The Dutch submarine K14 which took Bowditch from Darwin on a dangerous commando operation; an angry exchange with the skipper of an American PT boat -not JFK-followed and the US gave him a beer and , much later, a Bronze Star .
*********************************************************
While resting in Port Moresby, after the fierce fighting with the Japanese at Milne Bay and beyond , Jim Bowditch said the troops, especially those who had fought in the Middle East were battle hardened, but war weary. When volunteers were sought for a special Z Force commando group , many men , Bowditch included, jumped at the opportunity to escape the steamy jungles and get back to Australia.
It was his belief that officers also took the opportunity to “get rid of ” men who bucked authority. Bowditch was selected for Z Force and was flown back to Australia on October 29, 1943. A spot of well earned and much needed leave followed ; then he joined the Z Special Unit on December 17.
Training included a stint on Fraser Island , Queensland, where the unarmed combat instructor , who had fought at Gallipoli and France, would attack at any hour of the day or night to test the readiness of the men. " You would be coming out of your tent first thing in the morning , hear a noise and it was the unarmed combat instructor flying at you feet first,"said Bowditch. " It was like Peter Sellers playing the crazy Inspector Clouseau and his oriental servant ,Cato, who tried to catch him off guard. " This person was a professional wrestler, Major Reg McKissock,who had run a gymnasium in Perth, a bear-sized man weighing nearly 20 stone. In the 1930s , McKissock , a lieutenant at the time , had been connected with weight lifting, boxing and several sports , known as "Mighty Muldoon " at the Perth Golf Club . On Fraser Island, he lived in a tent and there was a sandbagged sandpit nearby in which he plied his trade with great gusto .
A West Australian Z Force member , the late Jack Sue ,told me an amusing anecdote about McKissock. Sue’s cousin, Peter Wong , was on Fraser Island when “mad screaming ” was heard coming from McKissock’s tent. The instructor suddenly came tearing out with a rifle,to which was attached a bayonet , and threw it at Wong. Wong , much smaller than his assailant, but versed in unarmed combat, stepped aside and threw the rifle into the sandpit. At some stage McKissock had Wong in a Boston Crab wrestling hold in the sandpit. He told the surrounding soldiers that when they had “a bastard” down they should rub his head into the sand, and proceeded to do so. Wong had sand in his ears, eyes and nostrils . This caused him to “ do his block ,” and he threw McKissock out of the pit. The instructor said he was delighted to see some spirit from Wong, and rushed back in to grapple with him once more. After the instructor had been thrown out three times , McKissock said, “ Okay, Wong. You are a better man than I am Gunga Din.”
Major McKissock newspaper clipping
Bowditch also went to Camp Z, near Sydney ,where emphasis was on weaponry, explosives , navigation , map reading, cliff climbing , long distance running and living off the land , which included eating bats. At the Richmond RAAF base in NSW Bowditch attended the 1 Australia Parachute Training Centre and qualified as a parachutist
After all the training they were sent in groups to be briefed and further evaluated at the Batman Avenue , Melbourne , headquarters of the secret Z Force organisation where he met Major ( later Colonel ) Ivan Lyon , MBE, DSO of the Gordon Highlanders and Lieutenant Davidson, DSO, RNVR, who organised operations in Europe following the Dunkirk catastrophe . Bowditch’s group received a preliminary briefing from Major Lyon for a special behind the enemy lines operation . Both Lyon and Davidson were inspirational men , said Bowditch, who convinced you of your ability to succeed and the importance of your part in the war effort. Both men had led the incredibly successful Operation Jaywick in which a small vessel , Krait, sailed from Perth to Singapore with a raiding party and blew up shipping with limpet mines.
Then , in June 1944 , Bowditch was in a group of six flown to Darwin to the East Arm flying boat base which was used by intelligence groups. After some training in the harbour, they assembled their equipment-folboats ( light, folding , two-man canoes ) , guns , explosives , ammunition, food and radios - which were loaded aboard the Dutch submarine K14. (The submarine was based in Fremantle and had sunk several enemy vessels . Artist Robert Taylor painted an incident in which a Dutch Dornier flying boat had rendezvoused with K14, copies of which were signed by some of the plane's crew and the submariners and sold .) The sub's log records landing five, not six, members of an Australian shore party in which Bowditch was a member.
*********************************************************
While resting in Port Moresby, after the fierce fighting with the Japanese at Milne Bay and beyond , Jim Bowditch said the troops, especially those who had fought in the Middle East were battle hardened, but war weary. When volunteers were sought for a special Z Force commando group , many men , Bowditch included, jumped at the opportunity to escape the steamy jungles and get back to Australia.
It was his belief that officers also took the opportunity to “get rid of ” men who bucked authority. Bowditch was selected for Z Force and was flown back to Australia on October 29, 1943. A spot of well earned and much needed leave followed ; then he joined the Z Special Unit on December 17.
Training included a stint on Fraser Island , Queensland, where the unarmed combat instructor , who had fought at Gallipoli and France, would attack at any hour of the day or night to test the readiness of the men. " You would be coming out of your tent first thing in the morning , hear a noise and it was the unarmed combat instructor flying at you feet first,"said Bowditch. " It was like Peter Sellers playing the crazy Inspector Clouseau and his oriental servant ,Cato, who tried to catch him off guard. " This person was a professional wrestler, Major Reg McKissock,who had run a gymnasium in Perth, a bear-sized man weighing nearly 20 stone. In the 1930s , McKissock , a lieutenant at the time , had been connected with weight lifting, boxing and several sports , known as "Mighty Muldoon " at the Perth Golf Club . On Fraser Island, he lived in a tent and there was a sandbagged sandpit nearby in which he plied his trade with great gusto .
A West Australian Z Force member , the late Jack Sue ,told me an amusing anecdote about McKissock. Sue’s cousin, Peter Wong , was on Fraser Island when “mad screaming ” was heard coming from McKissock’s tent. The instructor suddenly came tearing out with a rifle,to which was attached a bayonet , and threw it at Wong. Wong , much smaller than his assailant, but versed in unarmed combat, stepped aside and threw the rifle into the sandpit. At some stage McKissock had Wong in a Boston Crab wrestling hold in the sandpit. He told the surrounding soldiers that when they had “a bastard” down they should rub his head into the sand, and proceeded to do so. Wong had sand in his ears, eyes and nostrils . This caused him to “ do his block ,” and he threw McKissock out of the pit. The instructor said he was delighted to see some spirit from Wong, and rushed back in to grapple with him once more. After the instructor had been thrown out three times , McKissock said, “ Okay, Wong. You are a better man than I am Gunga Din.”
Major McKissock newspaper clipping
Bowditch also went to Camp Z, near Sydney ,where emphasis was on weaponry, explosives , navigation , map reading, cliff climbing , long distance running and living off the land , which included eating bats. At the Richmond RAAF base in NSW Bowditch attended the 1 Australia Parachute Training Centre and qualified as a parachutist
After all the training they were sent in groups to be briefed and further evaluated at the Batman Avenue , Melbourne , headquarters of the secret Z Force organisation where he met Major ( later Colonel ) Ivan Lyon , MBE, DSO of the Gordon Highlanders and Lieutenant Davidson, DSO, RNVR, who organised operations in Europe following the Dunkirk catastrophe . Bowditch’s group received a preliminary briefing from Major Lyon for a special behind the enemy lines operation . Both Lyon and Davidson were inspirational men , said Bowditch, who convinced you of your ability to succeed and the importance of your part in the war effort. Both men had led the incredibly successful Operation Jaywick in which a small vessel , Krait, sailed from Perth to Singapore with a raiding party and blew up shipping with limpet mines.
Then , in June 1944 , Bowditch was in a group of six flown to Darwin to the East Arm flying boat base which was used by intelligence groups. After some training in the harbour, they assembled their equipment-folboats ( light, folding , two-man canoes ) , guns , explosives , ammunition, food and radios - which were loaded aboard the Dutch submarine K14. (The submarine was based in Fremantle and had sunk several enemy vessels . Artist Robert Taylor painted an incident in which a Dutch Dornier flying boat had rendezvoused with K14, copies of which were signed by some of the plane's crew and the submariners and sold .) The sub's log records landing five, not six, members of an Australian shore party in which Bowditch was a member.
Leader of the operation was Lieutenant V. D . “Dave ” Prentiss who at 6ft 4inches Bowditch felt was too big for paddling a small canoe. Their destination was Batanta Island, Dutch New Guinea, where they were to watch Sorong Harbour, a busy Japanese port, and a nearby airfield where Betty Bombers were based,which could have been used to attack places as far away as Townsville.
As the submarine stealthily approached their destination ,it was forced to spend l8 hours on the bottom in cramped and stifling conditions with enemy patrol vessels travelling overhead. Eventually the submarine surfaced , the canoes were prepared on deck and the commandoes paddled off into the unknown . After three days hard paddling they set up an observation post high on Batanta Island and supplied radio messages about enemy shipping and aircraft movements which were relayed back to Batchelor, near Darwin .
Under the cover of darkness, Bowditch paddled into Sorong Harbour and attached mines to shipping . He heard explosions later but was unable to find out what damage had been done. At night the Japanese often were out patching up the runways which had been bombed ; Jim’s group could hear machinery and pinpoint its location . The information they radioed through enabled further bombing raids . The Japs knew they were there and tried to hunt them down.
As the submarine stealthily approached their destination ,it was forced to spend l8 hours on the bottom in cramped and stifling conditions with enemy patrol vessels travelling overhead. Eventually the submarine surfaced , the canoes were prepared on deck and the commandoes paddled off into the unknown . After three days hard paddling they set up an observation post high on Batanta Island and supplied radio messages about enemy shipping and aircraft movements which were relayed back to Batchelor, near Darwin .
Under the cover of darkness, Bowditch paddled into Sorong Harbour and attached mines to shipping . He heard explosions later but was unable to find out what damage had been done. At night the Japanese often were out patching up the runways which had been bombed ; Jim’s group could hear machinery and pinpoint its location . The information they radioed through enabled further bombing raids . The Japs knew they were there and tried to hunt them down.
At times the commandoes used a heavily wooded island near the airstrip as a daytime resting spot , as much of their work involved exploring at night. The island afforded the opportunity to swim and relax ,while always being on the alert. Bowditch and another operative, Stan Taylor , a house painter from Sydney , paddled to the pleasant island one day and found a slit trench and cans from a Japanese party which had been on patrol.
A supply drop to them included six bottles of Johnny Walker Black Label whisky . The resultant booze up brought some personal tensions to the surface and there were clashes with Captain Prentiss. Bowditch even wrote that he and two others “ nearly shot Captain Prentiss”.
The commandoes were in the area from June 20 to September 28 1944 when they were taken out by PT boats crewed by young, trigger-happy Americans who shot up huts along the way. Bowditch remonstrated with the Americans for strafing the huts saying that they probably belonged to “ natives ” friendly towards the Allies. The skipper of the PT boat on which Bowditch travelled was only 19 years old and when the vessel went aground he cried , but regained his composure when it refloated.
At the American base the party was feted and then flown back to Townsville for debriefing. In December Bowditch was again charged with non-military conduct and his record of service shows that he was “ severely reprimanded ” by the commanding officer . NEXT : More dangerous operations .
A supply drop to them included six bottles of Johnny Walker Black Label whisky . The resultant booze up brought some personal tensions to the surface and there were clashes with Captain Prentiss. Bowditch even wrote that he and two others “ nearly shot Captain Prentiss”.
The commandoes were in the area from June 20 to September 28 1944 when they were taken out by PT boats crewed by young, trigger-happy Americans who shot up huts along the way. Bowditch remonstrated with the Americans for strafing the huts saying that they probably belonged to “ natives ” friendly towards the Allies. The skipper of the PT boat on which Bowditch travelled was only 19 years old and when the vessel went aground he cried , but regained his composure when it refloated.
At the American base the party was feted and then flown back to Townsville for debriefing. In December Bowditch was again charged with non-military conduct and his record of service shows that he was “ severely reprimanded ” by the commanding officer . NEXT : More dangerous operations .
