The Administrator of the Northern Territory, Roger Nott ,
noticed a scar
on Bowditch’s leg and asked if it was due to his war service .
The reply: " No - that’s
a scar I got
kicking in the RSL
door. " It is fair
to say that Bowditch and
some of the
RSL hierarchy were
not the best
of friends. He often
referred to Colonel
Blimp types and
RSL club “bullshit”. Despite
this, Betty Bowditch had
fond memories of
the old RSL
premises which disappeared
under a Paspalis
multi-storey edifice. In
print , Bowditch had criticised RSL leaders
who backed Immigration Minister Downer
during the Stayput Malays case.
On Anzac Day
l964 , Bowditch participated
in celebrations and , becoming tired
and emotional , flaked out
on a table
in the RSL . What
transpired is not absolutely
clear. One explanation was that
he had become
drunk and obnoxious
and was asked
to leave as
it was nearly closing time . He
left, but went around the
back and kicked
in the rear
door which had a
glass panel, badly
cutting his leg , and
was taken to
hospital . Another version
has it that
Bowditch passed out at a
table and some
RSL officials passed
derogatory remarks about the slumbering editor . One
went over , shook
him and told
him to get
home. Bowditch apparently
took umbrage at
being told to
hit the track
and words were
exchanged. When he
got to the bottom of
the stairs , the door
was closed behind
him so that
he could not
get back inside. He then
proceeded to kick
in the glass panels.
After
the event , Bowditch
went to the
nearby Workers’ Club.
Brian Manning was the club’s
manager at the
time and took
Bowditch into his
office and sat
him down. Blood was
running down his
leg from cuts
and he was
in a highly
agitated state of
mind. He berated himself
for what he
had done at
the RSL . Then he
admonished himself for
the men he
had killed during
the war. In
particular, he recalled with
horror how he had
killed and mutilated
the enemy soldier
on Tarakan. At
times he cried .
Eventually, he fell asleep
in the chair and
Manning later took him
home .
Manning pointed out
that people who " went to the
rescue " of Bowditch, and there were many over the years , to prevent him from
being arrested or getting into a fight, then drove him
home out of harms way , sometimes faced
the wrath of Betty. She , not knowing
the circumstances , but furious
with Jim for drinking, would
sometimes think the innocent
rescuer had been in a session
with him. The RSL
fracas prompted the Waratah
Whisper story mentioned
earlier about Viscount Bowditch and
PEACE IN OUR
TIME . The next
meeting of the RSL
barred him from
the club .
In what
can only be
described as an
unusual , but typical Darwin
event , Bowditch was
involved in an
altercation with three
men at the
RSL . He left, went to the
Workers’ Club and enlisted
the aid of
waterfront vigilance officer , Bill Donnelly.
They returned to
the RSL and fought the three men . Donnelly, it will be
recalled , had been the man responsible for
banning the delivery
of newsprint across
the Darwin wharf
when Bowditch refused to drop a
story about a watersider
convicted of pilfering.
Yet, here he
was fighting side by side
with the editor in the RSL.
One year , concerned that his
wild recent behaviour could have
adverse consequences in relation to his
job, he reluctantly
took part in
the Anzac Day march
wearing his Distinguished
Conduct Medal . After
the march he
got involved in a two-up game which
was held in a
drained pond which
had been donated to
Darwin by the
Italian community. During the
day he remembered drinking with lawyer
" Tiger " Lyons , and somehow
lost his DCM .
At the
News office ,
Bowditch told of
the disastrous day
and the loss
of his DCM.
He said that
he could not
put a classified
advert in the
paper under LOST
asking any person
finding a Distinguished
Conduct Medal to please
return it to
the editor of
the NT News.
People would say Bowditch
was so drunk
he lost his
medal . If it
had been anybody
else who had
lost the medal,
a report would
have been run in
the newspaper to
help its recovery .
The medal never
surfaced.
Bowditch’s open stand against involvement in the Vietnam War brought him into further conflict with some RSL members and prompted further ASIO entries. In November l966 he was reported taking part in a Darwin Vietnam Action Committee display and all night vigil in the city . Local people “ of interest ” had included Curley Nixon (NAWU organiser) , peace activist Gill Chalmers of the NT News , Jim Bowditch, Bill Opie, manager of the Darwin Workers’ Club. The demonstration, involving about 30 people, was watched by six uniformed police, eight plainclothes police, two Special Branch officers and two Commonwealth Police officers. According to the ASIO report ,Bowditch ," former C.P.A. member ",was in a semi- intoxicated condition and argued fiercely with two men who opposed the demonstration .
In January l967 ASIO said NSW journalist Harry Stein -"member of C.P.A."-on his way to Saigon with three other journalists , had received a telephone call from " Jim " – "possibly James Frederick Bowditch" during his stopover in Darwin .
TIN BANK VACATED
In
l967 the
NT News moved out of the old Tin Bank building in Smith Street into new premises in Mitchell Street -directly opposite
the Hotel Darwin - and became a morning daily . The editor’s now
salubrious carpeted room
had a
window with louvre blades through which he was seen to pass money to a
number of people noted for
putting the bite on
citizens. Cowboy Bill,
a jovial man who had a
large repetoire of jokes , came
across from the Hot and Cold bar one
day with two glasses of
scotch , went into the editor’s room ,
sat down with Jim and they drank and
joked.
Some
staff members who knew Bowditch from the old Tin Bank days said that with the advent of the daily , he spent longer hours at the office.
It got to a stage where it was
said he " haunted " the office .
Reporter John Loizou , close to
Jim , on several occasions tried to convince Bowditch that he ought to take life
easier and spend less time
in the office. With greater staff
than ever before , there was no need for
the editor to be as deeply
involved in the paper as he had in
the past .
However,
Bowditch did not heed the
sound advice given by Loizou .
He would often be on deck right up until the paper went to
press , then continue drinking
until early in the morning . It was not unusual for him to consume two
bottles of whisky a day in the
office and continue
drinking elsewhere . In
the opinion of some , Bowditch began to go
downhill from the time
the paper moved into the modern premises.
When
Darwin activist Robert
Wesley-Smith began to
organise the l970
Vietnam Moratorium March
in Darwin he was
strongly criticised by some in
the community . He wanted Darwin
City Council permission
to have tables
in Smith Street
and Raintree Park
at which moratorium
literature would be
handed out and
badges sold . The application was
rejected by a Council
committee and Bowditch sprang to
his defence. In an editorial
headed ALDERMEN AS CENSORS
Bowditch said the council
, by allowing its
committee to refuse
the application by
Wesley-Smith , had damaged Darwin’s
image as Australia’s most
tolerant city . The action
was a denial
of his democratic
rights. A second
editorial followed and there
was an associated
report in which the
views of all
councillors were expressed,
the majority shown to
support the application .
Councillor Ken Slide, against the
application, received special attention . With
the name of Slide he, not
unexpectedly, attracted the nickname ,"Slippery ". Wesley-Smith
eventually received permission
to set up his tables.
Bowditch wrote
an Anzac Day editorial
saying that despite
feelings about Australia’s involvement in
the Vietnam War , the
sacrifices of WW1
should not be forgotten. He then took part in the Vietnam Moratorium march organised
by Wes. It was
stated that on a
population basis , more Darwin
people marched against
the Vietnam war
than any other
city in Australia . In l972 ,
the RSL again saw fit to bar
Bowditch from its premises. NEXT: Reaction to the Whitlam Government stirs up racial conflict.
