Newcastle Morning Herald transcriptions for October 18-24, 1945.
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ARRIVED HOME
Lance Corporal Henry Ivor Rowe, who was recently liberated from a prisoner of war camp in Japan, has returned to his home in Kemp Street, Hamilton. He travelled from Manila to Sydney by flying boat. Corporal Rowe enlisted early in the war and was taken prisoner at Singapore.
TROOPS AT MOROTAI RESTIVE
Mutiny is threatened by long service men "dumped" at Morotai two months ago, unless they are sent back home soon, according to servicemen who recently returned from the area.
Letters received from the men reveal that thousands of representatives of all the Services are stranded on Morotai, with no authorative statement concerning what is to be done with them. The letters also allege that men with political "pull" are being sent home; although their length of service doesn't entitle them to such treatment. Other letters contain bitter criticism of the conditions under which the men are expected to live.
No dishes or buckets are provided either for laundry or toilet purposes and all drinking water has to be caught in canvas sheets during rainstorms. In addition, the food is "terrible", the tents leak and no lighting is provided at night. In contrast, a nearby Japanese prisoner of war camp is provided with electric light, serviceable tents, and even sheets on the beds.
Seventh Division personnel declare ironically that they appear to be remembered only during loan rallies and other times when a national effort is required. In between whiles they are Australia's "Forgotten Men." They add that recent troubles in Morotai would be as nothing if the men were not sent home soon. When the matter was referred to the Minister for the Army (Mr. Forde) he said it was the first he had heard of it. He had dispatched an urgent message to General Blamey, who was at Morotai, to have an immediate investigation made, and to take strong action to remove any cause for complaint.
NAVY STILL HAS COMMITMENTS
Complaints that naval personnel were being sent northwards, despite the fact that they were entitled to discharge, were unjustified, declared a naval spokesman. He added that, unlike its sister services, the Navy was not in a position to demobilise any appreciable number because of its heavy "cleaning up" commitments in the Pacific. He pointed out that in addition to assisting in the transport of service personnel from the late far-flung battle zones to their own countries, the Navy was expected to have the sea lanes swept clear of mines, and to supply its quota of men for whatever occupational forces were needed.
The Navy had more of its ships at sea than at any time during the war.
ALL MEN HOME SOON
The Director General of Mobilisation (Lieut-General Savige) has said that most of the Australian prisoners of war from Japanese-held areas would be home within the next week or two. The quick return of so many men was a fine piece of work and had exceeded all the expectations of the service authorities. Despite shipping difficulties, the objective of 200,000 demobilised men from all services would be achieved by the end of the year.
FIVE DESTROYERS ON LOAN TO R.A.N
The Royal Navy has lent five Q class destroyers to the R.A.N., pending clarification of the peace-time size of the R.A.N. They will replace V and W destroyers which were lost and those obsolete.
SETTLEMENT PLAN FOR U.S. SERVICEMEN
Plans for assisting United States servicemen who fought in the South-west Pacific to settle in Australia were being prepared, said the Minister for Immigration (Mr. Calwell). Special consideration would be given to Americans who had married Australian brides.
Mr. Calwell said he was also considering what assistance could be offered to nationals of other countries who fought with British forces. Thirty two members of the Royal Navy whose time had expired had already elected to take discharge in Australia. Similar arrangements had been made for members of other British fighting services.
600 MEN "DIED NEEDLESSLY." BOUGAINVILLE FIGHT CRITICISED
Six hundred Australians were killed in Bougainville during a campaign which was unnecessary and political, alleged an A.I.F. man who returned to Sydney on the liner Ormiston.
Another man criticised the Australian strategy in dealing with fortified Japanese strong posts.
He said that where the American method of silencing these posts was to blast them with heavy guns from the sea, the Australians sent in a couple of companies to fight it out with the Japanese.
"Assessments made by our Intelligence of Japanese strength in any given area were rarely, if ever, accurate," he added.
"On Bougainville we were told that 15,000 Japanese confronted us. After about 8000 had been killed the enemy strength was reassessed at about 17,000. When the surrender came we found that there were actually 21,000."
Some men criticised the contrast in the quality and quantity of food they had while the fighting was going on, and when it finished.
"While the stunt was on," they said, "we got the best of everything - fresh fruit, meat, vegetables and everything; but when the fighting ceased we lived mainly on tinned food."
NAVY CASUALTIES TOTALLED 2438
Royal Australian Navy battle casualties had reached a total of 2438, including 1278 killed and missing, presumed killed, when hostilities ceased, the Minister for the Navy (Mr. Makin) said in a national Victory Loan broadcast.
He said that since September, 1939, the Navy had lost three cruisers, four destroyers, two sloops, a corvette and three miscellaneous craft.
"There has scarcely been an action on any of the world's oceans in which the R.A.N. has not been represented," said Mr. Makin. "Our men and ships have not only defended our own coastal sea lanes and the vital trade routes linking us with our Allies, but have made a magnificent contribution to the United Nations' sea power," he said.
When we recall the part played by the ships and men of the Royal Australian Navy in the Pacific itself, it is appropriate that our Navy should have been so strongly represented in the triumphant entry of the Allies into Tokio Bay, Mr. Makin said.
"In the dark days of 1942 our ships, though hopelessly outnumbered, played their part in stemming the enemy's advance. When the tide of war was turned, our ships were in practically every offensive in the South-west Pacific."
He said that most of the personnel serving in Australian ships were naval reservists who came from all walks of life, and were anxious to return to their homes.
The people of Australia could assist them to do this, and at the same time pay a little of the debt that was due to these sailors by subscribing to the Fourth Victory Loan.
SOLDIER THANKS CHILDREN
Released from a Borneo prison camp, a sergeant was taken to a mobile cinema. He noticed it was provided by the children of Newcastle, and wrote at once to thank the children. The letter went to the President of the Teachers' Federation, (Mr. V. A. Gilmore). It was written by Sergeant N. E. Edwards, Ninth Division, A.I.F., from Labuan. "I was taken by ambulance to a show given by a mobile cinema unit," he wrote. "Just as I was leaving I noticed on the van that the unit was bought with subscriptions made by children of Newcastle schools."
"May I take this opportunity of expressing to the children of Newcastle the appreciation that we feel for such a magnificent gift. Through the sacrifice of their pennies we were able to have two hours of grand entertainment - something which is so hard to provide. Thank you, children."
AIRMAN BURIED IN HOLLAND
Mr. and Mrs. T. Woodhouse, of Robert Street, Wallsend, have been advised by the Directorate of War Graves Services that their second son, Flight Sergeant Thomas Woodhouse, who lost his life as a member of a Wellington bomber crew on a mission to Germany on August 7, 1942, was buried at Bergen Cemetery, near Alkmaar, North Holland. The grave will be cared for by the Imperial Graves Commission. Flight Sergeant Woodhouse, who sailed for Canada in May, 1941, to complete his training, was at first reported missing. Eventually his parents were advised that his bomber had crashed at Bergen. Before enlisting he was employed by Andrew Cook and Sons, Ltd.
WALLSEND BROTHERS RETURN
Sergeant Wilfred Bale and Private Dudley Bale, A.I.F., both prisoners of the Japanese for three years and a half, have returned to their homes at Wallsend. They are sons of Mrs. Beryl E. Murphy, of Murnain Street, Wallsend.
Another former prisoner to return home this week is Private David Bennett, 2/20th Battalion, third son of Mr. and Mrs. R. Bennett, of Thomas Street, Wallsend. He also was in captivity for three years and a half, mainly in Japan. A brother, Colin, is in the Ninth Division, A.I.F.
GENERAL BLAMEY'S ADVICE TO TROOPS
"If the soldier carries on in civilian life as he had in the army - that is, put Australia first - then success will again attend his efforts," General Sir Thomas Blamey said at Balikpapan.
The state of Australia, General Blarney said, would depend on the spirit of the soldier more than anything else. There had been some time when every man he was addressing had had to face death. If they faced their new problems with the same spirit that they had shown on the battlefield they would have nothing to fear.
The comradeship that had grown in war would help to carry the soldier through civilian life.
ONLY 193 BORNEO PRISONERS FOUND
Only 193 Australians had been recovered out of 1921 believed to have been prisoners of war in Borneo, said the Minister for the Army (Mr. Forde). Information available left little room for hope of many more survivors.
The reports from military sources made him fear that many perished before the arrival of our forces in Borneo.
RETURNED WITH D.F.C
Pilot Officer David Young, son of Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Young, of Mayfield, was wearing the D.F.C. ribbon when he returned to Australia recently.
Pilot Officer Young was attached to No. 10 Squadron, R.A.F., Bomber Command, as a navigator. He had 33 missions over the Continent in a Halifax bomber.
FOUND FAMILY IN NEW HOME
Private Mervyn Arnott, who returned to Newcastle after three and a half years in a Japanese prison camp, found his wife and four children, who he had left in rooms at Cardiff, in one of, the Housing Commission's homes at Wallsend. He went to the old lodgings at Cardiff but was directed to the new Wallsend subdivision.
Private Arnott, who was in the 2/20 Battalion, A.l.F. was in a camp 280 miles (450kms) north of Tokio. Sixty out of 300 prisoners died after one of the severest winters for 40 years, he said. Men who fell sick survived only by dogged determination because they had no medical supplies.
Private Arnott said they went from tropical Singapore to where snow was 18ft. to 20ft. (5.4m to 6.0m) deep. Only a few fell ill in winter, but in the thaw scores went down with bronchitis and pneumonia. They lived on barley, with an occasional serving of watery stew and potato tops for greens. They worked, often in a blizzard, to keep railway lines to factories cleared of snow. Any sign of "go slow" earned a man a bashing.
K.C. REPORTS ON AIRMEN'S LIQUOR TRADING
Liquor flown to Morotai by R.A.A.F. personnel was often traded to U.S. units in return for the loan of machinery to speed up the construction of Australian Air Force camps, it was stated in a report by Mr. J. V. Barry, K.C.
Mr. Barry was appointed a Commissioner to investigate unrest among R.A.A.F. personnel on Morotai. Referring to the trading with U.S. units he said: "With any sense of realism it is difficult to condemn this practice." He condemned the trading of liquor for cash.