Cruiser (92 page)

Key

AB – Able Bodied Seaman

CPO – Chief Petty Officer

EA – Electrical Artificer

ERA – Engine Room Artificer

KIA – Killed in Action

Ldg – Leading

Ord. – Ordinary

PO – Petty Officer

POW – Prisoner of War

WO – Warrant Officer

 

Roman numerals indicate rate, e.g. II = Second Class

No date in the ‘Death' column means the crewmember survived the war

For all sorts of reasons, people are often reluctant to talk to journalists. Long experience led me to fear that this might be the case when I began to research this book. I knew there would be moments when my questions might awaken painful memories or, worse, intrude upon private sorrow still raw even after so many years.

My fears were unfounded. Time and again, I was delighted and humbled by the generosity and candour of the people I sought to interview. Everyone I approached did everything to help in every possible way, cheerfully and unstintingly, and I am in deep debt to them all.

First, there were the surviving members of
Perth
's ship's company. When I began to gather my thoughts in late 2006, there were perhaps two dozen of them still with us, all in their late 80s or early 90s. Some were too frail to talk. To my great regret, some died before I could reach them. Others were as mentally sharp and physically vigorous as men half their age. Invariably, those I did speak to were keen for the story to be told, but never with any hint of brag or boast, which would have been abhorrent to them and the many mates they had lost.

In particular, Frank McGovern and Gavin Campbell patiently gave me endless hours of interviews, either at home or over beers at a favourite club. They honoured me with the gift of their confidence and friendship. They were always there to answer an unexpected query, and they took the trouble to read and correct a large part of the manuscript. I cannot thank them enough. Any errors that remain are mine, not theirs.

And I am grateful to their shipmates Fred Skeels and Fred Lasslett, both for the talks we had and their enthusiastic permission to quote
from their memoirs. Jock Lawrance, Arthur ‘Blood' Bancroft, David Manning and the late Julius ‘Judy' Patching were also generous in granting me long interviews. Basil Hayler, one of
Perth
's original commissioning crew, was a mine of information and a tremendous help with photographs and mementos from his files. Off at a slight tangent, my thanks as well to Rear-Admiral Guy Griffiths RAN (ret.) for his memories of the sinking of HMS
Repulse
and
Prince of Wales
.

I am also in debt to the families and descendants of
Perth
sailors. John Parkin, the son of the late chief petty officer Ray Parkin, invited me to stay at his home outside Melbourne while we talked about his remarkable father. I am grateful for his permission to quote extensively from Ray's diaries and memoirs, most particularly from his three classic works,
Out of the Smoke
,
Into the Smother
and
The Sword and The Blossom
– now republished by the Melbourne University Press as
Ray Parkin's Wartime Trilogy
. There has been no more elegant or poignant account of Australians at war. It is a devalued term these days, but Ray Parkin was truly a great Australian. John also permitted me to use some of his father's exquisite watercolours and sketches here, many of which have not been seen before. I cannot thank him enough.

Margaret Gee, the daughter of the late Allan ‘Elmo' Gee, was another unceasing supporter, most especially in allowing me to mine nuggets of gold from her delightful family memoir,
A Long Way From Silver Creek
. John Waller, younger son of the late Captain Hec Waller and himself a former naval officer, kindly took me on trust from his home in the United States and opened his family papers, including his recently published
Memorial Book
with its evocative family letters and sketches. And the late Brendan Whiting, son of Reg Whiting, also granted me open access to family papers and keepsakes, and to his landmark book
Ship of Courage
, the moving story of his father's time in
Perth
.

Perth
's diarists wrote the first drafts of the ship's history. For security reasons, sailors were forbidden to keep a diary on board a warship, but a good many of them covertly defied the ban to fill page after page with their observations and reminiscences. Historians must be forever grateful that they did.

My thanks also to: Mrs Edith Bee, widow of Bill ‘Buzzer' Bee, for permission to quote from her husband's
All Men Back – All One Big
Mistake
; Lieutenant-Commander Nicolas Bracegirdle RN (ret.), son of Commander Warwick Bracegirdle, for permission to quote from his father's rollicking war stories,
Gentlemen Cordite
; Mrs Doris Bracht, widow of Bill Bracht, for an interview and permission to quote from family papers; the late Joan Gandy, for a long interview about her husband Jack Lewis; George Hatfield Jnr, who contacted me out of the blue with the long-forgotten diaries of his father, George Hatfield Senior; Mrs Judy King, widow of Norm King, for permission to quote from
Memoirs of a Reluctant Warrior
; Commodore Vince di Pietro RAN for information on his grandfather-in-law,
Perth
's last Executive Officer, Commander Bill Martin; Ken Nelson, son of Jim Nelson, for a long interview and the use of his father's invaluable diaries; Paul Redmond and other members of the family of Paul Doneley, for access to their papers and memories; Lieutenant-Commander Tony Reid RAN (ret.), son of Commander Charles Reid, for access to family papers; Jim Sheedy, son of Brian Sheedy, for permission to quote from his memoir
The War at Sea
; and Mrs Rhonda Wallace, widow of Ken ‘Tag' Wallace, for permission to quote from
Sunda Strait: The Last Day of Summer
.

In all, more than a thousand men served in
Perth
over her short life. It is impossible to mention them all by name, nor have I been able to contact as many of their families as I would have wished. But, be certain, this is their story too.

Mrs Heather Henderson, daughter of Sir Robert Menzies, kindly gave permission to quote from her father's 1941 diary, published as
Dark and Hurrying Days
, and from his memoir,
Afternoon Light
. Menzies comes out in this story much better than I had suspected he would and than his detractors might have wished.

Other authors have written about
Perth
before me. Alan Payne's
HMAS Perth
, Ronald McKie's
Proud Echo
and Kathryn Spurling's
Cruel Conflict
laid down invaluable port and starboard markers as I left harbour and went to sea. Captain Ian Pfennigwerth's
The Australian Cruiser Perth
, written for the Naval Historical Society of Australia, was endlessly helpful, and I am grateful, too, for his suggestions and contacts as I began this book.

At their headquarters at Garden Island in Sydney, and on their splendid website, Captain Paul Martin RAN (ret.) and the volunteers
of the Naval Historical Society do a magnificent job of researching and cherishing our naval heritage. They were more than forthcoming in their help and with permission to quote from material in the Society's archives and published works, most especially Roy Norris's diaries, published in 2005 as
A Cook's Tour
.

Libraries, archives and professional associations were a rich source. The Australian War Memorial in Canberra is a treasure trove, both in stone and mortar and online, served by a painstaking staff. So, too, the Australian National Archive, the New South Wales State Library, and the RAN's invaluable Sea Power Centre in Canberra, which does great work in preserving the navy's history and traditions and looking to its future. And anyone who writes Australian naval history must be infinitely grateful to the anonymous toilers at the National Archive who made available, on the internet, the RAN's personnel records of everyone who wore the uniform from 1911 to 1979. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade maintains an excellent online archive of historical foreign policy documents – another rich lode of information.

I also acknowledge the US Navy History and Heritage Command, the San Francisco Maritime Museum, the USS Houston Association, and another unsung Trojan of the internet: whoever it was at the US Historic Naval Ships Association who uploaded the entire typewritten patrol logs of the submarines of the US Navy Pacific Fleet from 1941 to 1945.

My thanks also to Commander Stephen Youll RAN (ret.), Darrell Hegarty and Bob Pendal of the HMAS Perth National Association; to Mackenzie Gregory of Ahoy – Mac's Weblog; and to Bruce Constable, for his terrific website
Perthone.com
and for help with photographs. Michelle Feuerlicht did sterling work trawling through the records of the Imperial War Museum in London. Kevin Denlay, a specialist diver on naval wrecks, kindly offered pictures of
Perth
in her last resting place.

Many naval and defence-force officers, past and present, have given me advice and encouragement. Rear-Admiral James Goldrick RAN, who is both a serving flag officer and a naval historian of global renown, is also a good friend who enticed me, many years ago, to forsake Lord Nelson for the study of Australian naval history. He very willingly read the manuscript of this book and steered me away from
shoals and torpedoes; he will not agree with all my views, but the book is immeasurably better for his contribution. I also thank General Peter Cosgrove and Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, Vice-Admirals David Leach, David Shackleton, Russ Shalders and Russ Crane, and Rear-Admirals Geoff Smith and Davyd Thomas, all of whom encouraged me, at different times and in various ways, to follow in
Perth
's wake.

No writer could hope for a finer publisher than I found at Random House in Sydney. Nikki Christer was a rock of friendly support and encouragement, and Kevin O'Brien wrought miracles of editing upon the manuscript, for which I thank them both.

Finally, family: I am grateful to my computer-literate son James Carlton for creating the superb maps and diagrams here. My wife, Morag Ramsay, gave birth to our son Lachlan as I was giving birth to this book; I can never repay her love, patience and understanding while I was hidden away at the keyboard.