Nov 15, 2008
Ask the average Australian to name just one - single battle of the First World War; undoubtably the name ‘Gallipoli’ will be amongst the top three answers. Ask for an example of a Second World War battle and I would suggest that possibly 8 out of 10 people will mention the ‘Kokoda Track’. But go one further and ask them to provide the name of a soldier who fought in either action - and the vast majority would be very hard pressed, to name just one. Unless of course they had a grandfather or other such relative who served during either conflict.
Put that same question (i.e. name a digger) to any Military Historian and they should be able to roll off a dozen names from the top of their head, without even thinking. BUT now ask them to name any ‘digger’ who served in Both the Gallipoli and Kokoda campaigns - and their knowledge may be exhausted. In fact, your average person would be totally astounded to learn that any Australians at all - could possibly have fought in both of these battles. Arguabley the two most defining battles in Australia’s short history.
Well - if ever there was a name to be associated with these two campaigns, then James (Jim) Picken COWEY is that name. If ever a man was to wear the mantle of ‘natural born soldier’, then James Picken COWEY is that man. And it is a very sad indictment on our society that this man’s name has been allowed to fade away - into the misty shadows of obscurity.
Yes - James Picken COWEY served in Two World Wars. Yes - he fought at both Gallipoli and Kokoda and like any other veteran who did ”his bit” for his country; he would shun the thought of being declared a hero. But what really is a hero?? Especially, when in this modern day and age - you only need to excel in sport and the crowd will declare you a hero.
Jim COWEY was born on the 23rd of February, 1890 at Brunswick in Victoria, Australia. By 1914, he was a strapping young man who stood 5 foot 10 inches tall and weighed in at 12 stone. He had previously served in the Militia for over 3 years but discharged with the rank of Lance Sergeant, prior to the outbreak of the Great War. So when the call went out in 1914 to help the mother country, Australians rushed to enlist and Jim was amongst them. In fact, too many men volunteered for service and the “Australian” Division was so quickly filled - that a fourth Brigade of Infantry was offered to Great Britain and this was accepted on the 03rd of September, 1914. With his prior military service and rank, Jim was a natural selection for ‘Non Commissioned Officer’ and he would quickly be appointed as a Sergeant in the fledgling AIF (Australian Imperial Force) as part of the 14th Infantry Battalion, 4th Brigade.
14th Battalion Colour Patch
It would be bad enough for any Mother, to bid her ’soldier son’ farewell just once; as he headed off to war. But little could Jim’s mother envisage that she would have to endure this pain twice over. The first time in 1914 and then again in 1941. With his Service Number of 426 and aged 24 years, the First World War Embarkation Roll has Jim leaving Australia on the 22nd of December, 1914 from port Melbourne aboard HMAT Ulysses.
After training in Egypt, the 14th Battalion landed ashore at Gallipoli on the first day (25th April, 1915) numbering 25 Officers and 915 other ranks. After the initial confusion of the first few days, the 14th Battalion was assigned to hold the position of COURTNEY’s POST, just south of QUINN’s POST. A most perilous position. Barely 9 days after the landing (03rd May, 1915), Jim received a Gun Shot Wound to his left forearm. It was so severe, that he required evacuation and was subsequently shipped to England. This may have proved fortuitous as he missed both the Turkish onslaught of the 19th May and the ill-fated August offensive. He returned to Gallipoli, only to be evacuated again to Lemnos due to influenza. By mid November, he was evacuated once and for all and disembarked at Alexandria from the Dardenelles on the 14th.
46th Battalion Colour Patch
During the great restructure and expansion of the AIF from 2 Divisions to 5 Divisions after Gallipoli, Jim found himself transferred to the 46th Infantry Battalion. Over the next few months, he rose through the ranks from C.S.M (Company Sergeant Major) to R.S.M (Regimental Sergeant Major) by July of 1916. By this time the 46th Battalion was mixed up in the turmoil, that was the Western Front. Obviously Jim’s experience and ability was recognised and he was Commissioned to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant in August of 1916 in London. By March of 1917, he would be promoted again to the rank of full Lieutenant whilst serving on secondment to the 13th Training Battalion.
On the 29th of September, 1917 Jim was wounded for the second time through a GSW (gun shot wound) to the forehead near the right eye. Again, the wound was severe enough to necessitate his evacuation to England. He was not fit enough to return to his unit, until Christmas Day of 1917.
As Intelligence Officer during operations west of Bellenglise on the 18th to the 19th of September, 1918 his gallantry and devotion to duty was to earn him the Military Cross. It is recorded “When the line was held up by heavy machine-gun fire, he dashed forward, organised a party and pushed forward to a sunken road, where he established posts under intense machine-gun fire. It was owing to his fine work in assisting to organise the line that the position was held”. His award was promulgated in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No. 10 - dated 29th of January, 1920.
On the 21st of September, 1918 Jim was granted ‘Special Leave’ to Australia (due to his early enlistment) and he embarked at Taranto on the 08th of October, 1918. Subsequently, his overseas service was officially recorded as commencing on the 22nd of December 1914 and concluding on the 02nd of December, 1918. His appointment as ‘Officer’ was terminated on the 31st of January, 1919 owing to the war’s end.
A letter written by COWEY to a “Mrs Gunn”, in late 1938 has been retained in his service record. There is evidence in this letter to suggest that Jim may have been serving as an Officer in the Militia (between World War 1 & World War 2) as well as the fact that he may have ‘handed in’ his war medals as an act of protest. As a result of this letter, Mrs Gunn expressed her opinion to the Deputy Commissioner (Dept. of Repatriation) with regards to Jim’s alleged state of mind. As with any veteran, the stresses of combat may have had an influence on one’s point of view.
However there is absolutely NO doubting Jim’s state of mind and mental clarity when one reads of his actions and demeanour during the Kokoda campaign.
When World War 2 began, James Picken COWEY was motivated to sign up for a second time in service of his country. The World War Two Nominal Roll indicates that he joined the Militia (CMF) on the 22nd of August, 1940 at the age of 50 years. Just over twelve months later, the 39th Militia Battalion was formed (September 1941) and Jim’s relatives witnessed him sailing off to a World War with a nightmarish sense of deja vu. The battalion set sail for New Guinea on the 29th of December, 1941 aboard the Aquitania. By July of 1942, James COWEY would find himself marching across some of the most rugged terrain in the world with ‘A’ Company of the 39th Militia Battalion….poorly trained and poorly equipped….to take on an enemy, regarded as the best jungle fighters in the world.
39th Militia Battalion Colour Patch
After having walked across the Kokoda Track - ‘A’ Company of the 39th Battalion found themselves advancing towards Kokoda Village on the 8th of August, 1942. The village had already been fought for……and lost……to the Japanese over one week earlier. Upon reaching the Kokoda Plateau, Sergeant Jim COWEY fired a flare into the air as a signal to his C.O. Major Alan CAMERON that they had “re-taken” the village. This signal went unnoticed and subsequently, no reinforcements would be sent. ‘A’ Company was on it’s own.
The second battle for Kokoda is well documented (www.kokodahistorical.com) and by 7pm on the 10th of August, the Australians were forced again to withdraw and surrender the village. But an account, written by J.D. McCay of the 39th Battalion, is well worth recounting:-
“Just on dusk there was a nice little shower of rain and the first assault wave came in and we stopped ‘em. My Bren gun group, Bill Drummand and Bill Spriggs, were firing and I can see the gun firing now - no kidding, you could see the bullets going up the barrel and it ran red-hot. Vern Scattergood had a Bren too and he was firing wildly. We stopped ‘em again. Then there was a bit of a pause before the next wave came in and overran us. So we said, “We’d better get out because they’ve gone past us” Well old Scattergood (or should I say young Scattergood? - he was younger than me) he got excited. He was standing up firing the Bren from the hip and that was the last I saw of young Scattergood. He must have been hit. We couldn’t find him in the dark and we moved back. After we came out of the rubber, we found Johnnie Stormont in the Company Headquarters dug-out. We tried to put a shell dressing on him but the wound was too big and he was dying. We had to leave him. We only moved a few yards and we were challenged! It was old Jim Cowey …….the coolest, bravest man I have ever known. There he was, in the kneeling position, with his rifle pointing at us. Jim’s motto was “if you were a digger, he had to get you out”. The rest of the company had gone, but he’s stayed to get us out because he knew we’d been left behind.
Old Jim had picked up about three of four of us by now and he said, “Just stay quietly” and then he dispersed us a bit. And then he got Roy Neal and Larry Downes, and I think that was about all of us. You know most were dead then. There was no wounded in our group. Then Jim said, “Good, we’ll walk out”. I was all for running out but there were Japs everywhere. They were throwing grenades into weapon-pits, they were searching under huts, and Jim said, “We’ll walk out, they don’t know who we are”. And if you don’t mind, casually got up, put us into single file and walked us out over the bloody bridge”. We walked across the airstrip into the dense scrub and then Jim said, “Good! We’ll rest here till daylight”. So he puts us down and then ‘clunk’, being a youth - and mentally and physically exhausted, I fell straight asleep. But I suppose old Jim Cowey, being the amazing soldier that he was, stayed awake all night. “
After hiding out for the night, Jim COWEY’s party attempted to return to their own lines. The story is best told by author Lex McCaulay (Arrow Books) in his superb account of the Kokoda Campaign, titled BLOOD AND IRON:-
“Staff Sergeant Cowey’s party found the main Kokoda/Deniki track and began to follow it. They came to the Japanese base area with supplies piled at the base of tree and realised just what size force “C” Company had come up against when they tried to advance up the track to Kokoda on the 08th of August. Cowey continued along the track, to the dismay of some of the others. Suddenly they met Privated Drummond and Spriggs, also alone, with their Bren. The gun had seized, but they had only one magazine with three rounds left. Cowey called a halt. There were 10 in the group, with Tommy guns, rifles and a few grenades, but little ammunition. Cowey led the men, but a Japanese machine-gun opened fire, narrowly missing his head with the first burst. Cowey then demonstrated coolness under fire to the other Aussies. He leaned against the tree nearby. Brought up his .303 rifle, aimed and shot dead the Japanese gunner - who was pushed aside by his partner, so Cowey reloaded at the shoulder and shot dead this man also, then continued to kill every Japanese who climbed behind the gun. Of course, a hornet’s nest had been aroused and the Japanese were swarming.”
On page 94 to 95 of Lex McCaulay’s book, he concludes COWEY’s ordeal:-
“When the men of ‘A’ Company began arriving at the Isurava Rest House, it was then that the soldiers with Jim Cowey realised just what the previous days had taken from that brave man. He was so exhausted that the physical effort of eating was almost beyond him. He had stayed behind to make sure that as far as possible, no Australian was left behind. He had taken command of those he did find - had led them and continued to teach them while bringing them out from the midst of numerous Japanese. He had set a high standard of personal coolness and courage in action, had endured hunger - cold and rain, at 52 years of age. Jim Cowey received no medals for his service and the Kokoda Track, but is well remembered by the unit survivors.”
As pointed out by Lex McCaulay, the whole Kokoda Track campaign took it out of this man. So much so that the World War Two Nominal Roll has him discharging from the army on the 29th of October, 1943. Well before the end of the Second World War. But nobody would disagree, Jim COWEY had certainly done more than his fair share.
I have no idea if Jim COWEY actually wore his service ribbons on his uniform, prior to his embarkation to New Guinea. However, one can only speculate that any AIF man would be forced to refrain from the usual “Choco” comments when they saw the colours of a “Military Cross” alongside a 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal on a Militia Sergeant’s chest.
Add to these, the campaign medals of a man who had served in Papua New Guinea - and we have a very impressive set of decorations. And if he wore these war medals every Anzac Day - and marched under the banner of the 39th Battalion - he certainly would have been held in the very highest regard.
James Picken COWEY
14th Battalion - AIF (1914 - 1916)
46th Battalion - AIF (1916 - 1919)
39th Battalion - CMF (1940-43)
A true AUSTRALIAN legend.
Recommended Reading: BLOOD AND IRON by Lex McAuley (Arrow Books)….. Thoroughly researched and a wealth of facts…..without a doubt, one of the best books on the subject of the Kokoda Track - I cannot recommend it enough.
Wish to visit the battlefield of Kokoda? www.kokodahistorical.com
First World War Embarkation Roll.
World War Two Nominal Roll
Archives of Australia
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