By Peter Simon
Because of his involvement in the vicious struggle by the Industrial Groupers to take over unions in the drive against Communist influence , one which led to a split in the ALP and the formation of the Democratic Labor Party, plus his support for the Peace Council, he was regarded as a Communist by part of the community and to be avoided . A Catholic priest had urged clerks not to vote for Bowditch in a union election and a senior police officer avoided him , not wanting to be seen with him in public because of the fear that public servants could lose their jobs if they were associated with Communists .
In October 1950 , the offices of the North Australian Workers’ Union and its Darwin newspaper, the Northern Standard ,were searched as part of lightning , coordinated raids in capital cities across the nation . They were carried out by Security Service officers and local police under the Menzies Government’s Communist Party Dissolution Act. Police arrived at the NAWU office in two utilities carrying large packing cases , but nothing was taken away. Also raided was the home of M. Carne , secretary of the Darwin branch of the Communist Party , where piles of literature were seized.
In Sydney, the editorial offices of the Communist newspaper Tribune and the Eureka Youth League ,in the same building , were searched , staff questioned . In Melbourne , about half a ton of documents was seized at the Communist Party headquarters. Pamphlets and papers were taken away from the Tasmanian branch of the Communist Party CP in Hobart . These events illustrate the tense political situation in which Bowditch found himself- a war hero , even then known as a champion of the underdog, a man who would help anybody experiencing financial problems, victims of perceived injustices.
MARRIAGE BREAKDOWN
The close attention given to Bowditch by security offices is revealed in official reports. Using unusual language, ASIO made extraordinary claims about Bowditch. One said his wife “prompted” him over an alleged affair with a woman , described as a “Communist stooge, ” a kind of femme fatale , who had been sent to Alice Springs to influence Bowditch. ASIO continued that , “ from all accounts” , she had been “ pulling it over” Bowditch.
Furthermore, it was stated this woman had stayed at the residence of Mr and Mrs Wauchope when she first came to Alice. Alan Wauchope was described in the ASIO report as being about 40, former editor of the Centralian Advocate and private secretary to Jock Nelson, MHR.
According to Bowditch , his wife Iris was not really interested in politics or unions and shared her parents’ belief that unionists were communists who should be avoided. Involved in so many activities, Bowditch was leading a hectic life and at times was away from home. After returning early from one trip , he became involved in a fight with a red-headed man who used to drink with the Bowditches at the racecourse, and was reportedly attentive to Iris . The fight took place in the Bowditch residence ; considerable damage was done to the small house.
Iris left soon after for Melbourne . Bowditch told this writer that he had agreed that Iris, on returning to her parents, would tell them that the marriage break up was entirely his fault. He came to regret this as he said alimony payouts had impacted on his finances for years. His sister, Mary, was highly critical of Iris when discussing with this writer the reason for the marriage failure in Alice Springs.
After Iris’s departure, Jim was at a loss what to do , his ego damaged. There was a woman whom he described decades later as “mystical, ” the supposed femme fatale mentioned by ASIO, but this relationship did not continue. To escape Alice and its problems , he took some leave and drove to Adelaide in a soft top car , where he said there was a woman whom he “admired”-Marjorie Johnston , who had come to Alice for the Peace Council meeting mentioned earlier in this series. ASIO noted the departure of the Bowditches thus :
Subject ( Jim Bowditch ) left Alice Springs l4/2/52 to travel overland to Adelaide in his car . He was short of money and intended trying to sell the car in Adelaide , after which he was to have gone on to Sydney . If he could not get his price for the car , he intended to get a job as a traveller or with a country newspaper in South Australia . He is said to have left his wife ; she went South by plane about a week before subject left by car.
STRANGE REPORTS FROM ADELAIDE
In Adelaide , Bowditch at first stayed at the home of his friend, Harry Krantz, secretary of the SA Federated Clerks. Krantz recalled that Bowditch arrived with a waterbag , an enamel plate and a tin mug. Krantz’s mother had known and liked Iris Bowditch and was sad to hear that the couple had parted . While Bowditch was staying in the Krantz household the Alice publican, Ly Underdown, came to Adelaide and called in with the FCU SA president .
ASIO kept Bowditch under close observation in Adelaide . One memorandum said he was “believed” to be temporarily residing at the residence of lawyer Elliott Johnston, a member of the Communist Party of Australia State Secretariat . Bowditch’s car was observed parked outside on three nights from early evening until late at night, when surveillance was discontinued. The same report said that Bowditch had been known in the Adelaide ASIO office since l950 “ when evidence was discovered that, although ostensibly an ALP supporter , he persistently supported the communist line in the FCU’s affairs ...”
The memorandum went on to say the SA Department of Works and Housing could not say whether or not Bowditch was still employed by the department in Alice. Beneath a blacked out section, it read : “…It cannot be confirmed that this allegation is correct. Nevertheless, circumstantial evidence to date makes the allegation probably accurate" Another secret memorandum from ASIO headquarters , with blacked out portions, said the photograph mentioned was one of James Bowditch and his wife and it appeared that this person “ is probably identical with the James Bowditch on record , who recently arrived in Adelaide, per motor car”.
It was stated data from a “Q” Branch source , in South Australia , categorically stated that Bowditch joined the C.P.A. during his visit to Adelaide. In the same file was the additional information :
On the l5th April, Marjorie Vivian Johnston, C.P. of A. member and Acting Secretary of the S.A. Peace Council , stated that when Bowditch was in Adelaide early this month he requested Elliott Johnston to give him a position as a permanent worker for the S.A. Peace Council. Johnston is understood to have said that he could not arrange such a position for Bowditch. Marjorie Johnston already stated that during his recent visit to Adelaide from Alice Springs , Bowditch joined the Communist Party.
In his aimless and uncertain frame of mind at the time, Bowditch applied to rejoin the army and fight in Korea . In his re-enlistment application he said he was unemployed. Security vetted the application and assessed him as a risk because he was “a sympathiser”. Unfavourable factors listed were the NT Security reports, his involvement with the FCU and Harry Krantz (“ suspected C.P. member” ) , a Tribune item which had mentioned Bowditch and his involvement with the Peace Council. Favourable factors : Bowditch had “allegedly ” won a D.C.M and the M. I. D., and he was president of the Alice Springs branch of the ALP.
The Bowditch file included a secret report, with several lines blacked out , by a person with the title “senior field officer ”, which contained a sensational claim about why Bowditch wanted to fight in Korea : “ At the end of March l952 subject ( Bowditch ) stated that he wanted to join the Australian Forces in Korea with a view of deserting and joining Thornton in China.” The person referred to here was Ernest Thornton , dubbed “the Red Czar ” of the Federated Ironworkers’ Association , who had been ousted by the Industrial Groupers campaign in l949 . Thornton was subsequently seconded by the World Federation of Trade Unions to head the Asian Liaison Bureau, based in China .
The alleged intention to “ desert” to China was repeated. What is to be made of this assertion , not known until well after Bowditch’s death , so that he could not be asked to respond ? It is such a bizarre suggestion that it invites conjecture. One possibility, of course, is that he did make a dramatic statement , perhaps while drinking , along the lines that he would like to desert and join Thornton in China. The fact that Thornton had taken up a post in China had received prominent , derogatory coverage in the Australian Press.
At the time of him applying to rejoin the army , Bowditch acknowledged that he had been at a low ebb , his male ego crushed by the circumstances of his wife’s departure, and at a loss to know what to do . That he was in something of a quandary is gleaned from the ASIO report which claimed he had driven from Alice to Adelaide short of money , intending to sell his car and travel to Sydney ; failing to sell his car , it seems he was prepared to seek work on a country newspaper or even become a door to door salesman, like he had soon after being demobbed .
A number of the people with whom he mixed in Adelaide during that period had been deeply involved in the battle with the Groupers , and it is possible Bowditch voiced the off the cuff colourful statement about wanting to “defect” and link up with Thornton. The report in respect of him supposedly seeking a job with the South Australian Peace Council clearly illustrates that at that stage in his life he was adrift , prepared to try anything .
Anyone having had any close ties with Bowditch , especially journalists , could list extreme statements made by Jim , not necessarily while under the influence of alcohol. While expressing deep indignation at the action of governments , companies and or individuals , especially in cases where people or nations were being oppressed, brutalised or “bullied” , Bowditch often said it was a situation where ,” You just feel like grabbing a gun and shooting the bastards .” Security men or informants over-hearing such utterances could build up a file presenting Bowditch as a potential assassin , perhaps even a serial killer.Therefore , it is suggested reports of him expressing the desire to “ defect to China ” should be taken with a sack of iodised salt.
ASIO also noted that Bowditch claimed to have “ unnamed ” friends inside the Adelaide Post Office. Did this information raise the possibility that he could gain access to the Royal mail ? During his battles with the Menzies government , Bowditch , not infrequently, said Cabinet members were so dense and reactionary they should be shot to advance the well- being of the nation . Why, he would ask in exasperation , did people let mongrels and , those most hated of beings, bullies , stand over them and force them to lead miserable lives ? It will be shown later on that Bowditch, in print , said the then ALP leader, Arthur Calwell, should be shot . Of course , years later, a disturbed young man , Peter Kocan , later a noted poet and novelist, did attempt to shoot Calwell. NEXT : Bowditch becomes an instant editor .
