DOCSLIB.ORG

Australians at War Film Archive Thomas Smith

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Australians at War Film Archive Thomas Smith Australians at War Film Archive Thomas Smith - Transcript of interview Date of interview: 25th March 2004 http://australiansatwarfilmarchive.unsw.edu.au/archive/1697 Tape 1 00:30 If you could start off by telling us a bit about where you were born and where you grew up? I was born in Glen Huon. I was born in a little cottage in the middle of an apple orchard. In those days there was no doctor in attendance, because 01:00 the nearest doctor would be four miles away. A midwife did all the deliveries in the district. My parents had come out from England in about 1920, and they were sponsored by this fruit grower, apple orchardist, by the name of Herb Browns. It was his little cottage 01:30 in the middle of the apple orchard. That’s where I was born. We were there, I suppose, twelve months, two years, before my father was settled onto a soldiers’ settlement orchard. In those days there was orchards all up the main roads, either side of the road was 02:00 just apple orchards. There was barely a bare space between all the orchards. You can imagine it was quite a sight in the spring with all the orchards out in flower. It was a wonderful sight, and smell. But then he went on this orchard. In those days, that was in 1922 02:30 when I was born, things were starting to get pretty bad, during the Depression. My early childhood, I got rheumatic fever, which I didn’t know about until well after the war years, they hadn’t told me about this. Of course, consequently, I had a lot trouble in the early years, school years. 03:00 But on the apple orchard, they persevered for quite some time during the Depression but it was pretty tough. Because they had to buy the sprays to spray the apples, and there was all the fertiliser to buy, and they couldn’t really make ends meet on it. I remember when I was about six or seven years old, 03:30 I was standing there with the mail, the mail used to be delivered from Huonville. The mail, he used to come around in a cart or a car or something, and delivered any bread or letters, he was the mailman. And I can remember them standing there with an awful look on their faces as they get a bill back for their apples instead of a cheque. So things were pretty tough. Although, even though it was tough, 04:00 our childhood was pretty good, considering the circumstances against the city boys. Because we grew our own vegetables, we had our own fruit, plenty of fruit, we had our own cows so we had plenty of milk and butter and cream. I can remember going to school sometimes. Most of the time Dad would milk the cow, but we’d have to 04:30 separate the milk. And I can remember getting half a cup of fresh milk and putting it under the cream spout and drinking that, it was quite nice. It probably wouldn’t have helped my cholesterol, but I haven’t been too worried about it. I’ve reached eighty two. Things have caught up a bit now. But in those days there was plenty of cream and cheese 05:00 and milk. So we had plenty to eat. We had no money, but we were healthy. We didn’t have empty tummies. The city boys were a lot worse off. I think this, in itself, helped me during the prisoner of war days, because I had that grounding as a child, the good food. I’m sure that did help me, because while others were 05:30 going down with different diseases, ulcers and that, I was getting over them. So it helped… So you think some of the country boys that grew up on a farm were… Sure. They had more initiative as well. I’m not running the city boys down, but in the country you learned to do things, you worked things out. If one thing doesn’t work, you think, “Well, how am I going to fix that?” And you go on and you use a bit of… 06:03 You're closer to nature and so forth, and you're able to work things out better. You look for ways and things to get out of difficulties. Which did help in later years. I think I survived where others wouldn’t have survived, because of my initial grounding. When I was a little kiddy, we didn’t have toys. I was very 06:30 interested in natural things, nature. I’d go out bush, there was plenty of bush about, and I would study the birds and the bees and the ants and insects and flowers. I just really studied them all, and you could tell when the weather was going to change, you didn’t need a barometer or anything. The swallows would be low…We lived near the Huon River, and when the atmosphere was heavy, and there was a change coming down, the swallows would be 07:00 low on the water, because that would drive the insects down, and when there was fine weather the insects would go up because the insects go up and they follow…There’s a lot of little things. The ants would build their nests up high, and you’d say, “Hello, there’s a change coming.” And all those sort of things, you studied them, because as I say there was nothing else to do. But in the summer we would spend a big part of our time swimming, in the Huon River. And 07:30 it was quite a big river. We taught ourselves to swim in a fashion. I know our mother told us in the early days, “You are not to go near that river until you learn to swim.” Little did she know that’s where we learned to swim. I didn’t know how we were going to learn to swim if we didn’t go in the water. But anyway, we got over that one all right and we learned to swim. We used to spend a lot of the time there, 08:01 in the summer days. The earliest we ever got into the river was in October, and believe me it was cold. Because that was right down south of Hobart. It was thirty miles away from Hobart, down south. And where we were, we could see into the south west wilderness, so it was pretty cold in the winter. 08:30 During the winter, our mother, she came from the old country and she was pretty strict that we had to be brought up the right way. We had to learn to make our own beds before we went to school. And in the winter months we had to learn how to sew and knit and mend socks. 09:02 This is what she taught us. She would buy these aprons with the flowers on them, and we’d have to cross-stitch and long stitch and make these aprons, different things like that, and also these mats. There was a lot of knitting down in those days, so there was a lot of waste wool. They would use this pattern on a plain carpet sort of thing, 09:33 and you’d use a long needle with the wool and push it through, and it would disengage and leave it to about that thick, and it would be cut after you were finished so you were left with a woollen mat about that thick, with roses and all sorts of different patterns on it. Which was quite nice, but it filled in the winter months, because you couldn’t get outside much because of the weather. 10:01 It was pretty cold and sometimes the snow was down. It was only in the fine weather, on a Sunday, that we used to have a bit of a cricket match between a lot of the local boys, they’d come down, and in the paddock we’d set up and have a game of cricket. We’d enjoy ourselves that way. Usually there was a bit Sunday roast on. It was our day out, sort of thing. 10:34 The nearest neighbours would be a kilometre away. You can imagine what it was like of a night. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard this saying of it being pitch black, well that originates I think from Tassie because it does get pitch black. You can’t see your hand in front of your face. We were quite isolated there. Of a night you could hear these 11:00 Tasmanian Devils in the distance, screaming and hollering. And also the native cats, with the spots on them. You’d hear them screaming a bit, too. And of course, it was an eerie of a night, too. There was no inside toilet. The outside toilet was way up in the orchard, and you can imagine what it was like going up there of a night. You didn’t hang around too long. 11:34 Not with that screeching going on out in the bush. And it was the days when the Tasmanian Tigers were still about. Not that they were in our vicinity. I don’t recall them being close to us there. But every year, we would have to go back in the hills, on Christmas holidays, school holidays, we would go back in the hills where mainly these fruit growers, they’d have these blocks of ground 12:02 on the sides of hills, and they’d face it east.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • RUSI of NSW Article
    Jump TO Article The article on the pages below is reprinted by permission from United Service (the journal of the Royal United Services Institute of New South Wales), which seeks to inform the defence and security debate in Australia and to bring an Australian perspective to that debate internationally. The Royal United Services Institute of New South Wales (RUSI NSW) has been promoting informed debate on defence and security issues since 1888. To receive quarterly copies of United Service and to obtain other significant benefits of RUSI NSW membership, please see our online Membership page: www.rusinsw.org.au/Membership Jump TO Article USI Vol61 No2 Jun10:USI Vol55 No4/2005 21/05/10 1:31 PM Page 24 CONTRIBUTED ESSAY Conflict in command during the Kokoda campaign of 1942: did General Blamey deserve the blame? Rowan Tracey General Sir Thomas Blamey was commander-in-chief of the Australian Military Forces during World War II. Tough and decisive, he did not resile from sacking ineffective senior commanders when the situation demanded. He has been widely criticised by more recent historians for his role in the sackings of Lieutenant-General S. F. Rowell, Major-General A. S. Allen and Brigadier A. W. Potts during the Kokoda Campaign of 1942. Rowan Tracey examines each sacking and concludes that Blameyʼs actions in each case were justified. On 16 September 1950, a small crowd assembled in High Command in Australia in 1942 the sunroom of the west wing of the Repatriation In September 1938, Blamey was appointed General Hospital at Heidelberg in Melbourne. The chairman of the Commonwealth’s Manpower group consisted of official military representatives, Committee and controller-general of recruiting on the wartime associates and personal guests of the central recommendation of Frederick Shedden, secretary of figure, who was wheelchair bound – Thomas Albert the Department of Defence, and with the assent of Blamey.
    [Show full text]
  • The Final Campaigns: Bougainville 1944-1945
    University of Wollongong Thesis Collections University of Wollongong Thesis Collection University of Wollongong Year The final campaigns: Bougainville 1944-1945 Karl James University of Wollongong James, Karl, The final campaigns: Bougainville 1944-1945, PhD thesis, School of History and Politics, University of Wollongong, 2005. http://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/467 This paper is posted at Research Online. http://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/467 The Final Campaigns: Bougainville 1944-1945 A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree Doctor of Philosophy from University of Wollongong by Karl James, BA (Hons) School of History and Politics 2005 i CERTIFICATION I, Karl James, declare that this thesis, submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy, in the School of History and Politics, University of Wollongong, is wholly my work unless otherwise referenced or acknowledged. The document has not been submitted for qualifications at any other academic institution. Karl James 20 July 2005 ii Table of Contents Maps, List of Illustrations iv Abbreviations vi Conversion viii Abstract ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 1 ‘We have got to play our part in it’. Australia’s land war until 1944. 15 2 ‘History written is history preserved’. History’s treatment of the Final Campaigns. 30 3 ‘Once the soldier had gone to war he looked for leadership’. The men of the II Australian Corps. 51 4 ‘Away to the north of Queensland, On the tropic shores of hell, Stand grimfaced men who watch and wait, For a future none can tell’. The campaign takes shape: Torokina and the Outer Islands.
    [Show full text]
  • British 8Th Infantry Division on the Western Front, 1914-1918
    Centre for First World War Studies British 8th Infantry Division on the Western Front, 1914-18 by Alun Miles THOMAS Thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY School of History and Cultures College of Arts & Law January 2010 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT Recent years have seen an increasingly sophisticated debate take place with regard to the armies on the Western Front during the Great War. Some argue that the British and Imperial armies underwent a ‘learning curve’ coupled with an increasingly lavish supply of munitions, which meant that during the last three months of fighting the BEF was able to defeat the German Army as its ability to conduct operations was faster than the enemy’s ability to react. This thesis argues that 8th Division, a war-raised formation made up of units recalled from overseas, became a much more effective and sophisticated organisation by the war’s end. It further argues that the formation did not use one solution to problems but adopted a sophisticated approach dependent on the tactical situation.
    [Show full text]
  • 5 the BOUGAINVILLE CAMPAIGN TAKES SHAP E N the Forthcoming
    CHAPTER 5 THE BOUGAINVILLE CAMPAIGN TAKES SHAP E N the forthcoming operations in New Guinea the First Army woul d I have more widespread responsibilities than its predecessor, New Guine a Force. From his headquarters at Lae Lieut-General Sturdee controlled four forces deployed in an area that was about 1,000 miles from east t o west. Sturdee had not previously held a command in the field in this war. In 1940 he had been appointed to command the 8th Division but afte r a few weeks had become Chief of the General Staff, an appointment he filled with distinction during the anxious months that followed the entr y of the Japanese into the war . In September 1942 he became head of the Australian Military Mission in Washington . His senior staff officer on Firs t Army was Brigadier E. L. Sheehan, who had come to that appointment i n 1943 after service on the staff of New Guinea Force and I Corps; his chief administrative officer was Brigadier R. Bierwirth who had held similar appointments on the staff of the 6th Division, Northern Territory Force , and I Corps .l The big base at Lae was well situated to be the headquarters of a n army controlling operations throughout the New Guinea territories . It was about 600 miles from Torokina on Bougainville, 450 from Aitape, an d 400 from Jacquinot Bay on New Britain and from Emirau Island, it s northernmost area of responsibility . From Lae Sturdee and his staff con- trolled and maintained not only the four main field formations but a total of 134 formations, units, and detachments, including Angau region s and districts, three Area Commands—Madang, Finschhafen and Wau , seven base sub-areas—at Aitape, Torokina, Madang, Lae, Buna, Port Moresby and Milne Bay, fixed defence units at Moresby and Lae, a multi- tude of engineer and signals units, and many others .
    [Show full text]
  • August 2007 Vol
    Registered by AUSTRALIA POST NO. PP607128/00001 THE AUGUST 2007 VOL. 30 no.4 The official journal of The ReTuRned & SeRviceS League of austraLia POSTAGE PAID SURFACE ListeningListening Branch incorporated • Po Box Y3023 Perth 6832 • established 1920 PostPostAUSTRALIA MAIL Pastor Albert Knapp performs the traditional "Smoking Ceremony", toward off evil spirits and free the souls of the indigenous veterans, as part of the Commemorations to Indigenous War Veterans at Kings Park, Perth. Portrait of australian Historical hero's Western Australia Connection – Past commemorates Indigenous war and in the Making Page 6 Vice Admiral Viscount Lord Fields”. Twelve of these bells actually Nelson K.B. and Australia. What is hung in that church at the time and veterans as part of the connection? rang-in the news of the victory at There was certainly no personal Trafalgar and the death of Nelson. connection of Lord Nelson with The bells also rang for Nelson’s funeral Indigenous Week Australia. A number of his fellow on 9th February 1806. mariners in those days, i.e. the turn of In early 2005, prior to the Bicentennial Kings Park, Perth was the venue with the distinctive sounds of a the 18th to 19th centuries, had personal Celebration of Trafalgar in October for a ceremony commemorating didgeridoo, to let passed indigenous contact with our continent; being very of that year, the Nelson Society of Indigenous War Veterans as part veterans know that this day is for parochial, Captains Fremantle and Australia offered the Royal Australian of the National Indigenous Week, them. A prayer in both local dialect Stirling for example.
    [Show full text]
  • THE LOSS of AMBON FTER Rabaul, Kendari and Balikpapan The
    CHAPTER 1 9 THE LOSS OF AMBON FTER Rabaul, Kendari and Balikpapan the next important enemy Aobjective on the eastern flank was Ambon . Initially the Japanese had planned to take it by 6th February, but they had now advanced its plac e on the time-table . As mentioned earlier, Australia had agreed as an outcome of talk s with Netherlands East Indies staffs early in 1941 to hold troops and ai r force squadrons ready at Darwin to reinforce Ambon and Timor if th e Japanese entered the war ; and in consequence, on 17th December, th e 2/21st Battalion landed at Ambon . Part of No. 13 Squadron R.A.A.F., with Hudson bombers, had been established there since 7th December . The 2/21st Battalion, like other units of the 23rd Brigade group, ha d had a frustrating period of service. With other units of the 8th Division , it had been formed soon after the fall of France, and filled with me n eager to go overseas and fight . By March 1941 they had been training for nine months ; yet they were still in Australia . It had been a hard blow to the men of the 2/21st that three junior battalions, trained with the m at Bonegilla, had already sailed abroad. It was a disappointment when , in March, they were ordered to Darwin to spend perhaps the remainder of the war garrisoning an outpost in Australia . Good young leaders sought and obtained transfers to the Armoured Division, and the Indepen- dent Companies then being formed in great secrecy at Foster in Victoria .
    [Show full text]
  • History of the War in South Africa, 1899-1902
    525 APPENDIX I. ARMY HEADQUARTERS STAFF, SOUTH AFRICAN FIELD FORCE. April 29th, 19CX). Field-Marshal the Right Honble. Lord n^ 1^ TVT ^oK^i /-^r>,^« ^« rui^f . r Comdg.-in-Chief . Field-Marshal . -^ Roberts. K.P., G.C B.. V.C. &c. Military Secretary Lieut.-Col. H. V. Cowan, R.A. ^ Capt. A. C. M.WaterfieldJndian Staff Corps. Asst.A 00+ MilitaryTv/r;i;+o,.,r Secretariesc^^^^^-o^ioo ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ Marlborough. Imp. Yeo. I'Capt. Lord Settrington, 3rd Royal Sussex regiment. Aides-de-Camp ' Capt. Lord H. A. Montagu-Douglas-Scott, 3rd Royal Scots. I VLieut. H. Wake, 3rd K. R. Rifle Corps. Private Secretary Col. N. F. FitzG. Chamberlain, Indian Staff Corps. Asst. Private Secretary Lord Elphinstone. S.H. Naval Aide-de-Camp Commander the Hon. S. J. Fortescue, R.N. Lieut, the Earl of Kerry, Irish Guards. Lieut.-Col. J. J. Byron, Roy.Australian Art. Major S. A. Denison, Royal Canadian rgt. Extra Aides-de-Camp J. Capt. J. H. H. Watermeyer, Cape Town Highlanders. AngloBoerWar.comLieut. Duke of Westminster, Ches. Yeo. /-!-• Major-Gen. Lord Kitchener, G.C.B., Chiefr ofj: Staffc^j. £c J I K.C.M.G., Royal Engineers. , ^ fBt.-Major K. Watson, D.S.O., K.R.R.C Aides-de-Camp^.^ J. | Lieut. W. H. Cowan, D.S.O.. R.N. Dep.-Adjt.-Gen Major-Gen. W. F. Kelly, C.B. f *Col. I. J. C. Herbert. C.B., C.M.G. I Col. B. Duff, CLE., Indian Staff Corps. Bt.-Col. J. M. Grierson, M.V.O.. R.A. Bt.-Col. Sir H.
    [Show full text]
  • Organization of German Divisions, 1916
    Organization of German Divisions 1916 Alpine Corps: 1st Bavarian Jäger Brigade: 1st Bavarian Jäger Regiment Leib Infantry Regiment 2nd Jäger Brigade: 2nd Jäger Regiment 3rd Jäger Regiment Artillery: 2nd Mountain Field Artillery Battalion Det/187th Field Artillery Regiment Det/203rd Field Artillery Regiment Det/204th Field Artillery Regiment Engineers: 102nd Pioneer Company 105th Pioneer Company 106th Pioneer Company 175th Mountain Trench Mortar Company Attached: 201st Mountain Machinegun Detachment 202nd Mountain Machinegun Detachment 205th Mountain Machinegun Detachment 209th Mountain Machinegun Detachment Cyclist Battalion (dissolved in June) Bavarian Ersatz Division: 3rd Bavarian Reserve Brigade: 4th Bavarian Reserve Regiment 15th Bavarian Reserve Regiment 59th Landwehr Brigade: 28th Ersatz Regiment 81st Landwehr Regiment Cavalry: Ersatz Cavalry Det/1st Bavarian Cavalry District Engineers: 2nd Landwehr Pioneer Company (2nd Bavarian Cavalry Div) 3rd Landwehr Pioneer Company (3rd Bavarian Cavalry Div) 1st Bavarian Mining Company 1st Bavarian Trench Mortar Detachment 1st Guard Division: 1st Guard Brigade: 1st Guard Foot Regiment 2nd Guard Foot Regiment 4th Guard Foot Regiment Guard Cavalry 1/,2/,3/,4/Guard Cavalry Regiment (Massow) Leibgarde Hussar Regiment 2/6th Dragoon Regiment 1st Guard Artillery Brigade: 1st Guard Artillery Regiment 3rd Guard Artillery Regiment 1st Guard Engineering Battalion: 1st Guard Pioneers Company 1st Guard Trench Mortar Company 1 1st Guard Pontoon Engineers 1st Guard Telephone Detachment 1st Guard Reserve Division:
    [Show full text]
  • 6 the OFFENSIVE OPEN S NE More Action Was Fought by the 7Th
    CHAPTER 6 THE OFFENSIVE OPEN S NE more action was fought by the 7th Brigade in the central sector O before it was transferred to the south in consequence of the decision to open a full-scale offensive against the main Japanese force. It will be recalled that the 25th Battalion relieved the 9th at Arty Hill at the en d of the third week of December, and that, from the 22nd onwards, th e incoming battalion patrolled forward against the new Japanese position on Pearl Ridge, where the enemy force was estimated to number from 80 to 90. An attack was planned for the morning of the 30th, and all four rifle companies were to be used : Lieutenant Shaw' s' was to advance from Arty Hill and take the north-eastern spur of Pearl, Captain Just's2 to pass through and take the eastern part of the main ridge, Captain Bruce's 3 to cut the enemy ' s track to the west and Captain Gabel ' s4 to advance from Werda's Knoll to Baker ' s Brow. Early in the morning of 30th December aircraft attacked the Japanes e positions for about forty minutes, and at 8 a .m . the infantry advanced behind artillery and medium - machine-gun fire. On the right Shaw 's company moved along a razor-bac k only twelve feet in width, with precipitous sides, an d broken at a point about 300 yards from the start-line b y a bomb crater twelve fee t across and ten feet deep . The Japanese were strongly established on the far side of this crater and swept it with fire.
    [Show full text]
  • Partial List of Texas Ranger Company and Unit
    PARTIAL LIST OF TEXAS RANGER COMPANY AND UNIT COMMANDERS Compiled by Christina Stopka, Assistant Director, Head Armstrong Texas Ranger Research Center & Staff, Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum Research contributed by Tony Black, Texas State Library and Archives, Austin DEFINING THE TEXAS RANGERS There have been ranging companies in the region now known as Texas almost as long as non- Indians have called Texas home. The modern Texas Rangers date their origins from ranging companies organized by Stephen F. Austin and Moses Morrison in 1823. These paramilitary volunteers were called by many names in the 19th century -- rangers and ranging companies, minute men, mounted volunteers, mounted gunmen, mounted riflemen, spies, frontier men, Texas State Troops, Frontier Regiment, Frontier Organization, Frontier Forces, Special State Troops, Special Force, Frontier Battalion, State Rangers and Texas Rangers. Their duties were essentially the same - protect the frontier from depredations by hostile forces - regardless of origin. By 1900, the ranging companies had been reorganized into full-time crime fighting, prevention and investigative organizations, and their name had been standardized as "Texas Rangers." Records for the early years of the Rangers, as well as some more modern records, are fragmentary. The list that follows is and will likely always be incomplete. These are the names of commanding officers that the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum staff considers to becommanders of bona fide ranging companies. It is often difficult or impossible in the pre- Civil War era to separate ranging companiesfrom the militia. In some cases the ranging companies were attached to the military and reported to military commanders.
    [Show full text]
  • 8 Australian Infantry Division (1941-42)]
    6 December 2019 [8 AUSTRALIAN INFANTRY DIVISION (1941-42)] th 8 Australian Infantry Division (1) 22nd Australian Infantry Brigade (2) 2nd/18th Australian Infantry Battalion 2nd/19th Australian Infantry Battalion 2nd/20th Australian Infantry Battalion 23rd Australian Infantry Brigade (3) 2nd/21st Australian Infantry Battalion 2nd/22nd Australian Infantry Battalion 2nd/40th Australian Infantry Battalion 27th Australian Infantry Brigade (4) 2nd/26th Australian Infantry Battalion 2nd/29th Australian Infantry Battalion 2nd/30th Australian Infantry Battalion Divisional Troops 2nd/4th Australian Machine Gun Battalion 2nd/3rd Australian Pioneer Battalion 2nd/10th Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery (H.Q., 20th, 29th & 30th Field Batteries, Royal Australian Artillery) 2nd/14th Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery (5) 2nd/15th Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery (H.Q., 19th, 60th & 65th Batteries, Royal Australian Artillery) 2nd/4th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery (H.Q., 13th, 14th, 15th & 16th Anti-Tank Batteries, Royal Australian Artillery) 2nd/10th Field Company, Royal Australian Engineers 2nd/11th Field Company, Royal Australian Engineers (6) 2nd/15th Field Company, Royal Australian Engineers 2nd/5th Field Park Company, Royal Australian Engineers 8th Australian Divisional Signals, Royal Australian Corps of Signals ©www.BritishMilitaryH istory.co.uk Page 1 6 December 2019 [8 AUSTRALIAN INFANTRY DIVISION (1941-42)] NOTES: 1. The division was formed in Australia on 4 July 1940 as part of the 2nd Australian Imperial Force. It comprised originally the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th Brigades. The 22nd Brigade was deployed to Malaya on 2 February 1941. The 23rd Brigade was sent to the Northern Territories where its battalions were distributed across the islands bordering the north coast of Australia (see below).
    [Show full text]
  • FOSMA Newsletter Issue 44
    Friends of Soldiers Memorial Avenue Inc. Newsletter Issue 44: August 2009 Highlights: • Tree Replacements • Brownell Brothers Roll of Honour Dates to remember: • Sunday, 9 August 2009 – Tree Replacement Ceremony • Sunday, 6 September 2009 – AGM and Craig Deayton Presentation President’s Report Things are a’happening along the Avenue. For those of you who regularly walk along the Avenue you will have seen holes being dug, dead trees and roots being removed and new trees being planted. As reported in the last newsletter, the wonderful crew from Hobart City Council have been very busy transforming the Avenue. For the first time in many years, we can now see how parts of the Avenue look with living trees installed. The wet weather has slowed work in some areas, but all trees will be planted in readiness for the Ceremony on 9th August 2009 to be led by our Patron, the Governor of Tasmania. This is a significant event for FOSMA and the Council as it shows that our core vision for restoration of the Avenue - “FOR EVERY SOLDIER A TREE, FOR EVERY TREE A PLAQUE” – is being achieved. To date we have focussed on installing new plaques, but that task is nearly complete. So it is most appropriate we can now honour the fallen with new trees which will ensure that the Avenue is being rejuvenated and will live on in perpetuity. This will be my last newsletter as President as I have announced that I will be stepping down at the AGM. Can I thank all the members of the Committee for their ongoing efforts and hard work over the past years.
    [Show full text]