NANKERVIS Franklyn William C coy F force Ponds

NANKERVIS Franklyn William C coy F force Ponds

It is with regret that we record the passing of our president Frank on the 6th April 08. He was a fine officer and well respected by his troops in Singapore, Malaya and Thailand. The 2/29th Association was formed in 1943 and has had only two presidents, Arthur Wimpole for 39 years, followed by Frank for 26 years. Over the years he has been a great leader understanding the needs of widows and members of the Battalion in general. He will be greatly missed by all.

Frank was to receive the Order of Australia Medal. "For service to the communities of Hurstbridge and Arthur's Creek through a range of veterans' welfare, municipal and service organisations." Frank's honour is being presented to his daughter Kate at Government House on the 11th September 2008.

THIRLWELL Hal Rouvray VX59292 HQ Coy [F Force Ponds Party]

Hal Rouvray Thirlwell (VX59292) 1921 – 2012

March 29, 2012

Hal Thirlwell was born in East Melbourne, of Scottish and American ancestry, on 5 July 1921. Both Hal and his brother sang in the St James' and St Pauls' choirs and received scholarships to Trinity Grammar, and later to Caulfield Grammar. These scholarships were very welcome in the depths of the Great Depression: 'People had money, no doubt,' he recalled, 'but we didn't.' In 1936 Hal left school to work at Myer' s, and after a year he moved to Flinders Lane as an office boy for a firm of textile importers: 'They were all First World War fellows, and I was the general rouseabout. I was there until the war started.' He also enlisted in the Militia, and in 1940 was part of the 5th Battalion, Victorian Scottish Regiment.

Hal's older brother 'Mac' enlisted in the AIF and went away with the 9th Division to the Middle East, where at Tobruk he fought, was wounded, and won the Military Cross. In 1941 Hal also enlisted in the AIF: 'My mother wasn't very happy about it. But in those days people just - took it on the chin, as it were, when their sons enlisted. They had no real option, assuming that you're old enough.' Hal went AWOL to farewell his family, and was demoted from Lance Corporal to Private!

When he joined the 2/29th Bn AIF as a private on Singapore Island on Australia Day, 26 January 1942, the Battalion was being re-formed after suffering frightful losses at Muar and Bakri in Malaya. Hal was one of the few 600 reinforcements who had some training and experience, from being in the Militia, and he was given charge of a Great War-vintage Lewis machinegun. Hal's reminiscences of the frustrating defence of Singapore are featured in the book No Lost Battalion. On 15 February Hal became one of many thousands of Australians interned at Changi. He joined working parties at Thompson Road, and in April 1943 went away to Thailand with Pond's Party of F Force. They started with a forced march of almost 200 kms from Banpong to Koncoita, two-thirds of the way to the Burmese border. During the subsequent eight months of working up and down the line, almost three in every ten of the men of F Force died as a result of malnutrition, mistreatment, and disease.

Hal contracted malaria in May 1943, the first of what he calculated was about one hundred episodes: 'But you sort of got used to it. It was a way of life'. Cholera was another matter. Cholera almost guaranteed death. On 14 July Hal was thought to have contracted cholera at Takunun (120 km from Banpong), and along with 67 others was placed in isolation. He had had other health problems too, but in his self- deprecating way said 'lots of people had to put up with much worse.' On the last day of August 1943, debilitated, and suffering weakness in the limbs from beri-beri, he became one of Pond's Party evacuated south to the hospital at Wanyai. It was no easy passage. Paralysed from the waist down, Hal had to be carried out of Takunun, feeling guilty 'because these same guys who were carrying me were in very bad physical condition'. So when his right leg improved, he forced himself to walk, crab-like, sideways, with his left knee locked.

Hal's weight had dropped from a normal 12 – 12 ½ stone to around seven stone. He put his survival down to 'learning to live with' what befell you, insisting that 'it was just a fluke that I got through'. But another survivor of F Force and of that evacuation described Hal's literally dragging himself hand over hand along the railway as one of the most courageous acts he had ever seen.

Hal was in Changi when the war ended, and he was restless on his return to Australia. After some years managing Victorian country chain stores he went to the UK, where he met and in 1954 married Mary and brought her to Australia. Back in Melbourne he returned to the business of textile importing in Flinders Lane before he started his own business, which he sold upon his retirement in 1991.

Hal was devoted to the welfare of the fellow members of his Battalion and their families through his membership of the 2/29th Battalion AIF Association and his work as a Committee member. He died peacefully in the Epworth Hospital on 29 March 2012, survived by Mary, their two children and their two grandchildren. His ashes have been placed in a niche at the wall of remembrance at Springvale Cemetery. The family of the Battalion Association salutes him.

John Lack

SARKIES Walter Andrew VX27723 HQ Coy [F Force Ponds Party]

Walter Andrew Sarkies (VX27723) 1923 – 2012

Walter Sarkies VX27723 (Pte), who served as a machine gunner with HQ Company (Carriers) and later with A Company, and was a POW with F Force ('Pond's Party') in Thailand, died in Melbourne on 17 June.

Walter was born on 2 February 1923 in Glenhuntly and spent his youth in Reservoir. In June 1940, aged 17, he enlisted in the 2nd AIF, and after basic training joined the 2/29th at Bonegilla. At 18 Wal was with the battalion at Segamat (Malaya). When the Japanese entered the war in December 1941, his unit was assigned to defend airfields and he experienced bombing at close range with only the protection of a shallow slit trench.

Too young to become a carrier driver, he was reassigned to A Company. As part of a small unit he went behind enemy lines to bomb bridges to slow the Japanese advance down the peninsula. After successfully destroying two bridges, the unit found its way back to allied lines, following creeks and avoiding the Japanese. He was wounded in action against advancing Japanese as the unit attempted to rejoin the main body of the 2/29th which had been sent north to Muar. Unable to break through, the commandos regrouped with British gunners. After his wound was dressed at a British aid post (RAP), he was sent on the last train south to the makeshift Australian field hospital at Jahore Baru before being evacuated to Singapore. He was in hospital in Singapore when the Allies surrendered. A few days later, with other wounded he marched to the Selarang Barracks, Changi. Wal's closest friends, Tommy Hall and Donny McCallum, had been killed at Muar.

As a POW in 1942, Wal was with work parties ordered to build the Japanese Bukit Timah Hill memorial, and on the Singapore wharves. Later he worked making timber supports for the network of tunnels constructed under Singapore. In April 1943, Walter was sent to Thailand with F Force (Pond's Party). Disembarking from the train at Bampong, the men were force-marched, always at night after days of labouring, 160 miles north to Konkoita camp where they began work on the Burma- Thailand railway. In poor health since being wounded in January 1942, Walter succumbed to severe illness after only three days and was sent to a 'hospital' camp ("a funny name to give it", he said) back at Bampong. Walter attributed his 'good luck' in this to Dr Roy Mills. His friend Geoff Forster died on the boat that took these desperately ill men away from 'the line'. Walter remained at Bampong camp for some months before returning to Changi, having rejoined the F Force survivors as they came south.

In Changi hospital Walter took up drawing, with paper and pencils supplied by his friend Frank Day who worked in the camp library. The Walter Sarkies Collection of 41 drawings of Changi life is held at the State Library of Victoria. Walter remembered the day of the Japanese surrender, and the early days of freedom in liberated Singapore. Interviewed in 2011, he remembered the sweet taste of ice cream after years of near starvation. He also remembered 'marvellous' days and nights on the Esperance Bay, which brought the 2/29th home. Walter was 23.

In 1947 Walter married Betty. He had a lifelong career with Shell. He and Betty travelled extensively, including business trips to Japan. In later years, Walter and Betty lived with their son Richard at Wallan. Brian Cleveland represented the Battalion at Wal's funeral, which was held at Fawkner Cemetery on Thursday 21 June.

Marguerita Stephens

[Marguerita, the daughter of 2/29th veteran Bob Stephens, interviewed Walter Sarkies for the Battalion Association in 2011.]

LARAGY Leo Christopher VX43170 A Coy [F Force Ponds Party]

Hayley McClure, great granddaughter of Leo Christopher Laragy (VX43170), was awarded the inaugural Ben Hackney Trust Education Grant. Hayley’s essay follows:

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My name is Hayley McClure. I am commencing Year 11 at Mentone Girls’ Grammar School in 2019.

My Great Grandfather, Leo Christopher Laragy (VX43170), born 1913 and died 1983, is our family hero, and it is through his stories passed down through the family that we are able to achieve a deeper understanding and appreciation for the life he led.

Leo enlisted in the AIF in 1941 and was a private in the 2nd/29th battalion. He trained in Bonegilla and Bathurst and was deployed to Malaysia. He was held as a Japanese POW from 1942 to 1945.

My interest and understanding of the 2nd/29th Battalion first began when researching for a school Anzac Day presentation in Year Six (2014), and then again while writing an Australia History essay in Year 10 (2018) on World War II. Following this, I commenced tracing the family genealogy to understand the connections that we have to his life and experiences.

My father and I began discussing the connection we have with our own family hero, whom was held and survived the brutal captivity of the Japanese from 1942 to 1945. In our family, my Great Grandfather is seen as a remarkable hero, and together, my dad and I have begun to catalogue his story.

My research has been undertaken with my father, whom holds a variety of primary and secondary sources which allow us to map Leo’s life before, during and after the Second World War. My father owns the family collection of books and artefacts, which include messages and letters from Leo to his wife and family during his war service. The books we hold include A History of the 2/ 29th Battalion – 8th Australian Division AIF, No Lost Battalion and Surviving Captivity. Our library also contains Changi Brownlow, Weary Dunlop Diaries and Grim Glory – the AIF in Malaya. Although having not read all these myself, I have used them as resources and references in investigations and have had the assistance of my father to understand the content. I have watched many documentaries on Changi, Thai Burma Railway that are available on YouTube and ClickView.

My father spent time with Leo before his passing and without knowing that it was insensitive to ask veterans about their experiences, he was able to obtain information not previously known by the family.

Life before service

Before enlisting, Leo worked for the Herald and Weekly Times (HWT) where he completed an apprenticeship as a photo engraver. Originally based in Melbourne, he was transferred to Brisbane to work on Courier Mail before the outbreak of the war. He married in Brisbane and then returned to Melbourne just before the outbreak of WWII, buying a house in Elsternwick with his new wife. He only had one occupation and one employer for his working life. He would return to the HWT after the war, and continued with this job until his retirement in 1977.

Leo was athletic and would occasionally play football for North Melbourne reserves. He would follow North Melbourne for his entire life.

Details of service

As Leo lived in Elsternwick, we understand he volunteered in Caulfield Melbourne in 1941. Although not keen to participate in the war, he did see it as a part of his civic duty to volunteer. Also, he understood that conscription was imminent and that this had a social stigma associated. Leo preferred to be seen as a volunteer than conscripted as this was more socially acceptable and important to him and his family.

I understand from my Grandmother (Leo’s daughter) that he was trained in Bonegilla and Bathurst NSW before transporting to Queensland. By reading his letters, we can see he connected with family in QLD before travelling overseas to complete his service. From these letters I assume pay in the army must not have been very good as he was continually asking for money to be sent to him. Through his service records, we can see that he seemed to be frequently injured during training as he has many days in recuperation.

Service in Malaysia/Singapore

Leo saw action in Malaysia. He received a minor wound when a bullet was shot into his back. Fortunately, the bullet ricocheted off his buckle in his backpack and instead hit his helmet. We understand this to be his luckiest escape!

He was a part of the retreat down the coast and was taken as a prisoner of war immediately following his landing return to Singapore.

On stepping off the boat from Malaysia to Singapore, Japanese greeted them with guns drawn. The Japanese soldier whom captured the company showed an element of kindness and offered them cigarettes. Leo had never smoked a cigarette until that time (and never did again).

Life as a prisoner of war

Leo would talk about his time in Changi prison before his role on the Thai Burma Railway. He described the cramped, disease-ridden conditions and recalled how rats would run across his feet at night whilst trying to sleep.

Telegram cards and communication cards show us that Leo had access to one of the hidden radios in prison, which the POWs cleverly developed using transistors and batteries. The radios were wired to the Allied Force’s radio stations which allowed them to receive news of progress on the war. The prisoners’ use of these radios highlights a key aspect of the ‘Australian Spirit’ of ingenuity and courage, as I understand from watching documentaries that it was extremely dangerous to be in possession or use these radios.

The telegram cards also show that they reached main land Australia in Cape York and have been handed from person to person in a journey many thousands of kilometres to arrive at Elsternwick, Melbourne.

We have read his letters that were passed through the Red Cross to his family in Melbourne. These letters contain lots of insight into his life and also the censorship applied by his Japanese captors. Being conscious of the censorship, Leo would use language that would enable him to advise his family of information that would otherwise be redacted. An example of this was how he communicated the death of another friend POW. He used his own code to make his wife aware of the death to inform his friends’ family.

Leo talked of how his friends died of cholera and dysentery. I understand he suffered from beriberi swollen legs while working on the railway. Leo only talked of deaths of friends from dysentery and that his friend, a doctor, whom was very particular about hygiene, succumbed to dysentery and died.

Leo did not discuss much of his experiences on the railway other than the story where of one Korean guard, spotted Leo’s crucifix around his neck. The guard asked if Leo was Christian. Fearful, but ever honest, Leo responded. Fortunately, the Korean guard was also Christian and as a result, he kindly allowed Leo to work in food preparation. We expect this meant that Leo’s nutrition was not as dire as many of his fellow POW’s. We believe that this deed may have contributed to his good fortune and enabled him to better survive in the appalling conditions.

In undertaking his duties in food distribution, I understand that Leo would look to ensure the men that were in worst condition were looked after with their portion of food, even when they were unable to line up to receive it, further displaying acts of mateship and comradery, important characteristics of the ‘Australian Spirit’.

At the end of their time as POWs, Leo described that some of the men felt shame when being liberated.  The fit soldiers had a look of shock and disbelief that these men were in fact soldiers.  This must have been another very difficult moment for the proud soldiers that had been through such an atrocity.

Life after the war

We understand that Leo spent time at the repatriation hospital in Heidelberg. He returned to his place of work and continued there, where he attained 50 years of service.

As with many returned POWs, Leo was a changed man. We understand he had relapses related to malaria. His main form of release was to surround himself with his friends at his local RSL. The Elwood RSL became a very important part of his life. I understand that he and his friends relied on each other and alcohol to help them through.

Leo would also attend lunches and dinners with ex POWs and we still have restaurant menus signed by his friends in the 2/29th. We understand that the bond that Leo shared with the men had on their return was like no other due to the mateship that developed during their time of service and captivity.

Throughout the 70’s, Leo stopped attending the Anzac Day marches, however we are unsure why. It was not until encouraged by his grandchildren (where they wanted to see him on television) that he resumed in 1980.

Leo died on the 15th August 1983. Strangely this was the same date as his liberation from captivity some 38 years later.

Why this history is important to me

I have a deep interest in history and understanding my family’s role in it. I am studying both History and Japanese in Year 11 & 12. I know the Japanese culture well and struggle to connect the brutality I understand from my Great Grandfather’s experiences. Although my Great Grandmother could not forgive the Japanese, the only evidence Leo showed of any negativity towards the Japanese was the increasing awareness of Japanese cars in the 70’s and 80’s and disappointment of Australians to support them.

Some things I have learnt from my investigations on my Great Grandfather and the 2/ 29th. I believe I have a different perspective on events especially in relation to the end of the war to many others my age. I understand that the controversial and rapid end to the war, as brutal as it was to the Japanese people, meant that my grandfather was released earlier that what would have been the case. As such, all of us, as decedents of returned Japanese POW soldiers, are somewhat indebted to the United States for ending the war in the manner and time that they did.

I think that more students should look into their families’ past and understand the sacrifices, experience and achievements. It has helped me connect my place in the world and I am keen to connect with other surviving families as we have a common remarkable history that should never be forgotten.

Hayley McClure

WEST Albert Benjamin TX5828 A Coy [F Force Ponds Party]

Article written by Dr Tim Flanagan from Tasmania and published in 'Barbed Wire & Bamboo' Feb 2016.

‘F’ FORCE SURVIVOR – STILL AT HOME

Albert Benjamin ‘Ben’ WEST TX 5828

Ben West, ex2/29, an F-force survivor and still at home.

At the 2015 annual reunion of the 2/29th Battalion, held in Melbourne, there was only one former POW present- Ben West. He was though surrounded by the next three generations of his own family, all testimony to the remarkable life he has lived, and person he is.

I visited Ben at his home, still on the Soldier Settler block his father was granted after returning wounded from World War One. Ben came to live there as a 5 year old. The farm is on north-west Tasmania’s Table Cape, just outside the town of Wynyard. The cape is now famous for the tulips grown on it, and their colours which with the rich brown soil, sea and a lighthouse perched on a high cliff makes for a photographer’s paradise. On this farm Ben and his wife who died earlier in the year, raised their 7 children, one of whom now works the farm, 3 others live nearby.

In all likelihood walking up and down the steep paddocks as a lad helped attune Ben for what was to lie ahead.

Ben is the only bloke left, from a group of about 80 Tasmanians who enlisted in September 1941. After initial training at Brighton camp near Hobart they went to Victoria. In January 1942, about midway through the Malaya-Singapore campaign, they were amongst 3500 personnel who sailed from Sydney on the Aquitania. The Tasmanians were part of a draft of about 500 reinforcements who were sent to Johor in southern Malaya to reinforce the 2/29th Battalion shortly after ‘it was cut about badly at (the battle of) Muar River’ on 20 January 1942. Then the retreat back to Singapore- all on foot.

Ben sees life’s various turns as lucky- in Singapore only two days after the surrender he was put in the first work party to go to the city, and did not return to Changi until ten months later. As a result he told me he missed out on being put in A-Force which went to Burma, or B-Force which went to Borneo and as he says ’And only six of them survived’; or the Selerang Barrack affair.

His luck deserted him when he was drafted to F-Force, 7,000 men slightly more than Australian and British POWs. F-Force was ‘loaned’ by the Japanese command in Singapore, to the Japanese command in Thailand, which was an added complication, and added to the groups’ deprivations. They left Singapore by rail in  ‘….. April 1943, in F Force, Pond’s Party, 700 of us, we never had a permanent camp, just carried our gear, you’d walk and work – finished up at Nieke, up near the border with Burma’ (which is 302 km from Bampong where they had got off the train that bought them up from Singapore). The group carried their chunkels and qualies, and few worldly possessions on themselves; and eight men to a stretcher but soon only four left capable of doing that; and on top of this still expected to work by day.

Ben quietly tells me of his experiences, and I am mesmerised as I listen to this humble old man.  ‘ The Japs set us up in companies, in alphabetical order; Hec Watson, Jimmy Welsh. It was all night time travel, about 20 km a night. I remember when we pulled into Tarsau, only a little bloke, got him up …he told me to stop and have  a break, I said “If I put you down cock,  I’ll never be able to pick you up again”…put him and his pack up on my back and pack, sort of like a fireman’s lift’.

Did you ever see him again? ‘No, I don’t think he made it, half of them (F-Force) never returned’.’

After the Thai-Railway was completed, Ben started the long walk back down the Line, but inevitably ill health came and he travelled part of the way on a barge.

Ben though does not see life in terms of misery and suffering. He was a tough footballer, who knew how to take a blow; and a realist so when a Japanese guard abused them for being too slow going down a greasy slope, and showed them how but slipped and landed on his backside the group of Australians all laughed, which I commented on was a brave thing to do ‘Not really, they couldn’t shoot us all, they had to have someone to do the work’.

Ben was in Thailand for 12 months. Upon his return to Singapore he spent much of his time working on Changi airport. On the 15 August 1945 when the Japanese surrendered he was in the River Valley Camp, working on Tagglin Hill digging foxholes for the Japanese. Coincidentally, this was the same place where he had been at the time of the British surrender on 15 February 1942, at that time he had been with other Australians guarding a crossroad.

The Japanese initially made no announcement of the surrender, it was a growing presumption, badly interrupted a few day later when a British plane flew over, and the Japanese opened fire with their Ack Ack guns. The surrender became real, when a 6 feet 3 inches tall British lieutenant who had parachuted onto the island, commandeered a car and came to their camp. It was to be a little longer before they saw the next ally, but it was none other than Lord Louis Mountbatten himself with his wife and entourage, but the delay had caused the Australians to begin to refer to the Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia as ‘Linger, Louis longer’

Ben returned to Australia on the Esperance Bay, via Darwin where they were issued with new uniforms, then to Sydney. As he says, by this stage he had completed a circumnavigation of Australia!

Then a train to Melbourne, and boat to Burnie. The Wynyard RSL had a bus for the 4 or 5 other POWs from his town returning home. Later in the day when Ben and I went for a drive in Wynyard, he showed me where the bunting was up in the street, and the townspeople had gathered to greet the survivors home.

Returning home was to have its own sadness, as he was to find out that his oldest brother Jack -Bertram John West TX3397, a member of the 2/40th Battalion, who was captured on Timor in March 1942; after escaping and going bush, was betrayed, recaptured, tortured then executed by the Japanese there in October of that year.

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SEPHTON Herbert Patrick VX42467 A Coy [F Force Ponds Party]

Paddy Sephton was born in Euroa on 19 May 1920. He enlisted in Caulfield on 11 July 1940.

He died as a prisoner of war on 24 July 1943 at Takunun on the Thai-Burma railway.

OGDEN Jacob Donovan Walker VX28730 A Coy [F Force, Ponds Party]

IN MY FATHERS FOOTSTEPS

Written 1997

By Doug Ogden

Son on Private J.D.W. Ogden VX 28730

2/29th Battalion C Coy.

F Force

For years, in fact all on my life as far back as I can remember I have had a feeling of loss and unresolved grief.  I have had an almost overwhelming need to know my father.  When discussing those feelings some have said “how can you miss what you did not have?”  Clearly I believe one can.

My father, Private J.D.W. Ogden VX 28730 2/29th A.I.F. Battalion died as a Prisoner of War at Kami Sonkurai on 20th August 1943.  What was this Thai Burma Railway all about?  I had heard many stories about this tragic part of our history.  Mainly I lived in denial that may father had been part of this event.  On the other hand I had been told by family and friends what a fine young man my father was and how he and so many others had united to preserve this country.  My father was indeed held in high regard by those who knew him.  This also created a little problem for me.  I had high expectations placed on me so as not to let him or my mother down.  My mother never remarried because no one could measure up to my father.

Many times of a long period I had travelled to Asia and often made what at the time were determined attempts to visit Changi or some other places in Malaysia where my father had been, however when the time came I would become fearful and could not face the unknown.  About 8 years ago I was travelling to Thailand and attempted to obtain travel permits for Burma but was unable to do so.  The region can be quite politically unsettled and at the time the Australian Embassy advised that its was probably best to leave Burma out off the travel arrangements.
In 1996 the need for me to complete this journey developed an almost urger status,  it had to be done, I had to face my fears and go.  It was in August that I started making arrangements to leave in November,  I planned to go to Changi, then on to Muar in Malaysia back to Singapore then by train to Banpong in Thailand and on to Three Pagoda Pass and Kami Sonkurai.  From there I would have to travel back to Bangkok and fly to Rangoon in Burma and go to the cemetery at Thanbyuzayat where my father is now buried.

I left on the 1st November arriving in Singapore late on Friday evening.  I was up and about early on Saturday, firstly to organise the train trip to Thailand and then to get details of the buses to Muar in Malaysia.  Having done that I set off for Changi where I visited the Chapel and the Museum.  This was the first of many emotional times I would experience over the next three weeks.  I had great difficulty coping with seeing and reading the notations of Japanese visitors who had gone before me, anger and resentment wherever strong.  I also visited Selerang Barracks where some of the boys stayed.

Next morning off to Muar on the bus to visit the area where my father had been in action against the Japanese before the Allies were driven back to Singapore.  There  was nothing to indicate the events that took place more than 50 years ago.  These tonsure extremely crowded and busy and not at all the hamlets as depicted in what I had read.  Back in Singapore I prepared to leave early the next morning on the train to Thailand.

The train station was already bustling when I arrived.  Everything seemed to be chaos and confusion.  Things did not appear to be progressing at a pace we Westerners like, but we all boarded and were away on time.  On this train I felt as if I were cheating, for although I was travelling 2nd class it was luxury compared to the rice wagons my father travelled in.  My journey was to take two days and two nights,.  The first night was spent at a hotel at Butterworth and the second on the train.  Nothing like the face torturous days and nights endured by our men.  The trip was good and I enjoyed the countryside.

At Banpong I detrained about 8.30am and headed for Kanchanaburi which I was going to make my base before going further north.  Here strange things started to occur.  I was staying at a small guest house and at dinner I was alone and reading Bob Christie’s History of the 2/29th Battalion when the proprietor, an Englishman, asked if he could borrow the book.  I hesitated, said mo, but after much pleading relented and said I would collective book the next morning.  When I entered the dining room for breakfast, two men whereat one of the tables and one of them had my book.  He introduced himself as Rod Beattie.  I didn’t care who he was I just wanted my book back.  After a bit of cajoling I sat down and had coffee with them.  The other man was Dick Meadows, a film producer with the BBC, who was making a documentary about a women who was arriving the next day with the rest of the crew from the UK.  This woman was Carol Cooper whose father had been in Changi and had left with my father as part of F Force.  Carol’s father was sent to Nike and then to the hospital at Tanya where he had died also in 1943.

The reason for Carol’s visit was the same as mine and the film crew were there as a result of her father’s diary coming to light in the latter part of 1996.  Till then none of her family had been aware of its existence.  This diary was almost daily writings of a man to his wife and children and it is certainly one of the most touching documents I have read in my life.

We spent three days together as a group, travelling to various points along the length of the Railway from the Bridge on the Rover Kwai, the Wampo Viaduct, Hellfire Pass, Nike which is now under a magnificent lake and to Three Pagoda Pass.

How lucky to have Rod Beattie as my guide and advisor for this time.  Rod works for both the Hellfire Pass Project and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and lives in Kanchanaburi with his lovely wife and a recently arrived baby daughter.  Rod is passionate about both jobs.  Obsessive is a more accurate description.  Rod has an extensive personal library on the region and events that took place but more importantly he wishes to ensure that this part of Australian history is never forgotten and to this end he works like a man on mission .  Rod is able to talk on a range of subjects but before long he is back to the “Railway” and working out how to get support for the museum that is to be built at Hellfire Pass.  It is going to need memorabilia and artefacts.  Already he has many books for the proposed library in the museum.  It was with Rod’s local knowledge that he and I came upon what we believe to be the area once known as Kami Sonkurai.  This was very emotional.  To imagine my father may have been on this ground under such conditions and that he may have even touched some on the sleepers still remaining, caused feelings of great elation and sadness.  Why didn’t he stay at home?  It was with great affection and sorrow I said goodbye to Rod Beattie.  How fortunate we are to have hime tending the War Graves in Kanchanaburi.  I left Carol Cooper and the crew in Bangkok after a wonderful experience, particularly remembering the unbelievable days filming in Hellfire Pass.

With my feet back on the ground I left Bangkok for Rangoon.  The Burmese Consulted issued a visa and advised that I would be best to get a government appointed guide as soon as I arrived as I would be travelling as far South as allowed.  This I did and left within an hour or arrival on a five day adventure.  The distances are small but the roads are absolutely bone shaking.  My guide was fairly good in English and planned an itinerary that would get me to Thanbyuzayat but would take in some sights on the way.  There was the beautiful War Cemetery at Rangoon with around 1200 graves of the Allies.  It was just after Armistice Day and the wreaths from the various Embassies were still on display in the memorial.  I visited a number of Pagodas, markets and interesting villages where we ate.  My guide ensured that I only ate and drank what was safe for Westerners.  While all of this was fascinating the apprehension was building and at no stage did I loose track of why I was there. We stayed one night at Moulmein and the next morning started out to the cemetery, arriving around10am.  I took little time to find my haters grave and also the grave of Carol Coopers father.  This was a very difficult time.  I was full of both joy and sadness.  I selected on the trip and my mind went back to my mother who died in 1987.  I wondered if she would ave wanted to make the journey.  Many memories flooded back and I shed many tears.  I sat at my fathers grave and talked to him, sometimes in my mind and then sometimes out loud.  I thanked him for his sacrifice and for his party in trying to make the world a better place.

I was very sad for Carol and the crew.  They had been refused entry to Burma and had gone back to England with their mission incomplete, it was Carol’s wish to have her mother’s ashes interred with her father.  The ashes were left with Rod and he has made arrangements for this to happen.  I had a hard time leaving the cemetery and did re visit it again later in the day.  Things were very quiet as we travelled away.

Since arriving home I have been to Canberra to the Australian War Memorial archives where my wife and I spent three days researching the area to which I had been and as a result we will both be back in Thailand in March to retrace some of my steps.

The film of The Diary went to air in the UK in December and by all accounts was very well received.  I was delighted to receive a copy as it is a tangible reminder of my experiences.

There are difficulties in travel to that part of the world and to travel alone is not appropriate for all, but for me it was something I had to do, and reading the visitors books at the various museums and memorials many others had the same need.  It was and will always be one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.  It is a very new experiencer me to be able to talk freely about the War and my father’s fate without being chocked by emotion.

I would have dearly loved to have heard from anyone who was at Kami Sonkurai and could have remembered my father.


Lest We Forget.

KEMP Herbert VX39045 HQ Coy [F Force, Ponds Party]

Son’s story

By Peter Kemp

Son of Cpt. Herbert Kemp, VX 39045, HQ Coy, F Force

"We Will Remember Them"

Earlier this year I responded to a notice in the newsletter regarding the sale of 2023 2/29th Battalion Calendars. 

It had significance due to the fact that my wife and I were moving to our new apartment at John Flynn Retirement Village, which is part of the Ryman Group, who sponsors the calendar.

As the son of Changi P.O.W. Captain Herbert Kemp, I read about and viewed the photos with great interest obviously. 

Whilst my wife was viewing the calendar she drew my attention to the ‘May’ page, to a group of women and some children.

She immediately pointed out to me that the lady on the far right was my mother, then I realised that the boy to the bottom right of the image is me. This is confirmed by family photos around the time of my father’s return.

0bviously as an 18-month-old I don’t recall Dad leaving Australia, and Mum and I lived in Armadale during the war.

I recall Mum and I being driven overnight to Sydney by a family friend and his wife with the hope of seeing Dad on arrival back in Australia and staying in a flat in Rose Bay. I think the visit was futile and they had to be content with a distant wave. 

My next recollection is being with my family when Dad arrived at the Melbourne Showgrounds. I will never forget the fragile physique of him and his friends. 

Story has often been recalled at family gatherings that at the celebrations that proceeded during the evening, this now 5-year-old was contained and finally silenced by an over consumption of champagne. 

I vividly recall Dad being in and out of Caulfield Repatriation Hospital many times over the years after returning home.

Fast forward to proudly applauding Dad on many Anzac Day marches, originally in the afternoon, and these days in the morning.

In recent years, together with my granddaughter, I have joined other descendants marching on Anzac Day, apart from a few years following hip surgery, during which time I was an RACV driver for disabled and incapacitated returned servicemen and women.

LONSDALE John VX20469 A Coy [F Force Ponds Party]

John (Jack) Lonsdale was born on 21 July 1913 in Henty, New South Wales, to George, 46, and Elizabeth, 45. He was the youngest of 11 children.

Following the family trade, Jack was a butcher. Prior to enlisting he worked as a butcher in Inglewood and Girgarre in Victoria. Jack played football for Kyabram and Girgarre during this time.

Jack enlisted in the army on 31 May 1941 at Caulfield. At the time of enlistment, he lived in Cheltenham. His next of kin was his father George Lonsdale who by then had moved to Holmby Road Cheltenham. He joined the 2/29th AIF Battalion on 29 November 1940. Also joining at the same time was his brother Ivan Oliver Lonsdale and future brother in law Patrick Herbert Sephton. Both Ivan and Paddy died as prisoners of war.

As a prisoner of war Jack, along with 398 other 2/29th members (including Paddy and Ivan), were part of Ponds Party working on the Thai-Burma Railway.

He married Edith Sephton, Paddy’s sister. on 30 November 1946 in Oakleigh.

Jack and Edie settled in Moe, Victoria where is worked as a plasterer. They had two children, Ivan and Joy.

He died on 25 August 1999 in Moe, Victoria, at the age of 86.

A Picture of three POWs

George Aspinall Photo – Songkurai Hospital, Oct 1943, three F Force men.

‘We grew up knowing that the photo of three POWs included my father (he’s the one in the middle), but whenever I mentioned it, I was told everybody thinks “that is their father”. My research kept drawing blanks until our recent visit to Myanmar and a visit to the Thanbyuzayat Museum where the photo was on display showing dad’s VX number 20469 – not a flattering photo, but that was a sign of the times.

When dad was initially sent the Aspinall book he saw the photo and put it away, but mum later wrote in the book, ‘Jack Lonsdale is in the middle!’  In the Barry Dickens book, ‘Ordinary Heroes’ dad is quoted, ‘We always knew what was going on. This guy Aspinall had radios in Changi. He seemed a bit strange to me, every time a Jap plane would crash he would scrounge to pinch parts for the radios and he also took pictures.  He slept near me and someone said, “he’s stickin’ stuff under your bed!!”

I said to him, “stick that stuff under your own bloody bed!”  This was followed by laughter from the three men.’

Joy Derham, Daughter of Jack Lonsdale, 2/29th

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Sid McCartney, Bill Vanderfeen and Jack Lonsdale - drinking mates at the Moe RSL - April 1989

CARR, Leo Mannix VX48402 A Coy [F Force Ponds Party]

Leo Mannix was born on 11 January 1918 in Carlton Victoria. He enlisted in Caulfield on 26 July 1940 and died a prisoner of war on 1 December 1943.

STILES Leo Vern VX40201 A Coy [F Force, Ponds Party]

TRUE FRIENDSHIP

Colin Stiles

On 14 October 1945 Neil Ross, of 50 Virginia Street, Newtown, Geelong, wrote as follows to my mother Joyce Stiles, the wife of Sgt Leo Vernon Stiles VX40201 A Coy 2/29th Battalion:

I don't think you know me, but I was lucky enough to be a very good friend of your husband, Leo. We were in A Coy together and got very friendly. But I would like to offer you my sincerest sympathy on you great loss.

Leo was one of the great men of this world. Everyone thought the world of him and his death left a gap in our lives which can never be refilled.

Up to the last on the Thailand railway Leo was working to help other people and although he was sick himself he did not spare himself in trying to help other sick people. He has left a name behind that will never die. In the 2/29th Bn he is looked upon as the ideal Sergeant and everything a man should be.

It must be quite a relief to you that you have two sons left to carry on.

You and they were always in his thoughts. Once again I offer my sincere sympathy and if there is anything I can do I will only be too glad. Full records of his death are kept by the 2/29th Bn.

Writing to John Lack, Colin Stiles adds:

'I went to my first 2/29th reunion dinner in 1994 and was put alongside Jack Lonsdale. During the evening Jack spoke about my Father, which was great to hear. Near the end of the evening he said the day my Father died there was a call for a volunteer to go to a camp nearby to pick up some rice. My Father volunteered and despite Jack and his friends trying to stop him because he was very sick, he went. On his return to the camp he collapsed and Jack was nursing him and trying to get him to eat when he died. Jack did not give me any more detail than that.

'But on page 196 during an interview recorded in your book No Lost Battalion, Frank Nankervis stated "I remember one of our sergeants, who was an old sergeant, a highly respected sergeant. His health deteriorated to a stage where I walked into the camp one night and he was lying on the ground.

He was being cradled by three of his men who were a group. And they were begging him to eat. He was that sick, he couldn't be bothered. And one of the three, a rough tough man himself, this fellow, he was a miner down Wonthaggi, he got the food and he chewed it and he leaned over and he spat it into the mouth of this man. That was one of the most moving I think I've ever seen. And his sergeant - 'Ooh, sergeant', you know, as long as there's been army there've been fables about sergeants. These fellows begged him to live, and he died, and they just wept over him. They were men used to death and yet their sergeant died and they nursed him until the end."

'Frank told me he did not name Jack or my Father during the interview in case it embarrassed me. I know Tich Davitt was there also, but unfortunately do not know who the third person was.'

---

Leo Stiles and a mate

CHRISTIE Robert William VX48633 HQ Coy F Force (Ponds Party)

VALE ROBERT WILLIAM ‘BOB’ CHRISTIE OAM

VX48633, 2/29th Battalion AIF

‘Bob’ Christie, for that is how everyone knew him, passed away peacefully on 10th September 2014. He had reached the remarkable age of 97 years of ago. 

Bob leaves behind his much loved family and a great life of service to his country, his community, his ex-POW mates and his church.

I first met Bob Christie in 2006, when I was just about to embark on the writing of a book about ex-POWs of the Thai Burma Railway. Both Bob and Berris welcomed me into their home and at the instant I walked into Bob’s office, I knew I was in the heart of our history and the history of the 2/29th Battalion Association. Bob was ordered and he had kept anything and everything about the men he had fought with and survived with on the Thai Burma railway.  In their honour. As we were walking to the gate after our talk I mentioned how beautiful his house was and he said, ‘I was born in this house. In the front room, in fact.’ I came away from our meeting knowing I had met someone special. 

Bob Christie loved and honoured the men he served with and he was never going to forget them. The service to celebrate Bob’s life at Malvern Presbyterian Church was packed, as Andrew Coffey, the son of one of Bob’s 2/29th mates Jack Coffey, commented to me later. And in typical form, Bob had requested no flowers, rather donations be made to Legacy. 

When Bob was past 90 years of age he stood up on the dais of the Shrine of Remembrance, in front of a packed audience, to thank those for attending the launch of his book, ‘Surviving Captivity’.  Bob had managed, at his great age, to write an account of his life, the Malay campaign he had fought in and his diary notes from the Line.  The book was published in 2010 to wide acclaim. There is never any way to keep a good or a busy man down and Bob Christie was both.

Bob served in Singapore; he fought and men, his friends, fell by his side.  Survival turned to capture through the horrors of the Thai Burma railway.  Bob was a Signaller; he fought at the Battle for Muar, was captured and sent up the Line in Pond’s Party in F Force.   If there can be any Force you did it worse on the Line than others, I will cope the abuse by saying that Pond’s Party has that accolade. Bob Christie came home and took up the position of Association Secretary of the 2/29th Battalion Association for over 60 years in order to closely remember, and help others to know of those men he knew so well. Bob was awarded the OAM in 2003 for service to veterans and their families.  He cared for all until his death.

Throughout his life, Bob Christie loved his cricket and prior to the war he worked in the insurance industry.  At Bob’s funeral, his family recounted how their father’s first position was to light the fires in the city building fireplaces of that insurance company.  Post war he returned to work within the same company and moved into a very senior position within the firm. 

One of the sweetest things Bob ever said to me was during the launch of my book at the Shrine.  It was a staggering busy day, with people in every direction wanting to catch my attention, but Bob stood there with Berris until the coast was clear and he said, ‘Thank you Pattie. You have done a great thing for the POWs this day.’  I was honestly overwhelmed by his comment, and perhaps cannot even now put into words how I felt about his graciousness, but I knew Bob meant every word; and I have never forgotten it.   My comment to him then, as now, is ‘No….it’s not you who should thank me, rather the reverse.’  So thank you Bob Christie.  

The Association would like to extend their condolences to Berris, Robert, Janella, Shan, Sarah and Ashley at the loss of a terrific fellow. Please know that we will miss Bob at our functions.

Pattie Wright with thanks to Andrew Coffey – 2/29th Battalion Association

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Bob Christie's Retirement

Bob Christie, undoubtedly the most venerated member and the Honorary Secretary and mainstay of the Association for the last 65 years announced his retirement at the AGM on 24 April 2012. John Lack was elected to take over this role.

Bob became honorary secretary in 1947 and has worked diligently and has been the prime force in overseeing the smooth operation of the Association since that date. He has dedicated his life to ensuring that the Association operates for the wellbeing of the members and their families and to perpetuating the memory of the men and their sacrifices. With his unfailing memory and his warm and humble manner, he has always been (and will continue to be) available to provide useful information to relatives of men who have since passed on. And for all these years, Bob has had the loving and untiring support of Berris, his wife, a life member of the Association.

Bob was instrumental in the publication of the Battalion History in 1983 and the subsequent edition and reprints. It has been Bob's lifelong work and passion to ensure that the Association continues to survive and flourish and the current Committee is dedicated to these aims. Bob will continue on the Committee as our mentor. We all know that he will be around to support us and the Association until his last gasp!

Andrew Brand President

November 2012

Standing Ovation for Association Patron

The Committee resolved in April that Bob Christie be invited to become Patron of the Association. John Lack read the letter of invitation and Bob’s acceptance. John asked ‘Does this have the support of this AGM?’ John’s invitation to members was responded with a standing ovation of acceptance.

METTAM, Bertram Jennings VX39147 HQ Coy [F Force Ponds Party]

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

ROXBURGH John Dart VX48318 HQ Coy [F Force Ponds Party]

ANZAC DAY THROUGH THE EYES OF A SON

When actor Richard Roxburgh was asked about his father recently on Andrew Denton’s ‘Interview’ program (Channel 7 Mate) Richard’s words were far from an actor’s reply: “My dad was that kind of wonderful, stoic, hardworking Australian man who, because of the war for three formative years of his life, never talked about it the whole time we were growing up.  He was in Changi and then he was marched up to the Burma Railway, to the worst, the unimaginable worst, and it was only late in his life that I was able to kind of tease out any of the details of what that was, what that experience was, and so you know it was that generation, famously, who were not talkative.  They were laconic, they were thoroughly decent gentlemen, but not expressive, not expressive at all.   But you know, the first Anzac Day I went to with my dad, because Anzac Day was frowned on by my mum for a long time in the sense that she felt it was harbouring war, it was holding on to war, so dad didn’t go to Anzac Day for a long time and then after mum died, I went to Anzac Day with him.  In just watching the way that he was with his mates, I found it absolutely amazing, because I was expecting this kind of, I guess, I was expecting fist pumping, and you know, back slapping, and it was nothing like that at all.  So, it was incredibly tender, and they would kind of stroke one another’s skin cancer’ed (sic) foreheads and look into one another’s eyes and a lot of gestural things that you would not associate with that thing of being an Australian man at all.  It was totally alien to that ideal . . .”

Richard’s father was John Roxburgh (2/29th Battalion).  John was in F Force on the Thai Burma Railway and he like so many were and are uncommonly sensitive men.  I was fortunate enough to interview John Roxburgh for my book, The Men of the Line and what struck me rather heavily was how hard I had to work to bring John back from talking about his beloved family in order to tell me about his POW years.  John was so very proud of his family. His history speaks to some of the worse of the Line – Nieke, Tarkanoon South, Konkoita. A 15-day 274-kilometre march to track laying, cholera, funeral pyres and a golf stick welding Japanese guard named Murayama.  But, there were also those who kept others alive, like John’s lifelong mate, James Kennedy, Dr. R. Mills and NCO Bertie Mettham, whom I also had the good fortune to meet.  More good than bad is what John wanted to remember.   And he wanted to remember clearly, so when the war ended and John was in Changi, he didn’t go out as his mates did, he remained in the barracks over a number of days and wrote his diary so it would be clear and he would not forget any of it.                                                                 

Written by Pattie Wright – author of ‘Men On The Line’

KORIN, George VX55506 C Coy [F Force Ponds Party]

George Korin (VX55506) celebrated his 99th birthday on 16 January 2019. George recently moved to a lovely nursing home in Gosford and will soom be joined by his wife Audrey. They have been happily married for 72 years.

Vale: George Korin (VX55506). George passed away peacefully on 3 November 2019 at 99 years of age.

COWELL Frederick John VX46207 HQ Coy [F Force Ponds Party]

Private Fredrick John Cowell

VX 46207

Enlisted 25.11.1940

HQ Company

F Force

Died Prisoner of War 18.5.1943

Buried at Kranji Cemetery Singapore

"We Will Remember Them"

DUDFIELD Alfred Edward TX8276 C Coy [F Force, Ponds Party]

Alfred Dudfield was born on 21 January 1917 in Forth, Tasmania, died a prisoner of war on 17 October 1943 and is remembered on the roll of honour at Forth, Tasmania.