VOLUNTARY GUIDES BACKGROUNDER Fifty Australians... · VOLUNTARY GUIDES BACKGROUNDER Number 84 Issue...

VOLUNTARY GUIDES BACKGROUNDER Number 84 Issue #1 September 2005

War left its impact on generations of Australians who lived through the twentieth century. These were disruptive and traumatic times. Much of this population experienced either one or both of the world wars. Others would be affected by the Korean and Vietnam Wars or later commitments. Australia ’s involvement in wars and conflicts became a backdrop to millions of lives and was a part of the community’s collective experience. Fifty Australians provides a cross-section of Australians – sometimes a leader, a hero, or even a rogue – who saw war and its effects. Some of these men and women gave their lives, others became renowned for their wartime courage or example, while others, affected for better or worse, emerged to face the peace where they would make their own particular mark. Each has a fascinating story.

Fifty Australians is on display in the AWM's Special Exhibition gallery from 19 August 2005 – 23 October 2005 {AWM website 04 September 2005}

PJH

ISSUE #1 (September 2005)

BACKGROUNDER # 84

50 AUSTRALIANS

Contents

1. Charles Anderson - Lieutenant Colonel Charles Groves Wright Anderson, VC, MC (1897–1988) 2. Bob Badget Bag -Captain Edward Frederick Robert Bage (1888–1915) 3. Braces Bracegirdle - Commander Warwick Seymour Bracegirdle, DSC (and two Bars) (1911–1993) 4. Sexton VC- Sergeant Maurice Vincent Buckley, VC, DCM (1891–1921) 5. Sister Vivian Bullwinkel - Vivian Statham (née Bullwinkel), AO, MBE, ARRC, ED (1915–2000) 6. Killer Caldwell - Group Captain Clive Robertson Caldwell, DSO, DFC (and Bar) (1911–1994) 7. Harry Chauvel - General Sir Henry George Chauvel, GCMG, KCB (1865–1945) 8. Mother Chisholm - Dame Alice Isabel Chisholm (née Morphy), DBE (1856–1954) 9.Sir Albert Coates - Sir Albert Ernest Coates, OBE (1895–1977) 10.Sir John Collins - Vice Admiral Sir John Augustine Collins, KBE, CB (1899–1989) 11.General Cosgrove - General Peter John Cosgrove, AC, MC (b. 1947) 12.Tibby Cotter - Trooper Albert Cotter (1883–1917) 13.Sir Roden Cutler - Sir Arthur Roden Cutler, VC, AK, KCMG, KCVO, CBE (1916–2002) 14. Diver Derrick - Lieutenant Thomas Currie Derrick, VC, DCM (1914–1945) 15.Tilly DEVINE- Matilda Parsons (née Twiss) (1900–1970) 16. Graham Edwards - The Hon. Graham John Edwards, MP (b. 1946) 17.Sir Hughie Edwards -Air Vice Marshal Sir Hughie Idwal Edwards, VC, KCMG, CB, DSO, OBE, DFC (1914–1982) 18. Pompey Elliott -Major General Harold Edward Elliott, CB, CMG, DSO, DCM, VD (1878–1931) 19. Sir Hudson Fysh - Sir Wilmot Hudson Fysh, KBE, DFC (1895–1974) 20. John Gorton -The Rt Hon. Sir John Grey Gorton, GCMG, AC, CH (1911–2002) 21 Jo Gullett - Henry Bayton Somer Gullett, AM, MC (1914–1999) 22. Ned Herring -Lieutenant General the Hon. Sir Edmund Francis Herring, KCMG, KBE, DSO, MC, ED, QC (1892–1982) 23. Nora Heysen -Nora Heysen, AM (1911–2003) 24. Barney Hines - Private John Hines (1873–1958) 25. William Holmes - Major General William Holmes, CMG, DSO, VD (1862–1917) 26. Bert Jacka - Captain Albert Jacka, VC, MC (and Bar) (1893–1932) 27. Olive King - Sergeant Olive May King (1885–1958) 28. Smithy - Air Commodore Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, MC, AFC (1897–1935) 29 .Hammy Lamb - Lieutenant George Hamilton Lamb, MLA (1900–1943) 30. The Bull Leane - Brigadier General Sir Raymond Lionel Leane, CB, CMG, DSO (and Bar), MC, VD (1878–1962) 31. David McNicoll - David Ramsay McNicoll, CBE (1914–2000) 32. Keith Nugget Miller - Keith Ross Miller, MBE (1919–2004) 33. Breaker Morant - Lieutenant Harry Harbord Morant (1864–1902) 34. Biddy Moriarty - Barbara Irene Moriarty (née Goff) (1902–1979)


35. Mad Harry Murray - Lieutenant Colonel Henry William Murray, VC, CMG, DSO (and Bar), DCM (1880–1966) 36. Damien Parer - Damien Peter Parer (1912–1944) 37. Frank Partridge - Private Frank John Partridge, VC (1924–1964) 38. Banjo Paterson - Andrew Barton Paterson, CBE (1864–1941) 39. Chips Rafferty - John William Goffage, MBE (1909–1971) 40. Buck Rogers - Chief Petty Officer Jonathan Rogers, GC, DSM (1920–1964) 41. Normie Rowe - Norman J. Rowe, AM (b. 1947) 42. Bull Ryrie - Major General Sir Granville de Laune Ryrie, KCMG, CB, VD (1865–1937) 43. Reg Saunders - Reginald Walter Saunders, MBE (1920–1990) 44. Dave Shannon - Squadron Leader David John Shannon, DSO (and Bar), DFC (and Bar) (1922–1993) 45. Sir Ross Smith -Sir Ross Macpherson Smith, KBE, DFC (and two Bars), MC (and Bar), AFC (1892–1922) 46. Harry Thorpe - Corporal Harry Thorpe, MM (1886–1918) 47. Bluey Truscott - Squadron Leader Keith William Truscott, DFC (and Bar) (1916–1943) 48. Fighting Hec Waller - Captain Hector Macdonald Laws Waller, DSO (and Bar) (1900–1942) 49.Gough Whitlam - The Hon. Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC (b. 1916) 50. Sir Hubert Wilkins - Sir George Hubert Wilkins, MC (and Bar) (1888–1958)

1


Charles Anderson The highest ranked Australian soldier to be awarded the Victoria Cross. Having won the Victoria Cross, Anderson spent the remainder of the Second World War as a prisoner of the Japanese.

Lieutenant Colonel Charles Groves Wright Anderson, VC, MC (1897–1988)

Middle-aged, bespectacled, and a veteran of an earlier war, Anderson did not look like a Hollywood-style war hero. He had been born in South Africa and was awarded the Military Cross in the First World War before coming to Australia in 1934. Already an officer in the militia, he was appointed second-in-command of the 2/19th Battalion on its formation in 1940. The battalion was sent to Malaya; and in August 1941 Anderson was appointed its commanding officer.

During the Japanese advance in January 1942, the 2/19th was ordered to the Bakri area in a futile attempt to help stop the enemy. Following heavy casualties, Anderson took command of the brigade and led it in a fighting withdrawal towards Parit Sulong village. Cut-off, surrounded, and without air support, Anderson personally led attacks against road-blocks and enemy positions during the ensuing four-day action that became one of the most desperate in Australian military history.

At Parit Sulong Anderson found his decimated force trapped with no hope of relief. Finally, he ordered that the vehicles and guns be destroyed and surviving troops form groups and try to make their own way southward. He was later distressed to learn that the Japanese had massacred the wounded who had been left behind. For his command and exploits he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

Anderson was taken into captivity on 15 February 1942, when the British forces in Singapore surrendered. He endured the misery and squalor of being a prisoner of war, commanding “Anderson force” on the Burma–Thailand Railway. Despite a high rate of death and illness, “he maintained a high level of morale among his men … all of whom would have followed him to hell and back”. After the war he returned to farming. In 1949 he was elected to parliament as Country Party member for Hume, New South Wales, and served three terms.

Lieutenant Colonel Charles Anderson ART31764

2


Bob Badget Bage Prize-winning student, athlete, and soldier. Bage was a young adventurous Antarctic explorer before returning to his army appointment. He was killed during the first fortnight on Gallipoli.

Captain Edward Frederick Robert Bage (1888–1915)

After graduating in civil engineering, Bob Bage joined the militia in 1909 and two years later transferred, as an officer, to the Royal Australian Engineers. Not long after that, aged 23, he took leave to accompany Douglas Mawson’s Australasian Antarctic Expedition as astronomer, assistant magnetician and recorder of tides.

Bage led the expedition’s southern sledging party on a perilous 1,000-kilometre overland journey towards the magnetic pole region. For weeks on end the group encountered blizzards, freezing temperatures, snow-blindness and frost-bite. Their return, with dwindling rations, became a race for survival. Bage’s “quiet determination, resolution, and foresight carried them through … always cheerful, ready with a hand to anybody who needed it … he was a born leader of men”.

Elsewhere, Mawson’s far eastern party struck disaster, leaving Mawson the sole survivor. Back at base, Bage was one of six volunteers who remained behind to wait for him when he failed to return in time for the expedition’s sailing. They endured another winter before the relief ship could come back for them.

On the outbreak of war, Bage was commissioned in the AIF as second-in-command of the 3rd Field Company, Australian Engineers. He took part in the landing at ANZAC on 25 April 1915. Twelve days later he was sent to an exposed position to peg out a new trench line. He came under intense machine-gun fire and was repeatedly hit. His dead body could not be recovered until dark; he was later buried in the Beach Cemetery at ANZAC.

Bob Bage, member of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition

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3


Braces Bracegirdle An officer from a distinguished Australian naval family. Warwick Bracegirdle saw extensive service in both the Second World War and the Korean War and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross on three occasions.

Commander Warwick Seymour Bracegirdle, DSC (and two Bars) (1911–1993)

Warwick Bracegirdle seemed destined for a naval career. His father, Rear Admiral Sir Leighton Bracegirdle (1881–1970), had been an officer in the NSW Naval Brigade and later the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). By the time he was 21 he had fought in the Boxer Rebellion and the Boer War; in the First World War he served in the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force, and in 1915 was appointed to command the Australian Naval Bridging Train. Following in this tradition, young Warwick entered the RAN College, where, in 1928, he received the King’s Medal.

During the Second World War Warwick Bracegirdle was in the Mediterranean in HMAS Perth, and was often under air attack. At Piraeus, near Athens, he was almost killed when the ammunition ship Clan Fraser exploded while he was trying to tow a lighter clear during a bombing raid. For “his personal courage and determination” in Perth Bracegirdle was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC).

From 1942 to 1945 he was gunnery officer in HMAS Shropshire. Always “a cool thinker in action”, he received another DSC for his “gallantry and skill” at Leyte Gulf in October 1944. He was twice mentioned in despatches.

During the Korean War Bracegirdle commanded HMAS Bataan and in 1952 was awarded a further DSC. Bataan and Warramunga were the two Australian ships most heavily involved in the war. On one occasion, after Bataan was under fire, Bracegirdle returned to his cabin to find a shell had penetrated it. To his annoyance, and others’ amusement, his dress uniform had been hit.

For service in Korean waters, Bracegirdle also received the US Legion of Merit. He was later posted to Britain and retired from the RAN in 1957. His son, also a naval officer, served in the Royal Navy.

Commander Warwick Bracegirdle on the bridge of HMAS Bataan in Korean waters 306829A

4


Sexton VC Declared a deserter, Maurice Buckley re-enlisted under another name and went on to establish himself as an Australian hero and a holder of the Victoria Cross.

Sergeant Maurice Vincent Buckley, VC, DCM (1891–1921)

Maurice Buckley’s military service began badly. He had joined the light horse in 1914 and went to Egypt, where he contracted a venereal disease. He was returned to Australia and sent to Langwarrin Camp in late 1915. Some months later he walked out of the camp and did not return. As a result, he was declared a deserter and struck off the army roll.

In mid-1916 Buckley re-enlisted in the AIF, using the alias “Gerald Sexton”. He was sent to France, where he joined the 13th Battalion on the Somme in January 1917. He went on to fight at Bullecourt and through the third battle of Ypres; the next year, as a sergeant, he was wounded at Le Hamel. He later won the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his brave work during the great allied advance on 8 August.

Buckley was already a decorated veteran sergeant when at Le Verguier on 18 September 1918, armed with his Lewis Gun and “displaying boldness which was an inspiration to all”, he rushed at least six enemy machine-gun positions, captured a field gun, and took nearly 100 prisoners. For these feats, he was awarded the Victoria Cross. Now, with the focus of attention on him, he had to disclose his true name. This duly required a correction in the London Gazette, which had formally announced his award.

After the war, in 1920, Buckley was one of the 14 Victoria Cross winners who marched on St Patrick’s Day in Melbourne to support Archbishop Daniel Mannix who had been outspoken against the war. (Opponents had tried unsuccessfully to prevent the parade.) A year later Buckley was fatally injured when trying to jump his horse over the railway gates at Boolarra, Victoria. Ten Victoria Cross winners were pallbearers at his funeral.

Sergeant Maurice Buckley (who won the VC serving as Gerald Sexton) P02939.038

5


Sister Vivian Bullwinkel Australian army nursing sister and prisoner of war. A victim of a war atrocity, Bullwinkel was the sole survivor when a group of nurses were machine-gunned by their Japanese captors.

Vivian Statham (née Bullwinkel), AO, MBE, ARRC, ED (1915–2000)

Vivian Bullwinkel was born in Kapunda, South Australia, and trained as a nurse in Broken Hill, New South Wales. In 1941, aged 25, she enlisted in the Australian Army Nursing Service. She was posted to the 13th Australian General Hospital and sailed for Malaya. Faced with the Japanese invasion of the Malay Peninsula, the hospital shifted to Singapore Island in January 1942.

With the fall of Singapore imminent, it was decided to evacuate the nurses. Late on 12 February Bullwinkel was with the last group of nurses, along with patients and women and children, to sail from the doomed island on the SS Vyner Brooke. Next night Japanese bombers found the ship in the Banka Strait. It was attacked and sunk. Bullwinkel drifted for hours clinging to a lifeboat before she struggled ashore on Banka Island with other survivors.

When Japanese troops arrived, they gathered 22 nurses together and ordered them into the sea, where they machine-gunned them. “The girls fell one after the other.” Sister Bullwinkel, badly wounded and feigning death, was the only survivor.

After a long while Bullwinkel got back to the now empty beach. There she found a wounded British soldier from another massacre. They hid out for 12 days, and she cared for the man until he died. Eventually, she surrendered again to the Japanese, but made no mention of the massacre. She was interned with other nurses and endured a further three years of hardship and brutality before her release enabled her to tell her harrowing story.

After the war Bullwinkel was active in military and civilian nursing. She was involved in veterans’ affairs and with philanthropic committees. She married in 1977.

Staff Nurse Vivian Bullwinkel before being posted to Malaya

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6


Killer Caldwell The highest scoring fighter pilot of the RAAF. Clive Caldwell always wanted to fly; he became an outstanding airman and a popular national hero.

Group Captain Clive Robertson Caldwell, DSO, DFC (and Bar) (1911–1994)

Caldwell was in the Royal Aero Club before the war and had already learnt to fly. When war broke out he joined the RAAF and in 1941 was sent to the Middle East, where he flew first P-40 Tomahawks in No. 250 Squadron RAF and later Kittyhawks as commander of No. 112 Squadron RAF. He never liked the nickname, “Killer”, that was bestowed on him.

The skill of his flying, and the accuracy of his shooting, soon established Caldwell as a leading “ace” in the Western Desert; eventually he shot down more than 20 German and Italian aircraft. One time in combat, his plane was badly hit and he was wounded. Despite this, he destroyed an enemy Messerschmitt and drove off another. Another day, he shot down five German Junkers Ju 87s.

In late 1942 Caldwell returned to assist in the defence of Australia against the Japanese. He took command of No. 1 Fighter (Spitfire) Wing based at Darwin. By August 1943 he had added eight Japanese aircraft to his score. In 1944 he led No. 80 Fighter Wing, and in early 1945 moved to Morotai.

As the Americans took an increasing role in the air war, Australian fighter squadrons were left with less important work; many pilots now felt they were risking their lives for little purpose. Discontent culminated in Caldwell and a group of officers proffering their resignations. This became known as the “Morotai Mutiny”.

The matter was handled very poorly by the Chief of the Air Staff, who was determined to take some disciplinary action. This resulted in the end of Caldwell’s active flying career. The episode left a bitter taste. After the war, Caldwell became a successful businessman and only spoke modestly of his heroic part in the war.

Wing Commander Clive Caldwell, DSO, DFC and Bar

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7


Harry Chauvel The first Australian corps commander. Chauvel was a professional soldier and rose to command the renowned Desert Mounted Corps during the First World War.

General Sir Henry George Chauvel, GCMG, KCB (1865–1945)

After having been an officer in a small New South Wales mounted unit, in 1896 Chauvel obtained an appointment in the Queensland Permanent Forces and embarked on a career that would take him to the top rank in the Australian army.

Chauvel extended his military reputation while serving in the Boer War, taking part in major actions, and was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George. After Federation, he advanced his position further in the Commonwealth forces and in 1914 was sent to London as Australian representative on the Imperial General Staff.

A thoroughly professional soldier, Chauvel was hardy and courageous. He was a reserved man who possessed both wisdom and tact. On the outbreak of war in 1914, he was appointed to command the 1st Light Horse Brigade. He went with the brigade to Gallipoli, where, for periods, he had command of a division.

The following year Chauvel became commander of the Australian and New Zealand Mounted Division and all Australian forces in Egypt. From 1916 his regiments pursued the Turks through Sinai. In the 1917 reorganisation of the forces in the Middle East, Chauvel was given command of the Desert Mounted Corps, becoming Australia’s highest ranked soldier. His renowned light horsemen went on to fight across the ancient lands, capturing Jerusalem and, on 1 October 1918, entering Damascus.

Returning home, Chauvel went on to play an important part in the army in the austere post-war years; from 1923 he was chief of the general staff. In 1929 he was promoted general – the first local serving officer to attain this rank. He retired the following year but came back into uniform in the Second World War, aged 75, as inspector-in-chief of the Volunteer Defence Corps – the local home guard. He died before the war ended.

Lieutenant General Sir Harry Chauvel

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8


Mother Chisholm A devoted war worker and a friend to all Australian light horsemen. Mrs Chisholm established canteens for the welfare of troops serving in Egypt and Palestine during the First World War.

Dame Alice Isabel Chisholm (née Morphy), DBE (1856–1954)

Alice Chisholm was the wife of a prominent pastoralist from near Goulburn, New South Wales. Concerned for the welfare of her son Bertram, who was serving as a light horseman on Gallipoli, she sailed for Egypt in mid-1915. Bertram was wounded in action about this time; he later returned to his regiment.

Observing the lack of facilities for the troops in Cairo, Chisholm opened a canteen nearby at Heliopolis. It was so well received that she opened another at Port Said. Then, with two like-minded women, she established a popular canteen at the Suez Canal crossing at Kantara. This expanded to include dormitories and dining-rooms and eventually had the capacity for handling thousands of men.

Mrs Chisholm’s canteen became a cherished institution in the Middle East. Soldiers flocked there in their spare time or when on leave. For a small price they found care, comfort, food, and the luxury of showers. Most of all they were provided with a small touch of home.

Throughout the war Chisholm put a lot of her own money into the canteens. The profits from operations she used to provide amenities on the troopships carrying the men home after the war. She also later helped fund the establishment of the Returned Soldiers’ Club in Goulburn. For her war work she was appointed a Dame of the British Empire in 1920.

Over 60 when the war ended, Dame Alice remained active and soon put her energies into ex-servicemen’s welfare, the Country Women’s Association and the RSPCA. Later she lived quietly in retirement, dying at the age of 97.

Mrs Chisholm of Kantara

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9


Sir Albert Coates An outstanding surgeon, and a soldier in two world wars. Albert Coates became a prisoner of war and was an inspirational hero to those he cared for on the notorious Burma–Thailand Railway.

Sir Albert Ernest Coates, OBE (1895–1977)

Born into modest circumstances, and after leaving school at an early age, Albert Coates undertook night study and excelled as a student. In 1914 he enlisted in the 7th Battalion as a medical orderly and the following year served on Gallipoli. Later, on the Western Front, he transferred to the intelligence staff at corps headquarters.

Back in Australia following the war, he studied medicine and over the next decade established himself as a leading surgeon and academic. He was also a captain in the Australian Army Medical Corps. Then war came again; in 1941 he was appointed lieutenant colonel and Senior Surgeon to the second AIF in Malaya.

Following the Japanese landings on the Malay Peninsula, Coates moved with the 2/10th Australian General Hospital to Singapore. A few days before the city surrendered he was a part of a group that tried to escape to Java, but they got only as far as Sumatra. He became a prisoner of the Japanese and in May 1942 was sent to Burma.

Short and nuggetty, Albert Coates was courageous, honourable, and unpretentious; he became renowned for his dedication, skill and wisdom. He worked tirelessly to help the sick and dying prisoners of war on the notorious Burma–Thailand Railway.

Conditions were deplorable, the treatment brutal, and the death rate enormous. He later described his daily work as “segregating the sick from the very sick … curetting seventy or eighty ulcers … and, in the afternoon, proceeding to amputate nine or ten legs”. In 1944 he became responsible for a major prisoners’ hospital in Thailand.

After the war Coates returned to Melbourne and resumed his distinguished medical career. In 1953 he was made a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, London, and in 1955 received a knighthood. Throughout his ordeals and achievements, he “was proud to be involved in great causes as a soldier and a citizen”.

Lieutenant Colonel Albert Coates at the Recovered Allied POW and Internees Unit in 1945

10


Sir John Collins A senior commander involved in some of the navy’s most famous battles of the Second World War, Collins fulfilled all the promise that he had shown as a young cadet midshipman.

Vice Admiral Sir John Augustine Collins, KBE, CB (1899–1989)

In 1913, aged 14, Collins joined the first intake to the RAN College; he became a midshipman in January 1917, in time to see war service while attached to the Royal Navy. His career advanced between the wars, and he was Assistant Chief of Naval Staff and Director of Military Intelligence at the beginning of the Second World War.

In the early war years Collins commanded HMAS Sydney in the Mediterranean. Australians celebrated a great naval victory when the Sydney sunk the Italian cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni in July 1940. When they came home, the city of Sydney gave the ship’s captain and crew a huge public reception. Collins left Sydney before it was tragically sunk, with the loss of all 645 men on board, by a German raider off the Western Australian coast in November 1941.

In 1943 Collins commanded HMAS Shropshire and took part in operations at Bougainville, Cape Gloucester, the Admiralties, and Hollandia. He was later Commodore Commanding the Australian Naval Squadron, with HMAS Australia as his flagship.

Badly wounded by a Japanese suicide attack at Leyte Gulf in October 1944, he did not resume his command until July 1945. When the war ended Collins was the RAN’s representative at the surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay.

Collins was appointed Chief of Naval Staff (1948–55), a period that included the deployment of ships to the Korean War. During this time he also oversaw many changes and administrative reforms in the navy, and was involved in closer Australian–American naval co-operation. He later served as Australia’s High Commissioner to New Zealand (1956–62). The latest class of Australian submarines bears his name; the first of these, HMAS Collins, was launched by his widow in 1993.

Captain John Collins in HMAS Shropshire

11


General Cosgrove Australia’s best known modern general. After he assumed command of Interfet in East Timor (1999–2000), Cosgrove soon became the regular and reassuring face of the Australian Army on television news services across the country.

General Peter John Cosgrove, AC, MC (b. 1947)

General Peter Cosgrove retired from the army in 2005. Four years earlier, he had been Australian of the Year: “In every respect Peter Cosgrove demonstrated that he is a role model. The man at the top displayed those characteristics we value most as Australians – strength, determination, intelligence, compassion and humour.”

The son of a soldier, Cosgrove graduated from the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in 1968. He was sent to Malaysia as a lieutenant in the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (RAR). Soon afterwards, his next posting was to Vietnam with 9RAR. There he commanded an infantry platoon and was awarded the Military Cross for his work during an assault on enemy positions.

In the following years Cosgrove was an instructor at the Infantry Centre, was promoted, commanded 1RAR, undertook staff work, and spent periods in the United States, Britain, and India. In 1990 he was the Director of Infantry, and Commandant of the Infantry Centre. In 1997 he completed a circle when he became Commandant at Duntroon.

In 1999 the general became a national figure on being appointed commander of the International Forces East Timor (Interfet), responsible for overseeing East Timor’s transition to independence. With the large deployment of Australian troops, and considerable uncertainty about the outcome, it was a tense period. Cosgrove combined the roles of soldier and diplomat. A strong and reassuring figure, always in his familiar slouch hat, he appeared regularly on television throughout Australian homes.

After Timor, where he had won the respect of fellow Australians, East Timorese and the international community, Cosgrove was promoted and made Chief of the Army. This was followed in 2002 by promotion to general and appointment to Chief of the Defence Force. His own soldier son was slightly wounded in Iraq in 2005.

Major General Peter Cosgrove

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12


Tibby Cotter Trooper Albert Cotter (1883–1917)

Albert Cotter established his cricketing ability at school in Sydney and by 18 was playing for New South Wales. When he was 20 he was selected to bowl for Australia. In a nine-year international career he played in 21 Tests, taking 89 wickets for an average of 28.64 runs.

Cotter’s bowling caused outrage in the British newspapers when he first toured England with the Australian Test Team in 1905. A fast bowler with an intimidating style, he faced the grand old man of English cricket, W.G. Grace, in his first match. He bowled a full toss, striking the batsman on the chest. Grace spooned the next ball then walked off in disgust. At one point the England captain demanded that Cotter stop bowling at the body.

Cotter joined the AIF in April 1915, aged 31. The enlistment of a former sporting champion was seen as powerful publicity for the AIF recruiting campaign.

Despite having no great riding ability, he was accepted into the 1st Australian Light Horse Regiment; he took a late part in the Gallipoli campaign. Later he transferred to the 12th Light Horse and was commended for his “fine work under heavy fire” during the second battle of Gaza. The official history remarked: “he behaved in action as a man without fear”. He declined promotion.

On 31 October 1917 the 4th Light Horse Brigade, of which the 12th Regiment was part, captured Beersheba by a brilliant cavalry-style charge. Cotter was there as a stretcher-bearer. At the end of the charge, as troops dismounted to engage the enemy, a Turk shot Cotter dead at close range.

Glass lantern slide of Tibbie (or Tibby) Cotter during his cricketing career

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13


Sir Roden Cutler A Victoria Cross winner and the longest-serving Governor of New South Wales. Cutler won the Victoria Cross in the 1941 Syrian campaign and was severely wounded, requiring the amputation of a leg.

Sir Arthur Roden Cutler, VC, AK, KCMG, KCVO, CBE (1916–2002)

Roden Cutler began his military service in the Sydney University Regiment while a student. Commissioned in November 1939, six months later he joined the second AIF. He was posted to the artillery’s 2/5th Field Regiment, which trained in Egypt and Palestine before going into action in Syria against the Vichy French forces in mid-1941.

Seemingly fearless, Cutler was a forward observer who, from 19 June, consistently placed himself in danger in order to direct artillery fire against the enemy. He was often directly involved in the fighting and when necessary he took command of the local situation; he also helped in evacuating the wounded. Once he was cut off and had to wait for darkness to escape. Finally, on 6 July, he went out under heavy machine-gun fire to lay a telephone line and was severely wounded.

Badly hit, Cutler lay out isolated and exposed for 26 hours before he could be rescued. His leg became septic and later had to be amputated.For his sustained valour leading up to his wounding he was awarded the Victoria Cross. Invalided home, he received a hero’s welcome in Sydney. With his fighting spirit unquenched, he then embarked on a fresh career of public service.

In 1946 Cutler was appointed Australian High Commissioner in New Zealand, and several other diplomatic postings followed, including appointment as Consul-General in New York. In 1965 he took up the post of Ambassador to the Netherlands, but shortly afterwards was appointed Governor of New South Wales. A tall, handsome, dignified man, Cutler was a royalist, comfortable in a role not yet modernised; he remained a respected and popular governor until his retirement in 1981.

Lieutenant Roden Cutler after his Victoria Cross investiture at Admiralty House, Sydney

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14


Diver Derrick Possibly the best known Australian soldier during the Second World War. Derrick was seen by many as the embodiment of all those best characteristics widely attributed to the Australian “digger”.

Lieutenant Thomas Currie Derrick, VC, DCM (1914–1945)

Tom Derrick survived the Depression in South Australia by doing a variety of jobs; he married in 1939, and joined the second AIF a year later. He went to the Middle East with the 2/48th Battalion and became one of the “Rats of Tobruk”. A year later, at Tel el Eisa, in July 1942, he won the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his part in the attack on enemy machine- gun posts and some tanks.

Tough, with a larrikin grin, Derrick was also intelligent and thoughtful. A natural and inspiring soldier, he was promoted to sergeant. In October, in the battle of El Alamein he was wounded. Later, after returning to Australia the 2/48th Battalion was sent to New Guinea.

In the assault on Sattelberg in November 1943, Derrick displayed great leadership and courage, for which he received the Victoria Cross. Just as the attack was looking to have been futile, he took charge and engaged the enemy at close quarters with grenades.

He then led his men in destroying ten enemy posts and held the ground during the night. It was fitting that next day Derrick was the one who raised the Australian flag over Sattelberg.

Derrick’s exploits brought him to wide public attention; he was a legendary figure in the 9th Division. When he returned to his battalion as a lieutenant from an officer training course, “there was great jubilation”.

The end of the war was almost in sight when in May 1945 the 2/48th landed on Tarakan Island and was again in tough fighting. On the 22nd, Derrick’s platoon was under heavy fire; he was hit in the stomach and thigh, and died the following day. The news of his death spread like a shock-wave through the division. It seemed, as one soldier said, that “the whole war stopped”.

Sergeant Thomas “Diver” Derrick

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15


Tilly DEVINE A notorious wartime Sydney madam. Tilly Devine came to Australia as a war bride; her later extensive criminal activities made her an almost legendary figure.

Matilda Parsons (née Twiss) (1900–1970)

Thousands of English war brides came to Australia after the First World War, but one would become notorious as a leading Sydney criminal. Matilda Twiss married Sapper James Devine, a former Queensland shearer, on 12 August 1917 in London when she was 16 years old. He returned to Sydney in 1919 and she followed early the next year.

Jim Devine had joined the AIF in February 1916 and went to France for a brief period. He proved to be a worthless soldier, spending almost all his time in English training camps, absent or in detention. Even after the war his return home was delayed because he was serving a long sentence for eight months’ illegal absence.

Settling in Sydney, the Devines were soon enmeshed in the criminal underworld. They were involved in “sly grog”, drugs, and attacks on other gangs. Before she had turned 25, Tilly Devine had almost 70 convictions for prostitution, offensive behaviour and indecent language. In 1925 she was jailed for two years for a razor attack on a man. She became a notorious madam and was called Sydney’s “Queen of the night”. When she no longer needed her brutal husband’s protection, and having tired of his violence towards her, she divorced him in 1943.

The social dislocations and movements of great numbers of local and Allied servicemen through Sydney during the Second World War provided a boom time for Tilly’s establishments. Operating from Woolloomooloo, flaunting herself, holding lavish parties, and generously supporting the war effort, she became the “Queen of the ’Loo”. She married again in 1945, to a seaman named Parsons.

Tighter public controls and declining health curtailed her operations after the war, but she was still a prominent and outrageous figure. She remained criminally active and was brought before the court numerous times. Still, in 1953 she went to London to see the coronation procession. A few years after her death she was the inspiration for Peter Kenna’s play, The slaughter of St Teresa’s Day (1973).

Matilda “Tilly” Devine in 1929 Newspix/News Ltd 07523057

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Graham Edwards Vietnam veteran and member of parliament. Edwards lost both legs to a landmine in Vietnam. He went on to a long and active career in both state and federal parliaments.

The Hon. Graham John Edwards, MP (b. 1946)

Born in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, Graham Edwards attended Leederville Technical College, and worked for five years as a railway fireman before joining the Australian Regular Army in 1968. He was sent to Vietnam, where he was a member of the assault pioneer platoon of 7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment.

On 12 May 1970, near Route 326, between Tam Phuoc and Long My, Edwards’s platoon moved into an area where mines had been laid. An M16 mine exploded wounding three men; both Edwards’s legs had to be amputated.

He did not let his disability get the better of him. Years later he recalled a visit to the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial in Canberra: “It was a humbling yet balancing experience particularly when you know that but for the Grace of God and a bit of luck your name could well be up there with the others who lost their lives in that unfortunate war.”

When he returned to civilian life, veterans’ welfare became a vital cause for him and he also moved into public affairs and politics. In 1983 he was elected as a Labor member to the Western Australian Legislative Council. After 14 years in state parliament, he entered federal parliament in 1998, being elected to the House of Representatives for the seat of Cowan, in Western Australia.

Edwards has held ministerial appointments and served on parliamentary committees. He is also a member of the Australian Republican Movement, and maintains a strong and active involvement in defence, disability services, and veterans’ issues.

Private Graham Edwards of the Australian Regular Army

P04724.001 Photo courtesy of Mrs Noelene Edwards

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Sir Hughie Edwards An air force hero who became Governor of Western Australia. Edwards was a highly decorated airman whose awards included the Victoria Cross for a low-level attack on the port of Bremen.

Air Vice Marshal Sir Hughie Idwal Edwards, VC, KCMG, CB, DSO, OBE, DFC (1914–1982)

Edwards joined the RAAF when he was 21. Following pilot training he transferred to the RAF in Britain under a pre-war arrangement. Another to do this was Air Vice Marshal Don Bennett, regarded as the founder of the Path-finder Force. “It was ironic that the two most successful Australian air commanders in Europe earned their reputations as members of the RAF,” noted an air force historian.

In Britain Edwards was posted to a bomber squadron in 1936. Two years later he was badly injured in a plane crash and did not resume flying until the war began. In May 1941 he was appointed to command No. 105 Squadron RAF; he undertook attacks on Germany and the occupied countries, and on enemy shipping.

On 4 July 1941 Edwards led 12 twin-engined bombers in a low-level attack on the heavily defended port of Bremen. The aircraft had to fly under high-tension wires, through a balloon barrage, and into intense fire. All his bombers were hit, and four were shot down. For his gallantry and determination, Edwards received the Victoria Cross.

Edwards continued to lead his squadron against major targets, and was further decorated; his combination of awards marked him as one of the war’s outstanding pilots. In February 1943 he became Commanding Officer of RAF Station, Binbrook, resuming his association with the RAAF as No. 460 Squadron RAAF operated from the base flying Avro Lancasters. (“G for George”, the centrepiece of the Memorial’s Striking by night program in ANZAC Hall, was one of these.)

After the war Edwards continued his career in the RAF. By 1962 he was Director of Establishments of the Air Ministry in London. Eventually he returned to Australia. He was Governor of Western Australia (1974–75) and was knighted, later retiring because of ill-health.

Group Captain Hughie Edwards

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Pompey Elliott An exceptional fighting leader, brave, explosive and blunt, Elliott was worshipped by his men. He later became obsessed with the perceived injustice of not getting a higher command.

Major General Harold Edward Elliott, CB, CMG, DSO, DCM, VD (1878–1931)

Elliott had already received the Distinguished Conduct Medal for bravery in the Boer War before commanding a battalion on Gallipoli and later the 15th Brigade in France and Belgium. The war historian Charles Bean reflected: “What a brigade he made of the 15th! … In his exuberant vitality he overworked them, strafed them, punished them; and yet they would do anything he asked of them.”

Elliott was wounded on the first day on Gallipoli and maintained a reputation as a fighting leader, always close to the action, throughout the war. He was devoted to his troops and always concerned for them. In France, following the disastrous attack at Fromelles in July 1916 he was seen greeting the brigade’s survivors with tears streaming down his face. In the following years his brigade saw some of the heaviest fighting on the Western Front.

In 1917, when his battalions were pursuing the Germans to the Hindenburg Line Elliott had to be ordered to slow down. Later he performed brilliantly, commanding his brigade in attack at the battle of Polygon Wood. His counter-attack at Villers-Bretonneux in April 1918 was decisive in holding the German advance there. By September he was leading his brigade in the final actions against the Hindenburg Line. His exploits became famous, particularly in his home state of Victoria.

A head-strong character, Elliott constantly confronted his superiors; his forcefulness was often unwise, his claims sometimes foolhardy. After the war, as a National Party senator, he spoke bitterly against those he blamed for withholding his higher promotion. In 1927 he became a major general in command of a militia division, but for him it was too little too late. Obsessed by his sense of injustice, and feeling the strain of war service, politics, and business, his health broke down and in March 1931 he committed suicide.

Brigadier General Harold Elliott

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Sir Hudson Fysh A noted commercial aviation pioneer. Fysh was a light horseman who transferred to the flying corps, qualifying as an observer and then a pilot.

Sir Wilmot Hudson Fysh, KBE, DFC (1895–1974)

Sir Hudson Fysh was for so long associated with the founding and management of Qantas Airways that it is almost forgotten that he gained his early flying experience in the Australian Flying Corps and was a distinguished First World War airman. He was also an ANZAC veteran, having earlier served on Gallipoli with the 3rd Light Horse Regiment.

Flying as an observer with No. 1 Squadron AFC in the Palestine campaign, Fysh proved an accurate and cool gunner. In 1918 he was heavily involved in actions against German and Turkish aircraft, airfields and ground troops. He shot or forced down a number of enemy aircraft, including two destroyed on one day. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Before returning to Australia Fysh qualified as a pilot. Seeing the potential in aviation, with his partners, and using mainly war disposals aircraft, he formed the Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Ltd in 1920. He remained a regular company pilot for a decade. The company expanded and, in 1930, moved its headquarters to Brisbane. It soon gained valuable mail contracts and extended its service overseas.

During the Second World War, Qantas, under Fysh’s guidance, assisted the war effort. This included flying long routes and taking troops and equipment to New Guinea and bringing home casualties. In 1947 the Commonwealth acquired the company but Fysh remained managing director; he was chairman until 1966, by which time the company had become established as one of the world’s leading airlines.

Lieutenant Hudson Fysh of No. 1 Squadron AFC, standing with his Nieuport Scout aircraft

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John GORTON A fighter-pilot who became prime minister. Gorton had a distinguished war record; his craggy looks were partly the result of a crash when his aircraft was shot down in 1942.

The Rt Hon. Sir John Grey Gorton, GCMG, AC, CH (1911–2002)

John Gorton was 29, married, and had completed an MA at Oxford when he joined the RAAF in late 1940. He trained as a pilot and served in Britain before being posted to Singapore with No. 232 Squadron RAF. On 21 January 1942, flying a Hawker Hurricane which had only been unloaded a week earlier, he was shot down by a Japanese fighter. He crash-landed and was thrown heavily into his instrument panel, causing severe facial injuries.

Just two days before the surrender of Singapore Gorton was evacuated on the transport Derrymore, but his problems were far from over; the ship was torpedoed and he only survived after being rescued by the corvette HMAS Ballarat. Later that year, once healed, he was posted to No. 77 Squadron RAAF, flying Kittyhawks. On 7 September, operating out of Darwin, he had to make a forced landing. It was days before he and the aircraft were recovered.

Gorton took part in No. 77 Squadron’s operations against the Japanese out of Milne Bay. There he was involved in a serious accident when his aircraft crashed during take-off. In March 1944 he returned to Australia to become a flying instructor. He was discharged in December 1944.

Entering politics after the war, Gorton was elected as a Liberal Party senator in 1949 and became a minister in 1958. When Prime Minister Harold Holt drowned in 1967 Gorton was selected to take his place. He was a controversial and progressive leader: “A knockabout bloke with the larrikin streak, his scarred features and crumpled suits, his candid approach and laconic air, jaunty grin, tousled hair and ever-present cigarette.”

For the Prime Minister, it was a politically tumultuous time, not the least because of growing opposition to the Vietnam War. But his strongest critics seemed to have been in his own party. He was replaced as leader in 1971 after casting the deciding vote against himself. In 1975 he quit politics. It was only in retirement during his later years that he was recognised as a party elder.

Prime Minister John Gorton in his Parliament House office

National Archives of Australia A1500, K18522 Fifty Australians

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Jo Gullett Soldier, member of parliament, and diplomat. Gullett was one of the handful of Australian officers at the Normandy landings.

Henry Bayton Somer Gullett, AM, MC (1914–1999) The son of Sir Henry Gullett, one of the Australian official historians of the First World War, “Jo” Gullett was a Melbourne journalist when he enlisted in the second AIF in 1939. Educated at Oxford and the Sorbonne, he had inherited an old-fashioned sense of honour and duty. “We knew England’s position was very serious and that we should help her as our fathers had done. It was the order of things.” When Australian troops first went into action at Bardia, Libya, in January 1941, Gullett was there as an infantry sergeant. He was wounded in the taking of Post 11, which the Italians had stoutly defended, but rejoined his battalion in time to serve as an officer in the ill-fated Greek campaign. He later fought in New Guinea and was awarded the Military Cross for his “disregard of danger and [for] leadership”. In 1944 Gullett was one of the few Australian soldiers sent to Europe to take part in the British D-Day operations. He was able to get an appointment with an infantry battalion. Soon afterwards he was made a company commander with The Royal Scots, and served with them during the further fighting until again wounded on 17 July. A staff job awaited him on his return to Australia. While others may have seen boredom and disruption in war service, Gullett found some “colour, music and a touch of glory in that life”. His account of his experiences, Not as duty only (1976) is a classic of Australian war literature. His part in the fighting at Bardia is depicted in Ivor Hele’s famous painting, 2/6th Battalion attack on Post 11 at Bardia. Gullett followed in his father’s footsteps when he entered parliament in 1946; he was elected the Member for Henty. He became the Chief Government Whip (1950–55) in the Menzies’ Liberal Government. He was Australian Ambassador to Greece (1965–68), before returning to farming at “Lambrigg” property, Tharwa, in the Australian Capital Territory.

Henry “Jo” Gullett was a member of the Australian War Memorial Council, and chairman between

April and August 1974 P04809.001 Fiy Aus

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Ned Herring After service in the First World War, Herring chose a legal career rather than a military one. He eventually excelled at both.

Lieutenant General the Hon. Sir Edmund Francis Herring, KCMG, KBE, DSO, MC, ED, QC (1892–1982) A Rhodes Scholar for Victoria at Oxford University, Herring served as an officer in the British Army in the First World War and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and Military Cross. After completing a law degree, he returned home in 1920. Between the wars he became a King’s Counsel and a senior militia officer; he was also involved in conservative politics, including a period with the clandestine right-wing organisation called the White Army. In the Second World War Herring was there from the beginning, accompanying the 6th Division overseas as its senior artillery commander. He served in North Africa and Greece, and in August 1941 was given command of the division. In the early months of the Pacific war he commanded Northern Territory Force, and with vigorous application transformed its readiness to repel any Japanese attack. Despite their different characters and temperaments, the modest and deeply religious Herring had a good relationship with the Commander-in-Chief, General Sir Thomas Blamey, and they trusted each other. In September 1942, when the commander of New Guinea Force, Lieutenant General Sydney Rowell, was sacked, Herring replaced him. General Herring became responsible for the main Australian offensives against the Japanese in New Guinea. He got vital cooperation from the Americans, with whom he was on good terms. The enemy was driven back to the coast. Later operations were successfully conducted against Salamaua, Lae and Finschhafen. Herring retained his command until October 1943, mostly managing to avoid the political minefield and jealousies surrounding his position. The following January he was given a great civil honour by being appointed Chief Justice of Victoria, a position he held until 1964. He remained widely respected in legal, academic and military circles for a long time; he was Lieutenant Governor of Victoria from 1945 to 1972. Upon his death he was given a state funeral.

Major General Herring, General Officer Commanding, 6th Australian Division

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Nora Heysen The first Australian official female war artist. Daughter of the renowned landscape painter Hans Heysen, Nora established her own reputation as an artist in war and in peacetime.

Nora Heysen, AM (1911–2003) The fourth child of Hans and Selma Heysen, Nora Heysen inherited an interest in drawing and painting; in her teens she studied at the School of Fine Arts in North Adelaide. In 1933 she had her first solo exhibition in Adelaide. The following year she went to London to continue her studies and also travelled extensively throughout Europe. Coming home in 1937, she soon moved to Sydney and entered two portraits in the Archibald Prize for portraiture, winning with a portrait of Madame Elink Schuurman. Once the war began Heysen did some volunteer work.Her chance for a greater contribution came in 1943 when she was appointed an official war artist. “I was commissioned to depict the women’s war effort. So I was lent around to all the Services; the air force, the navy and the army, to depict the women working at everything they did,” she recalled. In April 1944 Heysen was presented with a wider scope for her work when she went to New Guinea. The working conditions there were difficult for an artist. The troops may have found her unconventional, but she was committed to her work. “If I was going to do war subjects I wanted to be as near as I possibly could.” She spent seven months in New Guinea and returned to Australia suffering from dermatitis. Back in Australia Heysen depicted the activities of the army medical units at Sydney Hospital. In May 1945 she went to Queensland to paint the work of the RAAF nursing sisters serving on the medical evacuation flights. Altogether, she completed over 170 works of art while an official artist. She also met Captain Robert Black, a doctor, whom she later married. After the war Heysen continued to paint, but didn’t seek publicity. “I wasn’t a social bird ever,” she later said. Her great pleasures were her home, her cats, and her garden. She also travelled widely. In 1993 she was awarded the Australia Council’s Award for Achievement in the Arts.

Captain Nora Heysen at a Casualty Clearing Station, at Finschhafen, New Guinea

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Barney Hines A soldier who achieved fame through the publication of his photograph during the war. It showed a wild-eyed Hines surrounded by his souvenirs of the fighting at Ypres.

Private John Hines (1873–1958) A Liverpool Irishman, Hines was drifting around Australia working at different jobs before he joined the AIF in 1915. He was heavily tattooed and gave his age as 28, but was in fact much older. Hines served with the 45th Battalion. An effective soldier in battle, he was a troublesome one out of it. He was often absent without leave, and also faced charges for drunkenness, and for forging entries in his pay-book. He saw most of his action in Flanders, where he was wounded. Hines was eventually discharged on medical grounds before the war ended. A photograph of Hines taken near Ypres, wearing a German cap and surrounded by souvenirs taken from the enemy, was published in late 1917. It was simply titled, “Wild Eyes, the souvenir king”. The photograph was widely circulated during the war, and it achieved fresh fame when exhibited and re-published more than a decade later. Old soldiers felt that it represented the larrikin side of the archetypal digger. Hines became the subject of many tall tales and true. One popular but doubtful story was that the Kaiser had been enraged by the publication of the photograph that seemed to show a barbaric Australian gloating over his battle trophies. After the war Barney Hines lived as an unmarried loner in a bag humpy beyond Sydney. From time to time, the photograph would be published and he would come briefly to the public’s attention. The post-war years and the Depression were hard on him, although he received occasional support from ex-service groups.

Private Barney Hines, with his trophies from the fighting at Polygon Wood, Belgium E00822

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William Holmes The highest ranked Australian to die on the Western Front. Holmes was killed soon after his greatest success, his division’s victory at Messines, Belgium.

Major General William Holmes, CMG, DSO, VD (1862–1917) By the age of 32 William Holmes was secretary of the NSW Metropolitan Board of Water Supply and Sewerage. Some of the main Sydney water supply dams were built while he was chief executive. At the same time he was imbued with the military culture and was an active and senior militia officer. Holmes grew up at Victoria Barracks, Paddington, where his father was a soldier and later chief military clerk. As a boy he joined the 1st NSW Infantry Regiment as a bugler, and in 1886 was commissioned in the regiment, which he eventually rose to command. He served in the Boer War and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. In 1914 Holmes was given command of an expeditionary force sent to capture Rabaul and occupy the German territories. This done, he caused a mild controversy by ordering the flogging of four German colonists who had assaulted a missionary. He was next appointed to command the 5th Brigade AIF and took it to Gallipoli, and then to France. In January 1917 he was promoted major general and General Officer Commanding the 4th Australian Division. Charles Bean admired Holmes’s “fine moral qualities, transparent sincerity, [and] energy”. As a brigade commander the general was “famed for his courage and enforced his standards by daily visiting its most dangerous sectors … during which his cheery face and the red staff cap-band which he insisted on wearing were not always welcome … but [the visits] helped keep his officers and men at a high pitch of performance.” During 1917 Holmes commanded his division through the disaster of the battle of Bullecourt, and in the success of the battle of Messines two months later. Shortly afterwards, on 2 July, he was escorting the New South Wales Premier, William Holman, near the battlefield when a German shell burst alongside and fatally wounded him. His death, along with that of General William Bridges in 1915, meant that Australia had now lost two of its divisional commanders in action.

William Holmes, a colonel, commanded the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force in New Guinea in 1914.

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Bert Jacka A great Australian hero. Having already won the Victoria Cross on Gallipoli, in France Jacka “performed the most dramatic and effective act of individual audacity in the history of the AIF”.

Captain Albert Jacka, VC, MC (and Bar) (1893–1932) Bert Jacka enlisted in the 14th Battalion AIF in September 1914, aged 21, and went ashore at ANZAC on 26 April 1915. A few weeks later, on 19 May, he immediately became a national hero when he won the first Victoria Cross awarded to an Australian in the war for his part in repelling a Turkish counter-attack. In August the following year, at Pozières, Jacka’s position was overrun. With only a handful of men – who would all become casualties – he straightaway led a counter-attack. German fire knocked him to the ground a couple of times and he received some near-fatal wounds. Still, he threw himself against the enemy and was inspirational in fierce hand-to-hand fighting, killing or capturing several of them. Other Australians were drawn into the fight and the ground was retaken. For this “individual audacity” Jacka was awarded the Military Cross (MC). The following April Jacka received a second MC for his bravery in preparing the jumping-off line for the attack at Bullecourt and capturing an enemy patrol. Charles Bean later wrote: “Everyone who knows the facts, knows Jacka earned the Victoria Cross three times.” Although he did not rise beyond the rank of captain and was often in conflict with the more senior officers, his fame was such that his battalion became known as “Jacka’s Mob”. In 1918 this heroic officer was badly gassed, effectively ending his fighting career. On return to Melbourne, he was met by the Governor-General and feted at the Town Hall. To Bean, Jacka was “a curious character”: “He did not minimise his actions afterwards in talking of them. But unlike many other men who won the VC … it left him afterwards as he was before.” Jacka eventually established an electrical goods firm, and in 1929 was elected mayor of St Kilda. But he fell on difficult times. His marriage failed, the business collapsed in the Depression, and his health declined. Jacka became seriously ill and died on 17 January 1932. His coffin lay in state in ANZAC House in Melbourne; his funeral procession was led by a thousand veterans and eight holders of the Victoria Cross were pallbearers.

Captain Albert Jacka

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Olive King A Sydney woman who became a volunteer ambulance driver during the First World War. Olive King sought travel and adventure and found it on the remote Balkans front.

Sergeant Olive May King (1885–1958) Olive King was born into a privileged family in Sydney. She proved to be a strong-willed and unconventional woman with a flair for languages and a desire to travel. In 1910, with three male companions, she climbed Mount Popocatepetl in Mexico. She also developed an interest in motoring, including mechanics and rally-driving. In England when war broke out, Olive went to Belgium with her own ambulance. The adventure was short-lived when she was suspected of being a spy. In 1915 she was sent with her ambulance called “Ella” to France as part of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals for Foreign Service. After six months the hospital was sent to help in Serbia where there was desperate fighting against the Turks. The hospital was established near the Greek border. They were driven out by the enemy advance several weeks later. In 1916 Olive joined the Serbian Army as a driver attached to the medical headquarters at Salonika. During her service she often drove her ambulance for extended hours over tortuous roads, worked amid the debris of war, and lived rough. She worked tirelessly, often required to do mechanical work and constantly repairing punctures. A couple of times she narrowly escaped capture. Later, supported by funds raised by her father in Sydney, she established a string of canteens to help displaced Serbian families and soldiers. The last of these closed in 1920. For her war work she was decorated by the Serbian government; in 1922 she was invited to Serbia to attend King Alexander’s wedding. Back home after the war Olive put her energy into the Girl Guides Association, becoming State Secretary and later assistant State Commissioner (1932–42). Too old for service in the Second World War she worked at De Havilland Aircraft factory as a quality examiner. In her later years she lived in Melbourne.

Olive King, in the uniform of a Serbian army ambulance driver

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Smithy A wartime pilot and pioneer of civil aviation and air mail routes. To his generation “Smithy” became as much a national symbol as Phar Lap or Don Bradman.

Air Commodore Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, MC, AFC (1897–1935) Kingsford Smith was in the army cadets until 1915; when he turned 18, he enlisted in the AIF. He became a signaller and despatch-rider and saw war service on Gallipoli and in Egypt and France before transferring to the Royal Flying Corps (RFC). The young pilot joined No. 23 Squadron RFC on the Western Front in July 1917. He soon destroyed four enemy aircraft in combat, but in August he was wounded and shot down, resulting in the loss of some of his toes. He was awarded the Military Cross. After the war flying became his passion and he piloted joy-flights overseas before returning home in 1921. In the following years he tried to establish viable aviation companies. It was an expensive business and he regularly sought publicity and sponsorship for record-breaking flights. One epic flight, above all his many others, established “Smithy” as one of the greatest pioneering pilots of all time. On 31 May 1928 he took off from California with Charles Ulm and two American crewmen in a three-engined Fokker, the Southern Cross. For aircraft of this era it was an immense distance, over water all the way. They flew via Hawaii and Suva to Brisbane, fighting storms and near exhaustion, completing the journey in under 84 flying hours. For his achievements, Kingsford Smith was given honorary rank in the RAAF and awarded the Air Force Cross. He continued on more record-breaking flights to show the feasibility of air passenger and mail services. In 1932 he was knighted for his contribution to aviation. Most Australians loved Smithy’s dare-devil attitude and his larrikin streak: “a drink and cigarette in hand … he lived hard and fast”. But he was dogged by tragedy: a former colleague, Keith Anderson, died during a search when Smithy went missing briefly in the Northern Territory in 1929; then in 1931 a company aircraft Southern Cloud was lost with all passengers and crew. Finally, in 1935, Kingsford Smith disappeared off Burma while attempting yet another record-breaking flight.

Aviator Charles Kingsford Smith National Archives of Australia A1200, L18548

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Hammy Lamb The only serving member of parliament to die on service in the Second World War. Lamb enlisted for active service but died as prisoner of the Japanese.

Lieutenant George Hamilton Lamb, MLA (1900–1943) It must have been a powerful sense of duty that compelled Hamilton Lamb, aged 40, to join the second AIF in 1940, leaving behind his ailing wife, three young children, and his seat in parliament. It was a tragic decision; his wife died soon afterwards and Lamb would die in captivity, sick and in the most miserable conditions, on the notorious Burma–Thailand Railway. The son of school-teachers, Lamb had attended the University of Melbourne and graduated in 1921. He also served in the militia. He became a teacher and was later headmaster at Geelong Grammar Preparatory School and principal at Kyneton College. However, he set another course in his life when he entered the Victorian Parliament, being elected Country Party member for the seat of Lowan (now Wimmera) in 1935. He had a strong sense of social justice; some thought him an idealist. After enlistment, Lamb was posted to the 2/2nd Pioneer Battalion. The unit sailed for the Middle East and took part in the fighting in Syria against the Vichy French. Lamb was commissioned lieutenant in October 1941. Early next year the unit sailed to Java, where, only a month later, it marched into captivity. The prisoners were moved to Singapore, where they were dispersed. Lamb was sent to the notorious Burma–Thailand Railway. Still a member of parliament, he was re-elected unopposed while a prisoner of war, but died from illness on 7 December 1943. He is buried in the remote Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery in Myanmar (Burma). The memorial hall in his home town of Horsham, Victoria, is named in his honour.

Too oft am I accused of idle dreams, Of pursuing mirage-like paradise, While myriads of men with callous schemes Of self-advancement, scorn the sacrifice. G.H. Lamb George Lamb shortly after he joined the AIF in 1940.

on loan from the collection of Mr Anthony Lamb

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The Bull Leane “The head of the most famous family of soldiers in Australian history.” There were so many members of the Leane family in the 48th Battalion AIF, it was called the “Joan of Arc battalion” – that is, Maid of Orleans (“made of all Leanes”).

Brigadier General Sir Raymond Lionel Leane, CB, CMG, DSO (and Bar), MC, VD (1878–1962) A South Australian, Ray Leane’s job took him to Western Australia. Within a few years he established a retail business in Kalgoorlie and was also an officer in the local Goldfields Regiment. On the outbreak of war he became a company commander in the 11th Battalion AIF. All his brothers and nephews of military age would also see war service; four of them were killed. Leane landed at ANZAC with the first troops at dawn on 25 April 1915. Just over a week later he led a hazardous and futile assault from the sea against Turkish positions at Gaba Tepe. For leading the attack and re-embarking his force from an open beach under fire, he received the Military Cross. From September he had temporary command of the battalion. In Egypt the following year he was promoted to command the South Australian 48th Battalion, in which his brother, three nephews, and several other relatives were serving. The battalion moved to France and over the next two years was involved in all of the heaviest fighting on the Western Front. The battle of Bullecourt in 1917 took a heavy personal toll: Leane’s brother Ben, the battalion’s adjutant, was killed, and a nephew, Captain Allan Leane, was mortally wounded. Leane was highly admired and respected. “His tall square-shouldered frame, immense jaw, tightly compressed lips, and keen, steady, humorous eyes made him the very figure of a soldier.” He was wounded three times, the worst being at Passchendaele; he was out of action until January 1918. Later that year he was appointed to command the 12th Brigade, of which his beloved 48th was part, and led it to the end of the war. After the war Leane was made South Australia’s police commissioner. He commanded the force for two decades, raising morale and introducing reforms. He acted firmly against those involved in civil disobedience, including strikers and any “communist inspired” demonstrators. He also commanded a militia brigade until 1926, and was a senior officer of the Volunteer Defence Corps during the Second World War.

Studio portrait of five Leane brothers: Lieutenant Colonel Ray Leane (centre) with brothers Ben, Ernest, Edwin, and Allan P02136.001 Fifty Australians

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David McNicoll War correspondent, journalist, poet, and raconteur. McNicoll combined a family military background with his journalism to become a war correspondent. He was later one of Australia’s best known columnists.

David Ramsay McNicoll, CBE (1914–2000) David McNicoll joined The Sydney Morning Herald in 1933. He came from a military family; his father, Major General Sir Walter McNicoll, was prominent in the First World War and his brothers attained high rank in the army and the navy. Although McNicoll had no interest in a military career himself, the war intervened and he served with the 2nd Armoured Regiment before volunteering for the second AIF. He went to the Middle East as a trooper with the 7th Division Cavalry. In 1942 he was commissioned and attached to the Military History and Information Section, Head-Quarters, AIF (Middle East). He became officer-in-charge of No. 2 Field Unit. Returning to Australia after the Middle East campaigns, McNicoll was approached to work as a war correspondent for Consolidated Press in 1944. He went on to cover the British part in the Normandy landings that year and was then accredited to the 3rd US Army until November. He reported on General Le Clerc’s advance into Paris and General Charles De Gaulle’s entry into the liberated city. It was an exciting period, he would later recall, “a ringside seat in one of the most exciting episodes of the war”; and it brought him into contact with Ernest Hemingway, Cornelius Ryan, and other noted correspondents. In 1945 he went to the United States on special assignment. After the war McNicoll started the “Town Talk” column in the Daily Telegraph and then was Editor-in-Chief of Australian Consolidated Press for twenty years until 1974. He next established a fresh reputation as a widely-read columnist for The Bulletin. Regarded as conservative – “a crusty club man with extensive links in high society” was how he was once described – McNicoll was also a republican and an advocate of free press and responsible journalism. Soon after his retirement in 2000, he was awarded the inaugural Australian Press Council Medal.

Lieutenant David McNicoll of the Military History and Information Section, Middle East


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Keith Nugget Miller An outstanding cricketer who flew air operations over Europe. As one sporting writer said, “It is difficult to imagine anyone who fitted the image of a ‘Boy’s Own’ hero better than Keith Miller.”

Keith Ross Miller, MBE (1919–2004) At 22 years of age, Keith Miller was showing great potential as a cricketer when he enlisted in the RAAF in January 1942. A fine athlete, he also played VFL football for St Kilda. Another young airman who was with him in training recalled that he was “a magnificent looking fellow. He used to walk like a king … he was a marvellous bloke.” Having been named after the Australian aviators Keith and Ross Smith, it was fitting that Miller was accepted for pilot training. He attended flying schools at Cunderdin, Western Australia, and Mallala, South Australia, before embarking for the United Kingdom in January 1943. After advanced training in England, Miller was finally posted to No. 169 Squadron RAF, equipped with DH Mosquitos, and flew in support of Allied operations over Europe during April and May 1945. In later years he was asked by a television interviewer how he handled pressure on the cricket field. His famous dismissive reply: “Pressure is a Messerschmitt up your arse.” There were sporting opportunities in wartime England. Miller played cricket in RAAF teams against RAF and British Army teams, and in 1945 was a member of the Australian Services XI “Victory Test” team that re-established the international game after its wartime suspension. He carried his dash and free spirit onto the cricket field, where he earned the undying admiration of the British public and extended his reputation among his own countrymen. A British sporting journalist called him “the golden boy” of cricket. Thereafter, he was known as “Nugget”. Miller was selected in the Australian Test side against New Zealand in 1945–46. He soon became known as a great all-rounder. By the time he retired a decade later he had played 55 times for Australia, scoring 2,958 runs at an average of 36.97, and taking 170 wickets for an average of 22.97 runs. A likable larrikin, “Miller was a star and a bon vivant, but not a snob”. He later became an outspoken journalist and cricket commentator.

Pilot Officer Keith Miller, pilot and cricketer UK2970 Fifty Australians

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Breaker Morant A poet and soldier, Morant was executed for murdering Boer prisoners. Debate over the fairness of the trial and execution was revived in 1980 by the popular film Breaker Morant, and still continues.

Lieutenant Harry Harbord Morant (1864–1902) Breaker Morant is famous for the manner of his death, but little is known of his birth. He claimed to be the son of Admiral Sir George Digby Morant of Devon but it is likely that he was Edwin Murrant, who married Daisy May O’Dwyer at Charters Towers, Queensland, in 1884. Murrant’s wife soon left him; as Daisy Bates she went on to achieve her own fame for her work among Aborigines. A charming but reckless man, Morant established a reputation as a rider, polo player and writer. He submitted ballads to the Sydney Bulletin that were published under the name “The Breaker”. One popular poem was “Who’s riding old Harlequin now?” A demon to handle! A devil to ride! Small wonder the surcingle burst; You’d have thought that he’d buck himself out of his hide On the morning we saddled him first. I can mind how he cow-kicked the spur of my boot, And though that’s long ago, still I vow If they’re wheeling a piker no new-chum galoot Is a-riding old Harlequin now! When appeals were made for horsemen to serve in the war in South Africa, Morant joined the 2nd South Australian Mounted Rifles. After a year’s active service he went to Britain before returning to the war, where he was commissioned in a South African irregular unit, the Bushveldt Carbineers. Eventually Morant and two other Australians, Lieutenants Peter Handcock and George Witton, were arrested and tried for the murder of 12 Boer prisoners. Found guilty at their court martial, Morant and Handcock were executed in February 1902. Defenders of the two men still claim they acted on orders, that they were made scapegoats by the British Army, and that they did not receive a fair trial.

Morant has sometimes been depicted as an Australian hero. But while he may have been brave, he was guilty of a war crime and so offers a poor model for a hero; shooting prisoners is not heroic. Breaker Morant, 2nd South Australian Mounted Rifles A05311 Fifty Australians

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Biddy Moriarty A Red Cross field worker who served in many war theatres. For Biddy Moriarty the war brought tragedy, hard work, travel, and adventure.

Barbara Irene Moriarty (née Goff) (1902–1979) Biddy Moriarty went to the Middle East as an Australian Comforts Fund representative to be closer to her husband, who was serving with the 2/1st Battalion AIF. Tragically, Captain Boyd Moriarty was killed by a German sniper on 22 May 1941 while leading his men in battle on Crete. Now a war widow, Mrs Moriarty devoted herself to the welfare of other soldiers and joined the Australian Red Cross Society’s field force in Egypt. In 1942 she came home and travelled extensively for the Red Cross. Next year she was sent back to the Middle East to help recovered prisoners of war. In 1944 Moriarty was attached to the Australian army staff in London. After the surrender of Germany, she worked with the AIF Reception Group, helping to repatriate former prisoners of war. She came home with some of the liberated men in August 1945. Not home long, she was next sent to Singapore to assist the 2nd POW Reception Group, handling men who had been held by the Japanese. She later recalled, “a group of men just as we found them… naked to the waist, ulcered [sic] limbs roughly bound, stomachs distended by bad diet; but every friendly face grinning and animated.” She returned to Australia with the last of the released troops in November. Few Australians saw as many war theatres as Moriarty, and she was always welcome. “Full of energy and charm. Even in uniform she dressed with flair. She was very good at achieving the impossible.” For her war work she was awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal. After the war Moriarty wrote of her experiences for the annual services’ publication As you were 1947, was involved in war widows’ activities and worked for David Jones Ltd in Sydney until 1965.

Barbara “Biddy” Moriarty MEA1098 Fifty Australians

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Mad Harry Murray The most highly decorated soldier in the Australian army. Dashing, brave and handsome, Murray rose from the ranks to command a battalion.

Lieutenant Colonel Henry William Murray, VC, CMG, DSO (and Bar), DCM (1880–1966) He described his occupation as a “bushman” when he joined the 16th Battalion AIF in 1914, but Harry Murray was already a mature and independent leader of men. He worked at Manjimup, Western Australia, employing sleeper cutters and had earlier been an armed escort for a mining company north of Kalgoorlie. It was soon evident that he was also a natural soldier. On Gallipoli he was promoted, awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal, then commissioned as an officer in the 13th Battalion. The following year, in France, Murray’s reputation grew, and he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for his work at Mouquet Farm. Later, in January 1917, near Gueudecourt, in a night attack at Stormy Trench, he won the Victoria Cross. There, in fierce fighting, he fought off enemy counter-attacks and led a “brilliant charge”. At Bullecourt in April, leading his troops with the cry, “come on men, the 16th are getting hell”, he got a second DSO. Murray was not a reckless hero, but rather a quiet and charismatic leader who believed in training and discipline and who possessed sound tactical skills. In May 1918 he was promoted lieutenant colonel to command the 4th Machine Gun Battalion. Further honours came; he was awarded the French Croix de Guerre and appointed Companion in the Order of St. Michael and St. George. Charles Bean described him as “the most distinguished fighting officer of the AIF”. Following the war Murray became a grazier; eventually, in 1928, he bought a property, “Glenlyon”, at Richmond, in Queensland. In the Second World War he commanded first a militia battalion then a Volunteer Defence Corps home-guard unit until he retired in 1944. He died following a car accident on 7 January 1966.

Major Harry Murray wearing the ribbons of four of his bravery awards.

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Damien Parer A war cameraman whose film Kokoda front line was awarded an Oscar in 1943. Following service with Australian units, Parer was killed covering US operations in the Pacific.

Damien Peter Parer (1912–1944) On leaving school in 1930 Damien Parer was apprenticed as a photographer. He became interested in film-making and in 1940 he filmed the Australian classic Forty thousand horsemen for Charles Chauvel. He was also a studio photographer. During the war he extended his reputation while working for the Commonwealth Department of Information; many of his images became part of the ANZAC legend. Parer’s wartime films typically showed the human experience of conflict. Technically brilliant, “his films were narratives about the human situation”. Working right up to the front line, he many times took great personal risks and was mentioned in despatches. Parer’s war work took him to the Middle East in 1940 to witness Australian troops in action. He photographed and filmed the early victories in Libya, and the fighting in Greece and Syria and at the siege of Tobruk. Returning to Australia to cover the fighting in the Pacific, he filmed the Australians fighting along the Kokoda Trail in Papua. The newsreel, Kokoda front line, introduced by Parer and with scenes he had captured, showed the heavy fighting not far beyond Australia. Other important Cinesound newsreels contained Parer’s footage. These included Men of Timor, The Bismarck convoy smashed, and Assault on Salamaua. Most Australians became familiar with his work and through it learnt of their countrymen’s ordeals and exploits. In 1943 the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded an Oscar to the Kokoda front line producer, Ken Hall. Increasingly unhappy with the Department of Information for its parsimony and interference, Parer resigned in 1943 to work for Paramount News. He went on to cover American operations; on 17 September 1944, during the invasion of Peleliu Island he was killed, with his camera in hand, by a Japanese machine-gunner.

Damien Parer about to embark on the transport ship Empress of Japan 000401

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Frank Partridge Victoria Cross winner and national quiz champion. A largely self-educated farmer, Frank Partridge was the youngest Australian soldier to be awarded the Victoria Cross in the Second World War.

Private Frank John Partridge, VC (1924–1964) Having left school at 13 to work on the family farm near Macksville, New South Wales, Frank Partridge was called up for full-time army duty when he turned 18. He was posted to the 8th Battalion, a militia unit. The battalion moved to Lae, New Guinea, in May 1944, and from June 1945 operated in northern Bougainville. On 24 July 1945 Partridge’s unit came under heavy Japanese machine-gun, grenade, and rifle fire and he was badly wounded. Ignoring his injuries, he snatched up a Bren gun from alongside a dead gunner and challenged the enemy to come out and fight. He next rushed the nearest enemy bunker while armed with grenades and his knife, and killed the occupants. Finally, he attacked a second bunker until loss of blood stopped him. He “inspired his comrades to heroic action”, and was awarded the Victoria Cross. After the war Partridge went to London as a member of the Australian Victory Contingent, then settled back onto the family farm, living quietly with his father. In the evenings, to overcome his lack of education, he avidly read the Encyclopaedia Britannica by lamplight. In 1962 Partridge first appeared on Bob Dyer’s television quiz show, Pick-a-box. He was an outstanding success and won many prizes, including electrical goods that were useless for his frugal lifestyle. Despite his natural modesty, and his slow bush speech, he soon became a national celebrity. Brave, intelligent, and with a retentive memory, Partridge also had strong political views. In 1963 he unsuccessfully sought Country Party pre-selection for the House of Representatives. He also married that year. Partridge’s public successes did not bring happiness and his life lost the simplicity that he had previously known. His personal situation was overtaken by tragedy when, on 23 March 1964, he was killed in a motorcar accident.

Private Frank John Partridge 131225A

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Banjo Paterson Australia’s leading balladist, and famous for writing “Waltzing Matilda”. Paterson was a war correspondent, drove an ambulance in France, and was later an officer in the remount service in the Middle East.

Andrew Barton Paterson, CBE (1864–1941) The man who wrote Australia’s most popular song, “Waltzing Matilda”, Paterson grew up on his family’s property beyond Yass, New South Wales, and drew a lifelong inspiration from the Australian bush and its characters. As a young man he was a keen polo player and amateur jockey. He was also a city man, working as a solicitor. In 1895 his collection of ballads, The man from Snowy River, and other verses, was published; it became an immediate hit. “Waltzing Matilda” appeared soon afterwards. In 1899 he was sent to South Africa as a war correspondent to cover the war for The Sydney Morning Herald and the Melbourne Age. He left with the first Australian contingents and reported many of the early battles. In 1901 he went to China as correspondent for his Sydney newspaper. After visiting Britain, he returned to Australia and focused on writing and journalism and also took over a property. On the outbreak of the First World War Paterson left Australia with the first AIF convoy in October 1914 as a press representative. The troops stayed in Egypt while he continued on to Britain but he failed to get employment as a correspondent there. He went to France, where he worked for a while driving ambulances for the Australian Voluntary Hospital. In 1915 he returned home and was commissioned in the AIF and sent to the Middle East. Experienced with horses, he was promoted to major and commanded the Australian Remount Squadron. Paterson eventually returned to journalism and later concentrated on writing. He was a national celebrity until his death in 1941. Throughout his life he was a living part of the legend of the Australian horseman, bushman, and soldier of whom he wrote so fondly.

Major Andrew Barton “Banjo” Paterson ART02780

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Chips Rafferty An Australian actor serving with the RAAF. Goffage’s air force service was interrupted when he was seconded to act in a number of films, including some famous Australian war classics.

John William Goffage, MBE (1909–1971) John Goffage had done a variety of jobs ranging from deck-hand, drover and shearer to operating an ice-cream parlour. However, he also had an interest in the arts, including poetry, painting, and acting. He entered show business as a magician’s assistant and also worked as a film extra. Eventually he became an actor, famous by his screen-name, “Chips Rafferty”, and was widely regarded as the “archetypal Aussie” of his day. A role in the 1940 film Dad Rudd MP, brought Rafferty to public attention. From there he was cast in a leading role in Charles Chauvel’s Australian light horse classic, Forty thousand horsemen. The following year, aged 32, he enlisted in the RAAF and eventually saw service in Australia, New Guinea, and the Netherlands East Indies, including Milne Bay and Morotai. In April 1943 Rafferty was commissioned in the RAAF Administrative and Special Duties Branch, and performed a variety of welfare and entertainment duties. The wartime need for entertainment, and for propaganda, meant he was in demand. He was released to act in films for the Department of Information and had a leading role in Chauvel’s The Rats of Tobruk (1944). Tall, friendly, with an irreverent sense of humour, Rafferty grew in popularity after the war. He became a solid supporter of the local film industry. He was acclaimed for his work in The Overlanders (1946) and went on to roles in British and American productions made in Australia. He also took work overseas and appeared in The Desert Rats (1953), Mutiny on the Bounty (1962), and even worked with Elvis Presley in Double trouble (1967). Rafferty’s film career largely began with comedy, but he later identified himself with outback characters and came to symbolise essential Australian qualities. Some of his characters may have been uncomplicated or crude, but he was a much loved actor when he died in 1971. Fifty Australians

Pilot Officer John Goffage (Chips Rafferty) at a RAAF base in the Milne Bay area

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Buck Rogers A hero of the tragic collision of HMAS Voyager and HMAS Melbourne, Rogers was posthumously awarded the George Cross.

Chief Petty Officer Jonathan Rogers, GC, DSM (1920–1964) In 1986 the naming of Rogers Park in Woy Woy, New South Wales, recalled the Royal Australian Navy’s worst peacetime disaster. It was an event that had shocked the nation. Chief Petty Officer Jonathan Rogers, a local, was one of 82 men who lost their lives in a collision at sea on the night of 10 February 1964. Rogers was born at Llangollen, Denbighshire, United Kingdom, and joined the Royal Navy in 1938 when he was 18. He served in 13 ships, mostly through the war years. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for coolness and leadership while serving as coxswain of Motor Torpedo Boat 698 in actions on the nights of 23 March and 23 May 1944. After the war he came to Australia and joined the RAN. He was promoted to Chief Petty Officer (Coxswain) in 1956. On the night of the fatal disaster, the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne and the destroyer HMAS Voyager were conducting exercises off the New South Wales south coast. In the late evening Voyager crossed in front of Melbourne and the two ships hit, with Melbourne smashing the destroyer in half. Rogers was one of more than 50 men trapped in darkness in a compartment of the sinking forward section. He took control and tried to bring calm in the disastrous situation. He probably realised that not all would be able to get through a small escape hatch and that he, being a large man, had no chance at all. “He was more intent on getting the younger chaps out first,” said a survivor. The forward section finally sank about ten minutes after the impact. Rogers was heard leading his remaining doomed comrades in a prayer and a hymn during their final moments. Rogers was later awarded the George Cross, the highest bravery award then available in peacetime, “for organising the escape of as many as possible and encouraging … those few who could not escape … to meet death alongside himself with dignity and honour”.

Chief Petty Officer Jonathan Rogers


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Normie Rowe A popular recording star who served in Vietnam. A celebrity among many of the young men of his age who faced the prospect of conscription, Rowe was among those called up for army service.

Norman J. Rowe, AM (b. 1947) Normie Rowe began his popular singing career while a young teenager and gathered a youthful following. After producing his first record in 1965, he quickly rose to national fame, becoming Australia’s King of Pop in 1968. He had a number of big hits, including “It ain’t necessarily so”, and “Que sera sera”. Rowe’s career was suddenly interrupted when he was called up to do National Service. The press followed his military service, but it was no substitute for the attention he had received as a touring and recording celebrity. He was duly sent to serve in Vietnam with A Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment. In Vietnam he commanded an armoured personnel carrier, describing the work as, “out on the highway, protection for vehicle convoys and land-clearing teams … taking in infantry, and things like that”. Following his year’s active service he was released from the army. After his discharge Rowe found it hard to take up his career where he had left off. Nevertheless, he gradually re-established himself in the entertainment industry and later moved into television, theatre, and recording. In 1987 he had an important role in the stage musical Les Misérables. He closely identifies himself with Vietnam veterans groups and actively supports them. Rowe has said of his National Service days: “You can look at your life and say that wasn’t fair and that killed your career … or you can look back and take out of that segment of your life whatever was good. The best friends that I’ve got are Vietnam veterans.”

Trooper (later corporal) Rowe relaxing with a guitar at Fire Support Base Kerry EKT/69/0009/VN

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Bull Ryrie A colourful civic and military leader from a pioneering family. Ryrie was an expert rider, an amateur boxer, a grazier, a soldier in two wars, a member of state and federal parliaments, and a diplomat.

Major General Sir Granville de Laune Ryrie, KCMG, CB, VD (1865–1937) Ryrie managed his family’s property at Michelago, New South Wales, where he enrolled a troop of part-time cavalry from the district’s horsemen. Commissioned in 1898, he rose to command his regiment. In the meantime he went off to the Boer War with the NSW Imperial Bushmen and was wounded while there. Ryrie was gregarious, blunt, and tough, accustomed to taking responsibility and making decisions. Known throughout the Monaro, in 1906 he was elected to the Legislative Assembly; five years later he entered federal parliament as the member for North Sydney. A colonel at the outbreak of the First World War, Ryrie was appointed to command the 2nd Light Horse Brigade. He was twice wounded while serving on Gallipoli. Later, in the early stages of the mounted campaign in Sinai, he took leave to go to London. He did not see major action again until the battle of Gaza in March 1917 but remained in this theatre for the following advances through Palestine and until the end of the war. Although not a scholarly soldier, Ryrie performed strongly as a commander. He might not have done as well in leading infantry on the Western Front, but he showed he was willing to share hardship and danger and revelled in the mounted work of his light horsemen. “Such a man … could scarcely fail to be a hero to his men,” said the official historian. After the war Ryrie returned to politics, and the militia. He was assistant Minister of Defence in 1920–21, and commanded the 1st Cavalry Division until 1927. For five years he was High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and represented Australia in the League of Nations. His public life ended in 1932, when he returned to Australia and his country home.

Brigadier General Granville Ryrie on his horse, “Plain Bill” P03631.065

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Reg Saunders The first Australian Aboriginal commissioned in the Australian army. A battle-hardened soldier, Saunders rose from the ranks in the Second World War and later served in Korea.

Reginald Walter Saunders, MBE (1920–1990) Reg Saunders’s father fought in the First World War, as did his uncle, Reg Rawlings, who was awarded the Military Medal and later killed in action. Following in this military tradition, Reg and his brother Harry enlisted for service in the Second World War; Harry was later killed in New Guinea. Saunders proved to be a natural soldier, and he found less discrimination in the army than in the wider community; he became a popular NCO in the 2/7th Battalion. The unit saw action in North Africa before joining the Greek campaign. When the British evacuated Crete in May 1941, Saunders was one of many men left behind. He spent an adventurous year hiding out, aided by the locals, before he was finally evacuated by sea. After he returned to Australia he rejoined his battalion and served in New Guinea. In late 1944 he attended an officer training unit, was commissioned lieutenant, and went back to the 2/7th. The Korean War provided further opportunity for soldiering. Saunders led a company – C Company, 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment – through fierce fighting, including the battle at Kapyong in April 1951. He remained in the army for a year after the war; however, his life was becoming unsettled, and he had difficulty re-establishing himself as a civilian. Tough years followed, but he overcame them. Meanwhile he found he was increasingly expected to be a spokesperson for indigenous Australians. In 1969 Reg Saunders was selected to be among the first Aboriginal Liaison Officers for the Office of Aboriginal Affairs, which became the Department of Aboriginal Affairs. Devoted to those he had served with, he was a man of dignity and good humour who remained committed to the advancement of his people.

Sergeant Saunders on leave from New Guinea, 1943 057894 Fifty Australians

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Dave Shannon An Australian member of the elite “Dam Busters” squadron. Shannon was just 20 when he took part in the famous bombing raid on the German dams in the Ruhr Valley.

Squadron Leader David John Shannon, DSO (and Bar), DFC (and Bar) (1922–1993) The son of a South Australian member of parliament, Shannon enlisted in the RAAF as soon as he was old enough. After completing his flying training he was sent to England and posted to No. 106 Squadron RAF, where his commanding officer was Guy Gibson. Gibson left to form No. 617 Squadron for special flying operations and asked Shannon, already a young decorated veteran, to join him. No. 617 Squadron RAF was to make a daring raid using special bombs on German dams supplying the Ruhr industrial works, and Shannon was one of four Australian pilots involved. The operation took place on 16 May 1943. Shannon saw the Möhne Dam successfully breached and so was ordered to attack the Eder Dam, a difficult task because of the surrounding hills. For his part he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), while the squadron soon became famous as “The Dam Busters”. Shannon “had the unblemished look of a teenager [and] unruly blonde hair”. He failed to conceal his youthful look with a wispy moustache. When introduced to the King, an event which coincided with his 21st birthday, he was told: “You seem a well preserved twenty-one, Shannon.” The squadron continued its specialist role throughout the war and Shannon would be regarded as one of the pilots who were its backbone. He received the second of his two Distinguished Flying Crosses for an attack on the Dortmund–Ems Canal, and another DSO for an attack on Munich in April 1944. Not long after he left No. 617 Squadron, having completed 69 operations, he chose to drop rank to resume operational flying in Transport Command. After the war Shannon remained in Britain, becoming a business executive and travelling widely. He died only a few weeks before a reunion planned for the 50th anniversary of the Dam Busters raid.

Flight Lieutenant David Shannon of the Dam Busters

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Sir Ross Smith A war hero and pioneering flyer. Serving with the AIF, Smith made many distance flights and flew the first England-to-Australia route in 1919.

Sir Ross Macpherson Smith, KBE, DFC (and two Bars), MC (and Bar), AFC (1892–1922) Ross Smith had served in the cadets and the militia before he left Australia as a sergeant in the 3rd Light Horse Regiment in October 1914; he went to Gallipoli the following year. He was later commissioned and was at the battle of Romani (in the Sinai) in August 1916. The next year he volunteered for the Australian Flying Corps. Flying with No. 1 Squadron AFC, Smith took part in attacks, aerial photography missions, and bombing raids on Turkish forces. On one occasion he landed in the face of the enemy to rescue a downed comrade. During his extensive war service he was twice awarded the Military Cross, received the Distinguished Flying Cross three times, as well as the Air Force Cross. A gifted flyer, Smith became experienced in flying his squadron’s twin-engined Handley Page 0/400 bomber; on occasion Lawrence of Arabia was his passenger. While still with the flying corps, he made pioneering flights from Cairo to Calcutta, and from Calcutta to Timor. On 12 November 1919, assisted by his brother Keith and two mechanics, Wally Shiers and Jim Bennett, he set out to fly from England to Australia in a large Vickers Vimy bomber. It was an epic 28-day flight, completed at an average speed of 137 kilometres per hour, but not without mishap. On their arrival, the pioneering flyers were welcomed home as national heroes; their £10,000 prize money was shared equally. The two brothers were knighted. In April 1922, while preparing for a record-breaking around the world flight, Smith and Bennett were killed in a crash. Keith Smith witnessed the death of his brother, who was not yet 30. Their famous Vimy aircraft was displayed here at the Australian War Memorial, but is now in the Smiths’ home town, Adelaide.

Captain Ross Smith of the Australian Flying Corps

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Harry Thorpe An Aboriginal soldier decorated for bravery. An experienced infantrymen, Thorpe led his men with courage and example until killed in action in the Somme fighting of 1918.

Corporal Harry Thorpe, MM (1886–1918) Harry Thorpe was born at the Lake Tyers Aboriginal Mission Station near Sale, Victoria. He was married and working as a labourer when he enlisted in the AIF in February 1916. Posted to the 7th Battalion, he joined the unit in France in July. He would become an accomplished front-line infantryman. In his first action, Thorpe went into the terrible fighting at the battle of Pozières and was soon seriously wounded. The following year he was again wounded in action on the Hindenburg Line but was able to rejoin the battalion in time for the third battle of Ypres. Thorpe was a brave soldier and distinguished himself during the successful capture of Broodseinde Ridge on 4–5 October 1917. Here he showed a disregard for danger in leading his men in the mopping up of enemy dugouts and pillboxes: “He inspired those under him.” For this he was recommended for the Distinguished Conduct Medal, although he received the Military Medal, “for bravery in the field”, instead. The 7th Battalion fought in the Flanders region until mid-1918, when it returned to the Somme to join the rest of the Australian Corps in the great August allied offensive. Corporal Thorpe went into the battle of Lihons on 9 August but during the fighting he was seriously wounded in the stomach. Stretcher-bearers reached him, but his wounds proved to be fatal and he died shortly afterwards. He is buried in the large Heath Cemetery near Harbonnières, a few kilometres from where he fell.

Aboriginal soldier, Corporal Harry Thorpe P01695.002

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Bluey Truscott Probably the best known RAAF pilot killed in the war. Truscott was a Melbourne footballer who became a fighter pilot and established his reputation as an “ace” in Britain.

Squadron Leader Keith William Truscott, DFC (and Bar) (1916–1943) A popular sporting figure who played in Melbourne Football Club’s winning grand final sides, Truscott left his job as an accountant in 1940 to join the RAAF. He trained as a pilot in Canada and went to England in 1941 as a foundation member of No. 452 Squadron RAAF. Between August and November, No. 452 was the top-scoring fighter squadron in Britain. Truscott soon established his personal reputation, destroying up to 14 enemy aircraft; he was twice awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Bluey Truscott was never regarded as a great flyer, but he was aggressive and accurate with his shooting. Stories of his exploits, most of them over German-occupied France, were read widely in Australia and he became a national hero. In 1942 he was posted back to Australia, where fans forgave him for his loss of form and playing skill when he took part in a special return football game. Moving from his favourite aircraft, the Spitfire, Truscott now flew P-40 Kittyhawks with No. 76 Squadron RAAF. In mid-1943 he took part in the desperate fighting, in appalling conditions, at Milne Bay, in Papua, and was promoted to command the squadron. Truscott and his pilots had a vital part in the local defeat of the Japanese. Later, in January 1943, in the defence of Darwin he shot down an enemy bomber. On 28 March 1943, Truscott was escorting a Catalina flying boat off Western Australia. He made a low practice roll, but misjudged his height: he crashed into Exmouth Gulf and was killed. Truscott was the RAAF’s second-highest-scoring ace of the Second World War after Clive Caldwell. Each year the Melbourne Football Club remembers him when it awards the Keith “Bluey” Truscott Medal for the best and fairest player.

Squadron Leader Keith Truscott, in flying clothing


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Fighting Hec Waller A captain who went down with his ship. The death of Waller, an outstanding naval officer, in the battle of Sunda Strait was a heavy loss for the Royal Australian Navy.

Captain Hector Macdonald Laws Waller, DSO (and Bar) (1900–1942) Waller graduated from the RAN Naval College with the King’s Medal in 1917. He went to Britain in time to see war service with the Grand Fleet and returned to Australia in 1919; he specialised in communications and undertook further postings and training in Britain. In 1937 he commanded the destroyer HMS Brazen. After the outbreak of war, Waller was given command of HMAS Stuart and sent to the Mediterranean, becoming part of what the Germans derisively called “the scrap-iron flotilla”. In 1940 he was appointed to command the 10th Destroyer Flotilla and promoted captain. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, and then another for the work done by Stuart in the battle of Matapan in March 1941. Waller was involved in a lot of action. The flotilla was in operations off Greece, Crete and North Africa, and was part of the “Tobruk Ferry” taking supplies into the besieged North African coastal town. In September 1941 he returned to Australia to take command of the cruiser HMAS Perth. Once the Japanese entered the war, Perth was sent to defend the Netherlands East Indies. In the battle of Java Sea on 27 February 1942 an Allied naval force proved no match for a Japanese fleet. The cruisers HMAS Perth and USS Houston were withdrawn, only to encounter an enemy invasion fleet in the Sunda Strait. A heroic battle followed, with the two cruisers inflicting heavy damage on the Japanese. But it was an uneven fight, and Perth and Houston were sunk in the early hours of 1 March 1942. Hec Waller was lost with his ship, which had bravely fought until out of ammunition. Survivors of his crew became prisoners of the Japanese; and many would die while in captivity. Of a crew of almost 700, few more than 200 survived the war. Many considered Waller to have been the outstanding naval officer of his generation. In 1997 a Collins-class submarine, named HMAS Waller in his honour, was launched.

Captain Waller on the bridge of HMAS Stuart 005002/13

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Gough Whitlam An ex-serviceman who became prime minister. When Whitlam was elected to parliament he was one of only two Labor members with Second World War active service.

The Hon. Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC (b. 1916) Gough Whitlam applied to join the RAAF in December 1941. In the following May he was called up and underwent training as a navigator bomb-aimer; in 1943 he was posted to No. 13 Squadron RAAF. The squadron mostly operated out of the Northern Territory and from Dutch New Guinea, patrolling northern Australia, providing convoy escort, and attacking Japanese positions and shipping. In April 1944 Whitlam went to Merauke, from where operations were conducted against Tanimbar and Aroe Islands. The next year he was flying from Truscott airfield in northern Western Australia as far as Soembawa. During 1945 his crew flew long routes, usually through Morotai. These operations extended to the Philippines. The war was a busy period for Whitlam. Not only did he serve, he married, and also became committed to politics. After discharge he joined the Darlinghurst branch of the Labor Party, and was also admitted to the New South Wales bar. He was active in civic groups, including the Returned Servicemen’s League. For three years running he was a national radio quiz champion. In 1952 he was elected to the federal seat of Werriwa and in 1960 became the deputy leader of the party. Although the Labor Party opposed the deployment of Australian troops in Vietnam, Whitlam visited those serving there in 1966. Next year he became leader of the party, and was elected prime minister in 1972 – the first Labor one in 23 years. While troops had already been withdrawn from Vietnam, he acted quickly in abolishing National Service. Whitlam was a passionate and progressive leader but became enmeshed in controversy. On 11 November 1975 the Governor-General dismissed his government. He lost the following elections in 1975 and 1977, and resigned. He was appointed Ambassador to UNESCO in Paris from 1983 to 1986. Whitlam was the last ex-serviceman to be a prime minister of Australia.

Gough Whitlam, leader of the Federal Opposition, interviewed after returning from his historic visit

to China in 1971 National Library of Australia nla.pic-an24507693 Fifty Australians

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Sir Hubert Wilkins A scientific field pioneer, aviator, and war photographer. Despite his great contribution to Australia’s war history, Wilkins became better known in the United States as a polar explorer.

Sir George Hubert Wilkins, MC (and Bar) (1888–1958) By training an engineer, by instinct an adventurer, and by choice a photographer, Wilkins was hired by the Gaumont Film Company to film the Turkish-Bulgarian War of 1912. The following year he joined an Arctic expedition and then learned to fly; his life’s course was set. In 1917 Wilkins was appointed an official photographer in the AIF. He went on to produce some of the war’s great images. In 1918 he took command of the photographic sub-section of the Australian War Records Section. Then in 1919 he accompanied Charles Bean back to Gallipoli to record the historic battlefields. Wilkins showed great bravery. Around Ypres in 1917 he worked under fire and through barrages to get his photographs. Often ahead of the advancing troops, he was constantly exposed to danger, and there were times when his equipment was damaged by enemy fire. During the 1918 allied advance he often went “over the top” with the troops. On the Hindenburg Line, during a German counter-attack, he rallied and led some US troops whose officer had been killed. Charles Bean declared that, “Captain Wilkins has probably been in the fighting more constantly than any other officer in the Corps.” Bean felt that the war, which for any other man would have been enough adventure, was for Wilkins just an episode in a crowded life. While an adventurer, Wilkins was not foolhardy; he always minimised risks by careful preparation. After the war he went to America and established his reputation as a polar explorer. His many ventures included Antarctic flights and an attempt to take a submarine under the North Pole. The latter held a special fascination. He commanded Arctic and Antarctic expeditions, participated in the Graf Zeppelin round-the-world flight, and was recognised with awards from international geographic societies, including the Royal Geographic Society’s gold medal. He died in America and his ashes were taken on the nuclear submarine Skate and scattered at the North Pole.

Captain Hubert Wilkins, Australian War Records Section photographer P03171.002

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