THIS week, we remember a PoW, a songbird and a newsman.
Born to lead and a man of true grit
Bertram Jennings Mettam (BEM)
Changi Prisoner of War, policeman, saddler
Born: February 6, 1919; Darwin
Died: August 6, 2010; Adelaide
BERT was the eldest son of Alfred and Evlampia Mettam and was born in Darwin when it was a small country town. His mother was a Holtze and her father, Dr Maurice Holtze, established the Darwin Botanical Gardens and later became the curator of the Adelaide Botanical Gardens. Bert's mother died in childbirth when he was 11 and his younger brother John was eight.
His father's health declined in the following years and when he became too ill to work, Bert left school at age 13 to support the family. Bert was in the militia in Darwin prior to World War II and when Australia entered the war he enlisted in Melbourne and was drafted into the 2/29th Battalion as a platoon sergeant. The battalion fought in Malaya.
When Singapore fell they were ordered to surrender as the Australian troops were greatly outnumbered by the Japanese.
This was the start of three and a half years of brutal bashings, starvation and torture at the hands of the Japanese.
Bert was part of the "F" Force that worked on the Burma-Thai Railway and after the officers were removed he was in charge of administration of the 500 men.
Bert was in charge of organising work parties, communicating with their captors, discipline and maintaining morale.
He would often take the place of sick men in the work parties and often took beatings from the Japanese for standing up for his men. In one beating with a rifle butt he received a skull fracture, which was not diagnosed until returning to Australia.
Bert was awarded the British Empire Medal for acting as CSM of HQ Coy and his citation read: "Although sick himself in Siam he carried on his duties with determination and firmness and gave an outstanding example of courage to the troops.
"After the Japanese removed the officers from contact with their men, Sgt Mettam administered all 2/29th Battalion personnel in Changi, amounting most of the time to about 500 men.
"When the general standard of discipline was low he maintained a very high standard among his own troops and did all possible to improve their lot.
"After the Japanese capitulation he continued to act as RSM and did outstanding work assisting in organising the embarkation from Malaya and journey to Australia."
After the war Bert returned to the Northern Territory and, following the advice of his POW mate Tiny Deans, joined him in the NT Police.
While stationed at Alice Springs he met and married Sheila Trainor, a nurse at the Alice Springs hospital. Bert was posted to Timber Creek police station, where he and Sheila were very happy, though some patrols were days long and done on horseback and Sheila was left alone to manage the police station and administer medical help to Aborigines.
In 1951 Bert was advised to move south to cooler climates due to the skin cancers that had developed following his time working on the Burma railway. With their two children at that time Bert and Sheila moved to Adelaide and Bert used the bush skills he had learnt in the NT to become a saddler.
Bert had a flair for writing and realised that by becoming a columnist for Hoofs and Horns outback magazine produced by RM Williams. He did this for many years, writing under the alias "John Stockman".
Bert loved his horses. He taught his children to ride and they joined the Marion Pony Club. His love of horses and his leadership skills were identified and soon he was asked to become the club president.
He held this position for 17 years and under his leadership the club became one of the most successful and strongest pony clubs in South Australia.
Bert's gritty survival skills and strength of character assisted him to endure many painful battles with skin cancers, but his most painful experience was losing his only daughter Mary and her four children in the Ash Wednesday fires of 1983. Bert's youngest son Frank also died in early 2010.
Bert Mettam is survived by his wife Sheila, sons Jim and Ric, and three grandchildren.
Ric Mettam
