Sunday, March 19, 2017

MEMORIES OF DARWIN , HORN ISLAND JAPANESE ATTACKS

Like Darwin , in the Northern Territory  of Australia, Horn Island , in the Torres Strait , off  the  tip of Queensland, recently  marked the  75th  anniversary   of  commencement   of    Japanese  WWll   attacks  .
 
By  Peter  Simon  

Situated  800  kilometres north of  Cairns ,  the island's airstrip enabled Allied attacks  on Papua New Guinea and  other  Pacific  targets  . As a  result , it became  the  second most  attacked  Australian  target  after  Darwin .

A  longtime  Territory  resident ,  the  late  Les Penhall , was not only in Darwin the day of  the first attack , he   later served  on  Horn  Island   as  a  signaller   with  the 74th Mobile Anti-Aircraft  Searchlight  Battery .
 
I met Penhall  in Darwin in the late  1950s when I covered the Darwin Police  Courts and the  Supreme Court   for  the Northern Territory News  and  Les  worked  for  the ( Aboriginal )  Welfare Department, appearing  regularly at  the Monday morning  court  call  over ,  representing   Aboriginal  clients. 

Penhall  first   came to  Darwin from  Adelaide  on November 29,1941 ,  an 18 year old   clerk with the  Native Affairs Branch , his work involving contact with  bushman  Bill  Harney,  later a  popular author ,  the first caretaker of Ayers  Rock (Uluru).

On the morning of  February 19 , 1942 ,  he made  arrangements   with  Iris Bald and two of  her  girlfriends  to   attend The Star Theatre  in  the  evening .While sitting  at his desk , the drone  of  planes was heard   and  the bombing began . He ran  out of   the office  , past  the police station-bombed  , heading for a  cliff which fell away to the beach . As he  raced   for  his life  , he saw a bomb  fall on the  Post  Office ,  killing   nine staff  ,  including , Iris Bald   and  her  parents.
 
A piece of shrapnel   tore  a  hole in his shirt  and caused a minor  cut .  One  vivid memory was  seeing the USS Peary  sinking  , an anti-aircraft gun  still firing  as   it  sank  from  view.  Bullets  from   Zeros   could be heard  zipping through the foliage , there were   violent ,  deafening explosions   
 
He travelled  overland in a police party  in a truck loaded with rescued  Works  Department  files  and  ended up  in Alice Springs  where one of his many jobs was to sort out the files brought  down  from  Darwin . He also helped draw up a list of  crewmembers    from  ships sunk in Darwin  who  were evacuated  south in road convoys , many of  them Chinese and Malays  , who wore name tags .

General  MacArthur  in  Alice  Springs
 
During the month he spent in  Alice he had  meals at the Stuart Arms  Hotel and was there when  General Douglas MacArthur , his wife   and  son , passed through , having  fled the  Philippines. The son, about   four , had  a three wheeler  bike   and "made a nuisance of himself " by  riding it  round  and  round  inside the hotel, running  into  people's legs and   sideboards.
 
Drafted  into the  Army, Les  went  by train  to  Adelaide, underwent  training , and was  sent to Horn  Island ,  which the  Japanese  first bombed  on March 14, 1942.  The main airstrip  had been completed in 1940   and work then  started on a  cross  trip.
 
Penhall arrived aboard the   SS Islander  which was  later  sunk  by  the Japanese  . The feeling at the time was that  the Japanese, in  New Guinea ,  would island hop  down through the  islands to the mainland .  Allied bomber and fighter raids were launched  from  the island , which  resulted  in  stepped up  attacks  by  the  enemy .   
 
Searchlights , he said , were  set up on  nearby Tuesday and  Wednesday islands  to help   protect  Horn Island  from  attack . When   planes made  night raids on  Japanese targets  , a  searchlight was positioned   vertically into the sky  as a  beacon  to  guide returning  pilots.  Each searchlight group  consisted of 12 men .  
 
The 2002 book, Horn Island 1939-1945 , by Vanessa and Arthur Liberty SeeKee  , mentioned  Penhall . In a  special  presentation  copy  to Les ,  the inscription read :  Thank you  for what you did  here in Horn island  during  World War Two . The 74th Mob SL Bty  and yourself  won't  be  forgotten .