training in Brisbane, he embarked for overseas service from Sydney on 11th May 1916 aboard the troopship Argyllshire (A8).

After arriving in England and completing his final training he was posted to the Western Front in France. He served with the battery during the fighting around Bullecourt, France, in October 1918 and died of wounds suffered there on 3rd October.[2] He was buried in the British Cemetery, Bullecourt, and is commemorated on the wall of Honour at the Australian War Memorial, the British War Cemetery Bullecourt and the Darwin Cenotaph.

Davies Street in the Darwin suburb of Moil is named in his honour.

Edmond Johnson. Service Number 2189

Edmond (Ted) Woodward Johnson, the son of Frederick and Emma Julietta (nee Woodward) Johnson, was born at Hobart, Tasmania in 1897. Edmond’s father, Frederick, was a train driver prior to he and Emma coming to the NT to take up a section of farming land on the Daly River. Edmond accompanied his parents and lived with them on their Daly River farm until 11th March 1916 when he enlisted in the AIF at the age of 19 years.

Prior to enlisting, he was employed as a Blacksmith’s Assistant and after enlisting at Darwin, and nominating his parents who were residing at the 2 ½ Mile, Port Darwin as his next of kin, Edmond shipped out to Brisbane to undergo basic taring before embarking for active (overseas) service. Following the completion of his basic training, he left Brisbane for Europe and the war aboard HMAS Boorara on 16th August 1916. At that time, he was ranked Private and was attached to the 4th Reinforcements, 47th Australian Infantry Battalion.

He served all of his war on the Western Front in France and was killed in action at Dernancourt, France, on 28th March 1918.[3] His body was never recovered and as such he has no known grave. However, he is commemorated on the Australian National Memorial Villiers-Bretonneux Memorial, France, the Australian War Memorial Honour Wall Canberra and the Darwin Cenotaph (although his name was incorrectly spelt until 2015).

Edmond was awarded the Commander-in-Chief’s Congratulatory Card British, the British War Medal and British Victory Medal following his death, however, his medals never made it back to Australia. All of his personal effects were lost at sea when the ship transporting them, His Majesties Australian Transport (HMAT) SS. Barunga (A42) was sunk by a German torpedo on 15th July 1918.[4]

Johnson Park in Darwin is named in his memory and honour.[5]

John West Middleton’s grave in the Embarkation Pier Cemetery, Gallipoli, Turkey. (Source: Author’s collection).

John West Middleton. Service Number 683

John West Middleton, the son of his Mother Salome Middleton of 79 Mayow Road, Sydenham, London, England, was born at Shanghai, China in 1882. He arrived in Sydney, Australia, aboard the SS. Beltana on 18th January 1913. Prior to moving to Australia, John Middleton had been school boy at the University College School, London, England where school archives records show he was a student from 1910-1912.

John was keen boxer pre-war with one of his bouts, with L. Ferris being recorded in the Darwin newspaper, the Northern Territory Times and Gazette on Thursday 19th March 1914 (page 7). The match was scheduled between Middleton and another boxer J. Lavery who failed to appear for the fight. Ferris stepped into the ring in Lavery’s place and the fight was on. Although being a ‘no-decision’ fight, both men put on a good fighting encounter and were heavily applauded at the conclusion of the match.[6]

He left the NT for Sydney on the S.S. Montoro on 6th April 1914 and was never to return. He enlisted in the AIF at Green Hills, Queensland, on 9th June 1915, reportedly at age 23, and in his Will, he left all of his possessions to his friend Private Frederick George Woods of the 25th Infantry Battalion. He had previously served for six months in the Thursday Island Cable Guard before enlisting, at which time he put his age up to do so. He was in fact 18 years of age when he enlisted and embarked for overseas (active) service from Brisbane, Qld, on board HMAS Aeneas (A60) on 29th June 1915. Barely 20 days after enlisting and, one would imagine, with only a modicum of basic training under his belt. He disembarked at Alexandria, Egypt and was transferred to the AIF’s Mena Camp, Cairo, within sight of the pyramids.

After arriving in camp, he trained with his Unit, the 25th Infantry Battalion, at Mena Camp and was later posted to Gallipoli. He served on the peninsula until 12th October 1915 when he was shot in the head and died instantly. He is said to have been buried at Chalak Dere Cemetery, Gallipoli, about 1.5 miles north of ANZAC Cove,[7] however, page 22 of his AIF service file[8] records he was buried in the Embarkation Pier Cemetery, Gallipoli. In 2019, the author of this article located his grave in the Embarkation Pier Cemetery, Gallipoli. One interesting point regarding John West Middleton’s grave is that his headstone reads ‘Believed to be buried in this cemetery.

John West Middleton is commemorated on the Darwin Cenotaph.

[1] The Northern Territory Archive Services (NTRS) has a file of Chapman’s correspondence during this period, reference NTRS 2660.

[2] NAA: B2455, DAVIES P: SERN 21469: POB Staffordshire, England: POE Brisbane QLD: NOK (F) Davies Sam Stephen.

[3] NAA: B2455: Johnson, Edmond: SERN 2189: POB Hobart TAS: POE Darwin NT: NOK (F) Johnson Frederick.

[4] ‘Edmond Johnson’, Territory Stories, Northern Territory Library. Also see ‘Edmond Johnson’, NT Pioneer Register 4100, Genealogical Society of the NT.

[5] Northern Territory Dictionary of Biology, p. 306.

[6] Northern Territory Times and Gazette, Thursday 19th March 1914, page 7.

[7] ‘John West Middleton’, Territory Stories, NT Library.

[8] NAA: B2455, MIDDLETON, JOHN. SERN 683, POB Shanghai, China, POE Green Hills, QLD, NOK (Mother) MIDDLETON, Salome.

Petty Officer Harold Ronald Healey, RAN 20751 (Retired): A Quiet Hero

Mon, 29 Jul 2019 00:15:35 GMT

Harold Healy joined the RAN in 1935, rising through the ranks to Chief Petty Officer before sailing into Darwin on December 1941.

Through his diary, Healy recorded his time on the waters around Darwin hunting submarines and the bombing on 19 February 1942 where he wrote, "Today will live in my memory forever as long as I live..."

Harold Ronald (‘Tim’ or ‘Nuts’ to all who knew him) Healey was born at Williamstown, Victoria on 23rd October 1916, the only child of Frederick and Alice (nee Goff) Healey.

‘Tim’, as we shall call him, joined the RAN on 10th April 1935 with rank of Seaman following which he moved through the ranks to Able Seaman, Petty Officer and Chief Petty Officer. He married Edna Grace Kirk at Hawthorn, Victoria on 6th November 1937 and four years and four months later found himself in the fight (and fright) of his life.

It is not known as to when Tim joined the HMAS Deloraine’s company, but he sailed in her for Darwin on 26th December 1941, after ‘spending the most miserable Christmas Day in my life’ on board, anchored in Sydney Harbour. The Deloraine sailed for Darwin via Brisbane and Townsville arriving at Darwin on 7th January 1942. His big, and terrifying, adventure was about to begin!

Shortly after arriving in Darwin, he suffered a bout of dengue fever that hospitalised for a short period, but to make matters worse he and his shipmates realised ‘there was no beer anywhere in the town’. On 16th January he recorded there was a ‘Big submarine scare’ and that the order went out for ‘the ship to be got ready to for sea immediately’. The submarine reported was one of four Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) submarines that were operating off the Darwin, NT coast at that time and could well have been the one that Tim and his mates would engage in a few days’ time.

On 20th January, Tim recorded in his diary that ‘Deloraine is off on a submarine hunt’ and that that day ‘turned out to be the most exciting day of the war for me’. He reported that at 1300 hours, an Able Seaman (AB) on lookout on the bridge ‘casually reported, “There’s a torpedo coming right at us sir”’. The Captain had a look and ‘exclaimed – Good Lord, so there is – Hard to Port!’. The Deloraine turned and as a result the ‘torpedo missed our stern by three feet’ Tim recorded.

It is not clear what duties Tim had on board at that time, but after the call to action stations went out he recorded, ‘just as I had taken over the wheel, the submarine started to surface about twenty feet away from us on our port [left] side’. He recorded that the Deloraine ‘let go’ with a depth charge from ‘the port thrower’ that ‘landed smack on his [the submarine’s] conning tower’ and that a Catalina flying boat hovering above ‘let go a load of bombs’ that also appeared to have damaged the submarine. The Skipper and crew were sure the submarine was done for, but Tim mentioned that, ‘just to make sure we dropped every depth charge we had in the ship and we blew enough oil [from the submarine] to the surface to steam this ship for Sydney’.

To make doubly sure of the ‘kill’, HMAS Katoomba also dropped depth charges on the now stricken submarine. [1] Later on the 20th, crew from HMAS Kookaburra and Platypus attempted to dive on the submarine but the attempts failed due to equipment failure, tidal rip and bad weather. The USS Holland, a US Navy (USN) submarine repair ship, also sent divers down. Reports on the damage to the submarine were completed but the submarine was not entered. The thrill, and fear, associated with the sub hunt and its demise was over and Deloraine returned to port.

Unbeknownst to Tim and the crew of HMAS Deloraine, they had just sunk the IJN submarine I-124 that had been laying sea mines in the entrance channels to Darwin Harbour and along the coast, as well as conducting reconnaissance of shipping movement to/from the harbour. The I-124 remains were she settled on the sea bottom on 20/21st January 1942 with all 80 crew members entombed in her. She was declared a war grave by the Australian and Japanese governments in 1985 and as a result no diving or interfering with the vessel is permitted.

Throughout the remainder of January, and into early February 1942, the Deloraine carried out patrolling duties in the Bathurst and Melville Islands areas and convoy duties for various Allied ships as far afield as Thursday Island. On 18th February, the Deloraine was steaming back to Darwin after convoy duty to Thursday Island when she passed a USN destroyer, probably the USS Peary, and the USN Cruiser USS Houston, both ships being on convoy duty escorting American and Australian troops to reinforce the garrison at Ambon. No one knew it at that time but both ships’ fates were sealed already and Tim’s moment of truth and bravery was about to arrive.

At 1700 hours on 18th February, the Deloraine ‘secured to buoy in Darwin harbour’ and at 2000 hours the Captain was taken off the ship to the Darwin Hospital – illness unknown. On 19th February, all hell broke loose in Darwin and Tim’s life changed forever.
On that day, the first day of air raids on Darwin by Japanese forces, he wrote in his diary, ‘Today will live in my memory forever as long as I live. I will never be able to forget the horrors that I have seen today – horrors which no mortal man could do justice to’. He wrote that at ‘approximately 1030 I heard the old familiar sound of bombs falling.[2] I looked up in time to see the [Stokes Hill] wharf go up in the air and a stick of bombs hitting the Neptunia [sic]’. He said, ‘The Japs were raiding Darwin and as our ship has only a 12pdr gun which is useless against high level bombing, we had a first-hand view of the raid and what a raid it is’.

At that stage of the war, Tim reported the Darwin area as being ‘a proper hot bed of submarines’ with many reports of asdic, (‘A/S’), contacts and resultant depth charge attacks by various Allied warships. However, there were no more IJN submarines sunk in the area.

He mentions a USN destroyer, the USS Peary although he never named her, that was ‘blazing astern (she sunk later)’, ‘a stick of bombs straddling the [HMAS] Platypus’, the Zealandia ‘that was ablaze from a direct hit’, the Moana Loa ‘that was ablaze from a direct hit’ and that ‘the town was wreathed in smoke from numerous hits’. Besides that, ‘the aerodrome was a pall of smoke, death was riding wild and then the dive bombing and machine gunning started’. The HMAS Swan was hit with, as Tim recorded, ‘four dead and Christ knows how many wounded’. He recorded that the Japanese ‘machine gunned the boom defence vessels repeatedly’, ‘dive bombed the HMAS Warrego repeatedly without hitting her’, machine gunned the Deloraine twice ‘without hurting anybody and they dive bombed the hospital ship Manunda until they hit her just aft of the bridge. Her hull is riddled with shrapnel holes’.

He recorded that a troopship full of American soldiers, the ship being either the Portmar or the Tulagi, was hit resulting in several soldiers being wounded. In fact, a number of American soldiers on the Portmar were killed that day. He also mentions that ‘I was bombed for six months, night and day, but I’d crack under another raid like that. They missed nothing and they used 1000 bombs’.
After the Japanese had departed, Tim and his crewmates noticed a man ‘in the water near the jetty’ - meaning the Stokes Hill Wharf. Tim et.al ‘went away in the motor boat to pick him up and when we got there we found hundreds in the water. The two ships at the jetty were blazing and the jetty itself was ablaze. The water was no more – we were steaming through a sea of oil and some of it was afire and there were some men in the fire getting nicely roasted’. He and his mates picked up eight Malay crew members from the Neptuna after which Tim turned the boat toward the jetty only to be told by ‘jabbering’ Malays not to approach the ship as she was full of depth charges. Tim is honest enough to say ‘I could feel my knees start to shake as there was the ship full of deadly explosives afire from stem to stern and us only about fifty yards from her’.

He turned the motor boat toward a nearby beach and when about ‘twenty yards off it’ he ordered the Malays to jump overboard and swim to the beach so he could return for more survivors. The Malays however refused to leave the boat so Tim ‘jobbed one of them and slung him over [the side] and the rest soon followed’. Returning to the jetty area, he heard a man calling out ‘help me dig, I’ve got a broken leg’, following which he stopped to pick the man up but by the time the man was in the boat, five more men ‘were trying to clamber in and as our boat is very small she was in danger of being sunk so I went full ahead and jumped on their hands and they had to let go’.

He realised that if he went right into the jetty all the men on the jetty, or in the water, would, most likely, try to ‘jump into the boat and sink her as they were all in a panic’. As he turned the boat around, he noticed ‘another white man in the water’ who he picked up and at the same time he heard another man call out ‘help me with the doc, he’s in a bad way’. He picked one man up but realised it ‘was a waste of time picking up the doc for he was blown to ribbons’, so he left the doc, picked up two more survivors and headed to HMAS Platypus to drop the injured men off.

While coming alongside Platypus, the Neptuna ‘blew up, bits of her flew everywhere’ with one piece of steel plate ‘that must have weighed 2 cwt [hundredweight]’ flying through the air’.[3] He goes on to mention other ships that were ablaze and rescuing survivors from various ships, including the Portmar,[4] and from the fire-covered sea.

Finally the raids finished[5] and Tim had survived that terrible day. He and his mates had taken their lives into their own hands and placed themselves in harm’s way to help their comrades, but it had taken its toll. Later that day he wrote, ‘I have never prayed for darkness before but I prayed for it today. I wish the sun would never rise again and I wonder what tomorrow will bring forth. There is a lot that has happened today that doesn’t appear in this book,[6] mainly concerning cowardice of personnel but I never know where this book will finish up so I won’t put it on record but I will remember it – Christ I’ll remember it!’

On 20th February he commences his diary entry by writing, ‘No raids today thank God. One alert and a lot has happened but we are still alive’. He mentions the devastation around the harbour and town, that the ‘aerodromes are wrecked’ and that ‘the hospital was bombed and machine gunned’. He also mentions that ‘again today I saw much cowardice that I am not going to log’ and that ‘the Manunda put thirty bodies ashore today. They had died overnight. The bodies lay on the beach surrounded by millions of flies and of course in this climate they went rotten. The Manunda took them all back [that night] as she is sailing tonight and is going to bury them all at sea’. He finished that day’s entry by writing ‘I did the biggest thing today I have ever done since I have been in the Navy’. An understatement to be sure!

Tim recorded that there were no raids on the 21st but HMAS Warrnambool was attacked on the 22nd when she was ‘about 40 miles from Darwin’, HMAS Katoomba sailed for Thursday Island and the freighter Barossa that had been towed to a sandbank exploded. On 27th February he recorded that ‘The official list for the day of the raid is now 500 killed and 1000 casualtys [sic]’. The Deloraine, with Tim on board, remained in the Darwin area for another five months during which time she was attacked by a long range bomber on 5th March and survived several other air raids.

The Deloraine left Darwin for Thursday Island, Townsville and Brisbane on 12th July. She sailed from Brisbane for Sydney on 23rd July and whilst at sea received a message that a merchant ship had reported sighting a Japanese submarine off Newcastle. Tim’s laconic diary entry was ‘we might have some fun yet’.

His diary ends on 25th July but his war didn’t end then. He served throughout the war and was discharged from the RAN on 25th August 1947 with the rank of Regulating Petty Officer. Post-war he and Edna were shopkeepers in Collingwood and Orbost, Victoria, where they both played golf for many years. After retiring they moved to Nelsons Bay, NSW where they were living when Tim suddenly died of a heart attack at Newcastle Hospital on 6th April 1982.

Like many war veterans, Tim, spoke little of his wartime experiences and kept any ‘demons’ well within himself. Given his actions on 19th February 1942, and his decision not to speak about that horrible day, and many others that he undoubtedly witnessed, it is fair to say Harold Ronald (Tim) Healey was a quiet hero.

Harold Ronald Healey is amongst the men in this photograph. (Source: Darwin Military Museum collection.)

[1]Tom Lewis, Sensuikan I-124, p. 49. HMAS Katoomba, a corvette like Deloraine, made the first attempt at contacting the submarine during the evening of 20th January. Katoomba dragged for the submarine using a grapnel in the hope of ‘bring up his aerial or something tangible’. The attempt was unsuccessful.

[2] The ‘official’ record is that the first bombs fell at 9:50am that day.

[3] One of the Neptuna’s portholes (scuppers) was later found on the far side of Stokes Hill and is now on display at the Darwin Military Museum

[4] In 1993, the author of this article visited several US Army survivors of the first raids in Darwin, members of the 148th Artillery Regiment, in the US and returned home with the bell from the Portmar. The bell is now on display at the Darwin Military Museum.

[5] The first raid was at 9:50am and the second at 12noon.

[6] The book was/is a Commonwealth Government-issued “Note Book for Stoker Training”.

Pearl Harbor and the Darwin Raids – a comparison

Mon, 08 Apr 2019 22:58:35 GMT

Author
Dr. Tom Lewis OAM

Pearl Harbor is often compared to the Darwin attack but the similarities are very few.

Although both were surprise initial raids on an enemy of the Japanese Empire, the destruction caused in each raid was disproportionate in the extreme.

Some people say Darwin was “bigger” than the Pearl Harbor strike. The chairwoman of the Northern Territory's Centenary of Federation committee in 2001, Carole Miller, said: “'It was bigger than Pearl Harbour...and it's time the nation knew about this."[1]

Many say: “More bombs fell on Darwin”, a phrase now common in much of the publicity surrounding the commemoration of the first raids.[2] True enough but it is just used to be sensationalist if used without the correlation that the tonnage of bombs which fell on Pearl Harbor was greater: the Japanese were using smaller bombs in the Darwin raid. It’s a bit like saying the Darwin assaults were more significant than the Nagasaki raid because that attack on Japan only used one bomb.

The following tables shows the statistics of the two raids.

Explosive Ordnance tonnage – Pearl Harbor v Port Darwin

Pearl Harbor - First Wave

Aircraft	Number launched	Aborts	Total attacking	Ordnance load	Ordnance released	Tonnage (kgs)
B5N2 Kates	50 *	1	49	One x 800kg bomb	49 x 800kg bombs	39,200kg
D3A1 Vals	54	3	51	One x 250kg bomb	51 x 250kg bombs	12,750kg
A6M2 Zeroes	45	2	43	Nil	Nil	Nil
Totals	149	4	100	100 bombs	100 bombs	51,950kg

* - A further 40 Kates were each armed with one 800kg Mk 91 Aerial torpedo, totaling 32,000kg

Pearl Harbor - Second Wave

Aircraft	Number launched	Aborts	Total attacking	Ordnance load	Ordnance released	Tonnage (kgs)
B5N2 Kates	27	Nil	27	Two x 250kg bombs	54 x 250kg bombs	13,500kg
B5N2 Kates	27	Nil	27	One x 250kg bombs six x 60kg bombs	54 x 250kg bombs 162 x 60kg bombs	6,750kg 9,720kg
D3A1 Vals	81	3	78	One x 250kg bomb	78 x 250kg bombs	19,500kg
A6M2 Zekes	36	1	35	Nil	Nil	Nil
Totals	171	4	167		321 bombs	49,470kg

Pearl Harbor Total

Weapons	Number launched	Tonnage (kgs)
Bombs	421	101,420
Torpedoes	40 x 800kg	32,000
Total	461	133,420

Port Darwin - Carrier strike

Aircraft	Number launched	Aborts	Total attacking	Ordnance load	Ordnance released	Tonnage (kgs)
B5N2 Kates	81	Nil	81	One x 800kg bomb	81 x 800kg bombs	64,800kg
D3A1 Vals	71	Nil	71 - one lost after release, MN3304	One x 250kg bomb	69 (2 x hang-ups - Vals returned with bombs)	17,250kg
A6M2 Zekes	36	Nil	36	Nil	Nil	Nil
Totals	188	Nil	188	152 bombs	150 bombs	82,050kg

Port Darwin - Land-based trike

Aircraft	Number launched	Aborts	Total attacking	Ordnance load	Ordnance released	Tonnage (kgs)
G4M1 Bettys	27	Nil	27	212 x 60kg and one x 250kg	212 x 60kg and one x 250kg	12,970kg
G3M2 Nells	27	Nil	27	318 x 60kg	318 x 60kg	19,080kg
Totals	54	Nil	54	531 bombs	531 bombs	32,050kg

Port Darwin Total

Weapons	Number launched	Tonnage (kgs)
Bombs	681	114,100
Total	681	114,100

Steve Bullard’s table: Wartime magazine No. 59 Winter 2012

Raid	Number of Bombers	Number of Bombs	Totat weight (kgs)
Pearl Harbor	273	457	133,560
Darwin	205	681	114,100

The comparison is also a rather disingenuous one. A torpedo strike from a Japanese bomber would do far more damage than a bomb from the same aircraft: as air group leader Fuchida discussed in conferences before the attack: “…the torpedoes below the surface would do more effective damage than bombings from the air.”[4] Torpedoes were not used at Darwin but they inflicted massive damage at the American base. To just compare the weapons by their weight is to miss this point.

Some say that more civilians were killed in the Australian raids.[5] Untrue. There were 2,388 lives lost in the Pearl Harbor raids compared to 235 killed in Darwin. It’s generally held 68 civilians were killed at Pearl; 25 were killed in Darwin.

What about the ships sunk?
It has been claimed more ships were sunk at Pearl than in Darwin.[6] Eleven ships were sunk in Darwin: nine inside the harbour. The largest warship was a destroyer, the USS Peary, with 88 of her crew killed. At Pearl all eight battleships of the US Pacific Fleet, the most important capital ship at the time, were sunk or badly damaged. The size difference between a destroyer and a battleship is immense. The comparison is similar to that of a car set beside a three-trailer truck. The firepower is commensurately similar.

Three cruisers – again, big, important ships – five destroyers, and seven other ships were also sunk or grounded. Most ships were raised and repaired, although for many wrecks this took years.

The strike at Pearl was a massive loss for American aircraft too, and that raid was far more destructive than Darwin’s. For example, 350 aircraft were destroyed or damaged whereas in the Australian assault 30 were lost.

None of this is to say that the 19 February 1942 strikes were insignificant. They were. The attacks were the first on the Australian landmass, and signaled a new and sometimes desperate stage of the war, which if Australians had not stood alongside Americans and prevailed in New Guinea, may well have seen invasion. The writer Douglas Lockwood called his 1960s book, the first published about the raids, Australia’s Pearl Harbour. It’s a good and deserved title. But the important differences should be emphasized, not minimized, to do historical justice to both of the attacks on Pearl Harbor and Darwin.

Sources
Ingman, Peter. Citing, “NavSource Naval History”, http://www.navsource.org/Naval/ijnaf.htm
Smith, Carl. Pearl Harbor 1941 The day of infamy. Osprey. 2001.
Stille, Mark. Tora, Tora, Tora!: Pearl Harbor 1941. Osprey. 2011.
Bullard, Steve. “Were more bombs dropped on Darwin than on Pearl Harbor?” Australian War Memorial. Wartime magazine No. 59 Winter 2012.
Kawano, Capt. Teruaki. The Japanese Navy’s air raid against Australia during the World War 2. Extracts of the Japanese Kodochosho. 1997.

[1] ABC News. http://www.abc.net.au/news/state/nt/archive/metnt-19feb2001-2.htm Accessed September 2012.

[2] For example in this article, which contains numerous errors:
DARWIN, February 19, 1942,
* 242 Japanese aircraft attack Darwin harbour, town and airfields
* Like Pearl Harbour a total surprise and no air raid sirens sounded
* More than 300 military and civilian personnel killed
* More bombs dropped on Darwin than on Pearl Harbour
News.com.au. “70 years on, survivors remember the Japanese bombing of Darwin.” http://www.news.com.au/national-old/years-on-survivors-remember-the-japanese-bombing-of-darwin/story-e6frfkxr-1226274422208. Accessed December 3012.
and in this travel website Darwinhub:
“More bombs were dropped on Darwin than at Pearl Harbour, resulting in 243 deaths.” http://darwinhub.com/about-darwin/darwin-history/ Accessed November 2012.

[4] Fuchida, Mitsuo. From Pearl Harbor to Calvary. California: eChristian, 2010.

[5] “The Japanese struck with the same carrier-borne force that devastated Pearl Harbor only ten weeks earlier. There was a difference. More bombs fell on Darwin, more civilians were killed, and more ships were sunk.” An Awkward Truth. Publisher’s web site: http://www.allenandunwin.com/default.aspx?page=94&book=9781741756432 Accessed May 2012.

[6] “…and more ships were sunk.” An Awkward Truth. Publisher’s web site: http://www.allenandunwin.com/default.aspx?page=94&book=9781741756432 Accessed May 2012.

Vernon Lionel Marsh and the HMAT A36 Boonah

Thu, 31 Jan 2019 23:53:39 GMT

Author
Written by Garey Neenan

One hundred years ago the Great War was over, but for one Territory solider on his way to the western front, was about to face one of the biggest battles of his life without firing a single shot.

His name was Vernon Lionel Marsh.

Marsh was the son of a well-known Darwin family, Cecil Henry Marsh and Belle (nee Kelsey), an early pioneer of Darwin. His maternal grandfather was John George Kelsey, Clerk of the Palmerston District Council and Kelsey Crescent in Milner is named in his honour. Belle Place, off Kelsey Crescent is named after his mother.

Vernon attended Darwin Public School and was a member of the Darwin Cable Guard. He followed his brother Keith who had enlisted in late 1916, enlisting in Adelaide five days after his 18th birthday, with his parents' permission, citing his date of birth as 7 April 1900.

He was assigned to the 6th General Service Reinforcements and after undertaking basic training, his unit embarked from Adelaide on board HMAT A36 Boonah on 22 October 1918. The HMAT Boonah was the last Australian troop ship to leave Australia for the war in Europe.

Carrying over 900 troops, the Boonah was just days out from Durban South Africa, word was received that an armistice had been signed, bringing the hostilities of WW1 to an end. Orders were received for the ship to replenish its supplies in Durban and return to Australia.

While tied up in Durban, local stevedores loaded supplies onto the ship and were billeted on board with the troops. Unbeknownst to those on the Boonah, the stevedores were infected with the Spanish Flu.

The 1918 Spanish Flu was a strain of the novel H1N1 influenza that spread across the world in 2009 under the name of the Swine Flu.

The flu had been transmitted to the Australian troops and in the close quarters of the overcrowded Boonah on the trip back to Australia, the perfect environment existed for the flu to spread.

Rough seas and cold weather on the return trip ensured that the troops remained in close confinement, providing the perfect environment for the flu to spread.

Five days after the Boonah’s departed Durban, the first flu-like symptoms began to appear.

The first casualty was Sergeant Arthur Charles Thwaites who jumped overboard on the night of
9 December 1918. A later investigation by a Court of Enquiry found that he committed suicide, most likely as a result of being delirious from the fever of the flu. A later investigation by a Court of Enquiry found that he committed suicide by jumping overboard, most likely as a result of being delirious from the fever of the flu.

By the time the ship arrived back at Fremantle on 12 December, more than 300 cases had been reported and Commonwealth immigration authorities refused to allow the soldiers to disembark knowing of the global pandemic which was underway, and which had until then spared Western Australia.

The ship anchored in Gage Roads of Fremantle while authorities considered Rottnest and Garden Islands to quarantine the soldiers. Public outrage grew against the refusal of the immigration authorities to allow all of the soldiers ashore with casualties growing each day. Perth newspapers attracted many angry responses to government’s inaction with comments like...

"How many cases of sickness and death are required to make the authorities do a commonsense thing?".[1]
"Enough of this inhuman incarceration of soldiers in the disease-stricken cubby-hole of a floating hell."[2]

After some delays, approval was granted for about 300 of the sickest soldiers to be moved ashore to the Quarantine Station at Woodman Point, south of Fremantle. Three of the men died on the first day at the station and it took three days for 337 men to be brought ashore. Vernon Marsh was one of them.

For those left on board the ship, conditions were believed to be deplorable. Authorities insisted on a seven-day incubation period with no new cases being cited to prove that the disease had burnt itself out. Unfortunately, new infections and deaths continued.

Public outrage grew against the refusal of the immigration authorities to allow all of the soldiers ashore with casualties growing each day.

Wrangling between the State Minister for Health, Sir Hal Colebatch and the federal immigration authorities continued and tensions increased to the point that the Returned Servicemen's association made threats to storm the ship to return the sick men to shore.

The situation continued to deteriorate further with more soldiers dying and more than 20 nursing and medical staff becoming infected. By 20 December, Woodman Point was housing over 600 soldiers and after nine days of acrimony, and despite breaking quarantine regulations, the ship sailed east with the remaining troops, presumably to defuse the situation.

Another 17 cases were discovered between Albany and Adelaide and the remaining men were disembarked at Torrens Island Quarantine Station, a similar facility to Woodman Point, just north of Adelaide. No further deaths occurred and after being given the all-clear, the remaining men returned to their homes.

Marsh was released from Woodman Point in early January 1919, entrained at Fremantle for Adelaide where he was discharged on 23 January 1919. He was luckier that the twenty-seven soldiers and four nurses at Woodman Point that died and were buried at the Woodman Point quarantine station, and later interred at Karrakatta Cemetery.

He returned to the Northern Territory, living in Tennant Creek and working as a linesman before moving to Alice Springs where he managed the Memorial Club until 1951. He married and settled back in Darwin in the 1960’s living in Fannie Bay and finally Parap.

Marsh died on 22 October 1984, exactly 66 years to the day the overcrowded Boonah left Adelaide, and now rests in the Darwin General Cemetery in Jingili. His headstone records his age as 83 years making him just 17, and underage at the time of enlisting, which may have provided him with a better chance of survival.

In the absence of modern communications and reporting, it is believed that as many as 500 million people around the world contracted the Spanish Flu with an estimated death toll of between
50-100 million, making it the most world’s most deadly epidemic.

In the wake of the armistice of WW1, the Boonah incident, despite being recorded widely in the press around Australia, has gone relatively unnoticed. In 2004, Ian Darroch published the book “The Boonah tragedy” detailing the incident.

As for the Boonah, she was sold to a German steamship company in 1925 and was taken over by the German Kreigsmarine (navy) at the outbreak of the Second World War.

In 1940, she was torpedoed and sunk by the British submarine HMS Narwhal off the coast of Norway.

[1] The Daily News, 14 December 1918.
[2] The Sunday Times editorial, 15 December 1918.

The Imperishable ANZACs

Sat, 17 Nov 2018 10:17:32 GMT

Imperishable Anzacs : a story of Australia's famous First Brigade : from the diary of Harold W. Cavill. 1916.
Whilst this book is a limited edition with a leather bound cover, its uniqueness lies within.

Harold W. Cavill was a member of the ANZAC Memorial Band when it visited Singleton.
""THE FAMOUS FIRST."" Singleton Argus (NSW : 1880 - 1954) 1 June 1916: 2
"TRIBUTE TO A SINGLETON SOLDIER." Singleton Argus 12 September 1916: 3.

The names listed within the pages of this book are more than likely to have participated as members of the ANZAC Memorial Band in late 1915 when this book was originally published. As one of the signatories departed Australia in December 1915 and died at Villiers Bretonneux in August 1916.

We know that Charles Mayal was the band master, and Arthur Grant was a bugler so by deduction we ascertained the others were also members of this band.

Charles Phineas Mayall is the one third from left, second row holding the cornet. Charles was a very talented cornet player and band master, and was the band master for the Sydney Harbour Bridge opening parade (from Great War forum).
National Archives Anzac Memorial Band 1916. A1861. Taken by Stanley Robert Beer, Sydney.
The artistic copyright on this photograph was lodged in 1916.
The Great War forum gives a little more information on the Anzac Memorial Band and it participants,

William Arnold Melville, Manager, 6th AASC. Service No. 1024. Melville was born in Sydney. He joined 16/12/1914 at 38 years 8months. He was married with 3 children. Melville embarked on 21/12/1914 on board HMAT Port Macquarie as a driver. He returned to Australia SS.Kyarra 17/7/1915. Discharged 30/11/1915. He re-enlisted again 11/4/1917 embarking from Sydney 28/4/1917 and returning to Australia on SS Morinda on 27/6/1917. In 1919 Melville was on Special Service embarking on board SS Kursk returning on 29/10/1919 on board Raranga.
Service Record:
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=8039874
Embarkation Roll:
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1788505

Charles Phineas Mayall Bandmaster RAN. Service No. 1641. Date of birth - 01 Oct 1882 : Place of birth - Waipu New Zealand : Place of enlistment - Sydney : Next of Kin - Mayall Helena.
The bandmaster, Charles Phineas, was born in Waipu, New Zealand, in 1882. He served in the Royal Navy (NZ station) from 1904 to 1910, then joined the RAN in 1912. He was bandmaster of the band on HMAS Encounter, the first naval band of the RAN as well as various ships' bands after the war. In June 1915, he was discharged from the RAN by purchase, only to rejoin almost 5 years later. It was during this hiatus that he became involved in the Anzac Memorial Band.
Service Record:
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=4517764
Embarkation Roll:
https://www.awm.gov.au/people/rolls/R1426775/
John Henry Calthorpe, 1st Light Horse, Service No: 243. Calthorpe was born in Tenterfield and he was a pastry cook from Maitland Road, Hamilton, Newcastle, NSW. He enlisted 19/8/1914 at the age of 23 years and 11 months, he was also a Band Sergeant. He embarked for overseas on HMAT Star of Victoria from Sydney on 20/10/1914, was at Gallipoli and wounded at Gaba Tebe 12 July 1915. Returned to Australia on board HS Karoola 4/11/15.
Embarkation Roll:
https://www.awm.gov.au/people/rolls/R1967780/
Service Record:
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=3191348

"MR. J. H. CALTHORPE DIES; WELL-KNOWN BUSINESS MAN" The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995) 3 June 1950: 1.
The death occurred in Canberra Community Hospital last night of one of Canberra's best known identities. Mr. John Henry Calthorpe, of Mugga Way, Red Hill, aged 59 years.
Mr. Calthorpe, who was a director of the firm of Woodgers and Calthorpe, Ltd., was one of
the earliest residents of the Territory. A native of Maitland, he enlisted on the outbreak of the
First World War, his number in the First Regiment, being 153.
After being seriously wounded on Gallipoli, he returned to Australia and undertook recruiting
work which brought him to this district.
In 1918 he established a stock and station agency business. Two years later he joined Mr.Woodgers in the firm of Woodgers and Calthorpe.
Known throughout the State as an expert on beef cattle and fat stock, Mr. Calthorpe was for
many years vice-president of the Stock and Station Agents' Association, retiring from that position last Tuesday.
He was a foundation member and vice-president of the Canberra Picnic Race Club, one of
the earliest members of the Royal Canberra Golf Club, a member of the Canberra Bowling Club, and a director of the Canberra Club. He took an active interest in the Canberra Services
Club. He was the owner of two racehorses, Prince Terry, which won the Goulburn Picnic Race Club Cup last March, and Mo chat.

William Albert Bailey. Service No. 829. Bailey was born in Balmain, Sydney. He joined on 15 April 1915. Embarked on board HMAT Ceramic 25/6/1915 He returned to Australia 18/12/1915.
Embarkation Roll:
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1818807
Service Record:
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=3045640

Ernest George Pearce TPR. Service No. 182. 26 year old engine driver from Coronto Street, Five Dock, New South Wales. Joined on 17/2/1915 with the 4th Light Horse Brigade, 12th Light Horse Regiment (Band). Embarked on board HMAT Suevic A29 from Sydney on 13/6/1915. Returned on Aeneas 26/11/1915 with Sciatica. Discharged 27/1/1916.
Pearce served again in World War 2 NX68780, 3rd Res. M.T. Coy as an Engineer. He embarked from Singapore 8/2/1942 for Java where he was taken prisoner after being a POW for 3 years, he was discharged 30/11/1945. He died 20/7/1957.
"OBITUARY" The Biz (Fairfield, NSW : 1928 - 1972) 7 August 1957: 12.
Embarkation Roll:
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R2390238
Service Record:
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=8009659
Service Record WW2:
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=4472359

William Gosper, 7th Australian Light Horse. Service No. 3385. William was born in Strathfield, Sydney to Emmaline Maud Gosper. He was 18 years old when he joined up 30 December 1916, he was a carpenter. He embarked from Sydney 24/1/1917 on board the Anchises. He was wounded in action and lost his leg in France 8/7/1918 and returned to Australia on the Kanowna 5/1/1919.
Embarkation Roll:
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1906855
Service Record:
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=4668035

Martin Joseph Kain, 20th Battalion. Service No. 15932. Kain was born in Hamley Bridge, South Australia. Martin was a fitter by trade. He was 32years and 4months old on enlistment on 28/2/1916. He embarked on the Ulysses 25/10/1916. Proceeded to France 21/3/1917 and returned to England 9/4/1917. Returned to Australia on Oreta 23/6/1919 with nursing staff. Kain passed away 15/2/1943
Embarkation Roll:
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1930624
Service Record:
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=7368334

Ronald Armstrong Reid, Corporal, 13th Infantry / 15th Battalion. Service No. 4412. Reid was born in Geelong Victoria. Ronald was 23 years and 2 months on joining in 23/8/1915. He embarked on board Demosthenes 29/12/1915. Reid was killed in action at Villiers Bretonneux 8/8/1916.
Embarkation Roll:
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1754176
Service Record:
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=8027795
Roll of Honour
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1652973

Arthur Charles Grant, Bugler, 3rd Battalion. Service No. 1624. Grant was born in Wellington New Zealand. He was 21years 6 months on joining in 10/12/1914. He suffered from wounds inflicted from a shell burst at the Dardenelles suffering from being unconscious. He returned to Australia HMT Horarata 29/7/1915.
Embarkation Roll:
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R2345107
Service Record:
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=4669877

Henry William Pearce 18th Battalion. Service No, 2287. Pearce was born in Roselle, Sydney. He was 23 years and 9months and a cabinet maker when he joined up 5/6/1915. He embarked on the Argyllshire 30/9/15. He returned to Australia on H.T.Itonus with Sciatica on 19/6/1916, discharged 11/9/1916.
A story in the Sun had £65 17s 6d being stolen from Henry William Pearce and the Anzac Memorial Band.
"SOLDIERS' BAND MONEY" The Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954) 20 February 1919: 7.
Embarkation Roll:
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1850147
Service Record
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=8011179

Frederich Nichols, 18th Battalion. Service No. 946. Nichols was born in Cooma, New South Wales. He was 22 years old and a labourer when he joined up 27/3/1915. Embarking on the HMAT Ceramic on 25/6/1915. He returned to Australia on HT Commonwealth with Enteric fever 21/1/1916.
Embarkation Roll:
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1851418
Service Record:
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=7999151

Gunner Holland 5th LH Battalion. No information found. Unable to identify 1st name.

Lancelot Aspinall, 6th A L H (Librarian). Service No. 373. Aspinall was born in Temuka, New Zealand. He was 29 years old when he joined on 1/9/1914. He was a clerk and lived in Paddington Sydney with his wife Ada. Embarked on HMAT Suevic 21/12/1914. He returned to Australia 28/1/1916.
Embarkation Roll:
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R2033127
Service Record:
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=3037391

James Patrick Redmond, 18th Battalion. Service No. 306. Redmond was born in Glebe, Sydney. He was 24 years and 5 months when he enlisted on 6/3/1915. He was a musician. He proceeded to Gallipoli 16/8/1915. Re returned to Australia 5/7/1916 on HT Euripides with deafness.
Nominal Roll:
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R2402972
Embarkation Roll:
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1818531
Service Record:
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=8027501

Herbert Laurie Boots, 1st Light Horse. Service No. 90. Boots was born in Raymond Terrace, New South Wales. He was 20 years old when he enlisted 22/8/1914. He was a carpenter and a trumpeter. He received gun shot wounds to his arms and buttocks 28/5/1915. He returned to Australia on board Suevic 8/10/1915
Embarkation Roll:
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R2021211
Service Record:
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=3099363

Manfred Lawrence Rogan, 1st Light Horse. Service No. 331. Trumpeter. He was born in Goulburn, New South Wales. Rogan was 21 years and 4 months when he joined 25/8/1914. He embarked on board HMAT Star of Victoria 20/10/1914. He was admitted to hospital on Gallipoli Peninsula 27/5/1915. He returned to Australia 12/2/1916 on board HT Argyllshire. Discharged 28/8/1916.
Embarkation Roll:
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R2023738
Service Record:
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=8036326

Edgar George Brigden, 4th Battalion AIF. Service No. 366. Brigden was born 20 January 1873 in Wangaratta, Victoria, he was 38 years old when he joined on 20/8/1914. He embarked 20/10/1914. He received gun shot wounds to his right arm and returned to Australia on board HT Aeneas 31/10/1915. He re-enlisted No. 1021 13/5/1918 stating previous service with 12 month Headquarters Band. He served with the No. 2 District Guard till 11/9/1918. He passed away on 15/8/1953 at Yarramundi leaving wife Madge and daughter Enid.
Embarkation Roll:
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1802177
Service Record:
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=3121682

J.W. Sproules, 1st N & M. Service No. 944 (994 typo) Sproules embarked from Sydney A35 Berrima 19/8/1914. He was sent to Rabaul as an escort for prisoners. Returned to Australia invalid 15/10/1914.
Embarkation Roll:
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1856737
Service Record:
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=8090445

Arthur Errington, 32nd Battalion. Service No. 91. Arthur was from Brompton, South Australia. Errington was a hairdresser when he enlisted at the age of 35 years 6 months on 19/7/1915. Errington embarked from Adelaide 28/11/1915 on board A2 Geelong. He had previously served with the 5th Imperial Bushman South African War (Boer). He returned to Australia on board Wyreema 20/7/1919. He was awarded the American Distinguished Service Cross - Australian Gazette No.53, 16 June 1921; p. 950.

Distinguished Service Cross Awarded to a person who while serving in any capacity with the Army, distinguished himself or herself by extraordinary heroism not justifying the award of a Medal of Honor; while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States; while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing or foreign force; or while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing Armed Force in which the United States is not a belligerent party. The act or acts of heroism must have been so notable and have involved risk of life so extraordinary as to set the individual apart from his or her comrades.
Embarkation Roll:
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1876999
Service Record:
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=3544019

Thirteen N.C.O.'s from A Company, 32nd Battalion [PRG 280/1/28/213] State Library of South Australia (Errington front row 2nd from right)

WWII: Victory in the Pacific

Mon, 05 Nov 2018 09:31:00 GMT

Author

Written by Norman Cramp, Director of Darwin Military Museum.

Seventy-three years ago, on the 15th August 1945, orders were issued to the US Pacific Fleet and other allied forces operating in the Pacific Region ‘to cease offensive operations against the Japanese’.

The ‘Naval Message – News Communique 15/8/45’, presented below is a copy of the original telegraphed communication sheet that effectively ordered, and announced, the end of the Second World War.

Naval Message – News Communique, 15/8/45.

The 15th August is now commemorated as ‘Victory in the Pacific Day’. After six long and bloody years of war, it was all over. Japan had surrendered and peace had been restored – albeit for a few short years.

The war in Europe had ended on 8th May 1945 when German forces surrendered to the Allies following the fall of Berlin and the death of Adolf Hitler. The 8th May is commemorated as ‘Victory in Europe Day’ and the end of WW2, however, the war dragged on for another 3 months before Japan capitulated and the war had completely come to an end.

By war’s end, Australia’s contribution to the victories amounted to;

993,000 served
27,073 were killed in action
23477 were wounded
30,560 were taken prisoner of war

Even though the fighting was over, the pain, suffering and heartbreak for many would continue well into the future as the men and women and their loved ones tried to return to their ‘normal’ lives.

Lest We Forget

The Tunnels of East Point: Myth or Fact?

Sat, 27 Oct 2018 03:25:35 GMT

Author

Written by Norman Cramp, Director of Darwin Military Museum

Photo left at Darwin Military Museum.

The belief that there are wartime tunnels in and around Darwin has existed in Darwin since those dark days of 1942 when terror rained from the skies on an almost daily basis and the threat of invasion seemed very real.

Over 75 years have passed now and the belief, myth and rumour that there are numerous tunnels in and around Darwin and an underground hospital at East Point remain and persist.

So, are there wartime, military-constructed tunnels in or around Darwin or is it all just a myth based on wartime rumour and gossip?

We know for certain there were tunnels dug into the escarpment in the area below the Administrator’s residence (Government House) and near the oil storage tanks situated at Stokes Hill. However, these ‘tunnels’ were designed to store the precious fuel oil required for the allied naval ships that ported in Darwin. They were not designed to house people, headquarters units, as was the case at the Battle Box, Fort Canning, Singapore, or defensive fighting units, such as the Maginot Line in France. No, they were constructed to protect the fuel oil from Japanese bombing attacks.

The myth that tunnels exist at East Point has circulated, according to one source since the wartime and was often ‘trotted out’ in the days following the war. The late Frank Geddes, OAM, came here in 1949 and heard the stories of the East Point tunnels then. When I arrived here in mid-1974 the myth was still circulating and as I knew Frank well and knew he was a local (amateur) military historian, I asked him if such tunnels existed. The answer was a catergoric NO! Other ‘old timers’ such as Capt. Neil Benton and Capt. Allan Ogden who both served in the Artillery Units at East Point post-WW2 also swore there were no tunnels at East Point – but many people were not listening.

Regardless, the myth persisted and it wasn’t until 2010 that a ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey was conducted within the Darwin Military Museum (DMM), then referred to as the East Point Military Museum, in preparation for the construction of the Defence of Darwin Experience building. The complete block was surveyed with no sign of any tunnel(s) being discovered.

In 2014, a gentleman (possibly Peter Roberts) visited the DMM and asked to see the Director (me). He had a photograph (reproduced above) that he claimed was of the construction of a tunnel between Gun Emplacement 1 (GE1) and the Command Post (CP) at East Point. He them mentioned the ‘trench’ could have been part of the foundations for the ‘underground hospital’.

He told me he had served at East Point during the war and that he clearly remembered ‘tunnels’ being built in that area. He left a copy of the photograph with us on which he, or someone had written, ‘Underground excavations for RAP (Regimental Aid Post) in jungle behind centre of East Point Battery approx. Oct/Nov ’42. Big Bill Capewell in photo – taken by Pete Roberts WX33728 – running approximately north, nor-west and situated from my memory behind 9.2 emplacements. If anything I feel behind #1’.

The photograph was shown to members of the NT Heritage Branch who decided to conduct another GPR survey in the general area behind GE1. Once again the survey failed to identify any tunnels or concrete infrastructure that resembled a structure such as a building. So, in short, the scientific evidence is that no formed tunnels exist at East Point. Although it is possible that communication trenches, such as the ‘trench’ shown in the photograph, may have been dug to allow safe human movement from the gun emplacements to the CP in times of enemy attack as there were areas identified by the GPR survey that showed signs of ground disturbance – but no concrete or block structure(s) in the vicinity.

So, how and why did the myth start? Geddes, Benton and (the late) Ogden were of the opinion the ‘rumour’ started during the war as East Point was a restricted military area where ‘secret’ things were happening (ie: construction of the gun emplacements etc) and the rumour mill was alive and well! It’s easy to imagine what was suspected of going on at East Point and perhaps some of the soldiers were having a bit of fun by spreading the rumour?

The myth may also have been perpetuated by adults and children who lived at East Point post-war referring to the entrance portals of GE1 and 2 as ‘tunnels’. This could be correct, as both emplacements had earth embankments as bomb blast protection and entrance to the emplacements would have appeared to be like a tunnel.

Alas, we’ll probably never know how, when or why the myth started but we know it is exactly that – a myth!

Another mystery solved!

Wed, 10 Oct 2018 07:48:17 GMT

Author

Written by Norman Cramp, Director of the Darwin Military Museum.

A drum-type depth charge, similar to the one donated to DMM being loaded onto a British warship during WW2.

In early August 2018, a friend of the Museum dropped in with a strange metal object that he thought had some military connection, although he couldn’t explain why as he did not know what the object was, or used to be used for. The Museum’s Curators took on the challenge by starting the research process, although there was a reasonably firm view as to what the items had been.

To add some broader interest to the process, visitors to the Museum were asked for their opinion as to what the object was – and there were some very interesting suggestions made! As you would have guessed, it didn’t take long for the object to be identified as a World War Two (WW2) depth charge.

The UFO (Unidentified Fearsome Object) dropped off at DMM in August 2018.

The depth charge is an anti-submarine attack weapon and is intended to destroy the targeted submarine when submerged.

The depth charge is effective against the submarine by being dropped, or launched, into the sea and detonating at a set depth following which the submarine is subjected to powerful and destructive hydraulic shock.

Most depth charges utilise high explosive charges loaded into to the body of the device which is ignited by means of a fuse set to activate at a certain depth.

Each depth charge creates another shock wave until such time as the submarine’s hull fractures and begins to take on water. Many submarines sink outright whilst others surface with the intent of either fighting off the attackers or allowing the crew to escape before the submarine is scuttled.

Depth charges were developed and utilised in the first instance during World War One (WW1) as the first and most effective method of attacking submerged submarines. They were widely used in WW1 and WW2 being widely used by all/most combatant nations in WW2.

They remained on ‘active service’ throughout the Cold War but as no fighting erupted, there is no record of any being deployed.

The deployment of depth charges is quite versatile given they can be dropped or launched from ships or dropped from aircraft and/or helicopters. Depth charge attack would be a submariner’s worse fear and nightmare I would imagine!

Nugget Raymond and the 'Never-Never'

Wed, 03 Oct 2018 08:15:51 GMT

Author

Written by Norman Cramp, Director of the Darwin Military Museum

Entrance portal to Elsey Cemetery and National Reserve. Nugget’s final resting place.

Victor Claude Raymond, more commonly known as ‘Nugget’ throughout his long and interesting life, was born at Maryborough, Queensland in, or about, 1883.

We know little of his family other than he had a brother, R.G. Raymond of Mareeba, Queensland who ‘Nugget’ nominated as his next-of-kin when he enlisted in the AIF in 1915.

‘Nugget’ arrived in the Territory in either 1900, or 1902, and worked as a stockman on several stations in the Katherine region prior to the war. He left Darwin aboard the S.S. Empire in August 1915 and travelled to Fraser’s Hill, Queensland where he enlisted on 29th July 1915. At the time he enlisted, he was 32 years and 10 months of age, single and employed as a ‘Station Manager’.

Following his enlistment, he was attached to the 9th Reinforcements, 15th Infantry Battalion, AIF and left Australia for the Great War. His military service record does not show the date or place of his embarkation, but it does record that he was taken ill with mumps, possibly en-route to the Middle East, and was hospitalised in Alexandria for a short period.

He was reported to have served at Gallipoli but his service record does not show that and given his enlistment date, date of arrival in Alexandria and period of illness, Gallipoli service is unlikely. He was transferred to France in 1916 and, given he was wounded in action on 28th August 1916, it is highly likely that he was involved in the Battle of Pozieres.

He was hospitalised as a result of his wounds (gunshot to right arm) and re-joined his Unit on 4th October 1916 after recovering.

Throughout late 1916 and early 1917, ‘Nugget’ was transferred from the front lines on three occasions due to illness or injury. One illness being ‘scabies’ while the most severe injury, other than the gunshot wound, was deafness.

His being rendered deaf resulted in him being repatriated to England on 18th June 1917, following which he was transferred to 68 Squadron, Air Force Command. He served in the Squadron as a ‘Batman’ until he returned to Australia in October 1917 and being discharged on 31st January 1918 as medically unfit (i.e.: deaf).

‘Nugget’s’ movements and whereabouts post-war are not clear, but Katherine-based NT Policeman Garry Willmett has established that the McFarlane family of Mataranka recalled ‘Nugget’ being a resident of Mataranka in the 1960s.

They also recalled that he had lived in a hut in the township for some years, however, the hut, that stood on the site of today’s BP roadhouse, is long gone – as is ‘Nugget’ himself.

It appears ‘Nugget’ lived out the rest (or most) of his live in, and around, Mataranka before he passed away on 29th September 1968 aged 88. He was buried in the Elsey Cemetery, Mataranka with his headstone being inscribed, ‘In memory 2820 Private V.C. Raymond 15 BN, 29th September, 1968 aged 88. The Dandy Stockman – He saw the vision splendid’.

Years after his death, the NT government installed a plaque alongside his grave referring to ‘Nugget’ as the ‘Dandy Stockman’, the legendary figure mentioned by Jeannie Gunn in her book We of the Never-Never. However, the plaque also stated that some doubt existed regarding ‘Nugget’ being the ‘Dandy Stockman’.

Nugget’s headstone. His grave and the headstone are in very poor condition and require a significant amount of restoration work. Is anyone prepared to help?

The plaque alongside Nugget’s grave that refers to him as the ‘Dandy Stockman’. However, the text says there is ‘some doubt’ that Nugget was the ‘Dandy Stockman’ of We of the Never-Never fame.

Garry Willmett’s recent research has shown ‘Nugget’ was NOT the ‘Dandy Stockman’ of literary fame – but we know he was Private Victor Claude (Nugget) Raymond, formerly of the AIF. A badge of honour that should be recognised, commemorated and attract a vote of ‘thanks’ now and in future.

Lest We Forget

A Day at the Races

Wed, 26 Sep 2018 07:50:13 GMT

Author

Written by Norman Cramp, Director of the Darwin Military Museum.

During WW2, over 100,000 military personnel were stationed in the NT. Life was pretty tough for them, particularly when the enemy were dropping bombs on them, and recreational activities were few and often far between.

The most common activities were swimming, shooting the odd crocodile, drinking beer (when they had some) and a day at the races when a meeting could be arranged. Although it is not clear as to where this meeting was held, it is clear it was a full card of events. One would imagine it was very well supported on the day.

The flyer/brochure was dropped into the office of the Ararat Advertiser in early 2018 but was then gifted to the Darwin Military Museum (DMM). The DMM management on donated the document to the NT Library to be secured and recorded as a part of the NT’s wartime history.
It is hoped the flyer will be included in the NT government’s Territory Stories website catalogue.

Meet Private Havachatt

Thu, 20 Sep 2018 21:06:40 GMT

Author

Written by Norman Cramp, Director of Darwin Military Museum.

I'm pleased to introduce you to ‘Private Havachatt’ (SERN 6723, 9th Infantry Battalion, Australian Imperial Force), who arrived at the Darwin Military Museum recently after returning from the Western Front. His task there was to deliver water to his mates serving on the front lines and to do this he dragged the water tank, alongside which he stands, from the rear echelons.

Private Havachatt and his water tank.

The tank Havachatt transported to the front was manufactured by John Furphy of Shepparton, Victoria. An experienced blacksmith and wheelwright, Furphy manufactured the tank by shrinking an iron band around the body of the tank and the end castings to produce a water-tight seal.

In the late 1800s, Furphy water tank and cart arrangements were common features in Australian towns and camps that had no reticulated water supply. Following the outbreak of the Great War hundreds of ‘Furphy tanks’ were shipped overseas by the Australian government to deliver water to the front line or rear echelon areas that lacked suitable, or adequate, water supplies. As you would imagine, the soldiers who drove the carts and delivered the water were a source of gossip and ‘news’ as they had come from the rear echelons and had heard all the news of what was going on and what was going to happen!

As the soldier moved from camp to camp to deliver the precious load, the ‘news’ he carried spread accordingly. Often some (most) of the information (news) that was delivered at the Furphy tank was wrong, hence, the term ‘that’s a Furphy’ became the common expression regarding information of doubtful truth. One can only wonder what ‘news’ Private Havachatt is delivering today?

WW1 Australian troops close to the front line having a drink of water from a Furphy tank.

John Furphy was a religious man with high ideals. He added the words ‘Good, better best – never let it rest – till your good is better – and your better best’ to the tank end plates to encourage his customers, and members of the public, to strive for the very best in everything. In 1920, his son William added the Pitman shorthand message that read, ‘Water is the gift of God, but beer is a concoction of the devil, don’t drink beer’. He later changed the wording to read, ‘Water is the gift of God, but beer and whiskey are the concoctions of the devil, so have a drink of water’.

The tanks remained popular throughout WW2, but were mounted on trucks rather than being horse-drawn.

Darwin: A city under attack

Tue, 11 Sep 2018 08:25:28 GMT

Author

Written by Norman Cramp, Director of the Darwin Military Museum.

It might surprise you to know that over severty-six years after the intital ‘event’ many Australians remain blissfully unaware that Darwin was the target of seventy-seven Japanese air raids over a period of twenty-one months. Darwin was basically undefended when the first attacking Japanese aircraft appeared in the skies above the township on 19th February 1942, although those service personnel who were in the town or on the ships in the harbour gave a good account of themselves.

The main targets on the 19th February were the harbour, the Stokes Hill wharving facilities, the township, the airfield and the RAAF Base. The map reproduced below provides a clear picture of the scale and spread of the bombing pattern, but left out of this image is East Point, where the wartime gun emplacements remain and Darwin Military Museum stands today.

Whilst East Point was not a primary target during the raids, I thought it worthwhile to provide a summary of events leading up to, and following, the raids of February ’42 so we have a mind’s eye view of wartime Darwin and developments at East Point.

1931: September, Japan invades Manchuria.

1932: Australian government approves the Darwin Emergeny Defence Scheme and the construction of two additional fuel oil tanks.
1932: August-September, Personnel of Darwin Detachment, 2x6” guns arrive in Darwin aborad HMAS Canberra, Australia and Albatross.
1932: 6” guns moved to East Point in preparatio of installation.

1933: Aboriginal prisoners from Fannie Bay Gaol commence work on installing the 6” guns
1933: 6” guns installed by February 1933, but test/proof firing planned for June postponed
1933: Darwin Garrison troops arrive under the command of Major Cyril (‘Silent Cyril’) Clowes,
1933: Searchlight engine room at Dudley Point constructed

1935: Port War Signal Station tower radio ‘shack’ and engine room commenced.

1937: Plans for anti-submarine boom net submitted. It was to be the longest such net in the world at 3.1 kilometres.

1938: 6” guns test fired but all were condemned. Type BL XI (produced in 1914) were installed and successfully test fired in June.

1939: Darwin Mobile Force arrives and is accommodated in the old Vesteys’ meatworks at Bullocky Point (current site of the Darwin High School).

1939: September 3rd, Australia declares war on Germany.

1940: Work commences at East Point and West Point on anti-submarine boom net installation.

1941: Work commences on 9.2” gun emplacements at East Point (budget of £415,000).
1941: 7th December, Japan attacks US Fleet at Pearl Harbour, simaltaneously attacking allied bases throughout the Pacific region. Australia decalres war on Japan.

1942: January, Imperial Japnanese submarine I-124 sunk off outside Darwin Harbour by HMAS Deloraine.
1942: 19th February, Darwin attacked by 188 Japanese aircraft in two raids. All work on gun emplacements at East Point halted and all equipment moved to Berrimah and then Alice Springs.
1942: 28th June, East Point attacked by Japanese aircraft. Little damage recorded.

1943: Work resumes on East Point gun emplacements with an increase in budget of £70,000.
1943: November, last Japanese air raid on Darwin/NT.

1944: February, first of the two 9.2” guns arrive in Darwin. Gun test fired in April.
1944: November, permanent manning of 6” and 9.2” guns around Australia officially ceased.

1945: March, second 9.2” gun test fired. All anti-aircraft and Coastal Artillery withdrawn from Darwin vicinity.
1945: August, Japan surrenders. The war is over.

1946: 9.2” guns sold to Burns Philp who were acting as agents for the Japanese Fujita Salvage Company. Ships in Darwin Harbour also salvaged by the Fujita Company.

1959: 9.2” guns fired for the last time and retired from service.

1969: East Point Military Museum, incorporating the Command Post and Gun Emplacement 2, opened by Royal Australian Artillery Association NT.

2012: The name of the Museum changed to Darwin Military Museum (DMM). While the 2x9.2” guns are now long gone, the 2x6” guns remain ‘on station’ within the DMM, along with 2x3.7” anti-aircraft guns that fired in anger during the period of the raids.

So, in summary, East Point had a relatively quiet wartime experience compared to the rest of the township of Darwin. Looking at the map and the fall of the bombs, it is no wonder that the town was almost totally destroyed but, somehow, the military and the few remaining civilian residents remained strong and determined and in due course won the day.

Lest We Forget

The WWII Darwin Harbour Anti-Submarine Boom Net and the Maintenance Winch

Tue, 28 Aug 2018 20:43:26 GMT

Author

Written by Norman Cramp, Director of Darwin Military Museum.

Leading up to the first Japanese air raids on Australian soil on 19th February 1942, the authorities thought, or knew, there would be, or was, Japanese naval activity in the vicinity of Darwin Harbour. And they thought one of main threats was from submarine attack within the harbour.

This was sound military logic and accordingly moves were made to defend the harbour and the ships therein. One of those actions was to manufacture and install an anti-submarine boom net that stretched across the harbour entrance from Dudley Point (on the Darwin side) to West Point (on the Cox Peninsula side). The Darwin anti-submarine boom net was the largest such net installed anywhere in world.

It is not clear as to when the installation of the net commenced nor when it was 100% completed, but it was fully operational by January 1942 – and a good thing it was!

The reason being that on 21st/22nd January 1942, the RAN Corvette HMAS Deloraine attacked and sunk an Imperial Japanese Navy submarine, the I-124, outside the Darwin Harbour. The I-124 was one of three (some say four) Japanese submarines laying mines off the NT and observing Allied shipping activities.

The submarine went down with all 80 hands on board and she remains in her final position at the bottom of the sea today, un-entered and effectively untouched for 76 years.

On 19th February 1942 there were 49 ships in Darwin Harbour and without the protection of the boom net, that day could have been more catastrophic than what it was. Just imagine being attacked from the air and attacked from below the sea at the same time, with limited room for your ship to manoeuvre and/or escape the harbour!

So, the boom net played a very important role in defending Darwin Harbour and in fact the net’s operating ships were the first to be attacked at 10am on the 19th. But the net needed maintenance from time-to-time and this is where the winch displayed at the Darwin Military Museum (DMM), East Point comes into its own.

The winch, shown above, was used to remove sections of the net back to shore for maintenance to below-sea material and structure. It was vital work and the ‘clunky’ old winch performed its duty admirably throughout the war.

It is thought the net was finally removed in 1946-47, following which the winch and associated equipment were (effectively) abandoned by the Commonwealth, although it remained in situ for many years.

Following the clean-up, removal and sale of war equipment and debris in and around Darwin in the mid to late 1960s, the winch ended up in the position of the owner of the Frances Bay Shipyard. It is not known what, if any, role the winch played in Darwin after the war but it was in the shipyard in 2014 when the owner generously donated it to the DMM.

The winch was relocated to its current position within the DMM and refurbished by RAAA/DMM volunteers in 2015. In 2017 RAAA/DMM volunteers, DMM staff and members of the Australian Army’s 8/12 Field Artillery Regiment erected the weather protection structure and camouflage nets over the winch as a further step toward its ongoing preservation.

In 2018 the winch was refurbished again with financial assistance from the Australian National Maritime Museum (Sydney). The photo above shows the winch in its ‘as new’ condition in August 2018 when the ‘overhaul’ was completed. That same month, members of the Motor Vehicle Enthusiasts Club NT, donated a diesel engine to be installed on the winch so that visitors to the museum can see not only what the winch looked like, but how it was operated and powered.

Many thanks to all of those people and organisations who have given so generously of their time, effort, equipment and material to conserve and preserve this very important piece of the NT’s wartime equipment and story.

A Helping Hand: The Darwin RSL sub-branch in need.

Mon, 20 Aug 2018 00:01:28 GMT

Author

Written by Norman Cramp, Director of Darwin Military Museum.

Fire!

Between 1am and 2am on Sunday 24th June 2018, fire broke out and tore through the Darwin Returned and Services League (RSL) offices and club in Cavenagh Street, Darwin. The fire took hold of the upper storey of the building with devastating effect and by the time the fire was under control and finally extinguished, the upper section of the RSL was totally destroyed.

The Director of the Darwin Military Museum was notified of the fire and the anticipated damage at approximately 7:30am on Sunday 24th, at which time all/any assistance the Museum (DMM), and its parent company the Royal Australian Artillery Association NT (RAAA-NT), could lend would be forthcoming. Discussions were held regarding the form of the assistance and it was agreed that one of the most important matters was the rescue and, where necessary, refurbishment of the various artefacts on display in the lower section of the building and in the office area.

Relocation

On Thursday 19th July, the call finally came advising the DMM Director that access had been approved for the purpose of removing whatever items were considered salvageable and to commence the general clean up. On Friday 20th, DMM staff attended site to meet with the RSL President, Mr. Bob Shewring, and to agree upon, and remove, those items that the RSL wished to have secured and maintained. In all, approximately 50 items were relocated to the DMM at East Point Darwin following which DMM volunteers commenced cleaning the items.

Some of the items relocated included; timber models of WW2 and more modern military aircraft, timber models of various firearms, WW2 helmets (Australian and Japanese), an Australian WW2 gas mask, a WW1 bayonet, flags, a flag stand, the wreath laid at the Cenotaph by the Prince of Wales on this recent visit to Darwin, a WW2 military issue shoulder bag, WW2 field telephones, ammunition boxes, a Gladstone bag and an artillery shell found at Gallipoli in 1919 and much, much more.

Restoration

The Gladstone bag recovered from the ruins of the RSL Sub Branch Darwin and refurbished by DMM volunteers.

A ‘Gladstone bag’ is a small portmanteau-type leather suitcase that incorporated a rigid frame and often had two separate sections within. The bag was named after the four times former British Prime Minister, William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898). The Gladstone bag first appeared in the mid-1800s and was the male preferred carry all (and ‘fashion item’) until the late 1960s.

Another bag recovered from the fire-damaged building and restored was a WW2 issue, canvas shoulder bag shown below. The bag was badly water and mould damaged but has been restored to at least a presentable state.

One of the most significant recoveries, in our view at least, was the 8” artillery shell casing found at the Dardanelles in 1919.

The brass shell shown at left was found at Gallipoli when Australians and other nationals first visited the site of the battle in 1919. The ‘finder’ is unknown now but it is known that the shell casing was donated to the Darwin RSL by J. C. Swannie in 1965 to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Gallipoli landings.

The shell was on display in the RSL office area on the ground floor of the building and, as a result, escaped any serious fire damage.

The casing was cleaned up by DMM volunteers and is now secured and proudly displayed in the foyer of the Defence of Darwin Experience. All of the items relocated from the RSL are currently being cleaned, repaired etc and catalogued for the RSL and its insurers.

As the DMM director said when interviewed by Channel 9 television on Friday 20th July, ‘The RSL and the Darwin Military Museum have been friends for nearly 50 years and in true Australian tradition when a friend is in a bit of strive your mates lend a hand’. That is what the DMM is doing!

Finding the range: The world's largest WW2 rangefinder lives in Darwin.

Wed, 08 Aug 2018 00:30:11 GMT

Author

Written by Norman Cramp, Director of Darwin Military Museum.

The Barr and Stroud rangefinder.

One of the more unusual artefacts at the Darwin Military Museum (DMM) is the Barr and Stroud rangefinder that saw service in Darwin during World War Two.

Barr and Stroud Limited was an optical engineering firm based in Glasgow, Scotland in the late 1880s. The company was approached by the Admiralty in 1891 to prepare and submit a design for a range-finding instrument for trial by the Royal Navy. Archibald Barr and William Stroud, the founders and owners of Barr and Stroud Ltd (although the company did not come into existence until 1913) set to work and by 1892 they had received a contract from the Admiralty for six of their short-base rangefinders.

Following the outbreak of the Great War in 1914, the company received numerous orders for their rangefinders from various countries around the world. The Barr and Stroud rangefinders became as popular and well known as the Bofors anti-aircraft guns during World War Two and, as such, were used by various countries in that conflict including Japan. There is a Barr & Stroud rangefinder at the DMM that was recovered from a sunken Japanese destroyer off the island of Lombok, Indonesia.

What's so special about the Barr and Stroud?

It is the largest rangefinder ever installed in Australia.
It was installed at the East Point gun emplacements, reportedly atop the Command Post building
It saw service throughout WW2
It was sold at auction in Darwin post-WW2 and was transported to Katoomba, NSW
It was tourist attraction at Katoomba where it was used, for a coin in the slot, to have a close-up look at the Three Sisters and the valleys beyond.
It fell into disrepair and was donated to the Royal Australian Artillery Association (RAAA), Sydney, and relocated to the Association’s headquarters at North Head.
I was refurbished there and, in 2016, it was donated to the RAAA-NT.
The RAA-NT transported the rangefinder to Darwin and set it up as a permanent display in the Naval Display shed at the DMM

It is the only rangefinder of its size anywhere in the world and is part of our WW2 heritage.

The Passing Parade

Tue, 31 Jul 2018 05:59:36 GMT

Author

Written by Norman Cramp, Director of Darwin Military Museum.

It is now over 75 years since the first Japanese attacks upon Darwin, and Australia, took place on 19th February 1942 and time has taken its toll on those who were in Darwin on that day and the many days of war on and off Australian soil that followed.

Darwin Commemorative Association order of service programme 1918. (Source: Darwin Military Museum collection)

As the years have passed, so too have many of the people, civilians and military alike, who experienced, first-hand, the terror and horror of war. Sadly, as more and more of our Second World War veterans, again civilian and military, pass so too do the Associations that they formed or were a part.

Those Associations, and there were hundreds of them formed around Australia after the First and Second World Wars, were formed by members of various military Units or by civilians who banded together in an effort to maintain the contact and friendships forged through the war years, to commemorate those who were no longer with us, to remember what had happened and to keep the history alive so that it would never (hopefully) be repeated.

Over the past few years, Darwin (and Australia) has witnessed the passing of several such Associations. Organisation such as the Darwin Commemoration Association that was made up primarily of civilians who were either in Darwin at the time of the first raids or were evacuated residents of the town.

The order of service programme shown at left was prepared by the Association’s members to commemorate the 47th Anniversary of the Bombing of Darwin. The commemorative service was held at the Cenotaph, in Martin Place, Sydney on 18th February 1989.

One of the Association’s founding members and Secretary, Mrs Ena FitzPatrick (nee Dalton), was a key and very active member of the Association until she passed away in 1991. Mrs. FitzPatrick’s daughter, Pam, kindly donated the ‘flyer’ along with a large number of photo boards, letters and certificates to the Darwin Military Museum in July 2018.

As the Association has not been known to hold any Bombing of Darwin commemorative services since the mid-1990s, it is believed the Association has now become defunct. However, through Pam FitzPatrick’s generosity, the memory of the Association and its members lives on.

Another Association that has become a part of the ‘passing parade’ is the Rats of Tobruk Association NT. The Association, consisting mainly of veterans of the battles at Tobruk who were residents of Darwin, held their monthly meetings at the Darwin RSL for many, many years. Sadly, like the Darwin Commemorative Association and another like-organisation, the Darwin Defenders, the Rats of Tobruk Association has folded due to its members passing away over the years.

Whilst some of us in Darwin have memories of some of the members of the ‘Rats Association’, such as Ken Ackland, a ‘boy soldier’ attached to a British Army Armoured Regiment at Tobruk, the only ‘living memory’ of the NT chapter of the Association is their banner. The banner, which is displayed at the Darwin Military Museum (DMM), East Point Darwin, was carried high and proud by the Association’s members in every ANZAC Day parade from the early 1950s.

All of the members of the ‘Rats Association NT’, have now passed, but thanks to the generosity and the interests of the Darwin RSL Sub Branch and the DMM in preserving the history and the memory of the Association, the story and the legend lives on.

Lest We Forget

The Rats of Tobruk Association banner on display at the Darwin Military Museum. (Source: DMM collection).

'Our' Flag: An unlikely survivor

Thu, 19 Jul 2018 03:14:45 GMT

Author

Written by Norman Cramp, Director Darwin Military Museum

The flag in the photograph above holds a special place in Darwin and the NT’s Second World War history.

The flag was being flown by Number 12 Squadron RAAF over RAAF Base Darwin on the 19th February 1942 when the Japanese raided the town, and Australia, for the first time.

This Australian national flag is only one of two such flags that survived the first raids, the other being the flag that flew over ‘Government House’, the Administrator’s residence, on that fateful day.

That flag, considered to be the first Australian national flag to be damaged in enemy attacks upon Australian soil is currently in the possession of the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.

‘Our’ flag is considered to be the second flag damaged in the raids on the basis that the town was heavily attacked in the first raid at 10am which more than likely saw the ‘Administrator’s flag’ damaged in that raid.

The second raid, at 12noon, on the 19th attacked the airstrip and surrounding areas. As ‘our’ flag was flying at the RAAF Base at that time, it is considered it was damaged in the second raid, but nonetheless it is of significant importance to Darwin, the NT and Australia’s wartime history.

The badly battle-damaged No: 12 Squadron flag was rescued by members of the Squadron immediately after the second raid and was kept in safekeeping for over 70 years by members of the Darwin Defenders Association. Sadly, the Association has folded now and, as a result, the flag was presented firstly to the City of Darwin Council and then to the Darwin Military Museum by the City Council for display at the Museum at East Point.

The flag is on proud display in the Australians Under Arms display area of the Darwin Military Museum a lastly memorial to what happened in this city over 75 years ago.

Lest We Forget

Harry Havelett: An almost forgotten Territorian of The Great War.

Thu, 28 Jun 2018 07:02:20 GMT

Author

Written by Norman Cramp, Director Darwin Military Museum.

AIF file note advising no reminder, follow up, action was to be undertaken to contact G. Hablett. (Source: NAA: B2455, HAVELETT H, p. 40.)

HARRY HAVELETT, Service Number 3498, Private, 50th Infantry Battalion 1st AIF.

Harry Havelett, whose correct surname was Hablett, was an indigenous man born at Alice Springs in 1898, the son of George Hablett and an unknown Aboriginal woman. Nothing is known of Harry’s early life other than whilst a child, he was taken to Quorn, South Australia, to be raised and educated by a European family.

He enlisted in the AIF in Adelaide, SA, on 24th January 1917 at which time he recorded he was nineteen years and one month of age, single and working as a ‘Stockman’. He stood five feet and ten inches tall, weighed 141 pounds (lbs), was of ‘dark’ complexion with dark brown eyes and dark hair. He embarked from Adelaide in February 1917 aboard HMAT Seeang Bee (Ship A48) arriving in England on 2nd May 1917. While in England he suffered a bout of the mumps and contracted pneumonia. He regained his health and was posted to France and the Somme Valley section of Western Front.

In November 1917, while on active service, he was charged with desertion, although the period of his unauthorised absence was only ten days, being from the 13th to 23rd October. Regardless of the timeframe, which was more likely to have been being absent without leave (AWL), he was found guilty of desertion and sentenced to ten year’s penal servitude. He commenced his sentence at the No: 7 Military Prison but for reason(s) unknown, probably following a review of the charge and severity of the sentence (i.e.: desertion versus being AWL), his sentence was initially commuted to 2 years imprisonment and later suspended indefinitely.

Proceedings of Harry Havelett’s court case for desertion. Source: NAA: B2455, HAVELETT H, p. 38.)

Following his release from prison, he returned to his unit in France 22nd June 1918 and was very soon in action. On 8th July 1918 he was wounded in action, suffering a gunshot to his thigh and scrotum. The wounds were fatal with Harry dying of the wounds that day. He was buried in Plot 3, Row D, Grave 17 in the Daour Communal Cemetery Extension, 2.75 miles west of Corbie in the Somme Valley.

Mistaken identity revealed

Letter from G. Hablett to the AIF regarding Harry’s correct surname. (Source: NAA: B2455, HAVELETT H, p. 30.)

In September 1918, Harry’s father George, who was residing in the Barrow Creek NT area wrote (via the Barrow Creek Postmaster) to the AIF advising of his son’s correct surname and providing an explanation as to why Harry Hablett had become known as Havelett.

George Hablett was awarded Harry’s three Great War medals, but it is unknown if he ever received/collected them.

Although a Territorian by birth, Harry Havelett has been overlooked as ‘one of ours’ until now, and as a result his name does not appear on the Darwin Cenotaph. However, his name is listed in the Australian War Memorial’s list of World War One indigenous soldiers and on the Memorial Wall at the Darwin Military Museum, East Point, Darwin.

The Military Museum lends a helping hand

Wed, 13 Jun 2018 09:35:00 GMT

Author

Written by Norman Cramp, Director Darwin Military Museum

Wartime wreckage just off the coast of Espiritu Santo

The Darwin Military Museum is pleased and proud to announce that it is working in association with the Ellwood E Euart Team Management to provide assistance in establishing and developing a World War Two (WW2) museum in Vanuatu. The museum will be established in original WW2 buildings and structures that remain in Espiritu Santo.

The Management Team’s Project Office Manager, Mr. Alma Wensi, made contact with the Director DMM in late March 2018 seeking curatorial support to establish the museum and DMM were only too pleased to say ‘YES’.

One of DMM’s great friends, Dr. Peter Williams, Australian National University, has been working with the Museum Management Team and suggested DMM staff may be able to provide advice and direction with regard to various matters including;

suitable artefacts
where such artefacts can be purchased (if necessary)
developing policy and procedures
artefact conservation and preservation
storage and security of artefacts etc and
telling the story.

Diving on the wrecks

Vanuatu's WW2 history

Vanuatu, formerly known as New Hebrides, has an amazing WW2 history that largely remains untold. During the war, the country was populated by thousands of US military personnel as a means of protecting the islands from a possible Japanese invasion and to stop the Japanese from gaining a foothold in the South Pacific region.

American troops first arrived in Vanuatu on the island of Efate in May 1942, their mission to be the coordination of defences against the Japanese advance. The US Navy’s Construction Battalions (aka: the Seabees), with the assistance of local labour, built the first road around the island and then moved to construct barracks buildings, hospitals, administration centres, airfields and telephone networks across the island. The landscape had changed forever!

One of the US supplied and constructed WW2 Quanset huts at Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu that will become an exhibition area.

Later over 1000 US soldiers set up base on the island of Espiritu Santo in the northern reaches of the archipelago. Thousands upon thousands of tons of machinery to support the building programme was shipped to the island nation, with a staggering 9 million tons arriving by war’s end.

When the war ended in 1945, the US troops withdrew almost as fast as they had arrived, leaving behind leaving stockpiles of equipment in their wake. Trucks, cars, bulldozers and aircraft were left where they stood or were dumped under a plan code-named Operation Roll-Up.

The buildings remained were they stood but much of the machinery was pushed into the ocean – with one such dumping ground becoming known as Million Dollar Point due to the amount and value of the equipment the Americans dumped there.

In 2018, visitors to this Pacific paradise can see the wartime wreckage and the remains of the equipment dumped, be it in the sea or on the ground. The wartime ‘seascape’ is a wonderland for divers and snorkellors with the array of colourful fish and coral and the wartime relics of course.

The South Pacific WW2 museum will be a fully immersive and interactive experience and will tell the story of WW2 in the South Pacific region. While the project to establish and develop the SPWW2M is in its very early stages, all at DMM are very pleased to be a part of something new and exciting that is happening in a land a long way from the Northern Territory of Australia.

Stay tuned for more details as the project really starts up!

The life and death of Imperial Japanese Navy Admiral, Isoroku Yamamoto.

Thu, 07 Jun 2018 03:56:57 GMT

Author

Written by Norman Cramp, Director of Darwin Military Museum

Even seventy-five years after the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbour and Darwin, the name Admiral Yamamoto resonates around the world when, and where, ever it is mentioned.

Admiral Yamamoto was a leading, albeit reluctant figure, and key player, in Japan’s expansionism in the 1930s that ultimately led to the Pacific war.

Although he often disagreed with the Japanese military government’s plans, Yamamoto was first and last a Navy career man and a true Japanese warrior.
What follows is a precis of his life and death.

Junior Officer Yamamoto after the Battle of Tsushima, 1905

The son of a Samurai

Isoroku Yamamoto (birth name Isoroku Takano) was born to Sadayoshi Takano and his second wife Mine at Nagaoka in the Niigata Prefecture on 4th April 1884. He was the last of seven children born to Sadayoshi, with is name Isoroku being Japanese for the number ‘56’, Sadayoshi’s age at the time of Isoroku’s birth.

Sadayoshi was a former low-class samurai. Isoroku’s early life was one of poverty and hardship, however, his father, a qualified teacher, and his mother ensured he received a decent education, part of which was delivered by western Christian missionary teachers. Yamamoto was a keen and serious student and as historian Bob Alford wrote, ‘no doubt keen to escape the hardships of life in Nagaoka’.

His opportunity to break the chains of poverty came in 1901 when he won an appointment to the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy at Eta Jima Island near Hiroshima. He studied at the Academy for three years, graduating in 1904 seventh in a class of 200.

Following his graduation, he was posted to the cruiser Nisshin, on which he served during the defeat of the Russian Baltic fleet at Tsushima Strait on 26th May 1905. He was wounded during the action, resulting in him losing two fingers on his right hand and spending several months recuperating. Following his return to duty he served on several ships of the Fleet, one of which took him on a training cruise to the US.

Becoming Isoroku Yamamoto

He completed various courses within the IJN, including attending the Naval Staff College in 1914. Following his graduation from the College he was posted to the staff of the Second Battle Squadron with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. His naval career was on its way.

Following his parents’ deaths (in 1912), he accepted an offer from the influential, and wealthy, Yamamoto family in 1916 to join them and become their male heir. Part of the arrangement was that Isoroku took the Yamamoto name. This he did and Isoroku Takano ceased to exist. In 1918 he married Reiko Mishashi (in an arranged marriage) and together the pair had two sons and two daughters.

Yamamoto's rise through the ranks

Over the following 10 years, Yamamoto was to study at Harvard in the US, was posted to the IJN Staff College as an instructor, went to sea again and was promoted to the rank of Captain, learned to fly, studied aviation technology and became strong advocate of naval aviation.

In 1926 he was appointed attaché to the USA, a post in which he served for two years and during which time his interest in naval aviation increased. In 1928 he was assigned to command the IJN aircraft carrier Akagiin for a period before being sent to London as a member of the Japanese delegation to the London Naval Conference. Returning to Japan post-conference, he was appointed as head of Aeronautics Department’s Technical Division and, two years later, was promoted to Commander Carrier Division One with the carrier Akagi as his flagship.

He was promoted to Vice-Admiral on 15th November 1934. He was made chief of the Aeronautics Department in December 1935 placing him in a position overseeing all naval aviation development. While he accepted that, to many, battleships and large guns meant naval power he pushed for greater air power for Japan – a far-reaching foresight that was to benefit the Japanese in the early stages of the Pacific war.

Although opposed to the army’s desire for war, the dogs were unleashed in 1937 when Japan attacked China. Following that step, the army pushed for a tripartite agreement with Germany and Italy, which significantly increased the chances of war with Britain and America.

Yamamoto opposes war

The tripartite agreement was reached and, although Yamamoto and others strenuously opposed the army’s plans and actions, throughout 1940 and 1941 the Japanese government moved toward war. A war the IJN dreaded. In opposition to the plans, Yamamoto said, ‘the United States will never stop fighting…the war will continue for several years’. He also stated, ‘We must not start a war with so little chance of success’, but he was overruled and the planning progressed.

Mindful that any war with America and her allies in the Pacific would be fought (largely) at sea, Yamamoto increased the size and organisation the carrier fleet into the First Air Fleet. He also implemented a complete revision of Japan’s naval strategy whereby Japan would try to pressure the US into early peace negotiations by way of a decisive, pre-emptive, strike that would (supposedly) cripple the US Navy’s Pacific Fleet. With this revision and plan endorsed, training for the attack on Pearl Harbor and other Asia-Pacific targets commenced.

American propaganda poster circa 1943.

The Japanese hit Pearl Harbour

Yamamoto at the plotting table aboard the battleship Nagato in the 1940s.

On 7th December 1941 (US time) the Japanese unleashed an unprovoked and unheralded attack on Pearl Harbour. This attack was accompanied by attacks by air, sea and land on the Philippines, Indo-China, Hong Kong, southern Thailand and Malaya. The attacks were devastating but not war-winning, as the US carrier fleet was absent and the Americans executed repairs to many of the damaged ships within months.

The Japanese moved quickly with Ambon falling on 3rd February, Singapore falling on the 15th February 1942, Darwin bombed on the 19th and Timor invaded on 21st. The IJN personnel who carried out the first attack on Darwin were the same personnel from the same carrier group who had attacked Pearl Harbour.

Initially, Japan’s gains in the Asia-Pacific region were quick and numerous, but they were to be short-lived and Yamamoto’s earlier warning that Japan ‘would put up a tough fight for the first six months’ but he had ‘absolutely no confidence as to what would happen if it [the war] went on for two or three years’. He also said ‘I hope you will make every effort to avoid war with America’. He was ignored and was soon to be vindicated.

The Americans hit back via the US Doolittle-led raid on Japan in April, the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942 (with Australian naval forces in support), and the battle for Midway Island in May. Japan had suffered her first sea/air defeats of the war in the Coral Sea – and in a sense, it was the beginning of the end.

The Japanese lose ground

By February 1943, the Japanese had lost Guadalcanal Island (Solomon Islands) and in early March an attempt to move IJA troops from Rabaul to Lae in New Guinea was defeated by allied naval and air forces. Yamamoto’s forces were slowly, but surely, being destroyed and the IJN secret codes had been broken by the US. In April 1943, in order to arrest the falling fortunes and to raise morale within the ranks, Yamamoto decided to visit bases closer to the front.

A message was sent on 13th April, via Japanese secret code, to base units, garrisons and air flotillas chosen advising that he would be visiting. The message, that provided the itinerary of the flight plans etc, was intercepted by US forces and decoded. The Americans knew exactly where Yamamoto would be, at what time, with what fighter escort and planned his demise accordingly. As Bob Alford wrote, ‘The message proved to be the announcement of Yamamoto’s imminent death’.

Yamamoto's final flight

On the morning of 18th April 1943, Yamamoto and his Chief of Staff, Vice-Admiral Ugaki, boarded separate planes (Mitsubishi G4M1 – ‘Betty’ bombers) at Lakunai airfield, Rabaul, for the flight to Bougainville. They were unaware that the codes had been broken and the allies knew exactly what was to happen.

The ‘Bettys’ took off at 0600 hours and at 0710 hours, US Army Air Force (USAAF) Major John Mitchell and his flight of P-38 Lightning fighters took off from Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, to intercept and shoot down Yamamoto’s aircraft. Within minutes of the US airmen spotting Yamamoto’s aircraft, both the Bettys had been shot down. The Americans lost Lieutenant Raymond K. Hine in the attack.

Yamamoto’s aircraft, Betty 323, fell to the ground in dense jungle just south of the village of Aku on Bougainville’s south-eastern corner, while Aguki’s aircraft, Betty 326, crashed into the sea off Moila Point on Bougainville’s southern corner.

There were no survivors from either aircraft.

Two days later search parties found the wreckage of Yamamoto’s aircraft and the bodies that were strewn around it. Yamamoto had been thrown clear of the craft and was sitting upright - still strapped into his seat. The cause of death was two .50 calibre (machine gun) bullet wounds to his body, one of which entered the lower left jaw, emerging through the right jaw, and the other entering the left shoulder blade. There was no exit wound for this bullet.

Painting of Admiral Yamamoto by Shugaku Homma, 1943. (Source: Isoroku Yamamoto, World War II database, website)

The bodies of Yamamoto and the others, Fleet Medical Officer Rear Admiral Rokuro Takada, staff officer Commander Kurio Toibana, aide Commander Nonuro Fukusaki and seven crew members, were taken to Buin where they were cremated on 21st April.

The news of Yamamoto’s death was kept a secret by the Japanese government until 21st May when his ashes returned to Japan aboard the battleship Musashi. Yamamoto was afforded a State funeral on 5th June 1943, following which his ashes were divided into two, one half being interred at the (public) Tama Cemetery in Tokyo while the other half were interred at the Chuko-ji Zen temple in his hometown Nagaoka.

Japan had lost Yamamoto and were about to lose the war - as he had so correctly predicted.

The Budgen Brothers: A tale of separation, service, loss and mystery.

Thu, 31 May 2018 07:12:07 GMT

Author

Written by Norman Cramp, Director Darwin Military Museum.

Roydon Richard Budgen’s memorial plaque at the Mt. Thompson Memorial Gardens, Brisbane. (Source: Genealogical Society NT collection)

The Budgen brothers, William Ernest and Roydon Richard were born in Darwin, NT (at that time South Australia) some 6 years apart. William was born in Darwin, NT in 1894, while Roydon arrived on the scene in 1900. The brothers were the two sons born to Sydney Richard and Florence Alice Budgen.

Both boys grew up in Darwin with William being educated in Darwin and completing an apprenticeship as a Fitter and Turner in the South Australian Railways ‘Loco Workshop’ in Darwin. Roydon trained as an ‘Electrical Wireman’, although it is unclear from his military service record as to where and when he undertook the training and whether or not it was ‘formal’ (i.e. he was qualified as an electrician or linesman).

Roydon travelled to and from Darwin on several occasions as a boy and it is possible he left Darwin with his mother prior to the outbreak of war. He was mentioned in the Northern Territory Times and Gazette (NTT&G) as having sailed on the S.S. Eastern for southern ports on 27th November 1908. He returned to Darwin aboard the S.S. Empire on 3rd January 1911 and, it appears, remained in Darwin until 1913. He is mentioned in the NTT&G again as having left Darwin for southern ports aboard the S.S. Mataram on 7th July 1913. As there is no further mention of him in the NTT&G, it seems he never returned to Darwin.

The family separates

Roydon was living in Annandale, New South Wales (NSW), when he enlisted in 1918 while his mother was living in Brisbane. It is possible that Mr and Mrs Budgen separated some time prior to the outbreak of war, as Sydney Budgen was operating a taxi service in Darwin.

When William enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), he nominated his mother, Florence, as his next of kin and provided her address as ‘c/- Mrs Pott, Darwin’. This was later ruled through and the address of Sherwood Road, Rocklea Brisbane included. William enlisted as a Private in the 1st AIF at Darwin on 8th March 1916 and was allocated service number (SERN) 2391. At that time, he was 20 years and 10 months of age, single and employed in his trade of fitting and turning, presumably at the railway workshops. He stood five feet ten and a half inches tall, was of ‘medium’ complexion with brown eyes and dark brown hair. Interestingly, his weight was not recorded on this enlistment documents.

William enlists

William transferred to Brisbane to undertake basic training at the Enoggera Camp before embarking for overseas service aboard HMAT Sean Choong (ship A49) on 19th September 1916. The trip wasn’t all smooth sailing for young William, as he was arrested and charged with ‘Breaking out from quarantine’. He was found guilty of the crime and received fourteen days’ field punishment number 2 (FP No:2) as the penalty.

He arrived in Plymouth, England on 9th December 1916 and was posted, initially, to Number 13 Camp at Codford, following which he was posted to the 12th Training Battalion at Folkstone. He completed his infantry training and ‘proceeded overseas’ aboard the S.S. Victoria on 2nd February 1917, arriving at Etaples, France two days’ later. He was soon in trouble again as a result of going absent without leave (AWL) between the hours of midnight to 8:30pm on 1st January 1917. Perhaps he had been seeing in the New Year and wanted a (perhaps last) fling before moving up to the line.

Missing in action

Move up to the line he did, serving in the Somme and Bullecourt areas. On 14th April he was reported as ‘Missing in Action’ following more heavy fighting in the Bullecourt area. Seven months later, a military Court of Enquiry that was held in the field determined William Budgen had been killed in action. Why it took so long to determine William had been killed in action is a mystery, as the authorities had an eye-witness account of William’s last hours and a hand-written note on the ‘Casualty Form – Active Service’ on his file states he was ‘Buried 500 yds to the E. of Bullecourt’.

Eye-witness account by Pte. J.R. Jones regarding having seen the wounded W.E. Budgen on the 11th April 1917. (Source: ‘Original Statement Echelon’, NAA: B2455: BUDGEN WILLIAM ERNEST, p. 19).

William’s short life was over, but, within two years, mystery would surround this young man and his family.

Royden's rejection

On 1st July 1918, Roydon Richard Budgen, who was residing at Annandale, enlisted in the 1st AIF at Newtown, NSW. At that time, he stated he was nineteen years and one month of age, single and employed as an ‘Electrical Wireman’. Interestingly, he listed no next of kin. He stood five feet, ten and three-quarter inches tall, weighed 158 pounds (lbs) and recorded a chest measurement of 36 inches. He was of ‘fair’ complexion with blue eyes and ‘fair’ hair. A totally different appearance to his brother.

Although Roydon claimed to be nineteen and one month, in fact he was eighteen and one month as he was born on 24th June 1900. At the time he enlisted, he also stated that both his parents were deceased, probably as means of avoiding the AIF checking his age with his parents in the event the matter arose. As it eventuated, the ruse was unnecessary as Roydon was re-examined and rejected on the grounds of being medically unfit as a result of an ‘Old injury to foot – Wasted by’. Given the war had only five months to run, it is highly unlikely Roydon would have seen any action given he would have undergone basic training in Australia prior to embarking for England, then having to complete his infantry training prior to being posted to the front.

In late 1919 the mystery of the Budgen family commenced!

The Budgen Family mystery

In November 1919, Florence Budgen wrote to the ‘Officer Commanding Australian Forces, Melbourne’ requesting a copy of William’s death certificate. The letter is reproduced below.

Letter from Mrs. Budgen to Officer Commanding Australian Forces, Melbourne’. (Source: NAA; B2455, BUDGEN WILLIAM ERNEST, p. 37.)

The Officer in Charge, Base Records, Melbourne forwarded a copy of the certificate to her at Sherwood Road, Rocklea, Brisbane. That appears to have been last piece of correspondence between Florence and the AIF until April 1921, when Base Records wrote to her advising they wished to ‘dispose’ of his war medals and seeking information on whether or not William’s father was alive and to confirm Florence’s postal address. They received no reply.

The matter was left in abeyance until November 1923 when Base Records wrote to Headquarters (HQ) 1st District seeking information regarding any pension being paid to Budgen’s family. HQ 1st District advised that no pension payments had been made via the War Gratuity scheme regarding the deceased person, William Ernest Budgen SERN 2391. That same year, Base Records wrote to HQ 1st District seeking updated information on Mrs. Budgen’s postal address to which HQ replied they had the same address as Base Records and no other.

Florence disappears

Base Records wrote to Mrs. Budgen again in May 1923 but the letter was returned having been unclaimed by her. Mrs. Florence Budgen had disappeared – or had died.

In June 1923 the Deputy Commissioner of Pensions wrote to Base Records inquiring if W.E. Budgen’s next of kin had received any pension for his wartime service and death. Base records replied there had been no pensions payments made to the Budgen family. Correspondence on the matter continued until July 1923, without any progress being made on locating Mrs. Budgen, and then stopped. The AIF and the Commissioner for Pensions had given up and the matter was now closed.

Royden remains

It appears Roydon never contacted the AIF requesting his brother’s medals or personal effects, to which he would have been entitled had both his parents been deceased. As a result, it appears William’s medals and personal effects, if there were any remaining in 1923, were never issued or passed to his next of kin.
Roydon married Lilly May Cox in Brisbane on 17th February 1927 and found employment as a Tramways Employee, although it is not clear as to what exactly his role was. The Budgen’s lived at 161 Kent Street, New Farm, Brisbane until he enlisted in the 2nd AIF on 23rd April 1940 at Kelvin Grove Brisbane. He was issued service number QX7277 and was attached to the 2/2/Machine Gun Battalion in which he served in the Middle East.

He was discharged from the 2/AIF on 6th December 1941, probably as a result of injury or wounds, as a Private attached to the Australian Depot Battalion. Post-war he took employment with the Post Master General’s Department at the General Post Office, Brisbane, and became the Honorary Secretary of the Totally and Permanently Disabled Soldiers’ Association in Queensland. He was survived by his wife, a married daughter and two sons.

And so the final details of William, his mother and his brother remain a mystery. For example, where is William’s exact place of burial (i.e. name of cemetery, place of cemetery, grave and lot number), did Florence and Sydney Budgen separate prior to the outbreak of war? Why was Roydon so different in appearance to William? What happened to Mrs. Budgen – did she die prior to 1921? If not, where did she move to and why didn’t she, or Sydney, seek William’s pension? Why didn’t Roydon request his brother’s medals and/or the pension payment that were rightfully due to him upon his parents dying? Was Roydon estranged from the whole family and if so, why?

It all remains a mystery in 2018 and I suspect it will remain so forever!

A Luger with provenance

Wed, 23 May 2018 07:05:21 GMT

Author

Written by Craig Wharton.

Unveiling ceremony, Second Australian Division Memorial, Mont St Quentin, France, 30 August 1925. (Public domain)

I purchased a Luger from the Australian Arms Auctions in May 2015. What intrigued me about this particular Luger was the fact that the Digger who captured it actually wrote on the holster flap his rank, name and battalion as well as where he acquired it. According to the catalogue description he was a Sergeant ‘JC’ Robinson of the 23rd Battalion.

Preliminary research through the Australian War Memorial (AWM) archives and the 23rd Battalion unit history nominal roll did not reveal a ‘JC’ but there was a Joseph George Robinson in the battalion and he was a Sergeant. Not only that, he was a Military Medal recipient. It appears that he went by the name of George so that is how I will refer to him in the text of this article.

Hitting the auction

Armed with this information I set off for the Melbourne auction to examine the holster for clues. Had anyone else done their homework? I suspect they did as I finished up paying $400 more than what the other Lugers went for. Still it just proves the value of research when purchasing such items.

During the viewing pre-auction all the prospective bidders, dealers and collectors, had their microscopes out minutely examining the items that interested them. Biding my time I finally got to examine the item of interest to me. The assistant handed me the holstered Luger and must have been taken slightly aback when I handed the Luger back to him and said, “The holster is the most important bit”. I could see at a glance that the Luger was in excellent condition.

Close examination of the inscribed holster flap revealed what I had suspected. The handwritten initials were actually ‘JG’ and not ‘JC’. A simple typo but my research paid off. Now I was excited.

The brown leather holster was also in very good condition. It had the maker’s name and date punched into the inside of the flap. The strike was off-centred to the right making the left part hard to read, but it was made by Elberfeld in 1916. There was also an ink stamp, B.A.XI. indicating issue by the Bekleidungsamt (clothing depot) of ArmeeKorps XI which was headquartered at Kassel in the state of Hesse, which is almost exactly in the centre of Germany.

George was obviously quite proud of his acquisition and he had the presence of mind to record this information on the flap for posterity. It says, “Mont St Quentin, Sgt. J.G. Robinson, 23Bttn. 1/9/1918”. There was another date but due to rubbing against the pistol it is no longer readable.

The original stripping tool was also still present in the holster but unfortunately the spare magazine was not. My assumption is that it had probably been dropped on the battlefield on September 1st during a magazine change, just before George shot the German carrying and using the Luger.

All serial numbers are matching and the pistol is in very good to excellent condition. In fact when some old grease was removed and the barrel swiped clean it appears the Luger had hardly ever been used. Perhaps our German never got the chance.

The Luger's original owner

There is a possibility that this German soldier was a member of the 94th Infantry Regiment who were the main opponent facing the 23rd Battalion on this day. Also in action against George and his mates were the 96th Infantry Regiment, but slightly off to the southern side of Mont St Quentin. Due to a high concentration of German machine gunners during this battle George could possibly have taken this Luger from one of them as MG crews were issued side arms on a lavish scale.

George was already a decorated soldier well before the action in which he souvenired the Luger. He had been awarded the Military Medal for his actions at Noreuil on 20 March 1917. He had seen action before and the enemy up close and personal, but something must have impelled him to pick this one up and keep it. It was a common enough practice in the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF) to take souvenirs from the enemy when that enemy no longer had a use for them. This especially extended to handguns, being so concealable, and they were also highly valued and could be traded with those in a rear area for something of value.

This practice of taking something from a person you had personally killed is something I will not try to psychoanalyse here but sufficient evidence suggests it is a common practice in wartime. I know it is. My grandfather did it on the Somme.

A brave Australian soldier

What sort of man was young George? From perusing his records held at the AWM and the National Archives of Australia (NAA), he was your typical Digger. There was a little of the larrikin in him, but he only got “crimed” once. He was a brave soldier and cool under fire as seen by the award of his MM. Obviously he was a good soldier as he rose steadily through the ranks and possibly could have risen higher if not for frequent bouts of sickness.

George Robinson was born near Kyabram in Victoria. His attestation papers (of which there are two on file), show him attesting on 20 July 1915 at Melbourne. He was 5’8.5” tall, weight 10lb 3oz; had a chest expansion of 33-35”, and was of fair complexion with brown eyes and dark brown hair. He gave his age as 21 years and eight months old. No previous military service.

What happened between there and his next attestation on 6 January 1916 at Seymour camp is not known, but he is now 22 years and three months old. He is now 5’9”and 10lb 10 oz and chest 35-37” A small chest expansion could get a man rejected for service in 1915 so that may be the reason.

George’s occupation was listed as Farmer. He was single. His next of kin was his father William Robinson, Deakin Post Office, Tongala, Victoria. His religion was Methodist. He joined the 10th reinforcements to the 23rd Battalion at Broadmeadows Camp just outside Melbourne where he became 4178 Private JG Robinson. After just two months training in how to be a soldier he embarked at Melbourne on HMAT Wiltshire (A-18) on 7.3.16. His only “crime” was committed on 30 March 1916 while at sea. He absented himself from a route march around the ship till 8pm that evening. He probably couldn’t see the sense in marching around in circles. He was awarded eight days forfeiture of pay and seven days confined to barracks.

George joined his battalion in France on 7 August 1916. The winter of 1916-17 was one of the worst on record and many Diggers went down with medical complaints. Frost bite and trench foot were prevalent and many lost their toes. George was in and out of hospital between November 1916 and January 1917 with diarrhoea, bronchitis and mumps but returned to the battalion on 20 February 1917. He was promoted Corporal on 14 March 1917. He was awarded the Military Medal for his actions at Noreuil on 20 March 1917. Noreuil was a precursor to the even more disastrous Battle for Bullecourt which followed in April.

The attack on Noreuil by the 21st and 23rd Battalions was conceived by General Gellibrand at very short notice. It was ill conceived, ill planned and used already weary troops with no artillery support across open ground in daylight. Casualties were heavy and a fighting withdrawal was ordered. Casualties for the two attacking battalions were 13 officers and 318 Other Ranks including 50 missing. Many of the missing were in fact killed in action and some of their bodies recovered later. To make matters worse it started snowing!

Four Military Medals were awarded to the 23rd Battalion for this action - all to Lewis gunners. On page 112 of Ron Austin’s book Forward Undeterred he quotes, “if it were not for the gallant efforts of C.S.M. John Cox and Lewis gunners such as Lance Corporals Patrick Fitzgerald, Thomas Heath, Henry Pitts and Private George Robinson throughout the morning, the withdrawal would have resulted in even heavier casualties”.

George’s recommendation for the MM (recommended 24 March 1917), and signed off by Gellibrand states:
On the 20th of March, under very heavy rifle and M.G. fire, he took his machine gun into position and succeeded in preventing an enemy M.G. from being bought into action. Later in the same action he, at great personal risk, got into position and scattered an enemy bombing party.

We can see George was a very proficient Lewis gunner who exposed himself to extreme danger in order to protect his mates which is in the highest traditions of the Australian Army. Obviously his talents did not go unnoticed nor unrewarded and he was promoted to Sergeant on 17 August 1917, and granted 14 days leave. It was the only leave he got before he returned home to Australia in 1919.

On the 9th of November George was admitted to a Field Ambulance station. His condition was serious enough that he was sent to Norfolk General Hospital in the UK with inflamed glands in the groin. George spent time in several hospitals and at the Australian Command Depots at Hurdcott and Sutton Veny while recuperating. He rejoined his battalion in France on 15 August 1918, just in time to take part in the combined attack on Peronne and Mont St Quentin which would be one of the A.I.F.’s crowning achievements of the war.

The end of the War for 'JG'

George stayed in France after the Armistice, and finally left France on 11 April 1919, disembarking at Southhampton the next day. From here he went into camp at Sutton Veny with other Diggers waiting to get home. He embarked at Devonport on the ship Rio Negro for repatriation to Australia. He disembarked at Melbourne and was discharged in the 3rd Military District on 28 September 19.

George’s medal entitlement of the British War Medal and Victory Medal were sent to him in Rushworth Rd, Kyabram in 1923. He was also sent the GRI badge in 1926 which would suggest he was suffering from a war related illness. This is also known variously as The Silver Wound Badge, Services Rendered Badge and other titles, and was awarded to men incapacitated due to their service.

George died on 12 November 1949 aged 55, ironically the day after Remembrance Day.

An Introduction to Martini Action Firearms

Tue, 15 May 2018 22:53:05 GMT

Author

Written by Craig Wharton.

Mention Martinis and one of two things will spring to mind: either "shaken, not stirred", with a bloke in a tuxedo wielding a Walther PPK or an image of the British Empire at its zenith in the late 19th century. An empire that stretched across the globe and on which, it was said, "the sun never set". Which was true. Being a global empire the sun was always shining on one part or another of that vast area over which Queen Victoria ruled supreme.

A rifle to defend an empire

The "soldiers of the Queen" in their red jackets were always either creating, or defending, those Imperial assets. You may think more specifically of one action in particular as a defining moment in which the Martini-Henry rifle performed outstanding service.

To me personally, this moment is illustrated in the 1964 classic movie Zulu, which was based on the events that took place at Rorke's Drift, Natal Province in South Africa on 22/ 23 January 1879. A classic portrayal of British military discipline combined with fire and movement drills, carried out against a numerically superior foe, determined to annihilate the small besieged garrison left to defend the mission at Rorke's Drift. Wherever the Victorian era British soldier served, so did his Martini-Henry rifle.

The birth of the Martini rifle

The story of the Martini action firearm began in 1862. The American Peabody rifle was patented in that year by Henry O. Peabody of Boston, Massachusetts. His design was, surprisingly, not adopted by the US forces during the Civil War (1861-1865). A rear hinged dropping block system with an external hammer, the lever used to operate the Peabody rifles action was also its trigger guard.

After the US Civil War ended in 1865, Peabody did achieve some success overseas with sales to Canada (3,000 rifles), France (3,900 rifles) and to the Swiss who purchased 15,000 rifles. The Swiss were not satisfied with the Peabody and tasked a Swiss engineer, Frederich von Martini, with improving the original design. Martini eliminated the external hammer and replaced it with an internal firing pin operated by a coil main spring. Martini's action was fully enclosed and had levered extraction, which was a great improvement over the original Peabody design.

During this period the Snider/Enfield conversion was introduced into British service in 1866. It was a stop-gap measure, whereby muzzle-loading .577 Pattern 1853 Enfield rifles were fitted with a Snider breech.

A competition was instigated by the British War Office in 1866 to find a replacement rifle. Martini's action was selected from a field of entries and this action was mated to the polygonal barrel designed by Alexander Henry, a Scottish gunsmith famous for producing quality target rifle barrels. The cartridge chosen was the bottlenecked .450 Boxer short chambered round. The oft misquoted .577/.450 designation for this cartridge is its commercial trade designation and was never referred to as a .577/.450 by the British Army.

The evolution of the Martini rifle

Between 1871 and 1875 the Mk I evolved through three patterns. The Martini-Henry Mk II was approved in 1877 and produced till 1880. The Martini-Henry Mk III was approved in 1879. The Martini-Henry Mks II and III had no variations on either of those Mks while in service. What became the Mk IV and final Mk of Martini in British service started life as the reduced bore sized .402 Enfield-Martini rifle. Approved in 1884, 64,634 trials rifles were produced in two patterns before shelving the project in favour of a new service rifle, the Magazine Lee-Metford Mk I in .303.

Very few remained as .402 Enfield- Martinis as they were ordered to be re-chambered and re-barreled back to take the .450 standard round. Only a few were retained in the .402 calibre as museum exhibits and by the Pattern Room. There were three distinct patterns of the Mk IV, A,B and C. A and B are the trials type; the C pattern was made from new parts.

All Martini-Henrys are marked on the right hand side of the receiver with Queen Victoria's crown over VR (Victoria Regina), over the manufacturer's name followed by the date, and a steel batch mark above a Roman numeral I, II or III, indicating which Mk of Martini-Henry it is. A number (Arabic numeral) under the Mk number indicates a 1st or 2nd class firearm.

The .450 Martini-Henry also came in carbine versions: Cavalry Carbine (Mk I only), Garrison Artillery, Artillery Carbine Mk I, II and III. In its various marques the .450 Martini-Henry rifles and carbines would faithfully serve the British Empire till 1888 with the introduction into service of the Magazine LeeMetford in .303. Even then they did soldier on in 2nd line units and the colonies well beyond that date.

The .303 British cartridge now being the standard issue round of the Bitish Army, the British set about converting the thousands of Martini-Henrys held in war stocks to .303. Re-barrelled with the Metford system of rifling these became Martini-Metford rifles and carbines in .303. These barrels have the shallow 7 groove Metford rifling and were designed for black powder. These can be found in MkI and II rifles and Mk I, II and III Cavalry and Mk I,II and III Artillery carbines.

Another change occured in 1895 when the Enfield rifling system was adopted. This five-groove rifling was for use with smokeless .303 ammunition. Thus re-barreled these Martinis became the .303 Martini- Enfield rifles Mk I, II and III,Cavalry carbine Mk I and II and the Artillery carbine Mk I, II and III. About 88,000 Martini-Henry's were converted to Martini- Enfield Mk I, II and III between 1896 and 1901.

The Martini rifle in the field

The Martini- Enfield saw limited British service. Most of these ended up in the colonies, especially in Australia, who bought some 40,000 in both Mk I and II pattern rifles as well as an unknown quantity of Cavalry and Artillery carbines. The cash-strapped Australian government of the day, following the economic depression of the mid 1890s, could get .303 converted Martini rifles at half the price of a new Lee-Metford rifle.

Pre-federation militia in all the colonies received these Martini conversions in all the differing Mks and patterns in quantities varying with that colony's population or defence needs.
Some of these Martini- Enfield rifles were taken to the Boer War by some Australian units embarking for overseas service there. The only Martini action rifle never on issue to Australians was the Mk IV with its unique long lever. These all went to India and when no longer needed there, went to the Nepalese.

A timeless rifle

The operation of the Martini's action is quite simple. Pulling the lever which sits behind the trigger guard down and forward compresses the firing pin spring and cocks the action. Insert a round into the empty chamber. Returning the lever to its starting position the Martini is now ready to fire. Most, but not all Martinis, have a cocking indicator on the right hand side of the receiver to show the firearm is cocked, if not in fact loaded! The exceptions with no cocking indicator are the Australian Cadet rifles manufactured by Francotte, Greener and BSA. The lever on the underside of the Martini also acts as a pistol grip on all but the Mk IV long lever.

Penetration tests on planks of Fir wood show the .450 round is capable of penetrating 12 one inch thick planks at a time. A definite Zulu stopper! The only detraction to the Martini-Henry's reliability was during its use in desert operations in the Sudan where due to fouling by black powder residue and fine desert sand the extractor sometimes failed to do its job. A modified extractor and a longer lever solved this problem. This refinement resulted in the Mk IV long lever.

Prolonged and rapid fire could result in mild concussion and/ or nose bleeds. Pity those poor blokes at Rorke's Drift, their Martini-Henrys were quite literally glowing red hot!

In 1874 the Martini-Henry was tested against the French Chasspot, which had been used with some success in the Franco-Prussian War of 1871. The Martini got off 20 rounds in 48 seconds compared to the Chasspot's 20 rounds in 1 minute and 42 seconds. As a single shot, the Martini was quite fast to reload and fire. Nominally, it is listed at 12 rounds (aimed fire) a minute. The action is inherently strong and its accuracy renowned. The fast lock time combined with the excellent trigger made the Martini action the basis for an excellent target rifle. Martini-actioned rifles dominated Olympic shooting events in their day until finally being replaced by the bolt action rifle in these events. This is why so many Martinis were converted to civilian use. Re-sleeved or re-barreled to .22 many of these rifles were used by the miniture rifle club association both in the U.K. and in Australia.

And so the Martini action lives on. It did not die back in the Boer War. It is probably still being made to order by Pathan gunsmiths in that inhospitable part of the world. The Martini-Henry was still being made in the 1980s up there, as the Soviet Russian forces found out when they invaded Afghanistan in 1979. The Mujahideen may have all been carrying AK-47 series of weapons by the end of that war but they first resisted the Soviet Russian forces with old Martini-Henry and .303 type rifles, some of which were hand made in a backyard workshop. Many a Russian soldier fell to a rifle that had been obsolete for nearly 100 years, but was still effective at long range. More recently, the US Marine Corps located several Martini-Henry rifles in Taliban weapons caches in 2010 and 2011.

The evolution of the Martini action rifle from Martini-Henry through the Metford and Enfield conversions also saw an evolution in the ammunition used in them, downwards in size, from the legendary .450 Boxer to the failed .402 concept to the equally famous .303. The .310 Cadet and .297/230 in both short and long rounds eventually gave way to the .22 long rifle cartridge for training purposes.

The Martini-Henry rifle and the .450 Boxer cartridge were a formidable combination, equal to or better than any other military firearm in use in the same time period. The last word on the Martini-Henry rifle, its cartridge and the Victorian era British soldier must go to those who used them so effectively. In the movie Zulu after the battle at Rorke's Drift the defeated Zulus have retreated and Lieutenant Chard (played by Stanley Baker), credits their survival against the odds as "a short chambered Boxer Henry point four five miracle". The ever unflappable Colour Sergeant Bourne's (played by Nigel Green) succinct reply, "And a bayonet, Sir. With some guts behind it!"

In Flanders Field He Lay: Private Matthew Garr

Tue, 08 May 2018 22:55:02 GMT

Author

Written by Norman Cramp, Director Darwin Military Museum.

Private Matthew Garr circa 1915. (Source: National Archives of Australia, Discovering Anzacs website – Profiles, Matthew Garr, SERN 428).

Matthew Garr, also spelt Ga, Gar and Gah, was one of five children: four boys and one girl, born to Filipino/Australians Carlos and Mary Anne Garr on Thursday Island, Queensland in 1889. Matthew was the twin of William and was most likely residing on Bathurst Island prior to enlisting in the 1st AIF in September 1915.

There is some confusion as to Matthew’s date and place of enlist, as one form on his file, his ‘Application To Enlist In the Australian Imperial Force’, records he enlisted at Darwin on 18th September 1915, while another form states he was enlisted, or at least sworn in at sea aboard the HMAT Demostheues (Ship A64) while enroute to England. This form records he enlisted at Brisbane on 20th October 1915, however, that has been ruled through and the details of him being enlisted at sea written in.

A Filipino Volunteer

Regardless of where he enlisted, it is thought that Matthew was one of the four Filipinos volunteers recruited by Jesuit Father Gsell to help establish the Catholic Mission on Bathurst Island in 1911. To add to this belief, Matthew nominated his wife, Fanny Garr, ‘C/o Bathurst Island Mission Darwin, NT’ as his next of kin when he enlisted.

Matthew and his three brothers enlisted in the 1st AIF with three of them serving overseas in the Great War (1914-1918). At the time he enlisted, and was attached to the 41st Infantry Battalion, Matthew was twenty-five years and eleven months of age, married and employed as a 'laborer'.

He stood five feet and five inches tall and was said to be ‘Dark Skinned’, with dark brown eyes, black air and of the Roman Catholic faith. Interestingly, his weight was not recorded on his Attestation to Enlist paper. He was tattooed with a large heart and flowers on his chest and crossed flags and anchors on his forearm(s).

Going AWOL

He departed Darwin with the Fourth Contingent in October 1915 and embarked for England, and the war, aboard His Majesty’s Army Transport (HMAT) Demostheues, (Ship A64) in Sydney in May 1916. He found himself in trouble prior to embarking for the front for being absent without leave from the Exhibition Camp, Brisbane, and during the voyage as a result of being charged with ‘Breaking out of quarters while on active service’ while in Capetown, South Africa. He was found guilty and fined 28 days’ pay, although his character was reported as being ‘Good’.

It was a hefty financial penalty that resulted in Matthew being much the poorer when he arrived in England, but, as Australians do, his mates took up a collection (‘sent the hat around’) so that he could spend his four days’ disembarkation leave with them in London.

He decided to take unofficial leave again in August 1916, prior to proceeding to France, when he went AWL for 13 hours on the 15th of that month. On that occasion he was fined 3 days’ pay. After completing his training at Salisbury Plains, England, he proceeded to France on 30th September 1916 following which he was taken on strength (attached to) in the 47th Infantry Battalion AIF in October that year.

A bout of illness

He suffered quite a lot of illness during 1916 and 1917, having been admitted to a clearing station in November 1916 suffering ‘pyrexia’, a technical term for ‘fever’, following which he was hospitalised in Rouen, France.

He was admitted to hospital again on 15th December suffering mumps and again on 20th December suffering from tonsillitis. On 20th February 1917 he embarked for England on the Hospital Ship (HS) Dieppe, where he was admitted to the Norfolk Hospital for observation.

Following his discharge from hospital, Matthew was granted furlough in England from 6th March to 21st March and was transferred from the 47th Battalion to the 69th Battalion AIF on 1st April.

Belgium: His final resting place

On the 29th April, Matthew was transferred back to the 47th Battalion as a reinforcement, joining the Battalion at Estaples, France on 6th May 1917. It is unknown when he, and the 47th Battalion, were transferred to Belgium, but it was in Belgium that Matthew’s life came to an end, as he was killed in action (KIA) near Zonnebeke, (in the Paechendale area), on 29th September 1917.

He was buried at/in the ‘Anzac House’ cemetery, ‘Approx. 1800 yards S.W. of Zonnebeke Belgium’, although it appears he was not buried in an official military cemetery at that time. His death notice was published in the Northern Territory Times and Gazette on 1st November 1917, along with notices regarding Lieutenant Lloyd Herbert, the son of former NT Administrator Charles Herbert, and Private Alexander McKinnon, the only NT Aboriginal man to forfeit his life in the Great War.

His lost grave

In 1921, the Officer-in-Charge (OIC), Base Records wrote to Carlos Garr advising him that Matthew had been ‘buried approximately 1800 yards from Zonnebeke, Belgium’. The OIC went onto say that, ‘It is pointed out that an intensive search is now being made over all battlefields with a view to locating unregistered graves and should the grave of this soldier be discovered his wife would be notified through this office’. It is not clear as to whether or not Matthew’s grave was ever found, so it appears his final resting place is now unknown.

In 1922, Matthew’s mother, who signed as ‘Marie Garr’, received Matthew’s Memorial Plaque. October 1924, his sister Mary wrote to the AIF requesting Matthew’s daughter, Mary, be allocated the war service brooch (badge) owed to Matthew. In the letter, Mary also stated that the child was 12 years of age and that the pension she (the daughter) was receiving was ‘not enough to keep her in food and clothing’, which implies Mary was asking the government to pay Matthew’s daughter some form of pension or compensation.

The OIC replied that the war service badge could not be issued ‘as the issue of Nearest Female Relative and the In Memoriam Badges ceased on 31.3.22’. It is not clear as to why the daughter Mary, through her aunt, was requesting the badge as Fanny (Matthew’s nearest female relative) was still alive and there is no record on Matthew’s military service file as to whether or not the child received any gratuity or pension. It is more (highly) likely it was paid to his wife Fanny, who had been given his war medals, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal, in June 1922.

Matthew was survived by his wife and children, his brothers Glamor, who was awarded the Military Medal for bravery during the Great War and served in WW2, and Prudencio, who was discharged from the AIF prior to embarking for active (overseas) service, his sister (Mary) and his parents. Sadly, his twin brother William, Service Number 3051, was also killed during the war. Both Matthew and William are commemorated on the Darwin Cenotaph, The Esplanade, Darwin.

His parents lived out the rest of their lives in Darwin with his mother dying in a drowning accident at Fort Hill wharf in/around 1921 and his father passing away in February 1931. In April 1939, Matthew’s only daughter, Mary, passed away in the Darwin Hospital. She had married Mr. Stephen Cigobia and together they had produced six children, all of whom were living when she passed.

Lest We Forget.

The Japanese Type 44 Cavalry Carbine

Wed, 02 May 2018 01:54:59 GMT

Author

Written by Craig Wharton.

Following the Russo- Japanese war of 1904-05, Japanese cavalry units saw an expansion in numbers and an elevation to the status of elite troops. This continued through the campaigns in China and up to the start of the war in the Pacific.
During this 30 odd year period, the cavalry of Imperial Japan had carried the Type 30, 38 and 44 cavalry carbines in 6.5x50 Japanese calibre. These carbines were also issued to Transport and Artillery troops. The designation, Type 44, was the year of adoption, 1911, which was the 44th year in the reign of the Emperor Meiji. Likewise the Type 30 translates to the year 1897 and the Type 38 to 1905, the 30th and 38th year respectively of the Emperor Meiji's reign. Production of the Type 44 started in 1912, a year after its adoption.

A different type of rifle

The Type 44 differed from its predecessors in that it had a cruciform bayonet permanently attached beneath the barrel whereas the other carbines (T-30 & T-38) had used the Type 30 bayonet. Between 1897 and 1945 the Type 30 bayonet in all its variations reached a production run of nearly 8,000,000!

The Type 30 bayonets had arsenal markings stamped onto the ricasso. The Type 44 had a 1-3 digit assembly number. This is found on the underside of the bayonet housing assembly between the stacking hook and the rear bayonet lock in-lug. This example has a Japanese kanji character (not identified by me) and the assembly number 484. The rear barrel band was inletted as was the wood between the special barrel band and the magazine housing to accept the folding bayonet.

The folding bayonet concept has been used by other countries. The Italians on their Mannlicher- Carcarno M-91 and M-38 carbines, and the Russian-designed Mosin-Nagant M-44 and SKS carbines and the ubiquitous AK-47 and their Communist bloc clones are the most familiar to firearms collectors. The bayonet hinges on the shank of the stacking hook. The bayonet housing assembly came in three variants of which this example is the early first type made by Tokyo Arsenal. The bayonet is held secure under the barrel by a hooked lug. Depressing the knurled button on the left hand side releases the bayonet which when rotated through 180 degrees engages a similar opposing hooked lug. The bayonet is now "fixed" and ready for pig stabbing!

These early bayonet housing assemblies caused some problems with the accuracy of the Type 44. This was rectified after much testing in 1937 with the 2nd variant housing. The stacking hook, not found on the earlier T-30 and T-38 Japanese cavalry carbines, remained as part of the bayonet housing assembly in all three variants of the Type-44.

The cleaning rod previously stored in the forearm on the T-30 and T-38, a la Mauser, was on the T-44 now stored in the butt. The opening latch for this storage area is found on the right hand side of the butt. Rotating this slotted latch upward cams open a slot in the butt plate revealing two holes drilled in the butt-stock for the two piece rod. The jag was carried separately in the soldier's kit. This is another indication that this particular firearm was made in the Tokyo Arsenal as later variants held the jag as well.

The sling swivels, in common with most cavalry carbines, are on the left hand side. The rear sight is graduated to 2,000 meters, which would be rather optimistic considering the barrel length. But this is in common with all cavalry carbines produced by any country during the early 20th century. A lot of these T-44 carbines were retro-fitted with the later bayonet housing assemblies but this example seems to have escaped this process, retaining the first type.
Type 44 carbines were manufactured by Tokyo Artillery Arsenal, Kokura Army Arsenal, Nagoya Army Arsenal and the Mukden Arsenal in Japanese-occupied Manchuria. Production figures for Japanese cavalry carbines run to just over 40,000 Type 30's in 8 years. Just under 44,000 Type 38's in six years and just under 100,500 Type 44's were assembled in the above four arsenals over 29 years. The T-44 was extremely well made, especially the Tokyo and Kokura examples.

Considering the T-44 made up only 2% of Japanese long arm production (excluding 7.7 types), they are still reasonably available on the collectors’ market. Even though production ceased at the end of 1941, the Type 44 carbine saw wide spread usage right up to the bitter end of the Pacific war. The Type 44 was superseded in cavalry units by the Type 99 short rifle in 7.7mm. Due to the short length of the cavalry carbine I would say quite a few found their way to Australia as war souvenirs in returning Digger's kit bags, as did a lot of swords and Nambu pistols, not to mention the Japanese hand grenades I have encountered over the years!

Markings

In common with all Japanese small arms markings, starting back in 1897 with the Type 30, the serial number and arsenal symbol are found on the left hand side of the receiver. This Type 44 carbine's serial number is 37140 and bears the four-connected circle symbol of the Tokyo Artillery Arsenal. On the top of the receiver is the Kiku-mon, the 16-petaled Chrysanthemum of the Emperor and Imperial Family. Below this are three Japanese characters, Yon Yon Shiki, which translates to “four four type.”

On the left hand side of the barrel knox is a triangle within a circle symbol followed by a capital S. The triangle in the circle tells us that this carbine was made at the Tokyo Arsenal. The S indicates over load proof testing. Some collectors believe the S proof mark stands for barrels contracted from the Sumitomo Conglomerate of Japan. The triangle within the circle symbol also appears on the top of the action behind the charger clip guide slot. It also retains the dust cover which is sometimes missing from some Japanese small arms. They make a lot of noise during the cycling of the bolt and for that reason it was discarded by some Japanese soldiers.

Type 44 specifications:

caliber 6.5x50 Japanese
overall length 38" (966mm)
barrel length 19.2" (485mm)
bayonet length 15 1/4" (388mm)
Feed Device 5rd clip stripped into a Mauser type non-detachable magazine
Front sight is an inverted V
Rear sight is of the leaf type
Weight 7.3lb (3.3kg)
Muzzle Velocity 2,300 fps

How old is this carbine? On the first of September 1923 an earthquake of biblical proportions (well 9.0 magnitude anyway) hit Japan. The earthquake itself only took out a small percentage of the housing in Tokyo but the resulting firestorm caused by sparks from thousands of cooking fires in combustible houses took out a lot more. Thousands died and more than 2,000,000 fled Tokyo as a result of the firestorm.

Tokyo Artillery Arsenal was partially destroyed, crippling its production. By this date, 1 Sep. 1923, Tokyo Arsenal had produced over 55,000 Type 44's. Given the serial number of this carbine is 37140 this would put this T-44 as in existence sometime during World War I.

This example is not the most aesthetically pleasing of its type. Some collectors prefer to get their hands on the best quality of firearm that they can possibly acquire, which is all well and good. I, on the other hand, whilst I do try and find the best example of sporting and antique firearms for the collection tend not to be so fussy with military firearms. After all they have often been through a world war before being released onto the collector market. Looking at this Type 44, I'm guessing that it seen two world wars in the service of the Emperor. It has heard the Banzai! once or twice. That is what makes this battleworn example all the more attractive, it has been there and done it.

The fact that the Imperial Chrysanthemum is still intact and not disfigured in any way as surrendered guns were required to be, would indicate that this Type 44 may indeed have been a battlefield pick-up. Perhaps it did come home in some Digger's kit bag, a symbol of victor over vanquished, when the sun set on the Empire of the Rising Sun.

DARWIN MILITARY MUSEUM - DMM Blog

Their names liveth forevermore

Petty Officer Harold Ronald Healey, RAN 20751 (Retired): A Quiet Hero

Pearl Harbor and the Darwin Raids – a comparison

Vernon Lionel Marsh and the HMAT A36 Boonah

The Imperishable ANZACs

WWII: Victory in the Pacific

Author

The Tunnels of East Point: Myth or Fact?

Author

Another mystery solved!

Author

Nugget Raymond and the 'Never-Never'

Author

A Day at the Races

Author

Meet Private Havachatt

Author

Darwin: A city under attack

Author

The WWII Darwin Harbour Anti-Submarine Boom Net and the Maintenance Winch

Author

A Helping Hand: The Darwin RSL sub-branch in need.

Author

Fire!

Relocation

Restoration

Finding the range: The world's largest WW2 rangefinder lives in Darwin.

Author

What's so special about the Barr and Stroud?

The Passing Parade

Author

'Our' Flag: An unlikely survivor

Author

Harry Havelett: An almost forgotten Territorian of The Great War.

Author

Mistaken identity revealed

The Military Museum lends a helping hand

Author

Vanuatu's WW2 history

The life and death of Imperial Japanese Navy Admiral, Isoroku Yamamoto.

Author

The son of a Samurai

Becoming Isoroku Yamamoto

Yamamoto's rise through the ranks

Yamamoto opposes war

The Japanese hit Pearl Harbour

The Japanese lose ground

Yamamoto's final flight

The Budgen Brothers: A tale of separation, service, loss and mystery.

Author

The family separates

William enlists

Missing in action

Royden's rejection

The Budgen Family mystery

Florence disappears

Royden remains

A Luger with provenance

Author

Hitting the auction

The Luger's original owner

A brave Australian soldier

The end of the War for 'JG'

An Introduction to Martini Action Firearms

Author

A rifle to defend an empire

The birth of the Martini rifle

The evolution of the Martini rifle

The Martini rifle in the field

A timeless rifle

In Flanders Field He Lay: Private Matthew Garr

Author

A Filipino Volunteer

Going AWOL

A bout of illness

​Belgium: His final resting place

His lost grave

The Japanese Type 44 Cavalry Carbine

Author

Belgium: His final resting place