'Pounding Along to Singapore', the 2/20 Battalion AIF in Singapore and Malaya in April 1941.

'Pounding Along to Singapore' is the book I wrote about the 2/20 Battalion Australian Imperial Force (AIF) who were sent to Singapore and Malaya in 1941 as part of the 8th Division. Captain Bill Gaden's letters to and from the family provide the timeline along which the story of the 2/20 Bn is woven, from inception in June 1940 to after the end of the Second World War. Other  threads come from the 2/20 Battalion's War Diary and Routine Orders (available from the Australian War Memorial)  newspapers and magazines of the day, interviews with some of the men who survived the eventual POW years and came home and other reports from the time.  (The book is available from me at cagaden@iprimus.com.au)

1 April 1941

The 2/20 Battalion Routine Orders advised that each Company had to provide their own fire in the Company kitchen, to be lit at 0430 hours daily and Quarter Masters could draw the mess rations at 16.30 hours daily. The Vegetable Fatigue was to report to the Company kitchen immediately after the evening meal. But only potatoes appear on the menu of the Restricted Number 2 diet which consisted on 6 ounces of bread, 1 pint of porridge, ½ ounce of butter for breakfast, 6 ounces of bread,  4 ounces of meat, 8 ounces of potatoes, 2 ounces of rice for dinner and 6 ounces of bread, 1 pint of porridge, 1 ½ ounces of butter was considered adequate for supper.

8 April 1941

The Adjutant reported that some of the officers attended  dinner at the home of the British Resident of Negri Sembilan.  Bill wrote to tell his family that the lads of the 2/20 were trying to learn the local language. One soldier was trying to converse with a young boy who told the Australian 'Your Malay is incomprehensible, speak English!' The children were 'taught English at school and had soft pleasant voices and were delightful to listen to.  In this town they greeted the soldiers with 'Hello' but in another town it was always 'Hello Joe!''

10 April 1941

GOC AIF visited the 2/20 Battalion today and lunched in the Officer's Mess. In the evening a number of troops from the Unit HQ staff were entertained to 'dinner of the true Chinese style' by a local noted Chinese merchant.

11 April 1941

This day was Good Friday so a church parade was held on the Bn HQ Padang.

Easter Sunday.

Easter Sunday in 1941 was on 13 April when a Communion Service was held at St Mark's Church, Seremban and a team from the 2/20 Battalion played a cricket match against the 2/19 who had an easy win. In Australia Adele Shelton Smith's articles from Malaya had started to appear in the Australian Women's Weekly.

15 April 1941

The 2/20 troops settled into the routine of sport most afternoons, with cricket, hockey, soccer and even boomerang throwing taking place on the local padang. However military  training took a very large part of their days. A weekly syllabus was organised so the Companies rotated through  a variety of 'stations' learning about new weapons, navigating through the jungle, negotiating the large drainage ditches and practicing attacks on specific locations.

17 April 1941

The countryside in Malaya was composed of many rubber plantations. The troops of the 8th Division were told there would be a fine of £5 per tree  imposed on any soldier who  damaged one during training... as Russell Braddon (NX8190) of 2/15 Field Regiment  remarked 'Nothing could have been more calculated to interfere with mobility and efficiency.'

18 April 1941

A Divisional exercise was held this Friday with the 22nd Infantry Brigade participating. The Adjutant J M Lowe reported 'it was very interesting and useful experience was gained'. The troops would have been able to make use of their experience gleaned from the Battalion exercises held during the earlier days of the week.

19 April 1941

The CO was admitted to hospital with a serious case of heat rash. A concert was performed to entertain members of the local community. Called the "All in Fun Revue", it was a great success, with Major Dick Cohen responsible for its organisation.

25 April 1941

The 1941 ANZAC Day commemorations (which officially was named in 1916) was for the 25th ANZAC Day, and the 2/20 Battalion joined other troops of the 8th Division to recognise the service of their fellow countrymen in earlier military campaigns.

On 25 April 1941 the unit 'embussed' and travelled to Kuala Lumpur for a Parade. Lieutenant-Colonel  J Thyer was in command of the troops with Major A E Robertson the commander of 2/20. The parade took place on the Selangor Club Pandang. The ceremony was 'simple but very satisfactory'. The salute was taken by the General Officer Commanding (GOC ) Malaya, and others present included the British Resident of Selangor, the Sultan of Selangor and the GOC of the AIF.  The men had a meal at the Kuala Lumpur racecourse and then had two hours of leave in the city.

The Routine Orders for 25 April 1941 also reported that some of the troops attending the local picture theatre in Seremban were buying a ticket for a 25 cent seat but were then sitting in the 60 cent seats. They were admonished that if the practice continued  the discount would end for everyone and "disciplinary action" would be taken!

The cricket team to play a Seremban XI at the weekend was named as WOii Webster as Captain with Capt Gaden, Lieut Brooks, Sjt Salter, Cpl Spurway, Ptes Brinkman, Bourke, Steel, Want, Barter, Dean and Cook with the reserve being Pte Jennings.

28 April 1941

The local executive of the Services Club organised  a free dance for 100 troops. It was a 'most successful evening and appreciated by the troops'. A couple of days earlier the 2/19 Battalion held a demonstration exercise to show the rest of the 22nd Brigade the actual movements of transport and personnel of a Battalion HQ during operation from one harbour to another.  'Valuable experience was gained'.

The Police Band  performed a  'Beat Retreat' on the local Station Padang and troops were invited to attend, there was an official enclosure for the officers.

The Singapore Swimming Club Carnival was held and the local water polo team beat the AIF team by five goals to one, it being scored by RGW Cornforth.

29 April 1941

The Unit held its first sports meeting in Malaya but mid-afternoon  heavy rain caused its postponement.  A conference was held at 8 Div HQ where the exercise held on 18 April was criticised and  thoroughly discussed. A large number of important points were raised which were of great value. This exercise had started with the 22nd Brigade following an 'enemy force' withdrawing along the Malacca-Port Dickson road and the 'enemy' had fallen back to  the Pasin Puteh Estate... the subsequent action progressed according to orders received.

Orders, Medals and Ribbons

On ANZAC Day we admire the orders, medals and ribbons so proudly and deservedly worn by the service men and women. The commander who first awarded such decorations to all the soldiers who took part in a battle was Napoleon Bonaparte. Until then only a few medals recognising specific acts of heroism and bravery were issued. Soldiers took great pride in their campaign medals and ribbons and were anxious to earn more, so much so that Napoleon was quoted as saying: "With a handful of ribbons I can conquer all of Europe."

His optimism was misplaced!

Following his defeat at Waterloo in 1815, Napoleon was exiled to the remote South Atlantic island of St Helena. The Saints had little warning of his arrival "as news of his escape from Elba and the subsequent eventful campaigns had not reached the island" so they were all "incredulous"  at the information. Thus the house eventually designated for him and his entourage was far from ready.

For his first few months of exile on the Island Bonaparte stayed with the family of William Balcombe at "The Briars". Balcombe's daughter Betsy reported that Napoleon entered into "every sort of mirth or fun with the children", the two small boys still at home being similar in age to Napoleon's own son. She remembered he "had the glee of a child and he never lost his temper or fell back on his age or rank to shield himself." She recalled "My brothers at this time were quite children and Napoleon used to allow them to sit on his knee and amuse them by playing with his orders etc. More than once he has desired me to cut them off to please them."

One of those small boys was Thomas Tyrwhitt Balcombe. How apt that his great-grandson Bill Gaden became a member of the 2/20 Battalion AIF and earned medals and ribbons of his own.  It was Bill who wrote all the letters from Malaya and Singapore which became the inspiration and formed the timeline for my book "Pounding Along to Singapore, a history of the 2/20 Battalion AIF"

Lest we forget.

References:

Campaign medals, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campaign_medal, accessed 9 April 2013.

Mrs Abell (late Miss Elizabeth [Betsy] Balcombe) , Recollections of Napoleon at Saint Helena, London, John Murray, 1844, pp 11, 39-40.

Caroline Gaden, Pounding Along to Singapore, a history of the 2/20 Battalion AIF, available from the author at <cagaden@iprimus.com.au>

The Royal Australian Navy turns 100

We've just returned home from the celebrations of the Royal Australian Navy in their centenary. 

Navy Week was a superb military display in such a beautiful setting.

From the Sydney Harbour Bridge we watched the Tall Ships come into the harbour in hail on Thursday! They were led by the RAN Sail Training Ship YOUNG ENDEAVOUR and the replica of Captain Cook's ship the bark ENDEAVOUR,  particular favourites within our family as the spiritual home of HMB Endeavour is Whitby in Yorkshire, my old stamping ground, and Young Endeavour has seen two family members being part of her permanent RAN crew and the third RAN family member once sailed as part of her Youth Crew.

Next day we went to one of the many parks along the shore to enjoy the sunshine and significance of the re-enactment of the original 7 RAN ships sailing into their new home 100 years ago.

On Saturday we saw the whole fleet come past the Governor General Quentin Bryce, who took the salute, with Prince Harry and other dignitaries also on board the HMAS Leeuwin. The Australian ships looked magnificent, freshly painted and not a skerrick of dust or rust to be seen! We enjoyed the helicopters from those carrying the huge flags beneath, to those who showed off their rescue skills. The Air display was a trip down memory lane and a deafening reminder of what the modern fighter planes can do.

The firework display on Saturday night was amazing as it was incorporated with a laser light show... the history of the RAN was flashed across the Opera House sails, the 'search lights' came on, a plane roared over and suddenly, as they sprang to life with fireworks pouring forth from their decks, you realised there were 5 warships berthed in complete darkness in the harbour. Incorporated into the light show, they were ghostly grey reminders of the role they play in the defence of this very large island. There was a lull, the Last Post was played, the plane flew over again, the searchlights flashed across the sky and the warships burst into life again. You suddenly realised this was not the traditional gaiety of the New Years Eve fireworks party, this magnificent display was part celebration but also part remembrance, part homage, part reflection on the sacrifices sailors have made over the years. 

Thank you RAN.

Lest We Forget

Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) in World War II

Air Transport Auxiliary

The pilots of the Air Transport Auxiliary were medically unfit or too old to fly for the RAF, or they were  women, but they performed a vital service in the Second World War. Their bases were built close to the factories which  produced as many fighter and bomber aircraft as possible in the war effort. The ATA pilots then flew them from the factory to the RAF bases where they were needed, or between bases. They also transported supplies, medical officers and VIPs... between them these Ancient and Tattered Airmen flew every single plane which came off the production line.

My father was an ATA pilot and his log book shows he flew many types of aircraft, from the small manoeuvrable fighters to the lumbering Lancaster bombers. His first flight with the ATA, in August 1942  was in a Magister, he then flew a Fairchild, Hawker Hart, Harvard, Hurricane then a Master II.  In May 1943 he added Martinet to the list and in June 1943 the beloved Spitfire.

The pilots were given a small ring binder book of Ferry Pilot Notes listing 68 different types of aircraft... and he has ticked off all but seven of them, indicating what he had piloted during those years. The pages in these notes are just 15cm x 10cm and there was one sheet dedicated to each aircraft, not much space for vital information about fuel consumption, temperature, pressures  and revs for take-off, climb and cruising. The Spitfire was fitted with either a Merlin or Griffon engine, just a brief half page of information for each.

Dad added his own notes, for example the Reliant had a comment  about fuel consumption, the fact that the auxiliary tanks were usually empty and the tail wheel-lock was not always fitted.

I have a few photos which show him flying... T8665, a Magister I from Errol to Sherburn on 15 July 1944, and the last Barracuda to come off the production line, number MX907 on 22 June 1945... it was destined for the Royal Navy.

In those days navigation was an awesome job as they had no electronic aids, frequent fog and mist, often no radio and there were many power blackouts. Railway lines, main roads and rivers were the most important features on their maps.

These years were dynamic and challenging times when new types of aircraft were regularly being produced as resources were poured in to the war effort. Dad flew close to 60 types of aircraft, many times being asked to take off in a type of plane he had never flown, with only a short briefing and that small page of handling notes. This was unique, the RAF pilots specialised in one or two types and in later years training requirements would make it impossible to operate so many different aircraft.

Dad often recalled his flying days with fondness and said that as a pilot you were in charge of your own destiny and you didn't have to rely on others. If you overstepped the mark or your own capabilities you were killed, it was as simple as that. 

So 'thank you' to all the Ancient and Tattered Airmen and women, you did us proud.

LEST WE FORGET

'Pounding Along to Singapore', the 2/20 Battalion AIF in Singapore and Malaya in March 1941

'Pounding Along to Singapore' is the book I wrote about the 2/20 Battalion Australian Imperial Force (AIF) who were sent to Singapore and Malaya in 1941 as part of the 8th Division. Captain Bill Gaden's letters to and from the family provide the timeline along which the story of the 2/20 Bn is woven, from inception in June 1940 to the end of the Second World War. Other  threads come from the 2/20 Battalion's War Diary and Routine Orders (available from the Australian War Memorial) newspapers and magazines of the day, interviews with some of the men who survived the eventual POW years and came home and other reports from the time. (If you are interested in purchasing a copy, the book is available from me at cagaden@iprimus.com.au)

The 8th Division sailed from Sydney on board troopship 'QX', better known to us as the cruise ship 'Queen Mary', on 4 February 1941, arriving 2 weeks later in Singapore. Bill Gaden was transferred straight from the ship to Middleton Hospital before being transferred to Alexandra Hospital whilst his battalion  moved to Port Dickson.

16 March 1941

Still on sick leave, Bill Gaden was recovering and would soon be able to leave the Alexandra Hospital. Meanwhile the 2/20 troops had been granted General Leave and received their first surface mail from Australia. Battalion spirit was encouraged when the 2/20 and 2/18 played an inter-battalion cricket match which was won by the 2/18th.

17 March 1941

The Battalion Sergeants won the football match played against the Officers who no doubt missed Bill's input on the field.  He was recovering in hospital and hoped to be granted leave to go into Singapore with Capt Reg Newton of 2/19, his room-mate at the Alexandra Hospital. The Battalion's entertainment committee ran an in-house concert for the troops which was a 'great success'.

18 March 1941

The Company Commanders all discussed a Battalion Exercise but Bill was still missing from the team. He and Reg Newton spent the afternoon in Singapore. They visited the Post Office, Robinson's [a large European store], Yamada and Co [which sold good quality items including clothing, china and carved images]  and Change Alley which Bill described as a seething mass of humanity. They visited a British regiment on the way back to hospital and were entertained with a beer or three.

19 March 1941

The 2/20 men spent their time on a training exercise  engaging the enemy. They set up  perimeter defence areas overnight and slept under mosquito nets maintaining an overnight blackout.  Bill Gaden rejoined his unit for the first time since disembarking from the troop ship "QX" or Queen Mary, on 18th February 1941

20 March 1941

Following their exercise the troops 'stood to' at dawn and, after breakfast,  returned to camp at Port Dickson by Motor Transport. Bill rejoined his unit and he wrote they were  "camped in a beautiful spot close to the sea and within walking distance of a swim". They had good quarters, tennis courts, football ovals and a golf course close by, but the lads only had time for football. He received three letters and a parcel from home.

21 March 1941

Several members of the Battalion were sent back to Singapore for detention. Bill wrote a lengthy letter home filling in has family on some more details of his and Reg Newton's afternoon shopping in Singapore. He and his commanding officer Captain Moses explored the area and they collected some cane which they took back to camp.

22 March 1941

Soccer was on the agenda today. Capt Moses injured his knee in one inter-Company game and was taken to a local hospital. The Battalion team beat the Malay Volunteers 3-1 at Si Rusa. Bill remarked that they had a good team which should do well. Back home the Australian Women's Weekly was reporting the troops were in excellent health and good spirits and were making friends with the local population. Each soldier had his own mosquito net but malaria was not considered to be a problem. Morale had been boosted by the presence of a Kangaroo mascot.

23 March 1941

Bill wrote that the  small ebony elephants he had bought in Singapore to send home to his mother were packed and ready to be posted. He also discovered that the ants had found the tin of butterscotch he'd received in his parcel and then placed in a drawer. He wrote that "the little black blighters were all prancing among my clothes" and he hoped an airing in the sunlight would "burn them out".

24 March 1941

Each day Bill travelled into the rubber and jungle by truck and worked with the troops as much as possible. He was still recovering from his time in hospital but hoped to be fully fit by the end of the month.

25 March 1941

Bill's optimism about the soccer team last week proved correct, this day the team won 4-1 to beat the 3rd Bn FM Volunteers at Si Rusa.  He bought and tried some breadfruit and remarked it tasted like a 'mixture of pineapple and bananas'.

26 March 1941

Bill's letter remarked how they stopped in a village and a group of local Tamil children swarmed round the truck and then excitedly lined up to have their photographs taken. One small boy was holding  an enormous fish almost as long as he was tall.

27 March 1941

Several officer and men of the 2/20 were entertained by Mr and Mrs Brunton of Sepang. The troops were shown the rubber plantation and factory and were warmly received. The adjutant remarked how thoughtful and kind the Brunton's had been.  I wonder if they survived the Fall of Singapore.

28 March 1941

The 2/20 Battalion was about to move location as part of the rotation within the Battalions of the 22nd Brigade. This day would have been spent packing up and cleaning the Port Dickson camp so another Battalion could move in. There were also  preparations for an exercise the troops would be conducting en route to the new camp.

29 March 1941

The whole unit were moved by vehicle to new quarters at Seremban. The 'Retreat Parade' was watched with great interest by the local population which was a boost to the troops' morale.

Bill wrote to tell his family of the visit by some 2/20 officers to the home of the local Yam Tuam, a man referred to as 'His Highness' who lived in a Palace like a Sultan. Bill was fascinated by a magnificent collection of curios and antiques in large glass cases.  What happened to all these treasures after the fighting in December 1941 and January 1942?

30 March 1941

Adjutant Lowe reported things were more difficult in the new camp as the Unit was separated and there were more duties to accomplish. Several officers left to go on exchange with Indian or British regiments. Bill commented that there were no taxis, only rickshaws but said he preferred  to walk. He also mentioned they now had an excellent water supply and he had thoroughly enjoyed his first shower since their army camp in Bathurst, NSW.

31 March 1941

Each Company had to provide their own fire in the Company kitchen, to be lit at 0430 hours daily and Quarter Masters could draw the mess rations at 16.30 hours daily. The Vegetable Fatigue was to report to the Company kitchen immediately after the evening meal.

A copy of the Battalion's Routine Orders and War Diary can be obtained from the Australian War Memorial, Canberra