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 .

FABULOUS TALES FROM THE DARWIN WATERFRONT

 Evacuated  from  Darwin  with   his mother, sister  and three  brothers   aboard the MV Montoro  before the Japanese  first attack ,  Eric  Lee , who died recently, resulting in a  huge funeral , was a jovial   raconteur  with  seemingly  endless  yarns  about  wharfies  and colourful  characters  and events .    He  regularly met  with a small group  in  the noisy food hall at Casuarina , Darwin ,  and the  Nightcliff  shopping  centre ,  where  bygone  days were  discussed ,  passers  by  asked  for  racehorse tips.    

 

 One member of the group   was  frequently  chiacked  about the time , he  firmly declared ,  he  had  a close encounter with a  UFO ; he would  be  asked   to repeat  details  of  the episode from  time to time to liven  proceedings  over cups of   coffee  and  tea .

Fred Corpus 

This blogger sat in on several  such gatherings  at  both  venues .  A person  who chatted with  Eric  was  barrel-chested Fred Corpus , slow in gait, on a walking stick, who carried   in his wallet a  photo of himself as a  young man in a diving suit when he was a famous hard hat  pearl diver , mentioned  in several books .  In the Senate in  October 1952 it was recorded that Corpus and Joe Hunter fished four tons four hundredweight of pearl shell in one neap tide , thus breaking a  pre- war record set by the Japanese . One year, during the Broome Festival of  the  Pearls , , Fred Corpus was the Shinju  Matsuri  Patron  who visited  the  luggers .

 

A member of the Northern Territory Genealogical  Society, Eric Lee  told me he was seven when evacuated   from Darwin  in January 1942.  He regarded the  voyage as  a n exciting adventure , the  vessel , escorted by mine sweepers ,  calling  at Thursday Island, where  relatives  took  the  family for a car  tour . On January 27, all civilians   on Thursday Island were  given notice   to    be evacuated  the  following  day  on  the  Zealandia and Ormiston    for  Brisbane . The  Zealandia  was   bombed  and sank  with the loss of three lives  when  it returned to Darwin .

 

When  the Lee  family  went ashore  during the  Montoro  stopover  in  Townsville  he  experienced  jelly , which he regarded as  wonderful tucker ,  for  the  first  time , a  fan  for  life . In Brisbane , the  family stayed at a  place  where the woman who  owned  the property  had  given instructions to hang out a  white  sheet   in the  event of  an  invasion  as  she  wanted  nothing  to  do  with  the  Japanese.

 

While in Sydney  they went to Luna Park  and that night  the  Japanese    launched  a  midget  submarine attack  on the harbour .

 

At the age of  17,  Eric returned to Darwin and got a  job as a  wharfie , pretending  to be a  year older .  His love  of  jelly was such that he used to take  jelly crystals  to work , mix  some  with  water  and  put  it  in  the  frig  to  set  for   smoko .

  

During our  discussions , I raised the  subject of  the well  known  Darwin   civilian who had  been  incredibly   brave  during the   bombing  of  Darwin, driving his truck  up to the wharf ,  saving many lives , on the  waterfront  and  in  the  harbour ,  who   later in life  had  abducted  and  sexually assaulted a   five year old  girl , the  court  proceedings   I  had  covered .  Eric , who knew the  man ,  shook  his head  from  side  to  side , put his  hand  up  to  his  head .   

We discussed  and  compared notes  over an  incident  in which a  man,  who  had obviously had a  heavy  Saturday night and just wanted to sleep it off,  fired a  shot  at  a  wretched  neighbour in Fannie Bay  who was  out mowing  the  lawn  early on  the  Sabbath .  

STORM OVER TOWNSVILLE

Viewed  from Magnetic Island . Townsville , in the dry tropics region , adjacent  to the Great Barrier Reef , Australia's largest urban centre north of  the Sunshine Coast,  is  on water restrictions after  another  poor  Wet  season .

SUNBIRD WITH BOTTLE COLLECTION BACKGROUND

POLICE FLY IN NEW FRIGHTENER IN WAR AGAINST CRIME / GUANO

Another  Shipping Reporter  Scoop



The Townsville Water Police   vessel  Brett Irwin  has   a  new  weapon  mounted on the  bow  deck - not a harpoon gun  -  a   hard  to see , small , mock  bird of prey , seen   peeping over the chain  across the  railings  in  this exclusive snap. Also hard to see , near  the stern , on the poop deck ? ,  is the small  owl  scarer  first  placed on  the  reportedly $4million  floating  police station   to  frighten  real  birds away.  It is  suggested  a  life sized  sea  eagle  like this  one  off  Magnetic  Island  would be more effective  .

 

AUSTRALIA BACKS CAPTAIN HOGWASH'S NEW WAR ; TENACIOUS ENEMY FINGERED

Trump   launches  Operation  Caddyshack

WASHINGTON: President  Trump  has  asked  Australia  to urgently   provide  a new  fiendish  weapon  for  an  all out  assault  on   a  group   which  threatens  to undermine  the   American way of  life  and  upset  those   doddering   members  of   the  US  Supreme  Court  still  able  to   hold   a   golf   club .

 The  terrible  weapon  is the  dreaded   CSIRO  K5  calicivirus   which  is wiping  out  a  new  breed of  super  bunnies  across  this  wide   brown  , scorched  land .  

The president   was so impressed by  initial   reports about  the  new Aussie  rabbit  exterminater , he   immediately  called the   Australian Prime Minister ,  Malcolm Truffles ,  on  the scrambled phone   and  asked him  if  it would  wipe out feral  gophers   which   dig holes in   the  Trump   chain  of   luxury  golfcourses . The  PM , standing at attention throughout the  call , assured him Australia has a  proud record of  being able to  quickly kill  any  critter  which  inhabits  the  land .   

 

Delighted at the  response, the president   said  he would   be  able  to fire his  chief  greenkeeper  , Carl Spackler , who had been unable to wipe out the  many  gopher  colonies  on  the Trump   courses , once the   virus  arrived .   It could also be used to destroy pesky squirrels .  Grumpy  old  judges , he  confided ,  who  play  golf , often  complained  about the  holes  dug by the rodents and  being  distracted  by  squirrels  when trying to sink a  money  winning  putt   ; one Supreme  Court    judge, who twisted  an ankle,  is  even  threatening  to  sue Trump for  the Tower .  

  

After the  conversation with Truffles ,  Trump, using  the above    secret  hand  signals ,  gave orders  for  the  Pentagon  to quickly   import vast  quantities   of   the rabbit    virus  from  Down  Under   in  a   bid  to  exterminate  all   the  gophers . Some of the  virus will be rushed   to Scotland  where  Trump is at war with local Highlanders  who oppose his   golfcourse  and give him the Brave Heart  mooning treatment  . Trump  insists  the American comedian  Samantha Bee, who sends him up regularly  is unpatriotic and  conspired  with   the  Scots  to   unleash singing  Welsh  rabbits  on  every  green , causing the resort  to make large  financial losses, which will entitle him  to  not pay tax  for  100 years .  She has retaliated  by  threatening  to  reveal  the  wee  tartan beastie   Donald  had  under  his kilt when  he was  having a  fling  in  Edinburgh .

MY ODD SHAPED YANKEE BOOMERANG WON'T COME BACK !

 In the words of the  1961 controversial song  by  Cockney  Charlie  Drake , will I be a  disgrace to  the  entire  Aborigine  race ?
 

Searching through   the  cluttered   contents  of  a dark  house   during  a   moving  sale in North  Queensland , a  soiled  book, instead of a  reptile or  spider  , jumped out  at  this  blogger  : The Boy Mechanic  700 Things  for  Boys to  Do . It is a Lindsay Publications  1988   reprint  of  the   1913   book  by  Popular Mechanics Press,  Chicago , original  copyright  by  H.H.Windsor .

Much to my delight , instructions   for   building boomerangs  were  found on  page 202 , contributed by  O. E. Tronnes , of Wilmette, Illinois , who informed  readers  : A boomerang is a  weapon  invented  and used  by  the  native  Australians, who seemed  to have the  least  intelligence of  any  race  of mankind .

(This   despite  the fact that   they seemed to have   mastered   aerodynamics  long before   the  Wright brothers  became airborne  for a   short time  and   aeons before  Boeing   got  off  the  ground.)

Instructions were  given  for  making  and  throwing   curved ,  T-shaped and  cross-shaped  boomerangs , all  of  which  should  be soaked  in  linseed  oil .

Another  surprise  in the book  was  a photograph   of the  annual regatta at  Port  Melbourne  , Australia .   This  copy was  ex libris  King Island District  School , off the  north-west coast of Tasmania , in the Roaring Forties , where a  boomerang of  any shape  launched into  the air could  be blown all  the way to the South Pole.

 

Instructions  for mechanically  minded  American boys covered  playing baseball  with a pocket knife,  building your own volcano ,  assorted  magic  tricks-including removing  36 cannon balls from  a handbag  , an explanation for why gun barrels burst,  imitation  weapons  and   armour , an electric postcard projector .

 

There was a nifty  device  for  keeping annoying  cats and dogs away  from garbage cans which involved  wrapped a bin  in  wire , connecting  it to an old telephone magneto,  cranked  to  give  an animal , especially that  annoying greyhound, the   electric  chair.


Boomerang  Dicordant  Discography

 There were several versions of  the  hit  song , one for the American  market  in which bringing down  the  Flying  Doctor   plane with a  boomerang  was  dropped .   Odd  sounding  Aborigines  used   a Red Indian expression , pow-wow. Dare it be mentioned Rolf   Harris did a  version . It  was   eventually judged  not politically correct , never to  be  played again  on  the  ABC.