| TK's staging site |
|
By *Plan for downtown day dock revived *DAUFUSKIE ISLAND: Donation enables congregants to restore 123-year-old church *Police find a 6-foot alligator on Oak Grove Island *To Swim or Not to Swim: Illnesses rarely reported despite presence of bacteria The missing message from Tony. Hello Mac, I'm in Perth, Australia and after I read the book, I drove down south to where Luckner said he stayed at a lighthouse and enquired about his sea chest he left behind after abandoning the place in a hurry. Have you ever heard about what happened to that sea chest? or am I the only one that was keen enough to investigate? Cheers ... Tony
TK, The E-Mail about the Light Horse group should go with the original from John Travers which is attached here. At the moment is in the Training Base Mail. Mac.
Hello, A mate of my mum's uncle bill, who was a POW of the Japs during WWII told me a story once about a group of 'commandos' who travelled parts of the coast of Western Australia searching for Jap subs who might be taking on supplies/water etc. He related an intriguing tale of an attempt by one of these groups to have a go at damaging/sinking one of these subs that was anchored close in to shore one night. I have always taken this story as gospel until I recently started to research Japanese submarine activity on the Western coast of Australia Is it plausible that such groups existed and if so can you suggest where I might find out more detail about them? I am also interested in merchant marine/naval activity along Western Australia coast. Any suggestion on those subjects. Cheers,
I will E-Mail you three separate pages from different sites that will cover some of your interests. If you go to my Ahoy site, the URL is listed at the end of this message, at the bottom of the Home Page click on All Articles. There is quite a swag of them, but scroll down to find these articles: 1. Plaque at Fremantle WA commemmorating British/Dutch/US Submarine operations out of Western Australia in WW2. 2. Memorial to HMAS Sydney and crew at Geraldton WA. 3. The Loss of Trial in 1622. Oldest wreck on the Australian Coast. 4. Loss of HMAS Sydney. 5. Blockade Runner. HMAS Adelaide sinks German ship Ramses. They all involve ships etc off WA. Best regards,
From David Wimer. Mac. Sir: Thank you so very much for the reply. This information is indeed helpful. My wife's grandfather's name was Rudder, Herman Ronald, Service number S/P36. Would it be helpful if I scanned the sheet I was sent, and see if you can recognize some of the details I may not understand? Thanks again for your help in adding some depth and knowledge to my wife's (and now my) family history.. David R. Wimer
Further from David Wimer. Mac. Mac: Once again sir my deepest thanks. I have attached the record we received. I hope it comes thru good enough to view. Also my thanks on the information linking the Lauriana mentioned in the midget sub attacks on Sydney and then serving as a rescue vessel later in the war (from your earlier email) I couldn't tell if they were the same vessel or not in some of the web searches I had conducted. Also my thanks for the service you and your comrades gave during these pivotal times in our Nation's histories. David Wimer (get the picture from the e-mail)
TK, In the War time history of the RAN, I found this piece about Lauriana in Milne Bay in 1943.I am also commenting on Herman's service record. Mac.
Here is an extract from: Australia in the War of 1939-1945. Royal Australian Navy 1942-45. by G. Hermon Gill, Canberra, Australian War Memorial. 1968. It is Vol II of the Official History of the RAN, at Page 281: "Milne Bay came into the picture on the 14th. of April ( 1943 ) when, in its twenty-fourth air raid, 40 to 50 bombers and about 60 fighters attacked, and concentrated on ships in the bay. These included the British Gorgon, and Dutch Van Outhoorn, Van Heemskerk, and Balikpapen. The last mentioned two arrived just before the enemy aircraft, escorted by Kapunda ( Lieutenant Commander Dixon ). The corvette brought the tally of her class in Milne Bay for the raid up to three --- Whyalla ( Lieutenant Commander Oom ) and Wagga ( Lieutenant Cracknell ) being already there. Warning of the impending raid, and intimation of its size, were given when the enemy aircraft were approaching over the Trobriands. Commander Branson the Naval Officer in Charge, took advantage of the breathing space personally to tour the harbour in the air - sea rescue launch Lauriana ( my note here, at this time Herman was serving in Lauriana ) dispersing ships and taking all possible precautions to avoid offering targets. The enemy arrived overhead about 12:15, 30 high level bombers in close formation and 10 dive bombers, with an uncertain number of fighters. The high level aircraft opened the attack by dropping a pattern of about 100 bombs right across the anchorage. This, however, had been cleared, so that no ships were lost in this attack. Van Outhoorn suffered damage from near misses by high - level bombers, had 8 killed and 20 wounded, and was succoured by Whyalla, who did a fine job with anti - aircraft fire. Gorgon was hit a number of times by dive bombers, and set on fire, with her engines out of action. Six of her company were killed or died of wounds , and 28 were wounded. Dixon took Kapunda alongside, ran hoses on board and helped with fire fighting and in berthing the ship; and finally took her in tow for the mainland, helped by the James Wallace. Two of Kapunda's officers later recalled that " progress down Milne Bay was slow and erratic while the correct length of tow was found, even with the tug's assistance. Our tow was of six thousand odd gross tons, and we were only nine hundred; furthermore she could only be steered by emergency hand steering aft. China Strait was negotiated safely, though she took one or two frightening sheers. Once clear, she veered three shackles of cable, making the length of tow approximately five hundred and sixty feet. The tug went ahead of us, passed her towing hawser, so that we towed in tandem, a total length of fourteen hundred feet, from the tug's stern to the merchant man's stern... Certainly God was with us, for the next few days the Coral Sea was at its best, smooth as glass, enabling us to average the excellent speed of 7.1 knots from start to finish." In commending Kapunda and her ship's company for their help in saving Gorgon, Branson also praised that ship's Chief Officer James Bruce, Major Brew of the Docks Operating Company and Able Seaman Larkin ( one of the DEMS gunners ) for their removal of an unexploded bomb from among the ship's cargo of ammunition in N0. five lower hold. As stated above, Van Heemskerk arrived in Milne Bay with Kapunda just before the raid--- and there she remained, beached, a total loss, also as a result of dive - bomb hits. She was the first casualty suffered by LILLIPUT, of which she was Stage 28. Wagga put up a gallant fight to save the Dutch ship, going alongside and putting nine hoses and a fire party on board. But the fire had too great a hold, and Van Heemskerk finally blew up at about 5 PM. In this raid apart from the loss and damage to ships, four Allied servicemen were killed, as were 12 of the merchant ships' crews. In all--- servicemen, civilians of the Small Ships Section and ships' crews--- 68 were wounded. Forty four Allied fighters intercepted and the enemy lost ten bombers and three fighters, three of which were victims to anti - aircraft fire. Wagga and Kapunda suffered superficial damage. Of the work of these two and Whyalla on this occasion, Branson remarked in his report: " we were indeed fortunate to have the assistance of the three corvettes." David, I thought you may like to have this record, it gives you the flavour of at least one action that Herman was involved in in 1943. Now if we go to his record, perhaps I can comment on some of the notes there for you: After Cadet in brackets is O/D, that would stand for Ordininary Seaman, the bottom rate on the ladder for a sailor. Under Character and Efficiency are V.G. and Sat. These stand for Very Good, and Satisfactory, each year at 31/12, the Captain is required to fill in these two columns on every sailors' record. V.G is the top rating, and Satisfactory is a normal rating only bettered by Superior, which is but rarely given. Under the Seaman Heading, second line, and under the From Column, is NOIC Pt Kembla, that is Naval Officer in Charge Port Kembla, Herman must have been operating out of Port Kembla at the time, it is a port south of Sydney on our east coast, near Wollongong. N.A.P. Base stands for the Naval Auxiliary Patrol Base, the NAP was formed from commandered private motor boats, and their function was to patrol harbours, and they generally were fitted with a few depth charges and some light armament. The sailors dubbed them the "Hollywood Fleet." The letters N.B. stand for the Naval Board, the supreme body governing the Navy and located in Melbourne. The last line with the letters P.U.N.S they mean Physically Unfit for Naval Service, for whatever reason, after his Medical Board, Herman had been deemed unfit for further Naval Service either ashore or afloat, and was discharged from the RAN. Now, I cannot find any record of Lauriana being in an action where he may have been wounded, perhaps he contracted Malaria during his service in her in New Guinea, it was a notorious area for that disease, and nearly His Lauriana would, by her function of air-sea rescue work, spend a lot of time secured alongside at a wharf in New Guinea, and Herman would in my judgement, be wide open to catch Malaria. Troops were given Atabren Of course I am only speculating in this regard David, but it may be possible to track down Herman's Naval Medical Records which could unlock this mystery for us. Next week I will contact our Veteran's Affairs Department and find out if we can get hold of his Medical Records. My final comment relates to the pension of 10 shillings per fortnight granted to Herman in March 1945. That was before we went to decimal currency, our money then was Pounds, shillings and pence. 20 shillings made up a pound, and 12 pence made a shilling. When we went to decimal currency 10 shillings was one Dollar. To give you some idea of values, at the start of WW2, I went to sea as a Cadet Midshipman ( in August of 1939 ) my pay was 6 shillings a day, or two pounds two shillings a week. By 1945, I was a Lieutenant RAN and my pay was about 10 Pounds a week, a Sailor, as an Able Seaman, was probably paid about 3 pounds 10 shillings a week, or David, forgive my verbosity, but I have tried to fill in as many gaps as possible for you and your family. I hope it may help just a little, did you manage to get a Certificate of Service for Herman up and printed out alright? Best Regards, TK, The last E-Mail from David Wimer. Mac. Thanks Mac. I was able to get the certificate printed up… One of the things that has been passed on through the family, and something that my mother in law remembers (of course she was a youngster, so the memory isn’t that fresh) is that Herman had some problem with a leg, with a plate or pin in his leg, that was thought to be connected with his Naval service. Incidentally when Herman died in 1949, he had been fishing, and had been washed off the rocks at Long Reef. Family members have thought maybe his previous injury had played some part, in so far as he could not make it back ashore. His body was never recovered. After Herman’s death, my wife’s grandmother never looked into his Naval service, or his time in WWII, as the memory was too painful. I also had thought maybe accessing his medical records could shed some more light on the situation, but didn’t know where to start. Given the circumstances of Herman’s death/disappearance in 1949 it is indeed a family “mystery”. Thank you again for your assistance. I am a police officer/detective by trade, and this is certainly an Dave Wimer
John Travers says thank you. Mac. Mackenzie, Thank you very much for your quick and concise reply/replies. Yes I think it must be the 'knackaroos'/'curtin's cowboys' I was looking for. They feature in an ABC video set 'The War at Home' for a whole program which I I was also surprised at the tonnage of bombs launched on the initial attack on Darwin being reasonable close to that thrown at Pearl Harbour. My mother who sent time there while I was about five or six told me about the museum there and how 'Pig Iron Bob' Menzies sold off a lot of the scrap to the Japanese after the war. I fear I've scratched a cut that's never quite healed. I always had reservations about the Japanese as I'm sure he died before his time from the harsh treatment he received as a POW under their regime. There is obviously so much that can be taken for granted or ignored about our wartime history. Now that my curiosity has been pricked I can sense a time-management problem looming as I realize I want to know so much more. Thanks again for you swift reply. Cheers, Mac. Do you know where I might find plans for building a scale model of the USS Mackenzie/HMCS Annapolis? My father served on this vessel during the Second World War as Gunners Yeoman. I do have photographs, but none good enough to work from for scale modeling. A L Dicks
Canadian Naval History, and ask at those sites for your plans. See this link to: Sources Of Ship Plans Best wishes,
|