I am putting this here so that it is able to be seen by others and hoping that any corrections or additions can be added. Here Goes …

Pre-War

My father was born near Ballarat in a town called Smythesdale to a father who had been a mine manager in the goldfields around Italian Gully. My grandfather was manager at the Eureka Tile and Terracotta Company until he died in 1934. A few years before that he played for the Victorian Country XI against the English Bodyline team. W.E Guy was the third generation of the Guy family to live and work the goldfields around Ballarat.

My father was 17 when his father died and he worked to support his mother and sisters, as was the way of the time. He later put himself through night school to learn accountancy. When the war came, anyone who had managerial skills or was in a manufacturing job was in a protected profession and not supposed to see active service. Along with a large proportion of the Ballarat population of young males, he enlisted in the Citizen Military Force in the 8th Battalion. They trained while continuing to work their day jobs. I will write a separate post on this period. For the moment it is worth understanding that it was a hard life yet one that was shared with a very close family, with sisters ranging from over 30 years of age down to one who was 11 when Australia went to war with Germany in 1939. My father was 22 at that time.

Enlistment

My father enlisted in Ballarat in September 1940. In a world context, this was a few months after the Blitzkrieg through France and when the Battle of Britain was underway. Japan was not in the war and would not be until December 1941. Australia was at war with Germany from September 1939 as a result of its alliance with Britain. Italy had declared war on Britain and its allies in May as Germany was entering Paris. In August and September there was great fear that Germany would Invade Britain. Australia mobilised to defend Britain and sent its troops to the Middle East in 1941 because defending the Mediterranean and access to Suez was considered the highest priority. It was known that Japan had military ambitions in South East Asia but it was believed that they could not get past the “impregnable” fortress in Singapore and overcome British naval power in Hong Kong and Malaysia. Initially my father was part of the Citizens Military Force (CMF) an joined the Ballarat 8th Battalion. The CMF was intended to act as a ready defence force for Australia if it was attacked and needed local defence. The CMF was only allowed to serve on Australian Territory. The Australian Imperial Force (AIF) was specifically designated for overseas service.

The CMF was the way that people in essential services could remain in their work (mostly involved with manufacturing which was considered by the Government as important to the war effort as soldiering) and contribute militarily. The 8th Battalion was almost entirely made up from local men from the region and some outsiders as officers. Training was similar to the standard army basic training and was carried out on the Mornington Peninsula (Sept-Dec 1940) and Seymour (May-July 1941) near Melbourne three months in each place. In the second “camp” he was promoted rapidly to Sergeant and was initially attached to Headquarters because of his clerical skills – good literacy and arithmetic was highly valued in the 1940s.

He told me that offers to go to officer school were made but he declined for personal reasons. When we talked about this he was quite candid about his negative opinion of officers and that he felt he was able to do more good as a sergeant in Intelligence than as a “silvertail”. Initially, it seems that these kinds of Battalion formed with a cadre of staff, officers and NCOs to be ready when the full complement of troops were added. On 29 July 1941, he was “called up” for full time duty.

The War Diaries for the Eighth Battalion begin in December 1941 with entries relating to recruit training. I am guessing that this means the Battalion had started to form in response to the growing threat from Japan and increased demands for troops to go to the Middle East. HMAS Sydney was sunk of the coast of Western Australia and German troops were at the gates of the Kremlin. It all must have looked quite grim at the time.

An entry in the Battalion diary on 12 December simply states “Warning order received. Be prepared for anything that might eventuate. Troops advised to be ready to move at a moments notice.” It seems that original diary material was lost and this may explain the lack of information. There may be many more reasons too… In the Balcolmbe and Dandenong areas the 8th Battalion started building defensive positions, presumably in response to the Japanese attacks in South East Asia. Plenty of suspicion of “German” people based on names and any “sympathiser” talk. Westernport Bay was clearly a concern at the time because it is the focus of many map references. On 4 Jan 1942 he was detached to the D+M Cadre MG wing (whatever that means), returning a week later. Over the next week several hundred newly trained soldiers joined the Battalion and they received a warning for a move to tropical areas. A curious entry shows that on 23 Jan 528 18 year olds were “marched out” to other units stationed in Dandenong. Anyone who had volunteered for AIF service (overseas service) were detached to other units. Lists of the officers and their enlistment numbers show that most were CMF and some were AIF.

Darwin and Training 1942

Early February was spent travelling via Alice Springs to Darwin where they were attached to the 23rd Brigade on 14 Feb. On 19 Feb, the diary shows that there were 46 unidentified (ie Japanese) planes sighted five minutes before heavy explosions were heard in Darwin. As would be expected, security patrols were sent out and a high alert was issued. More air alerts were reported over the succeeding days as the Battalion prepared to move to a position close to Darwin. Lieutenant Ken Picot was in charge of train number 2 and was a personal friend of my father, remembered well by my Auntie Betty. Comments in the movement records reflect the good will towards the departing soldiers. Good meals well prepared and presented as well as reports of relatives meeting the trains as they passed through. A Security Breach was reported in that the carriages clearly stated the destination of the train in large letter on the side so that people could call ahead and let relatives and friends know. It may have been a security breach but it was a morale boost to see familiar faces at stops in country centres.This is an especially poignant vignette of the times.

The first Routine Order shows a high interest in security, particularly to prevent information about naval and troop movements being spread. It was signed by Captain Desnoy who also signed the enlistment confirmation for my father in Ballarat. I bet he was well known. The rest of those R.O.s dealt with basic details of dress code and behaviour appropriate for the tropics. Avoiding large groups that could be hit with a single shell or bomb was an ominous sign. Sgt N Strange appears in the orders as an orderly sergeant. He wrote a semi-official history of the 8th Battalion in 1994. I might need to look in Ballarat to find it. During January to April 1942, the Japanese made rapid progress through to Rabaul, Guadalcanal, Java and Lae, effectively encircling the top of Australia and Papua.

The strategy of Japan¹ was to occupy Port Moresby, the Solomons, New Caledonia, Fiji and through to Samoa to isolate Australia from US supply and to wage a war of attrition against the US and Britain well away from Japan itself. Invading Australia was not the objective but the Northern ports may have been invaded or at least isolated. Australia saw the movements into its territory as an immediate and large threat. To the North West, the Battle of the Java Sea gave the Japanese forces direct access to the coast of Western Australia if they wanted. Attacks on Perth and possibly capture of that port seemed possible, even likely given how far the Japanese had come. The US saw Australia and the islands that Japan was targeting as strategically important for much the same reasons as the Japanese did.

Port Moresby and Darwin were directly in the sights of a large and undefeated army and naval force at this time. In the middle of February the 8th Australian Division was defeated and captured in Singapore, the 6th and 7th Divisions were in the Middle East and would not be near Australia for months. There was little more than the militia (CMF) to protect Australia and Port Moresby. There were few regular soldiers because they were off with the AIF divisions protecting British interests in Europe². The references and official histories from the Australian War Memorial make it very clear that the sense of fear in the Cabinet was high. The Prime Minister John Curtin had a famous row with Churchill to get the AIF Divisions back to Australia to defend its interests at home. Churchill even tried to divert the troop ships and declined to provide escorts to protect the Australian troops. There are many veterans who never forgave Britain for doing that – or for their perceived abandonment of Singapore. When John Curtin announced that Australia looks to the US, it signalled a shift way from the colonial past and a move towards an independent outlook – but still recognising the need for alliances with super powers.

As I was looking at the distance Japan had moved and how easily they had seemed to encircle their opponents, I checked the maps and put a few things together in my mind. I was aware that Japan had been in Palau and the Marshall Islands before WWII and it is obvious (now at least!) that they had built up large naval and amphibious forces very close to Rabaul, Borneo/Java/Indonesia and to the Philippines. With perfect hindsight, it is clear that Japan made little or no progress after the almost unopposed campaigns (beyond Singapore and Malaya) and its navy was overstretched, exhausted and had insufficient reserves to take new territory after Midway. Still, a prudent risk manager would not assume that the Japanese military was incapable of getting to Darwin without strong resistance. The intelligence reports from across the region (coming from 23 Brigade and the Australian command under General Blamey) put air forces at the top of the report.

Any sighting of allied aircraft rates a mention in the war diary and orders feature air raid drills. Australia had a huge infantry for its size but little in the way of air and naval forces. Most of the RAN and RAAF were in the Middle East or Britain until mid 1942. Then the navy was severely damaged by the Japanese in early engagements. If things turned out for the worst, then it would have been the CMF and a few AIF units in and around Port Moresby and Darwin that would have to face a Japanese combined Navy, Air Force and Infantry that were veterans when they would face their first battles. The 39th Battalion happened to draw the short straw and be in Port Moresby when Japan chose to cross the Green Armour ³ with the aim of capturing Port Moresby and Milne Bay so that allied aircraft had less capacity to attack Rabaul. Already the strategic value of small islands and defensible airstrips was highlighted.

It would have been tough on the people defending Darwin if a superior air force and navy was able to occupy Port Moresby and possibly Timor as well. One single line railway to Adelaide was the supply route to Darwin… albeit hard to outflank with the huge desert surrounding it. In March is appears that some Americans started to appear near the 8th Battalion that was now referred to as “NUGA”. The orders make it clear that they were expecting some kind of armed action that required all identifying documents to be removed and personal diaries to be sent away. Many promotions were recorded. Lots of digging fortifications was done. April started with Battalion exercises.

On 4 April, my father was admitted to a hospital with what turned out to be a broken leg. This is what my father described as his broken leg after coming off a motorcycle. On that day there was no bombing or anything similar. It was the day before major training exercises and it is quite probably that my father was doing reconnaissance work prior to the exercise on a motorbike. It was 9 August that he returned to the battalion in Darwin after going to SA for treatment and recovery. The injury must have been significant. In May there is a note about high aircraft activity on 12 May and a report of the Coral Sea Battle. This battle was a precursor to an invasion force to Port Moresby and the retreat of the Japanese fleet meant that the pressure was off Darwin for the moment. Battle training started in earnest, focused on battalion level cooperation.

In late June the diaries and routine orders started to contain more details about personnel movements, promotions, discipline and similar. That followed some instructions from the area command on how to classify the support staff and a change of commanding officer. CMF personnel were allowed to transfer to the AIF and therefore serve outside Australia. June and July for the Battalion seemed to be a bit more relaxed with films being shown. Forty Thousand Horsemen and Diamond Jim included. In Europe the Nazis established Treblinka and the Warsaw Ghetto⁴. The German army seemed to be unstoppable in the Ukraine. Anne Frank in Amsterdam was writing a diary⁵. Guadalcanal was being turned into a fortress by Japan.

Through August and September the training and Darwin garrison duties of the Battalion increased in tempo as the Kokoda battle developed. Successes in Midway and Milne Bay were rapidly communicated. Quite a lot of intelligence information was widely spread through the troops. The aim was to educate them in ways to counter the Japanese jungle warfare tactics. On 4 November, My father appears mentioned as part of Intelligence working on night exercises and reconnaissance. I am guessing that he was in the HQ company prior to this but it is not clear exactly what role individuals were undertaking, apart from the officers. On 8 November the intelligence sergeant was acting Intelligence Officer while the regular one was away at a course. I think that means my father was acting Intelligence Officer. He certainly appears frequently in the roles that the intelligence officer had previously. 13th, 21st and 25th appears in diary.

I was surprised to see my father’s signature on a document outlining intelligence section training. That confirms my suspicion that he was acting intelligence officer. 66 years ago he signed that in Darwin on 9 November 1942. 27 years ago he died… and now I am reading what he wrote then at a time when he was half my age today. I only noticed it because the signature caught my eye. Another similar document on 23 November. A map signed (and most likely drawn by) my father is there as well. The writing is familiar, although block letters. There was definitely a more relaxed atmosphere in November. Sports carnivals were being organised between Battalions and quite a lot of NCOs and officers attended training courses. Dec 14 intelligence section training. Dec 21 signed by him. He did the training on cipher files and I remember him showing me how to do ciphers when I was about 10 years old.

1943

It is quite apparent that the professionalism of the battalion was increasing dramatically. Documentation is better and the exercises are quite sophisticated and incorporate elements identified in very recent intelligence reports about Japanese military behaviour. With Guadalcanal and Kokoda/Buna now secure, the mood leading to Christmas was lighter … but it did not stop training exercises. There was a hint that the Battalion would have a spell at a rest camp. The year 1943 started with a move to the Berry Springs rest camp. Most of the battalion had a week of rest but Intelligence continued preparing for an intelligence course later in the month. A lot of emphasis was being placed on the various intelligence functions in orders from higher up (Brigade and the district commanders). The course looks quite comprehensive. The large scale training program that the Battalion was now undertaking in January and February seems incongruous against the backdrop of only 8 months earlier where they were fortifying for an attack. When looking closely at the training it is clear that they are training for attacking the Japanese and not defending any more.

I wondered why they were staying in the Darwin area until I read about the “difficulties” in getting the 8th Battalion reclassified as AIF so that they could move off pure Australian Territory. On 10 December, my father and many others who had CMF army enlistment then re-enlisted in the AIF and therefore effectively volunteered for overseas service. Clearly thoughts were moving towards removing the Japanese from New Guinea and Malaysia. That was probably how Australia saw it but the US had its eye on the Philippines and Japan itself. The Palau islands⁶ were perhaps the most strategic ones and some of the hardest to get to with Japan occupying Rabaul and on the North coast of Papua and the local islands (Admiralty etc) there. On 15 Feb 1943 my father went off to Intelligence School in Brisbane for three months. This rates a mention in the war diary along with those going to officer training schools. It seems that intelligence staff learned their job on the job in the early days when there was a severe threat. Now it was time to go another step.

The Intelligence Officer Lt Trevenen left to become an instructor and Sgt Ferguson (a colleague of my father in the intelligence section) appears in the diaries more during March. April and May were busy months for Intelligence and training was focused on cooperative attack with with air, artillery and armour support. On 20 May it is noted that Capt McIntyre of the Salvation Army arrived. Of all the churches involved in the war, my father respected them the most. They offered practical support and did not push their religious beliefs like others (especially the Roman Catholics). That view is borne out by accounts written by Osmar White, Peter Brune and others. Throughout May it is clear that the exercises are being designed to test the leadership in battle and that my father and the other intelligence people are in the thick of it all, designing the exercises, reconnaissance, observing and umpiring the exercises. 13 May reported my father back in RO. Training well became an army doctrine after the hell that 39 Battalion of the militia had to endure at Kokoda. You can only wonder that these young men managed to do what they did faced with what must have seemed certain death.

Mundane but important matters such as hygiene and protection from diseases (malaria especially) feature more as well, foreshadowing a move. Battalion Picture Nights were back on again – Pennies From Heaven. Sports were again being played between the rival Battalions. The officer lists still show that most of the officers are from Victoria and most are still the originals that started from Ballarat. More from elsewhere are appearing as officers move for promotions and transfers to training units. Ken Picot is “particularly requested” for return to the Battalion and is in hospital, which he did on 22 May. JL Trvenen is someone who I should look up. He was Intelligence Officer for a long time and probably knew dad well. An idea of the complexity of the various Battalion units can be seen from the competitions sheet on 8 May. There is a lot more mechanisation and technology being used that I first thought. I wondered why dad was not playing in the sporting events, then I saw the 14 May athletic event schedule. He was acting as marshall for the sports. I wonder what he thought about that? He enjoyed playing sport so much.

A series of “sitreps” for one company of the 23 Brigade in New Guinea actively engaged with the Japanese. Many reports of air attacks on Rabaul and around Finschafen. In June dad gets a mention right from the beginning looking at the Cox Peninsula. 5 days planning and mapping resulted in an exercise on 8 June and finishing on 9 June. Another week rest at Berry Springs 17 – 23 June pictures almost every night and a tennis court. Reconnaissance of Finiss River. Late in the month the Bn moved to Lucy Mine area and “dug in”.

12 August 1943

This drawing is dated the day after my father turned 26 and was presumably drawn out in the field. I have the cardboard roll in which it was posted to my Grandmother Phoebe, who I remember as an elderly woman in the 1960’s living in a “home” at Hepburn Springs. I can only imagine what it would have been like to receive this drawing in the middle of the war.

On this day it seems that the weather was fine and sultry. The following things happened for the rest of the month:

• Voting commenced for the Federal Election where John Curtin’s Government would be re-elected.
• 7 new officers joined the Battalion. A number of old officers, including the Commanding Officer left.
• Preparations accelerated for going to war.
• Shortly after, on 26 August, the diary shows that my father conducted “cipher training” for the Battalion.

Most importantly, HQ Company won the swimming. 8th Battalion scored 5/142 (dec) against Brigade Workshops all out 35 and 55. Ballarat had good cricketers at the time. The cricket competition across 23 Brigade continued until September when 8th Battalion won the trophy. I could not resist that bit of trivia.

Preparations

From August to September there was training. In October there was leave in Victoria and resumption of training with new recruits at the end of October in Watsonia Barracks. In November there was what I interpret as tropical jungle training in Mareeba and Atherton. Sgt Guy gets another specific mention doing the reconnaissance. My interpretation is based on the issuance of a ‘screed “Jungle warfare”‘ on 25 November :p

Secret orders attaching 23 Brigade to the 3rd Division and 1 Corps combined with “hardening marches” would have got the place buzzing with rumours. So would lectures on security and censorship. On a darker note, requirements for current addresses for next of kin to be updated would have removed all doubt as to what was about to happen. On 3 December 23 Brigade was Gazetted as an A.I.F. unit. At least there would be some Christmas cheer – a Sports Carnival was announced for 23 December.

However, January and February proceeded without any movement. More and more training. More anxiety and boredom. Therefore some Court Martials. March and April the same. Then between May 19 and 22 the 8th Battalion embarked in Cairns for Milne Bay and finally to Lae, Papua New Guinea.

In New Guinea 1944-5

There was a lot more training in Lae until they moved to Emirau Island at the end of September 1944. Through October, I see mentions of the American PT boats that my father told me about. The one thing I remember best is stories of fishing on the reefs with grenades. I also remember him commenting on the accuracy (mostly otherwise) of McHales Navy. The Battalion was there to hold the island and maintain supply lines. The usual task for those who have not faced enemy fire directly.

On 17 December my father moved to New Hanover for some purpose that was not described. This map seems to have been part of the exercise. It is hard to know but the time spent near Japanese troops affected my father a lot. …

 

Operations in New Britain moved on spasmodically, the ‘offensive spirit’ directive urging commanders forward, orders to stay away from Rabaul and deliberately restricted resources holding them back. A transport and a supply depot platoon were rotated through forward support duty at Tol Plantation as the line was stabilised at the neck of the Gazelle Peninsula until the war closed. It was as well that adventurism was held in check, as the estimated 30,000 enemy facing the two-brigade Australian division turned out to be three times greater, comprising the equivalent of five divisions, and pressure had begun to mount as the advance had threatened what they had regarded as their sanctuary.

 

Torokina and Papua New Guinea Battalions

Around May 1945, my father joined the 1^St Papua New Guinea Battalion as an advisor. When I looked through the Battalion War Diary, I found none of the detail that the AIF 8th Battalion had, instead I saw a mass of newspaper and magazine cuttings that gave a wonderful picture of the times. It seems that the creation of the Battalion was mostly a training exercise so my father’s experience planning and executing them in Darwin was likely to be valued.

Although I could not find much evidence in the AWM, I was told that in the last weeks of fighting, my father was responsible for successfully avoiding a large force of Japanese soldiers and saving the lives of many of the 2,000 or more men who faced a much larger force. I wish I could trace back through something to be sure and to see what he did in the time until he returned to Australia 18 months after the war ended.

Given his proficiency with Pidgin and a deep knowledge of New Guinean culture, I expect he spent a lot of time with the 1,2 and 3 Battalions preparing them to stand alone when the Australian and US forces left.