This year marks the 70th Anniversary of the Japanese midget submarine attack upon Sydney Harbour.  In accordance with this, the Kuttabul Commemoration Project was established back in 2010 and a search made to locate a direct descendant of each and every allied sailor who lost his life that night.

WHEN:- On the 31st of May, 2012 a four hour Commemorative Sydney Harbour cruise will be conducted in support of Sydney Legacy.  Boarding time commences at 10.15am and the Sydney Harbour Cruise will conclude at 2.30pm

IMAGE RIGHT: The Kuttabul Commemoration 70th Anniversary Cruise is in support of Sydney Legacy .  As a result of the Japanese attack, 21 allied sailors lost their lives.  Legacy has been supporting the families of our servicemen who have paid the supreme sacrifice and we are asking that you support Legacy, so that their valuable work may continue.

WHERE:- Sydney Harbour.  It is hard to imagine that one of the most beautiful harbors in the world, was once a battlefield.  Special permission has been granted for our cruise boat to enter restricted Naval waters, so that an Official Wreath Laying Ceremony can take place on the water, near where the depot ship KUTTABUL was sunk and 21 allied sailors lost their lives.  We board this vessel at Wharf 9 in Darling Harbour.  Wharf 9 is just north of the Sydney Aquarium and is opposite the National Maritime Museum.

IMAGE LEFT: The luxury Sydney Harbour Cruise vessel operated by All Occasion Cruises will be the venue for this memorable event.

CRUISE VESSEL:- The luxury Sydney Harbour Cruise boat “Bella Vista” operated by All Occasion Cruises will provide the venue.  This vessel provides an open plan dining area where a sit down meal will be provided.  It also offers ample deck space to provide you with an uninterrupted view of the Official Wreath Laying Ceremony which will be conducted upon the water.

IMAGE RIGHT: The spacious interior of the Sydney Harbour Cruise vessel, “Bella Vista” which will be the venue for the Kuttabul Commemoration 70th Anniversary of the Japanese midget submarine attack.

COMMEMORATIVE EVENT:- This event was born through a need to make contact with a direct descendant of each and every allied sailor who lost his life on the night of the 31st May / 1st June during the dark days of 1942.  With the generous assistance of the geneology group “Find My Past Australisia” and “Genes Reunited”, the Kuttabul Commemoration Project began a two year search which has led them to this event.  Whilst we have not been successful for this particular anniversary, it is hoped that all twenty one sailors will be represented for the 75th Anniversary during 2017.

COST:- Price per head is $80.00  This includes a four hour Sydney Harbour Cruise, hot buffet lunch and unlimited beer, wine and soft drinks.  Tickets are very limited.  Please contact Gary Traynor on mobile 0449 692401 or email: customerservice@medalsgonemissing.com to secure your seats which are selling fast.

IMAGE LEFT: Without the invaluable assistance of Find My Past Australasia, the Kuttabul Commemoration Project would not have been so successful.

It is tragic when any person loses their life as a result of war.  What sets these men apart is they were billeted on a non-combat vessel in what was considered to be a relatively safe harbour.  Sadly, they form a unique group of men whose death came about as a direct result of enemy action upon the city of Sydney.  Unlike Darwin and other mainland cities which suffered multiple attacks, Sydney was only raided once by manned attack craft.

IMAGE RIGHT:- Genes Reunited has assisted the organisers of the Kuttabul Commemoration Project to trace down the direct descendants of the men who were killed aboard KUTTABUL during the Japanese midget submarine attack upon Sydney Harbour.  However the work is not over yet!  If you are a descendant of one of these men, please contact the Project Manager Gary Traynor through this website.  We are still looking for descendants in preparation for the 75th Anniversary in 2017.

KUTTABUL – THE HISTORY:- Reknown historian, author and Kuttabul expert, Steven L. CARRUTHERS will be on board the “Bella Vista” and will narrate the history as the cruise unfolds.  Steven is the author of the historical accounts ‘Australia Under Seige’ and ‘Japanese Submarine Raiders 1942 – A Maritime Mystery’.

IMAGE LEFT: Historian and author Steven L. CARRUTHERS.  Having written two books on the Japanese midget submarine attack upon Sydney Harbour, Steven’s research into this subject is what other historians refer to when studying this action.

Steven has served in the Royal Australian Navy as an anti-submarine specialist and worked within Sydney Harbour as a NSW Fisheries officer, tagging abalone for a research project.  He then served as a commercial diver in the North Sea, Nigeria and West Africa.

IMAGE RIGHT: Steven’s first book on the Kuttabul and Japanese midget submarine attack upon Sydney Harbour was ‘Australian Under Siege’.  This book was the first book to deal with this attack and the response from veterans and eye witnesses was overwhelming.

As a result of the additional evidence which was presented to Steven after the release of his book, ‘Australia Under Siege’, he was further challenged to expand on this story and offer new information which was not previously available.  This further evidence resulted in the release of his second book which was titled ‘Japanese Submarine Raiders 1942 – A Maritime Mystery’.

IMAGE LEFT: ‘Japanese Submarine Raiders 1942 – A Maritime Mystery’.  This book by Steven L. Carruthers came about as a result of additional information supplied to him by veterans and eye witnesses to the Japanese midget submarine attack.

Do you wish to know more about the Kuttabul Commemoration Project?  Or do you wish to attend the Kuttabul Commemoration 70th Anniversary Sydney Harbour Cruise?  Please contact the Project Manager, Gary Traynor to secure your tickets.

OVERVIEW:-

TIME & DATE: Thursday 31st of May, 2012.  Boarding time is 10.15am at Wharf 9 – Darling Harbour (near the Sydney Aquarium on the ‘city’ side of Darling Harbour).  Wharf 9 is opposite the National Maritime Museum.

COST: Price is $80.00 per head.  Includes a four hour Sydney Harbour Cruise.  Hot buffet lunch & unlimited beer, wine and soft drinks.

NON PROFIT ORGANISATION: The Kuttabul Commemoration 70th Anniversary Sydney Harbour Cruise is a NOT FOR PROFIT event in support of Sydney Legacy; a registered charity.  Any other cruise which is being conducted in the name of Kuttabul and the Japanese midget submarine attack is a commercial venture and not in support of Legacy.

OFFICIAL WREATH LAYING: This is the only commemorative event which will lay a wreath on the water, near where Kuttabul was sunk during the Japanese midget submarine attack of 1942.  Special permission has been granted by the Royal Australian Navy to enter restricted naval waters so that the vessel can stand close to the position where Kuttabul went down with the loss of 21 allied lives.

VISIT US ON FACEBOOK: Look us up on face book by searching under the words KUTTABUL COMMEMORATION PROJECT.

KUTTABUL NEWSLETTER: We have produced monthly newsletters which historical facts and eye witness accounts.  Many stories previously unpublished.  If you wish to receive these newsletters, please contact Project Manager Gary Traynor who would be happy to email any back issues to you.

Patrick O’Keeffe was born on 25 April 1887 in Tocumwal NSW. He was the second of thirteen children of James O’Keeffe and Emily Godier. James was born in County Cork and Emily was born in a tent on the Victorian Goldfields.

Patrick started his working life as an employee of the Post Master Generals Department. He rose to the rank of Telegraph Operator. While working in northern NSW he met Violet Irvin in the small town of Tooraweenah. Violet parents ran the only hotel in the town. The Irvin family sold the hotel in Tooraweenah and purchased a hotel in Beechworth Victoria sometime after 1911.

IMAGE RIGHT: Sergeant Patrick O’KEEFFE, M.M. who served with the 4th Infantry Battalion, AIF during the Great War.  His war service medals are missing and his family would desperately love to find them.  Can you help?

Patrick enlisted on 22 November 1915 at Casula NSW. Surprisingly, his service record as per the National Archives of Australia indicates that Patrick had been previously rejected for service with His Majesty’s services for being “physically unfit”.  Patrick must have shown skills in leadership, as by the 2 February, 1916 he was acting Sergeant with the 4th Infantry Battalion. By the 18 April 1916 he was acting Company Sergeant Major.  According to the First World War Embarkation Roll, number 6064 Patrick O’KEEFFE embarked aboard the transport ship (A18) HMAT Wiltshire on the 22nd of August, 1916 from Port Sydney.  He disembarked at Plymouth on 12 October 1916.  Whilst the First World War Embarkation Roll indicates that he held the rank of ‘Private’ at the date of boarding ship, his records would confirm his rank as ‘Acting Sergeant’ in December of that year.   Patrick took part in more training, including a Platoon Commander course. Showing his aptitude with automatic weapons, he qualified as “Very good” at the Lewis Gun Training School.

In April 1917 he was transferred for a month to the Cold Stream Guards at Windsor. In June 1917 he was transferred to the 4th Battalion in France. In early October 1917 he was wounded by shrapnel in the Battle of Broodseinde. He was sent back to England to recover from his wounds. In late November in 1917 in was back in France with the 4th Battalion.

IMAGE LEFT: The ‘white over green’ colour patch of the 4th Infantry Battalion, AIF.

In June 1918 he was promoted to Lance Sergeant. In September 1918 he was wounded again and sent to General Hospital Portsmouth. He was back to strength in October 1918 in Army Head Quarters in London. Patrick was granted leave in June 1919 to attend the Central Telegraph School in Glasgow. He was awarded the Military Medal on 17 June 1919 for his actions at Hargicourt in September 1918.

His citation for the Military Medal read “Sergeant Patrick O’Keeffe,  6064.  4th Battalion AIF.  For Conspicuous bravery and coolness during operations near Hargicourt on 11th September 1918.  When his platoon was surrounded by the enemy he set a splendid example to the men and ably assisted to extricate the platoon from a difficult situation. Previously he led a daylight patrol under machine gun fire about 1000 yards from our line and when surrounded he gallantry led his men and fought his way back to our lines with very useful information. He set a splendid example to the men under him.” The citation was signed by Major General Commanding 1st Australian Division.2 October 1918.

IMAGE RIGHT: An example of the war service medals, awarded to Sergeant Patrick O’KEEFFE of the 4th Infantry Battalion, AIF.  From left to right:- Military Medal, British War Medal and the Victory Medal.  These missing medals are sought by the family of Sergeant Patrick O’KEEFFE.  If you have these missing medals in your collection or know of their whereabouts, they would be most grateful to hear from you.

Patrick returned to Australia on 15 November 1919 aboard “Ypuanga” arriving in Sydney on 9 January 1920. He was discharged from the army in March 1920. He and his brother law opened a General Store near Five Dock. He later opened a small Post Office at Wareemba where he worked for the rest of his life. Patrick became a founding member of Five Dock RSL Club and worked for many years helping many returned soldiers.

In July 1921 he married Violet Irvin and they settled in the back of the shop they owned. They had two daughters born in 1922 and 1926. Both daughters married and moved to Kingsgrove. Mollie the eldest daughter married James Kelly. Patricia the youngest daughter married Gordon Parkinson. Patrick and Violet had ten grand children. Patrick enjoyed going to the races or watching the local Australian Rules Team in his spare time.

The spelling of his surname is unusual in that it contains a second letter ‘f’.  His missing war medals will reflect this in the stamping of his name on the edge of the awards.  Patrick was always very concerned his surname  was spelt correctly. “Its eeffe” he would always say.

6064 Sergeant Patrick O’KEEFFE M.M. died in July 1982 at the age of 95. For the last few years of his life he was living in a nursing home in Drummoyne.

Carl Parkinson

9 February 2012

Stoker Ray MAJOR – B2993

12 Jan 1923 – 12 Jan 2012

Ray Major from Albany Creek, Queensland, was the last known survivor of HMAS Kuttabul, which was sunk in Sydney Harbour by a Japanese torpedo soon after midnight on 1 June 1942. Ray, who was a 19-year-old second-class stoker at the time, had slung his hammock above the stokers mess as usual that night.  “Next thing I knew I was flying through the air then I hit the back (of the ship),” he said. “There was rubbish all around me and I was clearing that when I noticed a fellow just over from me and he was in trouble.  So I took care of a beam that came off the top of the lockers and was across his legs and got him up on his feet and we crawled out,” said Ray.

IMAGE RIGHT: Stoker Raymond MAJOR, Service Number B2993.  Ray was the last known survivor of the sinking of the RAN depot ship Kuttabul, by Japanese midget submarines at 12.30am on the 01st June, 1942.

Ray remembers his call for help went unheeded and he realised they would have to brave the cold water.“So I grabbed hold of the sailor and said, “let’s get the hell out of here” because the water was rising and rising,” he said.  “We went over the side and he grabbed hold of the rail and wouldn’t let go. I told him, ‘Come on, we’ve got to get to the boat ramp’, and the next thing, fellers were shouting out… and picked us up”.

The Kuttabul was a converted harbour ferry requisitioned by the Navy and used to billet naval personnel at its mooring alongside Garden Island.  About 12.30 am a Japanese midget submarine fired two torpedoes at the heavy cruiser USS Chicago but missed.  The first torpedo ran up on the rocks near Gun Wharf on Garden Island and failed to explode; the other passed under the Dutch submarine K9 and Kuttabul and struck a concrete retaining wall.  The explosion ripped the bottom out of the barracks vessel, which sank quickly with the loss of 21 Australian and British sailors.

IMAGE LEFT: The wreck of the KUTTABUL where she was sunk at Garden Island on the 1st of June, 1942.  It was from this vessel that Ray rescued one of his shipmates.

Ray was one of only three sailors to survive from the stokers mess.  As a result of the explosion Ray discharged medically unfit from the Navy in July 1943 on a full disability pension.  Miffed that he was no longer deemed physically able to carry out his duties, he became a merchant seaman to prove to himself that he could do the job.

IMAGE RIGHT: Stoker Ray MAJOR in his retirement.  With his passing, goes the last known survivor of the Kuttabul crew who were on board when the vessel was destroyed by a Japanese torpedo.

Born in Brisbane, Ray joined the Navy in 1941 as a Steward rating before transferring to the Engineering Branch.  During his service career he served on the auxiliary minesweeper HMAS Narani and the cable layer HMAS Bangalow, which laid the anti-submarine indicator loops at the entrance to Darwin Harbour.  After the war Ray worked as a cane cutter in Mackay before moving to the Sunshine Coast where he worked in the construction industry until his retirement.  Ray passed away peacefully on his 89th birthday.

Hail and farewell!

By Steven Carruthers

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:  Steven Carruthers served in the Royal Australian Navy from 1969 to 1977 and specialized as a radar plotter and ASAC (anti-submarine air controller).  He has written two books on the subject of Kuttabul:- Australia Under Siege & Japanese Submarine Raiders 1942.  Steven is the official historian of the Kuttabul Commemoration Harbour Cruise in accordance with the 70th Anniversary of the Japanese midget submarine attack upon Sydney Harbour.

Private Frank Richard ARCHIBALD was born at Walcha, New South Wales on February 17th, 1915 to Frank and Sarah Archibald.  One of 12 children; he would find himself fighting alongside his fellow Australians in many faraway places.  However, law of the time said  that he was not a citizen of Australia.  To the broader population back home, he was a black man in a white man’s army.  But to his mates on the front, he was neither black – nor white ….. he was ‘khaki’ like the rest of them.  And Frank, like many other indigenous Australians would prove his worth on the battlefield and shed his life’s blood in service of his country.

The Archibald family today are well known in the Armidale area. They are direct descendants of Robert King, or King Bobby, a renowned Aboriginal leader at the time of colonisation.

IMAGE RIGHT: NX15456 Private Frank Richard ARCHIBALD of the 2/2nd Infantry Battalion, AIF.

Frank Richard Archibald lived in the Armidale-Walcha area until 1935 when the family moved to Burnt Bridge Mission, near Kempsey. The family moved to the Mission after welfare authorities threatened to remove their children. The government authorities promised that, if the family moved to the Mission, their children would not be taken.

Private Frank’s military service began during May of 1940 when he enlisted into the AIF at Kempsey at the age of 25.   He was assigned to the 2/2nd Infantry Battalion which was part of the 16th Brigade.  Frank’s younger brother, Ronald Archibald, and his uncle, Richard Archibald (Senior) signed up in Kempsey around the same time.

After training at Greta, Frank sailed from Sydney in August 1940.

IMAGE LEFT: Colour Patch of the 2/2nd Infantry Battalion, AIF (Australian Imperial Force).  Bearing the colours of ‘purple over green’, note the grey border which denotes the second AIF.  The original 2nd Infantry Battalion of the First World War had the same colour patch but minus the grey border.

He arrived in Palestine in September, and after more training, he served in the Battle of Bardia then followed action in the battles of Tobruk, Benghazi and on to Greece and Crete.

In the evacuation of Greece, Frank was in a group of twelve cut off by the German army, but they made their way to the coast where they got a fishing boat which took them to Crete. On the day that they were evacuated from Crete, the enemy sent over 60 bombers and heavily bombed the village in which they had taken refuge.

In March 1942, the 2/2nd Battalion was to leave Palestine and arrive in Ceylon (current day Sri Lanka) on the 27th of March, 1942.  It was the desire of Winston Churchill that the Australians of the 16th & 17th Brigades, bolster the British defences in the zone which included Burma and India.  However, Prime Minister Curtain and the Australian Government finally ordered these troops back home to defend Australia. This was a disappointment of the British Government, however the Japanese had landed at Gona on the northern coast of New Guinea and had already pushed south to the village of Kokoda. They sailed from Ceylon aboard the SS City of Canterbury in July, arriving home on the 4th of August, 1942.

A few weeks later Private Frank was welcomed home by his community at a public function.

IMAGE RIGHT: The remains of an Australian weapons pit dug in on the forward slope of Imita Ridge.  From this position, there would be no retreat for the Australian forces.  This image gives a good indication of the jungle conditions ….. a far cry from the country around Walcha.

After short leave, Frank left Brisbane for Port Moresby.  Arriving on the 21st of September, 1942 they were to remain at Moresby on local defence duty for the next ten days.  The major battles of Isurava and Brigade Hill had already been fought and the Australian troops had pulled back to Imita Ridge where they dug in.  The fresh troops of the 25th Brigade (2/25th Battalion, 2/31st & 2/33rd) supported by the 3rd Infantry Battalion AMF (commonly referred to as ‘militia’) had been told that there would be no retreat from this position.  They were to stand and fight ….. or die trying.

At this time, the Kokoda Track started from McDonald’s Corner just outside Port Moresby.  It ran approximately 96 km across New Guinea, through the Owen Stanley Ranges to Kokoda.  From there, the trail continued beyond to the coastal lowlands on the north coast.

The track crosses some of the most rugged and isolated country in the world. The altitude reaching 2,250 metres at Mount Bellamy.  The climate combines hot humid days with intensely cold nights, torrential rainfall and endemic tropical diseases such as malaria.  It is passable only on foot.

IMAGE LEFT: The Kokoda Trail, between Alola and Isurava when heading north.  This is the type of rugged and mountainous country which faced Frank and his comrades during the advance to Kokoda village.

As the Kokoda campaign developed – this had sever repercussions for army logistics, the size of the forces that could be deployed and the type of warfare that could be fought.

There were many days where our Australian infantry were moving forward and fighting the enemy but they did not really have enough food, water and ammunition as it was so difficult for the army to deliver these things along the narrow, muddy foot track.

We know from the many letters that Private Frank Archibald sent home to his mother Sarah; that just surviving on the track was a struggle, let alone doing battle with the well- equipped Japanese troops.  There are accounts in Frank’s letters about how he used his bush skills- for example – to help his fellow soldiers collect water for drinking.

IMAGE RIGHT: A photograph of Australian troops pushing through the mosquito infested swamps of Sanananda.  It was in this living hell that Private Frank Archibald fought and was killed, whilst attempting to save the life of another.  Whilst this photo is actually of men of the 7th Division Cavalry Regiment, it is the same conditions faced by the 2/2nd Battalion.

On the 24th of November 1942 with the beaches of  the northern coastline of New Guinea  only 4 or 5 kilometres away, 1942 Frank was killed in action.  He was 27 years old.  Fighting in the fetid swampland around Sanananda,  he was shot by the enemy while trying to save his non-Aboriginal friend, who survived the action.

Frank’s younger brother, Ronald, also fought on the Kokoda trail. Ronald became ill with malaria and was medically evacuated, we think this happened a few days after Frank was killed.

IMAGE LEFT: Bomana War Cemetery, Papua New Guinea where Frank Archibald lies buried.

Both Frank and his brother Ronald were regular correspondents, sending many letters home to their mother, Sarah.  Sarah kept all the letters from her sons, and this collection is now held with pride by Aunty Grace Archibald. The letters give sobering insights into the experiences of the two young men as they fought in foreign lands.

A letter written to Frank’s mother Sarah shortly after his death by a senior sergeant Ron Diamond states that “I can honestly say Frank was one of the most popular boys in the battalion and his cheery disposition and ready smile, even in the darkest hours, made him an inspiration to us all”. This showed the high regards held for her son by his fellow-soldiers.

Today Private Frank Richard Archibald lies beside his 600 fellow fallen Anzac’s at the Bomana War Cemetery near Port Moresby, New Guinea.

He is buried with full military honours.

However his spirit will not be truly brought to rest until he has received a proper, Aboriginal, culturally appropriate ceremony.

IMAGE LEFT: An image of the war service medals awarded to Private Frank Richard ARCHIBALD, 2/2nd Infantry Battalion, AIF.  From left to right:- 1939-1945 Star, Africa Star, Pacific Star, Defence Medal, 1939-1945 Australia Service Medal and the 1939-1945 War Medal.

IMAGE RIGHT: Aunty Grace Gordon (Archibald) and Uncle Richard Archibald with Frank’s war service medals and Company photograph.

STORY AND SOME PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGES WRITTEN AND GENEROUSLY SUPPLIED BY THE KOKODA ABORIGINAL SERVICEMAN’s CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE.

IMAGE LEFT: Front page of the Illawarra Mercury, showing the first media article that detailed Franks army service.

PLEASE NOTE:  The Kokoda Aboriginal Serviceman’s Campaign Committee is seeking to raise funds, in order for members of his family to attend his graveside and carry out the appropriate Aboriginal cultural ceremonies that are needed to enable Frank’s spirit to be brought respectfully to rest.  It also hopes to raise community awareness of all Australians as to sacrifice by indiginous servicemen and women during defence of Australia.  For more information, please contact Brendan Fitzgerald on telephone 0431 014 818 or email brendon@illawarraams.com.au

Neil Frederick ROBERTS was born on the 4th of September, 1923 at North Sydney in New South Wales.  According to the World War Two Nominal Roll, he enlisted into the Royal Australian Navy on the 24th of November, 1941.  Within six short months, Neil would become am unwitting part of Australian military history.

IMAGE RIGHT: Kuttabul survivor Neil Frederick ROBERTS with his friend Alan Yourell at the 2011 commemoration of the sinking of the depot ship.

On the evening of the 31st of May, 1942 three Japanese midget submarines made their way into Sydney Harbour.  One of those submarines, M-24 would fire two torpedoes in an attempt to sink the American Heavy Cruiser, U.S.S. Chicago.  The torpedoes missed the intended target, however this action had catastrophic consequences for 21 men who were billeted aboard the depot ship, KUTTABUL.  Neil Frederick ROBERTS was one of the lucky ones.

Neil ROBERTS, Service Number S5973 was just 18 years of age on that fateful night.  He had been in serving in the Royal Australian Navy for just over half a year and held the rank of Seaman.  Call it fate, an act of God or pure luck; but Neil would be graced with 70 more years on this earth before he was called up to a new life.  A devout Christian, one can only wonder if this event which nearly took his life during a time of war would be the driving force behind his faith?

IMAGE LEFT: The depot ship KUTTABUL, laying in water where it sunk.  Often referred to incorrectly as H.M.A.S. Kuttabul, the vessel was not in fact commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy at the time of the Japanese midget submarine attack.  The current naval base, HMAS Kuttabul has of course, been named in honour of this depot ship.

Able Seaman Neil Frederick ROBERTS passed away on the 24th of November, 2011 at the James Milson Nursing Home on Milsons Point, aged 88.  He was one of just two surviving veterans of the depot ship Kuttabul.  With his passing, sadly now – there is only one.

Neil would not have called himself a hero.  He would probably have been the first to admit that he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.  But because of that posting on the ferry Kuttabul, Neil became a part of the city of Sydney’s history.  And next year, when Sydney hosts the 70th Anniversary of the Japanese midget submarine attack and the sinking of Kuttabul, we will stop and remember what this man and a score like him – did to make Australia a free land.

God bless you Neil ROBERTS, your passing was a sad day for Australia.

NX27147  James Charles Parsons was born on the 26 September, 1916 in Picton NSW and grew up in Bankstown NSW.

When the Second World War broke out, James enlisted into the Australian army on the 24th June 1940 and completed his training with the 20th Infantry training battalion in Wallgrove NSW.  He was then posted to the 2/30th Infantry battalion AIF, a unit which was raised & trained in Tamworth NSW.

IMAGE LEFT: Colour patch of the 2/30th Infantry Battalion, AIF.

before boarding the ship ‘Johan Van Oldenbarnevelt’ for Singapore to fight the advancing Japanese. During the war James was promoted to the rank for Corporal and worked in the regimental aid post as a medic. James tended to the sick and wounded of the 2/30th battalion during intense fighting against the Japanese including major battles the 2/30th BN fought at Gemencheh, Gemas and Ayer Hitam, and on Singapore Island.

Then on the 15th February 1942 (the fall of Singapore), all Commonwealth forces were either killed or captured as Lieutenant General Arthur Percival, the British commander in Singapore, called for a ceasefire and made the difficult decision to surrender. My great uncle James spent the rest of the war as a POW; as did the whole 8th division in such camps as Changi Gaol, Thomson Road, Mount Pleasant, Caldecott Hill, Bukit Timah & River Valley Road until his release on the 13/9/1945 when he started his long trip home.

During this time, his wife Jean Agnes Parsons was left to fight her own battles – not knowing his fate. They only had less then two years of married life together before he left for war.  Also on the home front, left not knowing his fate was my grandmother Eileen and his brothers Reggie and Charlie.  Charlie also served at the 101st Australian general hospital in Katherine during the war and his other sister Annie and parents Catherine & Reginald (my great grandparents).

After the war ended and James returned to his Blue Mountains home in Katoomba NSW with wife Jean, life wasn’t the same. After over 3 yrs as a POW he suffered poor heath from the conditions of the POW camps.  Sadly, on the 16th November 1966 my great uncle James (Jimmy) died leaving behind his loving wife and family. Jean never remarried as her love for James was still as strong as when they married.  Then 31 yrs later in 1997, Jean & James were finally together again. Their final resting place is at the Katoomba Cemetery with a stunning view of the mountains.

Unfortunately, my family lost possession of the war service medals issued to NX27147  James Charles PARSONS.  These war medals consist of the 1939-1945 Star, the Pacific Star, the 1939-1945 War Medal and the 1939-1945 Australia Service Medal.  If anybody knows the location of these war medals – my family would be most grateful if you could please contact myself or the Medals Gone Missing website; as our family would dearly like to have them back. We enjoy a proud military background in our family and take great pride in our family members who have served this great country. I don’t have an exact date the medals were lost but think it was some time after Jean past away in 1997.   Yours gratefully, Ray Grima 0402126580.

IMAGE RIGHT: The missing war medals of Corporal James Charles PARSONS, 2/30th Battalion AIF.  From left to right:- 1939-1945 Star, Pacific Star, 1939-1945 War Medal & 1939-1945 Australia Service Medal.

Major Ralph Shelley MANSFIELD was battery commander of the guns at Middle Head (Sydney Harbour) on the night that the Japanese midget submarine attack took place on the 31st of May, 1942.  Born on the 12th of March, 1915 at Woollahra in Sydney; he would find himself in the very unique situation of defending Australia against the Japanese ….. in the general vicinity of his birth.  A Militia Officer in the A.M.F (Australian Military Forces) with the service number N73408, he transferred to the A.I.F on the 20th of August, 1942 and was allocated the service number NX105767.

The following narrative is part of a transcript; of an interview conducted between himself and his daughter Jennifer LAMB during 1999 and covers the period in Australia’s history when the very heart of Sydney was audaciously attacked by three Japanese midget submarines.  This attack resulted in the sinking of the naval depot ship, KUTTABUL and the loss of 21 allied lives.  It is the first in a series of personal histories which has been generously supplied to support the KUTTABUL COMMEMORATION PROJECT and reproduced with the kind permission of Ralph’s family.

IMAGE RIGHT: Major Ralph Shelley MANSFIELD photographed on ‘West Head’ in Sydney Harbour during the Second World War.

Major Ralph MANSFIELD:- I was moved to Middle Head at the end of 1941 as the Battery Commander.  The Battery Commander of the guns at Middle Head – the two 6 inch guns – was actually what was called the Inner Defence Fire Commander, so I was responsible for all the harbour defence water-wise.  There were other small Batteries – there was Shelley Bay and other very small ones – stationed around the harbour; Shelley Bay is just the other side of Manly.   Then there were smaller Beauforth guns at each end of the boom gate that went across the Harbour during the war.  I was responsible for all their running and functioning and everything else.  There was another lot of guns over at Parsley Bay – I am talking about Coast Artillery guns.

INTERVIEWER:- So you were responsible for things coming in by water

Major Ralph MANSFIELD:- By water only, not by air.  That was when the Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Mary came in.  We were notified that they were coming.  We were sitting at Middle Head that morning and we saw the Queen Mary in the distance come around and head for the opening and come in at full speed – about 20 knots – round and down the harbour.  It was incredible.  Didn’t want the tugs at all, wasn’t interested in tugs.  It went down the harbour, it stopped, it turned around, faced north east and put its anchor down.  Magnificent sight, seamanship.

INTERVIEWER:- Why did they come in so fast?

Major Ralph MANSFIELD:- To be able to have full control of their turning; if they go slowly, they can’t keep rudder control.  It came through at full speed through the Heads; we thought they were going to come up on the rocks.  They were troopships then – they were completely gutted here and all the bunks put in.

IMAGE LEFT: The Queen Mary in harbour.  Launched in 1934 by Queen Mary herself, she served as a luxury cruise liner until converted to a troopship during 1940.  Her best defence against attack by a submarine was her speed.  She survived the war and now rests at Long Beach, California as a museum.

The Japanese Midget Submarine Attack – 31 May 1942

Major Ralph MANSFIELD:- We mustn’t forget, also, that the Japanese submarines came in on 31 May 1942 when I was the Inner Defence Fire Commander.  That is a story in itself: the Japanese submarines coming in.

What actually happened was that it was 8 o’clock at night, and, of course, during the war we had both searchlights going at Middle Head: one that went from North Head to South Head, just swinging slowly from Middle Head over to the North Head entrance and over to the South Head entrance of the Harbour; the other searchlight was stationary from Middle Head straight across to South Head – so any ships coming in would be illuminated by the searchlights.   The left hand number one searchlight on the north side of Middle Head was moving across the Heads backwards and forwards slowly so if anything came through the Heads you would see it. The other searchlight was stationary so that anything coming into the Harbour we could see it also. With the searchlights we could see any unidentified ships or submarines. And this is what happened.

At 8 o’clock on that night the number 1 searchlight was searching from South Head across to North Head when suddenly we saw this periscope go right in front of us.  We thought: “God!”   I rang up the Fire Commander and said that Middle Head (or Mead Battery which was our code) was opening fire on an unidentified submarine at only 2,500 yard range and a bearing of 044 (I think it was, from memory) – right in front of us.  The Fire Commander acknowledged it.  I had both the guns loaded.  I had told the guns to put in HE – fire explosive shells – and to get onto the submarine.  They could see the periscope, and both guns reported back: “Guns loaded; target in sight.”  I was just going to give the order to fire when the phone rang and the Fire Commander said: “Mead Battery, do not open fire on the submarines, the navy is taking over.”  In another three seconds I would have fired on the submarines.  I was a damn fool, I should have fired but I didn’t – because the Fire Commander told me not to fire because the Navy was taking over.  The Navy took an hour and a half to get there.  The submarine that we missed was the one that got caught in the net – that was only about a quarter of an hour after we were told not to fire on it as the navy was taking over.*

INTERVIEWER:- Would they have known they were in your sights?

Major Ralph MANSFIELD:- They would not have known about the guns, but they would have known there was a searchlight on them because the periscope was up and they would have seen the light.  They were moving very, very slowly.  They were getting themselves into position so that when the ferry went through the western boomgate they could follow that ferry in.  When any ferry or boat approached, they would open the boomgate, let the ferry or boat through and close it again.  That was why we had the number 2 searchlight which was always illuminating that area across to Watson’s Bay.

The submarines were landed by their mother submarine about 10-15 miles off the Heads.  They were not picked up by some of the other batteries with their gear, but, of course, they did not have the searchlights on outside the Heads.  We were the first ones to pick them up.  Three came in, two were sunk and one disappeared – they never found it.  The first one caught in the boomgate; it must have been following a ferry and misjudged the net, got caught in the net and blew itself up.  Another was found inside the Harbour in Taylor Bay and it was destroyed, but the third one that came in, they never found it.   It still must be somewhere in the Harbour, because, definitely, there were three submarines that entered the Harbour and were launched by the mother ship.

INTERVIEWER:- When you were given the order not to shoot, did you keep the submarine in sight? Were you able to train the searchlight on it?

Major Ralph MANSFIELD:- We kept our searchlight on it until it disappeared – it just went down.  As soon as it got to near where the boomgate was, it must have submerged – or pulled its periscope down and gone in.  The boomgate went right down to the bottom.  It was a net, pulled over by cables. It was like a great big fishing net, really.  A huge steel thing, very effective.  There was a boomgate on the western end and a boomgate on the eastern end.  The boomgate was opened for the Manly ferry and followed it.

When the submarine got jammed in the net, the first thing we knew about it was when we received a request from the Fire Commander to swing the number 2 searchlight around to the eastern side of the western gate because there was something there.  When we did move round our searchlight, we could see a man and a dinghy there.  Then a navy auxiliary patrol vessel went across to where the man in the dinghy was, and the man in the dinghy then rowed away.  On the navy auxiliary patrol vessel we could see a man at the stern; he had a boat hook and he was prodding the submarine because it was only about 10 feet under the water.  The next minute the submarine set off its charges inside it; they had demolishing charges – one in the stern and one in the bow – and the one in the stern blew up the one in the bow.  Of course the stern of the navy auxiliary patrol vessel shot out of the water, lifted up in a huge  rush of water, colossal water spout.  It made a bee line for Obelisk Bay and went aground there because it was leaking so badly. When the first submarine got jammed in the net and blew itself up, there was alarm and then all the ships started to come out.  In the meantime, the second submarine fired its torpedoes at the USS Chicago, then, as I said, all the vessels were coming out, the battle ships were coming out, the submarines were coming out – a great shemozzle for the rest of the night.

INTERVIEWER:- It blew up the Kuttabul – what was that?

Major Ralph MANSFIELD:- That was a punt that had been converted into accommodation for sailors and it was stationed against a wharf at Garden Island.  There were 19 men on board who were drowned.  The submarine fired its two torpedoes on the USS Chicago, but, fortunately for the Chicago, the 2 torpedoes, instead of going straight into the stern of the Chicago, started to veer out, missed the Chicago on both sides, and the left hand one hit underneath the Kuttabul and blew it up, and the right hand side one went up onto the rocks at Garden Island and made a helluva bang.

Then the panic was on.  You can just imagine.  The USS Chicago was firing at nothing – they reckoned they saw the submarine but didn’t – and they were firing anti-aircraft guns, and they were firing other guns – dear, oh dear, it was a helluva shemozzle.  There were a lot of other American ships in the Harbour, together with our own battle ships, and there were 2 Dutch submarines.  They all came out through the open boomgate, right out to the sea.  Panic stations the whole night, because they didn’t know how many submarines were inside.

All the ships getting the hell out of the Harbour went on all night.  Also there were Navy auxiliary boats which were small – nappies we called them: they were boats that were converted, with depth charges on the back of them, and some of them even had little 40mm guns on them.  They were going into Taylor Bay, which is the bay just the Manly side of the zoo entrance – and they were going in and dropping their depth charges there.  That is when they finally sank another submarine – that was the second one.  The first one was blown up when it was jammed in the net, the second one was sunk in Taylor Bay, and the third one they never found.+

INTERVIEWER:- So the second one must have sneaked in

Major Ralph MANSFIELD:- It must have sneaked in with all the kerfuffle, yes, it would have sneaked in then.  There were three submarines, definitely.  The first was the one we saw, the second must have sneaked in, and the third one must have sneaked in also.  There definitely was a third one in there – it was seen quite a lot.  At about 2.30 in the morning we heard a rumour – because we stayed on guard all the time with the guns there – we heard that a navy auxiliary patrol vessel went back to its moorings off Neilson Park.  When it went to what it thought was its moorings, there was a stick sticking out of the water and they said it was a periscope – and they were going to hook onto the periscope for their mooring.  That was the story that went out – but that could have been the third submarine that was just sitting there under the water in Neilson Park  I don’t know how true that is, but there was a lot of shemozzle at the time.

We never found out what the third submarine did.  There have been a lot of inquiries.  There were three mother ships that carried the midget submarines and they were waiting outside the heads for them to come back – but they never came back, so the mother ships went off.  It was a planned attack.  The night before a Japanese aeroplane was seen over Sydney Harbour but nobody took much notice of it, they thought it was one of our own planes. Incredible thing.

INTERVIEWER:- Who was responsible for searching the sky?

Major Ralph MANSFIELD:- I suppose the airforce would have been.

INTERVIEWER:- Did you often see Japanese planes flying?

Major Ralph MANSFIELD:- No.  It was a sea plane, a Japanese sea plane that flew over.  We didn’t see it, but nobody took any notice of it.  They thought it was an American plane because it was flying over the Harbour. What it was doing was reporting back to the mother ships that the Harbour was full of navy boats, American boats, etc, etc.  It was all planned, yes.

INTERVIEWER:- What was the reaction to it?

Major Ralph MANSFIELD:- The reaction was a great meeting of all the powers-that-be – the army, navy and airforce – the chiefs had a pow wow in Sydney with the admirals of the fleet and everything else, and that was that.  Nothing else came out in the news.  As far as we were concerned, we just continued on our normal routine after the excitement

INTERVIEWER:- What were your men’s feelings about having missed the chance to avert the danger?  Was there any bitterness?

Major Ralph MANSFIELD:- No that was part of your duty.  They were disappointed; they would have loved to have fired.  It would have been the first time the Sydney guns ever fired in anger.

INTERVIEWER:- Didn’t some of the shots go onto land?

Major Ralph MANSFIELD:- No.  About the following week – I think it was the Tuesday after the Saturday – one of the mother ships was off Botany Bay, about 15,000 yards off, and it fired its guns over Sydney Harbour and they landed mainly down in the Double Bay area, just near where our house was there – and Marjory was down in the cellar.  Five shots were fired; they exploded, nearly all of them, in the playing fields in that area.  They didn’t hit anyone at all

INTERVIEWER:- Why did they shoot them?

Major Ralph MANSFIELD:- They just wanted to make a mess of Sydney.  Stupid fools.  Just random targets – they would have been firing those guns full range.  Another submarine went up to Newcastle later and it was sunk off Newcastle by the RAAF – they dropped depth charges and sank it, one of the mother submarines.

INTERVIEWER:- Going back to 31 May, if you hadn’t have sighted the submarines, no one would have known about them?

Major Ralph MANSFIELD:- If we had not have sighted that one it could have been very serious because all three could have gone into the harbour unnoticed and caused havoc. As I said, they went in behind the ferry boat, whenever the boomgate was opened, they went in.

INTERVIEWER:- How often would the ferries go in?

Major Ralph MANSFIELD:- They would go in quite frequently.  I think, from memory, it was opened every half-hour.

INTERVIEWER:- Security wise, that was a bit silly

Major Ralph MANSFIELD:- Yes.

FOOTNOTE:  As indicated, the above extract is only part of an interview conducted by the family of Ralph Shelley MANSFIELD.  It is previously unpublished and the Kuttabul Commemoration Project committee asks that this transcript no be reproduced or published without the express permission of the MANSFIELD family (contact details obtained and inquires to Jennifer Lamb can be forwarded to her upon request).

Wish to know more about the KUTTABUL COMMEMORATION PROJECT?  Please visit our Facebook page:- http://www.facebook.com/gary.traynor3#!/pages/Kuttabul-Commemoration-Project/161665290588310?sk=photos

PRIVATE THOMAS PATRICK BALMER
NO. 3002, 6TH BATTALION, FIRST AUSTRALIAN IMPERIAL FORCE
22/2/1890 – 21/8/1949
Medals Gone Missing
I have registered the WW 1 medals issued to Private Thomas Patrick Balmer as missing on this website in the hope of finding them. They may be with a distant relative although that seems remote as my mother, who first started the research on her uncle believed one of his sisters sold them after his death in 1949.
Regardless of this uncertainty as to where his medals went after his death, this story of the war experience of Tommy Balmer, a soldier of the 6th Battalion, First AIF is provided to accompany the request to find his medals. It aims to illustrate how meaningful and deserving he was of those tangible symbols of his personal sacrifice that took away his best years, ruined his health and ultimately caused his death. If anyone can assist, please contact me through the website.

IMAGE RIGHT: Private Thomas Patrick BALMER, 6th Battalion AIF.

Tommy Balmer – An introduction to the family and the man
This story started with my mother, Alice Manison (nee Jurey) and her research into her family history and one of the persons of interest was her favorite; Uncle Tommy – her mother’s brother. A few years back she gave me all of her papers and included in them was some military records of Private Thomas Patrick Balmer, a soldier of the First AIF. She started to research his war-time history but never got too far. I always knew about Uncle Tommy fighting in the First World War because we had a set of binoculars at home that he brought back as a souvenir of the war and they came to my mother after his death. As a lad I was fascinated by them and played with them for hours, especially playing soldier.
I have them now and they are probably one of the few tangible links remaining between Uncle Tommy and his family.

IMAGE LEFT: The binoculars brought home by Private Thomas Patrick BALMER from the Great War.
Having retired and been a detective for many years in the NT Police, I decided to use my investigation skills and experience to finish off my mother’s work and research Uncle Tommy’s war years and this is the result.
One thing I can state from my research is all Australians should be very proud of this man and all the other Diggers from the Great War whose stories will probably never be told.

The Boy from Footscray
Tommy Balmer’s father Edward Balmer emigrated from Liverpool, England in 1880 and married a first generation Australian girl from Geelong, Jane Kearney in 1882. Her parents had emigrated from Ireland and arrived at Geelong in the colony of Victoria in 1857. Edward and Jane (better known as Jenny) settled in Footscray a suburb of Melbourne and raised seven children, all being girls except the fourth child, Patrick (that was the name registered at birth) although he was always known as Thomas Patrick Balmer.
Tommy was a bachelor and lived his life except for the war service years at Footscray. His nieces and nephews remember him with fondness as he was well regarded by all of the family because of his kindness and generosity and the fact he has supported his widowed mother and family since he was a young lad. One niece remembers Uncle Tommy would give her (and when it was their turn, other sisters) seven pence to clean his boots on a Saturday. That amount got you into the pictures and bought some sweets at Footscray in the early 1930’s. Another niece remembers Uncle Tommy would always take his mother and after her death, his sister, together with one or two of his nieces to the Metro Cool Stores annual picnic. (He worked for Metro before and after the War.) The picnickers travelled aboard the SS Edina down Port Phillip Bay to Portsea from Port Melbourne in the morning and returned in the late afternoon. This was an annual highlight for the young girls from Footscray and is fondly remembered. On a darker side another niece remembered his terrible cough and labored breathing in winter as he sat in his chair beside the fire – everyone knew it was caused by the gas in the war!
Private Tommy Balmer
The account of Private Thomas Balmer’s service in the First AIF is based on a number of documents, books and recollections of his family. The main sources of information include his official service history (available on the Internet at the National Archives), the battalion history of the 6th Battalion 1st AIF written by Ron Austin titled As Rough As Bags, Les Carlyon’s book The Great War, recollections from three of his nieces, the recounted stories about Uncle Tommy from a late nephew, retold by his daughter.
Call to Arms
On 13 July 1915 Thomas Balmer joined up in Melbourne. He was allocated service number 3002 and was assigned to the 10th Reinforcements, 6th Battalion, First AIF. The 6th Battalion was an original battalion of the First AIF, formed in 1914 and made up of men from Melbourne’s inner suburbs. It trained at Broadmeadows and embarked for overseas about October 1914 from Melbourne. The battalion had fought at Gallipoli from the first day, 25 April 1915, until they were relieved in September. They lost 420 killed from the original strength of 900. Another 680 would be killed by war’s end.
The ANZAC landing at Gallipoli had a huge impact on Australia and the sacrifice and tales of heroism inspired many to join up and do the right thing and Tommy Balmer, a single 25 year old labourer from Footscray was not going to miss out.
Tommy Balmer was 25 year and 3 months old on enlistment and was described as five foot seven inches (172cm), weighed 10 stone (64kg), chest measurement 32.5 inches that expanded to 35.5 inches, sallow complexion, grey eyes, dark brown hair and Roman Catholic. He was born on 22nd February 1890 at Footscray and his birth was registered by his mother Jane Balmer as Patrick Balmer – there was no Thomas? Where the Thomas came from will remain a mystery but it can be observed that Jane’s father was named Patrick Kearney and he passed away in 1877.

The Journey
After ten weeks training, Private Balmer embarked from Melbourne for Egypt on 29th September 1915 on RMS Osterley. He arrived in Egypt and was taken on the battalion strength at Tel.el.kebir, on 7th January 1916. It is assumed that he became a member of D Company as in the battalion history the only reference to Private Balmer is his winning the sack race on 26 May 1918 at the Battalion sports for D Company.
Because of the high casualty rate at Gallipoli most of the battalion was now made up of replacements from Australia, like Tommy Balmer. Fortunately for the new arrivals they would be mentored by the battle-hardened veterans who survived Gallipoli who would train the raw recruits and ready them as best they could for three continuous years of combat on the Western Front.
The battalion left Egypt from Alexandria on 26st March 1916 on the Ballarat and arrived at Marseilles, France on 2nd April 1916. From there it travelled by train across France, 60 hours in uncomfortable cattle trucks to Flanders. Flanders is an area of Northern France and Belgium, bordering Holland, Luxemburg and Germany – the map shows the area.

IMAGE RIGHT: The map of Flanders and Northern France as mentioned above.  This area encompasses the geographic extent of what is known as the Western Front.

Nearing the end of the trip to Flanders the men of the 6th could hear for the first time the sound of the guns at the front, heavy artillery fire was close. The battalion arrived in Northern France near Messines on the Belgium border and bivouacked at Steenvoorde then Nieppe for a few days, then Steenwerck for two weeks before marching to Erquingham where it was starting to snow – Tommy like most of his mates in the battalion saw snow for the first time. On the 25th April the battalion commemorated the first anniversary of ANZAC landings by holding a Parade.

In Flanders Fields
The battalion was part of the 1st Division, 2nd Brigade (5th, 6th, 7th & 8th Battalions) and once on the Western Front the troops of the battalion were given training in trench warfare and issued with steel helmets, hand grenades and light machine guns and additional heavy machine guns. They were also given gas masks and trained to survive a gas attack. The Gallipoli veterans fought the Turks without steel helmets, made their own grenades and have few machine guns. This was to be a whole new experience, even for the old hands who survived Gallipoli.
On 30 April the Sixth Battalion moved up to the front. They left Erquingham at 1950hrs 30th April and arrived at Fleubaix at 2115hrs. They would stay there for six weeks in the firing line. On the 1 May the Germans began snipping and killed two privates from A Company.

First Blood
On 3 May 1916 Private Balmer was shot and his wound to the right thigh was so severe that he was transferred to England. It can only be speculated that he was hit by a sniper as no attacks had taken place on the day of his wound. He returned to duty on 18 July to be in the thick of the bloody battles the Australians fought at Poziers – A Seething Hell.
This was part of the infamous Battle of the Somme where the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Allied troops occurred in the space of several weeks. D Company was in the firing line for weeks as part of the Battalions role in trying to capture the village of Poziers from the Germans. They were 300 – 400 yards from the German trenches and were constantly bombarded by German artillery and mortars. One survivor of Poziers, Frank Doyle mentioned the role of D company in the battle, the company Tommy Balmer had just returned to from hospital on the 18 July.
25thJuly: Today we set off to join the battalion, part of whom we found on the way taking water and stew up to the trenches. At the cook house we had tea. We were all loaded up with rations and took them to the reserve trench. We left it there and took water to the front line. Lt Sutcliffe was in charge and we got lost in the wood, for three hours we rushed about under shrapnel and high explosive, dead all over the place. It was like a nightmare, eventually we were guided to the front line. Every ounce of my strength had been taxed. D Company worked under machine gun and rifle fire all day digging a trench – suffered big losses. We got to the line at midnight.
The battalion was relieved on 27 July and examples of the losses were given by one 6th Battalion veteran Ralph Ball – only 5 of the 32 in his platoon survived the battle. Corporal Thomas of B Company remembered Poziers as – Poziers will never be forgotten – a veritable Valley of Death.
In the following weeks because of the high casualty rate and exhaustion of the men the battalion was moved behind the front line and replacements for the dead and wounded were brought in to bring it up to strength. The battalion was located at Bonneville and undertook a great deal of tactical training – needed by the new troops. On 8 August 1916 the battalion marched to Vadnicourt and on the next day they lined the road at Albert for a visit by King George V. Bravery awards were presented by General Birdwood for outstanding work at Poziers. At Albert they received the first mail for a long time. However, it came to an end on 14 August when they marched through rain and constant enemy shell fire back to Poziers.
The battalion relieved the 48th battalion on 15 August at 0300hrs. They were taking casualties and were in badly damaged trenches behind the front line. The trenches were smelling very badly of the dead. The battalion engaged in digging trenches both night and day under constant enemy fire as a series of new trenches was to be used to undertake an attack by the battalion on the German line. The attack was to take place on the night of the 19th August but because of the lack of bombs – only 23 left in the whole battalion – it never happened.
The German bombardment and attacks kept on until the battalion was relieved on 21 August. Another 37 had been killed and 165 wounded. All together 102 men were killed in the two stints at Poziers – many more hundreds were wounded – close on 50% casualty rate for the battalion in only a few days at the front.
The battle weary and exhausted battalion was to have a rest and I think Tommy Balmer’s return to active service from hospital a month earlier was not what he or any rational person would have wanted to experience.

Winter 1916/17
Private Balmer and his battalion returned to Albert for a short time before moving north to Belgium via the usual railway cattle trucks. They took over a sector of the Ypres line south of Zillebeke from the Essex Regiment. They rebuilt the trenches and had a generally quiet time with only trench mortar fire from the Germans on an irregular basis – nothing like the hell of Poziers. The only action was raids at night on the enemy trenches.
The sixth was relieved on 26 September by the First Battalion. It bivouacked at Devonshire Camp near Brandhoek. The Battalion was again moved back to the Somme area which was described as wet and muddy. They marched there in 8 days and had been drenched to the bone every day. They arrived at Albert and bivouacked there and went to the front line on 29th October. The front line was described as a sea of mud. Most of trenches were wrecked and water was waist deep in some and ankle deep in all. Trench Feet were a major problem. The battalion kept busy by rebuilding the trenches and harassing the enemy with skirmishes and raids. The battalion came out of the front line twice more through glutinous mud and shell fire and on 14th December came out of the line and stayed at Hametz. They had snow for Christmas and no fighting.
Trench Feet
Trench feet affected both sides and Private Balmer had a severe case and on the first day on the New Year he was in hospital with a severe case. He was so bad that he was evacuated to England and did not return to France until 26 June 1917. He was fortunate to miss the bloody battles at Bullecourt while in England. On 21 July 1917 he rejoined his unit at Albert. On that day a memorial service was held to commemorate the battle fought by the battalion at Poziers a year earlier.

Belgium and the Somme, Again
The Battalion moved to Belgium on 14th September 1917 and took up a position in the front line at Zillekete. On 17th September Private Balmer was very sick and admitted to hospital with high fever and debility – he was probably worn out and tired.
It is worth noting that when a battalion was out of the front line the troops labored away carrying supplies to the lines, built trenches, dugouts, roads and paths. They also carried supplies for men (food, water, fuel and ammunition) and animals (fodder for the mules and horses), ammunition for a hundred thousand artillery pieces and mortars and building supplies to house over a million men. And of course they had to transport medical supplies for hundreds of thousands of casualties and bury the dead. When not fighting or guarding the front line Tommy Balmer and his mates worked very hard and had little respite and no holidays or leave for years.
While he was in hospital the battalion was engaged in heavy fighting at Glencorse Wood near the infamous Menin Road and the first and only Victoria Cross was won by a member of the battalion. Private Balmer returned to the front line trenches at Torrken Farm near Kemmel on being released from hospital. It was a quiet time for the battalion but very cold as a third winter approached.
The Battalion found itself at Messines in the first week of 1918 and alternated back and forward between the front line and Kemmel. The winter was the quiet time of the war and up to March the men of the battalion were engaged in work parties that ranged from carrying stores and ammunition, building trenches and camps, building roads and assisting with training.

Bloody 1918
The fall of the Russian Empire and Armistice with Russia had freed up the Eastern Front for the Germans and they transferred those troops to the Western Front and in March launched Operation Michael to defeat the allies on the Western Front.
On 25 March 1918 after some 12 weeks of no front line duties the Battalion moved to Wytschaete and held the front line there until 2 April when they were relieved. On 3 April they had a Bath Parade and were issued with new clothes. However, the German offensive was having success and the battalion was rushed south to the Somme. They arrived there and on 10th April they were rushed back to Belgium to halt the enemy offensive. Once there on 13th April they dug in at various places and on 29th April they moved to Pradelle and spent May in and out of the line – 4 days at the front – 4 days in reserve – 4 days behind the line.
From the time they again took up their position in Belgium they were constantly bombarded by shells including gas, were attacked by German aircraft and subject to snipping. They lost men constantly. On 26th May they were relieved and marched to Sercus. At Sercus there was time to relax and the Battalion Sports were held and the sack race was won by Private Balmer of D Company.
On the 4th June the battalion moved into the front line at Merris and was again subjected to heavy bombardments including gas attacks. The battalion responded with raids on enemy trenches and the Australian gunners gave them plenty back. They went in and out of this front line several times and had many casualties. On 14th July 1918 after the final stint at Merris they moved to Racquingham for two weeks rest.

The Final Attack
The Australian troops on the Western Front by this time were formed up into a single Corps under the command of an Australian, General John Monash. The allies after repelling the recent German offensive were to go on the offensive and this was to be led by the Australians. The allied offensive began and the 6th battalion went into action after a hot and dusty march on 8th August to Villers Brettoneaux. D company was in the advance group and endured vicious and bloody fighting. The battalion fought two battles as part of the major battle. The first was at Lihons between 8th and 14th August where the battalion had to be relieved because of it was exhausted and running low of supplies and men. It went back into the battle on 23 August at Herleville Wood with 433 men and finished triumphantly with 147 men. They won the battle and captured 900 prisoners, 4 field guns, 60 machine guns and 20 mortars – at a heavy cost.

A Final Casualty
The Germans had mounted heavy bombardments including gas attacks on the advancing Australians and on 24th and 25th August 1918 – about 120 6th battalion troops fell to gas. Included in the casualties was Private Tommy Balmer. He survived and never saw action again. What remained of the battalion was relieved on the 26 August 1918 and the Battalion never saw action again – it was broken but not defeated. The battalion strength was 900 men and at the end of the battle only 147 were left.
Overall about 5300 served in the battalion. 1100 were killed, 420 at Gallipoli. Wounded numbered in the thousands. The 6th Battalion first went into action on ANZAC Day, 25 April 1915 and its last action was Herleville Wood on 26 August 1918.

Home
Tommy Balmer was evacuated to England as a result of his severe gassing and was discharged from hospital on 5th October 1918. He was given furlough and returned to duty at the Australian Depot, Weymouth on 24th October 1918. He departed for Australia on 25th January 1919 on the Hospital Transport Ceramic and reached Melbourne on 25th March 1919 and was Demobilized. He was officially discharged on 15thMay 1919.
I wonder what repatriation facilities were made available to him in those days. I think I know what his state of mind would have been then and for many years after. For three years he lived in an environment where day-in and day-out artillery shells rained down and killed indiscriminately. He saw horrific sights and probably thousands of dead and dying men – many of them were his mates. He probably killed many of the enemy himself. He cheated death and survived. We now know all of these experiences would have taken a toll on boy from Footscray for the rest of his life.
Private Thomas Patrick Balmer, Service Number 3002, 6th Battalion, 1st AIF was awarded the 1914/15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. I have never sighted the medals and I like many other family members would like to see them one day. He deserved them like all of his fellow diggers. I was told one of his sisters probably sold them after he died. They like all medals will have his name, number and battalion stamped along the medal edge or reverse

The War at Home
In reading the 23 pages of official war records for Private TP Balmer, one page reflects the pain and anguish that his Mother and family faced. While away at the War four letters were sent to his next of kin, his mother Jane Balmer, informing her that Private Balmer was in hospital – two that he was wounded and two that he was hospitalized because of sickness. Details were scant and all were sent several weeks after the wound or illness occurred. Communication was not a priority for the Army like it is today.
This would have been a stressful time for a mother who was exposed daily to casualty notices published in the newspapers – 61,700 were killed and 155,000 wounded out of the 324,000 that served overseas (60,000 later died after the War from wounds and illness). Concern for the life of their loved ones was on the mind of mothers, wives and families every day – they had a lot to worry about!
In February 1919 Tommy Balmer’s mother received another letter telling her that Tommy was on his way home on a hospital ship – she probably worried about what state he would he be in when he arrived home?

After the War
Tommy Balmer returned to Footscray and lived with his mother who was a widow. Her husband had died in 1909 and since then Tommy had always been the breadwinner. Tommy took care of his mother until she died on ANZAC Day 1932. After she died he moved in with his sister Alice. He never married and he passed away on 21 August 1949 as a result of heart failure, aged 59.
On returning from the War he worked at the Metro Cool Stores in North Melbourne until he retired early because of ill health on a War Service pension. The wounds, illness and gassing had taken their toll. Working at the cool store was not good for his damaged lungs but a job was a job and they were hard to find. His only outing each week was to go to the pub every Saturday afternoon for a few beers with his mates. He lived through World War Two and saw his nephews and nieces husbands go to war – some never came back.
The common recollections of Tommy Balmer or Uncle Tommy were of a kind and gentle man. Alice Manison always remembers him sitting near the fire reading – he never spoke much and was an avid reader. He was also a very private and reclusive person, like his generation, never talked about the War.
I suspect he had been to Hell and never wanted to recall his visit – it may have been the best therapy – it was the only one available at the time.
Rest in Peace Uncle Tommy – you did your country and family proud.

Billy Jackson a man awarded the British Empire’s highest award, not for his ability as a fighting man, but for his heroic act of compassion for his wounded comrades.
JACKSON, VC. Pte John William Alexander.

“You never know what virtues may come out of the most unsuspected places, nor what heroes may spring up out of the smallest village – Gunbar a little place of about four houses. Not even a blacksmith’s shop or a pub. My nephew had never even seen a train until he enlisted”
Mr. George Gale, Kemmis Street, Randwick at the Anzac Buffet, Sydney. (SMH. 6th July 1917.)

IMAGE LEFT: Photograph of John William Alexander JACKSON, showing his Victoria Cross pinned to his chest.  This photograph was supplied to the author of this story by Dorathea JACKSON (the only daughter of John William Alexander JACKSON V.C.)

INTRODUCTION

Karl Reginald Cramp the Secretary of the Royal Australian Historical Society, in his 1919 book “Australian Winners of the Victoria Cross in the Great War 1914-1919”, correctly identified Billy Jackson VC as being the eldest son of John Jackson of Gunbar.
Gunbar historians have recorded that the seventeen year old John William Alexander Jackson was employed by Mr William Gibson, on “Carlowrie” Gunbar, when he left with the first men from the small setlement of only four houses to enlist. The embarkation roll for the 17th Battalion lists Jacksons address on the date of enrolment as Gunbar via Hay.
Confusion regarding Jackson’s birthplace, school and abode at the time of enlistment started with the publication of volume 111 of Dr Charles Bean, the Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918, ‘The AIF in France’ in 1929, a footnote references Jackson VC., as a farmer from Merriwa. Lionel Wigmore in ‘They Dared Mightily’ (1963), included this and other misleading information in his story on Jackson VC. As did David Harvey in ‘Monuments to Courage’ (1999) who also incorrectly states that Jackson has a Street in Albury, New South Wales named after him.

Newcastle and Hunter Valley papers, in Australia continued this theme in April 2000, publishing stories claiming that Pte John William Jackson VC., was the first man to enlist from the Hunter Valley to be honoured with a Victoria Cross., adding that Jackson attended Merriwa School and worked on his parent’s property at Merriwa before enlisting from there.  Controversy has also raged for fifty years regarding the medals awarded to Jackson. Five years after his death in 1959, the Director of the Australian War Memorial was still uncertain of his entitlements.

The Gunbar District Roll of Honour. The 1981 Register of the Victoria Cross and a cigarette card in a series produced by Sniders & Abrahams all record Jackson as being awarded both the VC., and DCM. On 16th October 1918 Jackson VC and other Army personnel spoke at a fund raising rally for ‘Dependents’ Day under a banner reading ‘Private Jackson V.C., D.C.M.’
Other publications have reported that he was also awarded a Military Medal. The certificate that accompanied the 1953 Coronation Medal issued to him by the Queen, referred to him as William Jackson, Esquire, V.C., M.M. On 11 November 2001, a plaque in honour of Jackson was unveiled on the steps of Balmain’s War Memorial reading: L/Cpl John William Alexander Jackson VC. DCM. MM.

IMAGE RIGHT: The correct war service medals of John William Alexander JACKSON.  From left to right is the Victoria Cross, 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal, 1939-1945 War Medal, 1939-1945 Australia Service Medal, King George VI Coronation Medal and the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal. This image was supplied to the author by Noble Numismatics circa 2008.

The story of the Seventeenth Battalion of the AIF, by Lieutenant-Colonel K. W. Mackenzie MC. correctly records that Jackson’s one and only award was the Victoria Cross. Despite this, these inaccuracies and others regarding Jackson’s service during both the First and Second World Wars continue to be perpetuated in various print media.

I was approached by Reg Fletcher MM., the past President of the Merriwa RSL club, and asked to research and write a story on the life of William Jackson VC, correctly identifying his service and his connection with the small Upper Hunter town of Merriwa. During the years that followed I have received assistance and encouragement from Jackson’s daughter Dorathea, who was also concerned at the many conflicting stories written about her father.  The well respected and award winning journalist John Gatfield writing for the January-February 2008 edition of “Reveille” the New South Wales RSL Magazine, produced a story on Australia’s Youngest VC., (Jackson) which repeated many of these inaccuracies.

JACKSON’S VC. CITATION:

For most conspicuous bravery. On the return from a successful raid, several members of the raiding party were seriously wounded in No Man’s Land by shell fire. Private Jackson got back safely and, after handing over a prisoner whom he had brought in, immediately went out again under a very heavy shell fire and assisted in bringing in a wounded man. He then went out again, and with a sergeant was bringing in another wounded man, when his arm was blown off by a shell and the sergeant was rendered unconscious. He then returned to our trenches, obtained assistance, and went out again to look for his two wounded comrades. He set a splendid example of pluck and determination. His work has always been marked by the greatest coolness and bravery.
(London Gazette: 9th September 1916.)

JACKSON’S DCM. CITATION

For conspicuous gallantry. After a successful raid he escorted back a prisoner and immediately returned to “No Man’s Land” under heavy fire and assisted in bringing in a wounded man. On going out again his arm was blown off by a shell while he was bringing in a second wounded man, but even after this he continued to assist in the rescue of other wounded. His work as a scout has always been marked by the greatest pluck.
(London Gazette: 22 September 1916.)

HIS EARLY LIFE

William ‘Bill’ Jackson was born John William Alexander Jackson on 13 September 1897 at “Glengower” Station near the small rural settlement of Gunbar, then a hamlet of four houses, 50 mile (80km) north of Hay in southern New South Wales. Bill was the fourth child and eldest son of twenty nine year old Paddington (Sydney) born farm labourer John Gale Jackson and his wife Adelaide Ann (McFarlane). Adelaide, was the eldest daughter of John and Elizabeth McFarlane (Marks) and had married John Jackson the son of William and Mary Jackson (Gale) in 1890 at “Seaton Farm”, the Gunbar home of her parents.

Bill was only eight years of age when his mother died on 15 November 1905. Two of Bill’s older sisters had predeceased their mother; Eliza (b 1891), died on 20 January 1894 and Alice M. E. (b 1893) died as the result of an accidental shooting on 29 June 1903. Following his mother’s death Bill and his three surviving sisters Elizabeth, Catherine and May and two brothers Albert and Leslie were cared for by their grand-parents John and Elizabeth McFarlane. The McFarlane’s had raised fourteen children of their own, in addition to the four children from John’s earlier marriage. Now following Adelaide’s death they brought their six grandchildren into their home while their father John continued to work at Gunbar Station.

John McFarlane, who was born in 1836 in Aberdeen, Scotland, had established a carrying business in Yass before moving to Gunbar where he carted wool from Gunbar to Sydney with teams of up to eighteen Clydesdale horses. Following the death of his first wife John married Elizabeth Marks, the midwife of the small settlement, in 1872.
Bill Jackson, “Jacko” to his mates, was well known for his strength and reckless daring during his teenage years, so it surprised nobody when he left his employer, Mr William Gibson, of “Carlowrie” on the 15 February 1915 and joined the first group of volunteers from Gunbar to enlist in the Army.

THE FIRST WORLD WAR

Entering the Liverpool training camp on 19 February 1915, #588 Private William Jackson was 17 years and five months of age when he swore his allegiance to the King and agreed to serve in the army for the duration of the war plus four months. Records show that he was 5 feet 10 inches tall (175cm), weighed 12 stone (76kg), he had a fair complexion with fair hair and grey eyes. His religious denomoination was Presbyterian.  Bill was assigned to ‘B’ Company of the 17th Battalion which, with the 18th, 19th and 20th Battalions made up the 5th Infantry Brigade of the 2nd Division of the AIF.

The 17th embarked from Sydney onboard A32 HMAT ‘Themistocles’ for training at Heliopolis, Egypt on 12 May 1915 disembarking at Cairo on 12 June, Bill found the town full of Australians who had been wounded at Gallipoli waiting either to be returned to Gallipoli or invalided home to Australia. He described the camp at Heliopolis, north west of Cairo, as ‘Hot, dirty and nothing but sand and the advanced training as a good deal harder than the training he had done in Australia.’

IMAGE LEFT: Colour patch of the 17th Infantry Battalion, AIF of the 5th Brigade. The colour patch consists of a diamond shape divided across the centre with the colours being black over green.

The daily routine was, rise at 5am for a cup of tea before a three hour training session, then after a break for breakfast, a three hour lecture before a midday meal and a rest. Training resumed at 4.30pm and continued till the evening meal at 7pm. Following their meal they were assigned to digging trenches. In August, Bill was detailed for special duty in Alexandria before he sailed for Gallipoli, where he landed on 19 August. His introduction to the fighting on Gallipoli occurred on 27 August when, led by the Commander of the Anzac troops Major-General William Riddell Birdwood, the 17th took part in the final assault on Hill 60 a strategically important Turkish position to the north of Kaiajik Aghyl that overlooked the Australian’s position and had a plentiful supply of water. Unable to make any headway against the battery of machine-guns that confronted them, the Australians withdrew leaving their dead and wounded. Twelve stretcher bearers from the 5th Field Ambulance led by Captain Savage went forward in bright moonlight for two nights to within feet of the enemy trenches and succcesfully recued more than 30 of the wounded. The assaults on Hill 60 had cost the Australians 2,500 casualties.

IMAGE RIGHT: A photograph showing Hill 60 in the distance, taken from Bauchop’s Hill during August 2011.  Whilst it is difficult to identify Hill 60 in this image, this picture clearly shows the panoramic view over the Suvla area which would offer a clear field of fire and observation for artillery if the northern face of this feature was held by the Allies. Image courtesy of Gallipoli Historical Tours.

Following the August offensives, the 17th moved to Quinns Post, the most exposed position in the Anzac line. Conditions on the peninsular deteriated with increasing shortages of food and water, the spread of disease and the fact that many of the Australians were still wearing the same clothes they landed in as rain and snow began to fall.

IMAGE LEFT: The rear of Quinn’s Post as it exists today.  Whilst it is difficult to imagine what this post looked like during 1915, if you follow the skyline from the left of the image, you will notice that the land falls away to the right at a 45 degree angle, forming a gully in the centre of the photograph.  It was this gully which housed the terraces and offered some limited protection from Turkish fire eminating from Baby 700 and The Chessboard.  Having trouble interpreting this explanation?  Please feel free to email Gary Traynor at customerservice@medalsgonemissing.com for a detailed explanation. Image courtesy of Gallipoli Historical Tours.

With a third of the Australian troops, now sick with dysentery, diarrhoea, typhoid, jaundice or influenza. Bill who had been unable to eat the daily issue of hard biscuits due to his poor teeth. Was admitted to a casualty clearing station with diarrhoea. On 3 October, now suffering from enteric fever (Typhoid) he was placed onboard HS Assaye for transit to Malta. Bill spent three months in St Patrick’s Hospital at Valetta before classified ‘unfit for further service’, he was taken onboard the 8,489 ton H S Essequibo on the 7 January 1916 to be returned to Egypt for transit to Australia. Three days out from Malta Bill, reported ill with dysentery and was admitted to the 1st Auxiliary Hospital at Cairo on 11 January.

His father was notified that he had left Malta and was returning to Australia. On 15 February, 1916 declaring himself fit he left the hospital seeking his battalion, which he rejoined at Tel El Kebir on the 8th of March. Nine days later the 17th embarked from Alexandria for the six day voyage to Marselles. The 17th relieved the Northumberland Fusiliers in the ‘nursery sector’ at Armentieres for two weeks, then with the other battalions of the 5th Brigade, they relieved the 3rd Australian Brigade at a forward position in the eastern Armentieres sector.

As a prelude to the Battle of the Somme, the 5th Brigade received orders to harass the Germans with as many raids as possible between 20/30 June. Bill volunteered as a scout for the raids which were planned by the Brigade Commander Brigadier-General William Holmes.

At midnight on the 25 June Bill was with a group of 40 led by Major Travers, which with two similar groups led by Captain Keith Heritage, carried out raids against the trenches occupied by the 231st Prussian reserve infantry regiment south east of Bois Grenier.
Two of these parties were driven back by grenades, while Bill’s party succeeded in reaching their objective. Their engineers quickly blew up two bomb stores while the remainder of the party captured four prisoners for interrogation.
During the raid Bill had revealed the coolness and bravery mentioned in his citation. He captured a Prussian soldier and safely guided him back across the 400 yard no-man’s-land to his own lines. Then learning some of the party still lay in no-man’s-land wounded, he immediately went out to look for them saying “I don’t like the idea of leaving any wounded men out there”.

Despite the barrage of shells and machine gun fire he soon returned carrying one of his wounded comrades then, ignoring the intensified bombardment, immediatly set out again. Bill went to the aid of Sergeant Hugh Alison Camden of the 19th Battalion who was attempting to carry back his seriously wounded mate Pte Alfred Edward Robinson, hit by the blast of a shell Camden was rendered unconcous, Bill’s right arm was blown off and Robinson was again wounded.
Returning to his lines, Bill sought help from an officer who used a piece of string and a stick to apply a tourniquet to what remained of his arm. Saying “he didn’t feel much just a numbing sensation” he insisted on returning to no-man’s-land to search for Camden and Robinson. Seeing Camden and an unnamed soldier carrying Robinson he joined them as Camden collapsed, he and the other soldier then carried in Camden and Robinson, Bill then continued his search for more wounded for a half an hour until he had satisfied himself that all the wounded had been brought in. Only then, did he make his way to the aid station.
Enemy casualties during the raid were thirty killed and four captured. The Australian casualties were fourteen wounded including Pte Robinson who died of his wounds on 3 July. Captain Heritage was killed in action a month later.

Admitted to the 2nd Canadian Stationary Hospital, Bill was transferred to the Hospital Ship ‘St Patrick,’ which took him from Boulogne to England. On 30 June, at the 3rd London General Hospital, the stump of his right arm was removed. Three weeks later, he was transferred to the 1st Australian Auxiliary Hospital situated in the grounds of ‘Harefield Park’, Middlesex.

The recommendation that Private John William Alexander Jackson be awarded a Victoria Cross for his actions came from Brigadier-General William Holmes, the Commander of the 5th Brigade. Holmes also praised Bill for his ability as a scout, both with the raiding party and his own battalion.

On 3 September, Bill’s nineteenth birthday, he was transferred to the No 2 Auxiliary Hospital at Southall. King George V’s approval of a Victoria Cross for Bill, was gazetted on 8 September. Bill spent six weeks in the amputees ward before being shuffled between the Queen Mary General Hospital and the 2nd Auxiliary Hospital.
Billy Jackson, the boy from Gunbar, was driven to Buckingham Palace on Saturday 18 November 1916 to be invested with his Victoria Cross by King George V. The first Victoria Cross awarded to an Australian on the Western Front. With Bill at Buckingham Palace was Lieutenant Albert Jacka VC who was presented with a Military Cross by the King. To this day Billy Jackson remains the youngest Australian to be awarded a Victoria Cross.
The King’s approval of a Distinguished Conduct Medal for Bill had been gazetted on 22 September 1916. This was cancelled on 21 October due to the higher award of the Victoria Cross being conferred on him. Sergeant Camden, was awarded a Distinguished Conduct Medal.

The awarding of both a VC and a DCM to Jackson were promulgated in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No. 184, on 14 December 1916. Then on 4 January 1917, the Department of Defence notified John Jackson of his son’s two decorations.
Released from Hospital on the 5 April, Bill was returned to Australia 4 May with 992 returning wounded servicemen aboard A32. HMAT “Themistocles”. Disembarking in Sydney on 4 July Bill was the first New South Wales, Victoria Cross recipient to return from the war.

Bill was the last of the 993 returned diggers to arrive at a reception held in their honour at the Anzac Buffet in the Domain. As he arrived a young lady in the crowd handed him a floral arrangement. Bill then surprised Miss Ada Reeve, ‘Anzac Ada’ a star of the Australian stage who was waiting to officially welcome him, by cheekily presenting her with the flowers he had received moments earlier. Hoisted onto the shoulders of his comrades, Bill was then carried to where members of his family were waiting to greet him.
Five days later the Mayor of Hay, Mr John Barnett, received a telegram from the State Recuiting Committee informing him that Pte Jackson VC was leaving Sydney on a recruiting tour and would leave the train at Carrathool for a visit to his home at Gunbar.
Deputy Mayor William Godfrey Butterworth and Waradgery Shire President Michael Rutledge then arranged for Pte Jackson VC., to alight from the train at Hay, where he could be welcomed before being conveyed by car to Gunbar.

The recuiting train encountered unexpected difficulties as the biggest industrial upheaval ever experienced in Australia began to take effect. This delayed its arrival at Hay till 26 July.
Pte Jackson VC., Sgt Camden DCM. and the recruiting party were met at the railway station by a large crowd before being conveyed to the Post Office square where they were officially welcomed. Mr Butterworth, in welcoming Jackson said “I have the greatest of pleasure in extending the welcome of the people of Hay”, then added “That while they did not want to deprive Gunbar of one iota of the glory, they were enjoying a degree of reflected glory due to the fact that Jackson had been repeatedly referred to as being from Gunbar near Hay”. Of Jackson’s deed, he said. “It was one of the incidents of this war, which so far as the district is concerned, will never be forgotten”.
Sgt Camden later told the crowd “Bill [Jackson] had gone out looking for him without his arm. Not looking for a VC, but looking for a cobber”.
Bill then visited Gunbar, where the local community offered to buy him a farm. He declined their offer, believing the loss of his arm would render him unable to work the land.
The railway strike, which had begun at the Randwick Rail and Tramway Workshop, expanded and two thirds of the staff of the NSW railways became involved. Despite this, Bill Jackson VC. was a speaker at recruiting drives and pro-conscription rallies throughout New South Wales for the next five months.
Forced to leave the train at Quirindi on Tuesday 14 August, Bill and the other members of the party travelled to Scone by car to attended a Civic reception given in their honour by the Mayor of Scone, Edward John Sherwood, before some visited the local schools.
The residents of Scone then took him by car to Muswellbrook. The strike brought an end to the recruiting tours and on 15 September and Bill was discharged from the AIF. On 4 November 1917 the Prime Minister, Billy Hughes opened his campain for the second referendum on conscription. Bill Jackson VC, assisted Hughes by touring New South Wales speaking in favour of the proposal. He re-visited Scone on Tuesday 4 December and speaking from the balcony of the Railway Hotel (now the Royal Hotel) urged the large gathering to vote “yes”. The second referendum, held on Thursday 20 December 1917 was lost by an even larger majority than the first, only Western Australia, Tasmania and the Federal Territories voting yes.

Apart from moral issues, many believed industry in Australia would shut down if the referendum was passed. As the large number of Australian troops being sent overseas would continued to rise. The Scone district was a prime example of this as over 500 men had enlisted from the district. Another soldier who spoke at these rallies was John Joseph Clasby a man Jackson later refered to as ‘The best pal I ever had”.

BETWEEN THE WARS

On 21 October 1918, Bill Jackson VC., marched in a procession through the streets of Sydney with 700 other returned servicemen, led by the Mounted Police and accompanied by a Military Band.

Although the DCM awarded to Bill Jackson VC. had been cancelled in the London Gazetter on 21 October 1916, it was the 14 April 1919 before the Base Records Office notified their pension department and John Jackson of the cancellation of the DCM. John Jackson still working on ‘Gunbar Station’, was asked to return the official notification he had received concerning the awarding of Bill’s DCM more than two years earlier. He replied that he had passed the notification on to Bill whose present address was unknown to him.
Lack of communications between Army Departments is evident here, as the Army was still sending Bill his pension to his address at “Yuletide”, Duke Street, Kensington.
On Armistice Day 1919, Bill Jackson VC., Albert Borella VC. MM, Bill Currey VC., Bill Dunstan VC., Arthur Hall VC., John Hamilton VC., George Howell VC.MM, George Ingram VC. MM, Reg Inwood VC., Albert Lowerson VC., Joe Maxwell VC. MC & bar, DCM, Walter Peeler VC., John Ryan VC., and Percy Storkey VC., attended a Dinner at the Hotel Australia as guests of The Hon Hugh Donald McIntosh, M.L.C.

Then on 20th March 1920, a guard of honour comprising of Bill Jackson VC and 13 other Australian World War 1 Victoria Cross recipients, Thomas Axford VC., MM, Maurice Buckley VC.,DCM, John Carroll VC., George Cartwright VC., Bill Currey VC., John Dwyer VC., John Hamilton VC., George Howell VC.MM, Lawrence McCarthy VC., Joe Maxwell VC. MC & bar, DCM, Walter Peeler VC., John Ryan VC., and John Whittle VC. DCM, rode through the streets of Melboure, in full uniform mounted on grey horses at the head of the St Patrick’s day march. The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne, His Grace Dr Daniel Mannix followed immediately behind the men in his car, Mannix who had opposed conscription during the war, believed the St Patricks Day procession would demonstrate to Australia, that Catholic Australians had been loyal to Australia’s cause during the war.
The march from St Patricks hall to the Exhibition building that consisted of 20,000 marchers, 6,000 of whom were returned soldiers and sailors, had been opposed by the Protestant Federation, the Loyal Orange Institute, the Loyalist league and other organisations. The Victorian Premier, Mr Lawson dismissed the objections saying that approval was entirely the responsibility of the Melbourne City Council. Co-incidentaly on the same day the Governor General of Australia hosted a gathering at which General Sir William Birdwood accompanied by Lady Birdwood presented medals and decorations to 300 returned diggers. While the pro-British newspapers, were quick to point out that four of the VCs including Jackson who participated in the St Patricks day march were not Catholics. Others believed it indicated general support for the Irish campaign to be free of British rule.

Maurice Buckley VC. DCM., had been a member of the Delegation that had successfully gained permission to hold the procession.  Bill moved to Merriwa early in 1920 and with Leslie (later Sir Leslie) Morshead, the former commander of the 33rd Battalion who was working as a Jackaroo (Stockman) at ‘Brindley Park’, joined the newly formed Merriwa Sub Branch of the ‘Returned Sailors and Soldiers Imperial League of Australia’.
First living in Bettington Street, Bill moved to the Fitzroy Hotel and began buying and selling horses and animal skins, including possum skins, which at that time was illegal. Then joined by his father, he spent his spare time building a house in Flags Road using cement blocks.

In March 1927, HRH the Duke of York (the future King George V1) visited Sydney. Bill Jackson and ten other VCs, all residents of New South Wales, were invited to meet him in the grounds of Government House, Sydney. Following the function the Duke told a Sydney Mail reporter that ‘He had never seen so many VCs together’.
A month later, Lieutenant-General Sir John Monash GCMG. KCB. VD. hosted a ANZAC Dinner in Melbourne that was attended by twenty three Australian VCs who marched through the streets of Melbourne with 30,000 veterans in the ANZAC Day march. Following the march the VCs attended a function hosted by the Duke of York at the Exhibition building.

Bill left Merriwa in 1927 and was the licensee of the Figtree Hotel at Figtree, a suburb of Wollongong, for eighteen months, while his father remained in Merriwa.
In September 1929, while a patient in Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Bill was introduced to Ivy Muriel Alma Morris, by the patient in the next bed. Ivy was a dressmaker.

Bill attended a informal luncheon at Government House, Sydney on Armistice Day, when all fourteen NSW VCs lunched with the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Dudley de Chair and his wife. The Governor, a ex Navy man, requested no uniforms, badges or speeches preferring to join the men for after dinner cigars and coffee on the lawns of Government House.

In Melbourne for Armistice Day in 1930, Bill stayed at the Peoples Palace in King Street. While in Melbourne he applied for a copy of his discharge certificate that was destroyed when his home at Merriwa was burnt down in 1926. It was then that the Army belatedly issued Bill with his Victory Medal.

Bill and Ivy were inseperable after Bill returned from Melbourne. Bill supported John Clasby, a member of the Paddington-Woollahra Sub-branch of the RSL, who was standing for the seat of East Sydney in the Federal Elections to be held 19 December 1931. During the campaign Clasby’s political opponent had cast doubts on his claim that he was a returned serviceman. This brought instant support for Clasby from four VCs; Arthur Sullivan VC, George ‘Snowy’ Howell VC. MM, Henry Dalziel VC, and his [Clasby’s] mate of 16 years Billy Jackson VC.

Bill and Ivy postponed their marriage at St Paul’s Anglican Church, Kogarah until after the election as they wanted John to be best man. During the campaign John became seriously ill and was in hospital on polling day. Bill’s joy when John was elected was short lived as he was told that John was dying.

On Tuesday 12 January 1932, Bill arrived at the door of Ivy’s home and told Ivy and her mother that the Rev’d S. G. Best had agreed to marry them that evening. With no time to wait for Ivy’s step father, Bill showed that, even at 34 years of age, he was still a larrikin and a prankster when he took his cattle dog ‘Jackie’ to stand in as his best man. (When the Daily Telegraph, a Sydney newspaper, learnt of the wedding, they interviewed Bill and Ivy who had postponed their honeymoon due to John’s illness.)

John Joseph Clasby, who had been wounded and gassed in France, died three days after Bill and Ivy married, before being sworn in as M.H.R. for East Sydney.
Later in 1932, Bill and Ivy celebrated the birth of their daughter, Dorothea.
With the depression making it difficult to obtaining employment, Bill, worked as the Manager of a greengrocery, then as a clerk with the Metropolitan Water, Sewerage & Drainage Board.

In August 1935 while living at 91 St George Pde, Hurstville, Bill applied as a relative for the Returned Soldiers Badges of L/Cpl. Edmund Yule, No. 567 of the 1st A.L.H.Regiment and Pte. Thomas Holman, No. 1710 of the 17th Battalion, AIF, as keepsakes.

THE SECOND WORLD WAR

Bill Jackson VC., volunteered for service at Paddington on 31 March 1941. He served as Corporal/Acting Sergeant J.W.Jackson VC., with the Eastern Command Provost Company.
In December of 1941 he was interrogated regarding the wearing of the DCM ribbon. Producing the official notification his father had received in January 1917 confirming the award, he denied any knowledge of it’s cancellation. Bill stated that the Medal and the notification were in his possession and the award had been recorded in his WW1 pay book and his discharge papers.

In January 1942, when the Officer in Charge of the Base Records suggested he return his D.C.M., Bill replied “If I am not entitled to the medals I am wearing, somebody has slipped and slipped badly in issuing them to me.” Continuing Bill said “I will continue to wear my six medals,” (V.C., D.C.M., 1914/15 Star, the British War and Victory Medals and the 1937 King George VI Coronation Medal). Adding “I will apply for a discharge from the army and let the matter be decided in Court rather than surrender any of my medals.”
Discharged at his own request on 30 March 1942 he returned to his home at 54 Vine Street, Hurstville. (It appear’s that the Army relented following advice from the War Office in London who, while agreeing that the D.C.M., had been cancelled, advised that it had no knowledge of any steps ever having been officially taken to recover the medal. Under these circumstances they thought it undesirable to order Jackson to return the decoration.)
Less than three weeks later, Bill returned to the Army as Corporal J.W. Jackson VC, assigned to the 2nd Australian Labour Company.

In June, following the Japanese Submarine attack on Sydney Harbour and the offshore shelling of Sydney’s eastern suburbs, Bill sent Ivy and Dorothea to live in Merriwa. Dorothea attended the local school for three months until Bill was discharged at his own request on 14 September 1942. As Corporal Jackson VC. he had continued to sign all corrospondence W Jackson VC. DCM.

His service in World War 11 entitled him to wear a further two medals, the 1939/45 War Medal and the 1939/45 Australia Service Medal. In 1953, as the holder of the Victoria Cross, he recieved the Queen Elizabeth 11 Coronation Medal.

AFTER THE WAR

Returning to Sydney from a skin buying trip to Wollongong at 8.30pm on 5 October 1946, Bill was driving a motor lorry through fog and light rain at Waterfall, when he was involved in a four vehicle accident. Bill suffered only minor injuries, however two people were killed in the accident and Bill was charged with man-slaughter, driving in a dangerous manner and negligent driving.

He appeared before the Wollongong Court of Quarter Sessions charged with two counts of manslaughter on 13 May, 1947. Evidence revealed that Bill was driving a truck fitted in accordance with the restricted licence he had held for five months; this was the first accident he had been involved in during the thirty years he had been driving; and that due to the poor weather conditions all four drivers had been driving at 25mph. (40km).
The Judge, Judge Neild, a former member of the 17th Battalion, disclosing to the jury that he knew Bill’s reputation as a soldier and this was causing him some embarrassment during the trial. He directed them to return their verdict, not on anything that he had said but purely on the facts of the case. The jury returned a verdict of not guilty.
Following the break-up of his marriage, Bill moved to Melbourne in 1953 working as Commissionnaire and Inquiry Attendant at the Town Hall. In August a Civic Reception was held at the Town Hall for the newly appointed Australian Governor-General Sir William Slim. When Slim, who had been seriously wounded on Gallipoli, noticed that the lift driver was wearing the ribbon of a VC., he spoke at length to Bill, leaving the accompanying civic dignitaries and guests waiting.

During the 1954 Royal Tour, Bill was seated in The Official Stand at Fleet Steps, Farm Cove for the arrival of the Queen and Prince Phillip on 3rd February and the following night attended a State Dinner for the Royal couple that was held in David Jones Restaurant. Bill had been introduced to the Royal Couple when they visited the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park.

Bill then unfurled the Royal Standard as the Queen stepped from her car on arrival at the Melbourne Town Hall.  In 1956, Bill sailed with 34 other Australian VC recipients on the SS Orcades to England, to attend the Victoria Cross Centenary Celebrations in London on 25th/26th June fourty years to the day after his VC., action.

Bill was seriously ill during the voyage and on arrival in England was admitted to a London Hospital for six weeks, allowed out only to attend a garden party given by Queen Elizabeth, at Marlborough House, Pall Mall on 26th June, before he was flown home.
Recovering, he returned to work at the Melbourne Town Hall. On the 5 August 1959, he collapsed there and was taken to the Austin hospital in Heidleburg where he died from Arteriosclerotic Heart Disease. Bill had been living with his father at 68 Green Street, Ivanhoe and was a member of the Carlton Sub-branch of the RSL.
John William Alexander Jackson VC was given full Military Honours by the Southern Command at his funeral at Springvale Cemetery. He was cremated and his ashes placed in the Boronia Gardens of the cemetery.

The Member’s Bar in the Merriwa RSL Club is named the Jackson VC. Bar. Displayed near the bar is a framed photograph of William Jackson VC, DCM and a duplicate set of medals one of which is the DCM. On Saturday 4 October 2003, a Rest Area/Park situated on the Golden Highway at Gungal, 23 km south of Merriwa, was officially opened by the Mayor of Merriwa, Councillor Ean Cottle as ‘Private Jackson Park.’
In November 2005, Hay Historical Society presented a Portrait of William Jackson VC to the Hay War Memorial High School.

In June 2008, Pte John William Alexander Jackson VCs medals; Victoria Cross; 1914-15 Star; British War Medal 1914-18; Victory Medal 1914-1919; British War Medal 1939-45; Australian Service Medal 1939-45; Coronation Medal (GV1R) 1937 and Coronation Medal (E11R) 1953; were sold privately by Noble Numismatics for an undisclosed amount. Although it was believed the medals would be displayed in the Hall of Valour at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra they remain in a private collection.

© Harry Willey 2010

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My sincere thanks to:-

William Jackson VC’s only daughter, Dorathea, Mr Ray Thorburn, Kiama, NSW, Mrs Robyn Howard, Mrs Caroline Merrylees and Mr Ian Beissel of Hay, Mrs Carol Douch. Merriwa Historical Society, Ex Corporal Reg Fletcher MM. Scone, Mr Bert Gedin, Birmingham, England, Mr M. Kelly, Banora Point, The National Archives of Australia and Doug and Richard Arman for their assistance while researching this story.