REPULSING THE JAPANESE AT MILNE BAY & BIFFING A YANK
(Tribute to a great NT crusading journalist. )
*********************************************************
(Tribute to a great NT crusading journalist. )
*********************************************************
On the return voyage to Australia from the vicious Middle East fighting , Bowditch became enraged at a port of call when he saw young girls in cages being offered to soldiers. He called on the men not to have anything to do with the prostitution of children and even tried to get through to them by saying they would return home with the pox . Similar thinking men joined him and there was a fight with others who were eager to get at the girls.
During the voyage he was given medical treatment and on arrival back in Australia over the coming months was attended to for bronchitis, traumatic synositis and malaria . He also faced charges of conduct prejudicial to good order and military discipline, drunkeness, using insubordinate language to his superior officer and resisting an escort whose duty it was to apprehend him .
Bowditch , along with other troops brought back from the Middle East , were sent to do jungle training in North Queensland to prepare them for action against the Japanese . Then Bowditch boarded the corvette HMAS Katoomba at Townsville and sailed to Port Moresby , to take part in the fierce fighting for the strategically important Milne Bay . ( There is a large painting of the Katoomba,by Keith Swan, in Darwin's parliamentary library, showing the vessel, in dry dock at the time, under attack by Japanese planes during the February 19, 1942 raid.)
The Milne Bay battle would result in the first defeat of Japanese on land . The seemingly invincible Japanese had landed at Gona where they beheaded two nuns and a young boy .
Two squadrons of RAAF Kittyhawks were sent to Milne Bay to bolster the battle against the Japanese sweeping down towards them . A convoy of nine vessels landed some 1250 seasoned Japanese marines on the coast and this action was accompanied by a naval bombardment. Rumours came through that the Japanese had broken through .
Fighting was so ferocious Bowditch saw many men go to pieces under the onslaught. The enemy came right up to an important airfield where the canteen was blown up to prevent it falling into enemy hands. Bowditch saw RAAF men , probably ground crew, white and terrified , running away.
He was involved in the savage combat which saw Corporal Jack French posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross . This is Jim’s account , which varies slightly with official records and under the circumstances perfectly understandable. “ I was with the platoon next to that of French , a burly, blond fellow; we were advancing along this coastal area.
He was involved in the savage combat which saw Corporal Jack French posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross . This is Jim’s account , which varies slightly with official records and under the circumstances perfectly understandable. “ I was with the platoon next to that of French , a burly, blond fellow; we were advancing along this coastal area.
"There were camouflaged machine guns and snipers all over the place . Bullets were flying everywhere. Somebody started to shout ,‘ Retreat ! Retreat ! Retreat!, and it caught on like a wave.
"We turned and were running back. One fellow ran past me and ran into a tree , dropped his gun and kept on running. French started to sing out , ‘Hold it! Hold it ! Hold the line !’
" I think he was angry . I saw him take the first machine gun nest. He just lobbed a grenade , fired his gun and appeared to bayonet someone . I saw him go for the second nest and that was when I think he got hit because he appeared to stagger when running at the nest . He went down throwing a grenade into a third nest. In my view, that stopped the retreat from Milne Bay . If it had continued there would have been a debacle . After that brave effort by French we got on top .”
There was , however , further ferocious fighting ahead . The older Japanese , he said , fought like “kamikaze” soldiers , but as they were killed the younger enemy became less fanatical. The smell of death was everywhere as the Australians continued to mop up the enemy. Bowditch was so exhausted at the end of a day’s fighting he slumped down on what he thought was a log and found it was the putrefying body of an enemy soldier. Early in the advance a handsome young officer he had known in the Middle East had half his face blown away and it was obvious he was going to die despite the fact that he was still walking with blood spurting from a horrible wound.
Out front one day with his bren gun at the ready, Jim spotted Japanese up in the hills looking down on the platoon . One of the Japanese produced a white flag and advanced towards him. Bowditch asked his commanding officer what he should do . The officer , in the middle of the platoon, said to signal the soldier to come down : “ I did. We did not know what to expect as we had heard how they had pretended to surrender and then shoot people dead. We had seen where they had tied people to trees and set them alight with petrol. Women had also been staked out and raped .
" I signalled this kid in and he was knocking at the knees. He hardly got past me than the officer drew his revolver and started shooting at him. He missed a couple of times but eventually hit this kid who went down . I finished him off with a quick burst from my bren gun and actually swung around in a rage and pointed it at the officer.
"I was nearly going to shoot him . I don’t know how I restrained myself . That senseless act probably cost the lives of hundreds of Australians because the Japanese then fought to the very last man because the soldier they sent in under a white flag had been shot dead .”
The 2/9th captured an enemy base camp reportedly found detailed maps of Queensland with arrows sweeping from Port Moresby to various towns along the Queensland coast.
Bowditch was in the Milne Bay area for about a month continuing the coastal sweep through Buna and Sanananda and had many grisly experiences. When they took enemy first aid posts they shot wounded Japanese because they were instructed to take no prisoners. However there was one prisoner he saw who stuck in his memory because he was more than six foot tall. This man was brought in for interrogation , but bit his own tongue off rather than talk.
Dysentery swept through the troops on both sides and the Japanese , because they had little in the way of medical supplies , often fought without their soiled trousers . The bodies of some 2/9th Battalion men were found on wire frames, mutilated and used as bayonet practice.
The Australians learnt early in the piece not to peer into enemy trenches because the Japanese would lie there pretending to be dead and shoot your head off. It was safer to lob grenades into trenches . Bowditch recounted how one day while Australian soldiers were having a well earned rest on a beach , a Japanese holding a sword in his mouth was seen swimming toward them. On reaching shore he took the sword from his mouth and rushed, shouting , up the beach at the soldiers who shot him to pieces.
At Buna , on the north east coast of Papua , the Allies sent in 660 men from corvettes who linked up with tanks in further battles for strategic airstrips. The Japanese had numerous well camouflaged bunkers and there were many snipers in trees. At times the Japanese threw back hand grenades hurled into their bunkers. In 14 days of fierce fighting at Buna the 2/9th lost more officers and men of other ranks than had been sustained in four months at Tobruk.
But there was no end to their fighting for the battalion then had to march 15 miles to Sanananda along a rough track through swamps, creeks, small rivers and kunai grass. The tanks sent in ahead of them were picked off by heavy Japanese guns. Once again , many of the enemy were trouserless , but fought with fanatical fury. After all he had been through, Bowditch was made a Lance Corporal.
While on leave, Bowditch , 22, assaulted and robbed an American soldier, George Woodrow Curtis, at Lismore, New South Wales. The incident was covered extensively in the local paper, The Northern Star. He was bound over to be of good behaviour for five years , a condition being that he not absent himself from the army . In addition, he was directed to pay (pounds ) 4/4/8 to Curtis , plus fifteen shillings and fourpence compensation .
There was , however , further ferocious fighting ahead . The older Japanese , he said , fought like “kamikaze” soldiers , but as they were killed the younger enemy became less fanatical. The smell of death was everywhere as the Australians continued to mop up the enemy. Bowditch was so exhausted at the end of a day’s fighting he slumped down on what he thought was a log and found it was the putrefying body of an enemy soldier. Early in the advance a handsome young officer he had known in the Middle East had half his face blown away and it was obvious he was going to die despite the fact that he was still walking with blood spurting from a horrible wound.
Out front one day with his bren gun at the ready, Jim spotted Japanese up in the hills looking down on the platoon . One of the Japanese produced a white flag and advanced towards him. Bowditch asked his commanding officer what he should do . The officer , in the middle of the platoon, said to signal the soldier to come down : “ I did. We did not know what to expect as we had heard how they had pretended to surrender and then shoot people dead. We had seen where they had tied people to trees and set them alight with petrol. Women had also been staked out and raped .
" I signalled this kid in and he was knocking at the knees. He hardly got past me than the officer drew his revolver and started shooting at him. He missed a couple of times but eventually hit this kid who went down . I finished him off with a quick burst from my bren gun and actually swung around in a rage and pointed it at the officer.
"I was nearly going to shoot him . I don’t know how I restrained myself . That senseless act probably cost the lives of hundreds of Australians because the Japanese then fought to the very last man because the soldier they sent in under a white flag had been shot dead .”
The 2/9th captured an enemy base camp reportedly found detailed maps of Queensland with arrows sweeping from Port Moresby to various towns along the Queensland coast.
Bowditch was in the Milne Bay area for about a month continuing the coastal sweep through Buna and Sanananda and had many grisly experiences. When they took enemy first aid posts they shot wounded Japanese because they were instructed to take no prisoners. However there was one prisoner he saw who stuck in his memory because he was more than six foot tall. This man was brought in for interrogation , but bit his own tongue off rather than talk.
Dysentery swept through the troops on both sides and the Japanese , because they had little in the way of medical supplies , often fought without their soiled trousers . The bodies of some 2/9th Battalion men were found on wire frames, mutilated and used as bayonet practice.
The Australians learnt early in the piece not to peer into enemy trenches because the Japanese would lie there pretending to be dead and shoot your head off. It was safer to lob grenades into trenches . Bowditch recounted how one day while Australian soldiers were having a well earned rest on a beach , a Japanese holding a sword in his mouth was seen swimming toward them. On reaching shore he took the sword from his mouth and rushed, shouting , up the beach at the soldiers who shot him to pieces.
At Buna , on the north east coast of Papua , the Allies sent in 660 men from corvettes who linked up with tanks in further battles for strategic airstrips. The Japanese had numerous well camouflaged bunkers and there were many snipers in trees. At times the Japanese threw back hand grenades hurled into their bunkers. In 14 days of fierce fighting at Buna the 2/9th lost more officers and men of other ranks than had been sustained in four months at Tobruk.
But there was no end to their fighting for the battalion then had to march 15 miles to Sanananda along a rough track through swamps, creeks, small rivers and kunai grass. The tanks sent in ahead of them were picked off by heavy Japanese guns. Once again , many of the enemy were trouserless , but fought with fanatical fury. After all he had been through, Bowditch was made a Lance Corporal.
While on leave, Bowditch , 22, assaulted and robbed an American soldier, George Woodrow Curtis, at Lismore, New South Wales. The incident was covered extensively in the local paper, The Northern Star. He was bound over to be of good behaviour for five years , a condition being that he not absent himself from the army . In addition, he was directed to pay (pounds ) 4/4/8 to Curtis , plus fifteen shillings and fourpence compensation .
Both Bowditch and Curtis had been drinking together in various hotels. Curtis claimed Bowditch had hit him with a rock or a brick and demanded half his money . After the assault, the court was told , Bowditch had said , “ Gosh, I am sorry I did that to you , but I needed the money .” Bowditch had been drinking whisky , the American had consumed about “ nine or 10”, his “ safe” limit without getting drunk being about 15 to 20.
Evidence was given by a woman , Winifred May Cox , from the nearby town of Eltham , whom Bowditch later described as “ my fiancee” , that she had seen the two men together in Lismore . Bowditch, she said, had been staying at her family’s home for several days . She, Bowditch and members of her family had come to Lismore the day of the incident. In the afternoon she had seen the American and Bowditch together, and asked Jim to come home. However, he had said he would come home by taxi early the following morning.
When she told Jim he would probably be “ broke” by then , Curtis had told her not to worry as he had plenty of money ,and would make sure he got home safely . Court was told that during their drinking session the two men had gone looking for women. At some stage , it was alleged Bowditch went down by the river , said “ the women” would be arriving soon, then beat up Curtis and demanded money from him .
Later, the battered American had been taken to police , sporting two black-eyes. Bowditch was arrested by police . After at first denying having been with any “ Yanks,”he admitted there had been a “blue ” with Curtis. However, he denied having taken money from the man .
Recalling the episode decades later, Bowditch had another version of the event. He said “Winnie ”, a non drinker of alcohol , her parents and at least one civilian had been with him in a pub. According to Bowditch, Curtis had allegedly made passes at Winnie and she had been embarrassed and felt uncomfortable. Bowditch took the man outside, asked him if he wanted a woman , went down by the river and delivered a king hit.
On seeing what he had done to his drinking buddy , Bowditch said he tried to mop up the blood with his own shirt. Whatever the real story , and who would ever know because of the amount of drink consumed, Bowditch was lucky to escape on a five year good behaviour bond , which he breached several times soon after and suffered no penalty . In the Lismore newspaper which carried the account of the court case was a short item about two young American servicemen sentenced to 15 years’ hard labour by a US Army court-martial for having held up a Lismore hire car driver at gunpoint and stolen three pounds six shillings ($6.60) . The May 1943 NSW Police Gazette shows that another person, Harold George Wishart, 42, of Casino, alias Alfred Kelly and Alfred Wishart, was also charged over the assault and robbery of Curtis , but had been acquitted .
Evidence was given by a woman , Winifred May Cox , from the nearby town of Eltham , whom Bowditch later described as “ my fiancee” , that she had seen the two men together in Lismore . Bowditch, she said, had been staying at her family’s home for several days . She, Bowditch and members of her family had come to Lismore the day of the incident. In the afternoon she had seen the American and Bowditch together, and asked Jim to come home. However, he had said he would come home by taxi early the following morning.
When she told Jim he would probably be “ broke” by then , Curtis had told her not to worry as he had plenty of money ,and would make sure he got home safely . Court was told that during their drinking session the two men had gone looking for women. At some stage , it was alleged Bowditch went down by the river , said “ the women” would be arriving soon, then beat up Curtis and demanded money from him .
Later, the battered American had been taken to police , sporting two black-eyes. Bowditch was arrested by police . After at first denying having been with any “ Yanks,”he admitted there had been a “blue ” with Curtis. However, he denied having taken money from the man .
Recalling the episode decades later, Bowditch had another version of the event. He said “Winnie ”, a non drinker of alcohol , her parents and at least one civilian had been with him in a pub. According to Bowditch, Curtis had allegedly made passes at Winnie and she had been embarrassed and felt uncomfortable. Bowditch took the man outside, asked him if he wanted a woman , went down by the river and delivered a king hit.
On seeing what he had done to his drinking buddy , Bowditch said he tried to mop up the blood with his own shirt. Whatever the real story , and who would ever know because of the amount of drink consumed, Bowditch was lucky to escape on a five year good behaviour bond , which he breached several times soon after and suffered no penalty . In the Lismore newspaper which carried the account of the court case was a short item about two young American servicemen sentenced to 15 years’ hard labour by a US Army court-martial for having held up a Lismore hire car driver at gunpoint and stolen three pounds six shillings ($6.60) . The May 1943 NSW Police Gazette shows that another person, Harold George Wishart, 42, of Casino, alias Alfred Kelly and Alfred Wishart, was also charged over the assault and robbery of Curtis , but had been acquitted .
***The illustration at the top of this post shows American and Australian fighting men making a hit over a Coke, according to an advertisement in Man magazine, July 1944, this copy rescued from the Townsville city dump . NEXT-Bowditch joins the Z-Force commandoes, arrives in Darwin for the first time, and is engaged in many dangerous operations behind enemy lines.
