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ACTION FRONT THE HISTORY OF THE 2/2nd AUSTRALIAN FIELD REGIMENT ROYAL AUSTRALIAN ARTILLERY A.I.F. Published by the 2nd/2nd Field Regiment Association Melbourne, 1961 THE COMPILATION OF THIS HISTORY The General Editor was Brigadier W. Cremor. It is a joint effort. Sections were written by Brigadier W. Cremor, C.B.E., E.D. Brigadier A. E. Arthur, D.S.O., E.D. Lieut.-Colonel R. F. Jaboor, O.B.E., E.D. Major G. M. Lee Major R. E. McPherson, M.C. Lieutenant L. Creed Lieutenant C. Adam Revisions and amendments were made by a number of original ex-N.C.O.'s of the regiment -- Lieutenants G. Smith, C. Gilbert, C. Morley, A. Bickell, G. Griffeth and D. Cunningham; Sergeants A. Wilcox and E. King; and Bombardier J. Lee. To supply names of other ranks who were in various parties, meetings of original sergeants of 3 Battery and 4 Battery (all eventually commissioned) were held. So that really it is a compositely produced history. An original member of the Regiment, Harell Day, prepared the maps of Greece and Crete, and also designed the dust jacket. The thanks of the Association are due to Mrs. W. R. G. Hiscock and to Colonel W. H. Elwood, M.C., M.A., M.Ed., for their very careful work in revising the manuscript and for making so many suggestions to improve the style or to clarify the meaning. We would also like to thank Major J. McGrath, Director of the Australian War Memorial, and his Staff, for their ready co-operation. 2/2nd FIELD ARTILLERY REGIMENT, R.A.A. To the memory of All Ranks of the 2/2nd Field Regiment R.A.A. who were Killed in Action or Died during the War 1939-1945 FOREWORD by MAJOR-GENERAL J. S. WHITELAW, C.B., C.B.E. One time M.G.R.A. (L.H.Q.), and Colonel Commandant. ROYAL AUSTRALIAN ARTILLERY "Wooriyen" Upper Beaconsfield, Victoria. The function of a Unit History is twofold -- to instruct and to amuse maybe. The instruction is in its record of Unit happenings for the historian of the future, and its amusement for the refreshment of the memories of participants, and maybe for the settlement of arguments. “Do you remember? --.” In spite of delays and frustrations, the Editorial Committee of 2/2 Field Regiment has succeeded in producing a true and lively record. Probably, due to the delay in production, a better historical perspective has been attained than if its history had been produced earlier. I am indeed grateful to the Editorial Committee for asking me to write this foreword, and flattered, too, in spite of a sneaking feeling that no one ever reads forewords. I must admit that as M.G.R.A. I was very proud of the R.A.A., and had arrived at the opinion that in the field regiments there was a genius, and a spirit of team-work that ranked them amongst the best in the world. I am not alone in this opinion, which had its origin in my mind after my tour with Brigadier “Bill” Duncan,* Inspector R.A. at the War Office, and his comments thereon. Among the distinguished field regiments of the R.A.A. there may have been equals, but none to surpass the 2/2 Field Regiment. It differed not at all from others in the pure gold of its personnel, who joined from the civilian world, but it was more than fortunate in its three Commanding Officers. Like the minting of a golden sovereign -- it was Alan Ramsay who first stamped the “round” from the metal in the first six months; it was Bill Cremor who indelibly impressed his image on it in the next two and a half years; and Roy Jaboor who provided the milled edge which preserved it free from defacement or spoiling during the remainder of its existence -- from beginning to end a Regiment to be proud of. I think that the outstanding characteristic of the Regiment was its family feeling, from which came its superb team spirit, and its creed that nothing but the best was good enough for the regiment, and for the Infantry it was supporting. Major -General * Brigadier W. E. Duncan, M.V.G., D.S.O., M.C. In 1945 inspector RA, and later editor of the R.A. War Commemorative Book. 2/2nd FIELD ARTILLERY REGIMENT, R.A.A. CONTENTS Chapter 1 Our Three Commanding Officers Chapter 2 The New Regiment Chapter 3 Growing Up Chapter 4 Puckapunyal to Palestine Chapter 5 Somewhere East of Suez Chapter 6 Desert and the Delta Chapter 7 Into Battle Chapter 8 The Battle of Bardia Chapter 9 Tobruk Chapter 10 On to Benghazi Chapter 11 Return to Egypt Chapter 12 Prelude to Disaster Chapter 13 Greece. A Tragedy of Heroism Chapter 14 Crete. A Debacle Chapter 15 Recuperating and Refitting Chapter 16 Whither Bound? Chapter 17 Ceylon and Senselessness Chapter 18 A Visit Home Chapter 19 In the Doldrums Chapter 20 Back to 6 Division Chapter 21 Aitape to Wewak Chapter 22 The End of a Regiment The Roll of Honour Decorations awarded to Members of the Regiment Appendix Account by Bombardier D. S. Spark of escape from Crete. Epilogue 2/2nd FIELD ARTILLERY REGIMENT, R.A.A. CHAPTER 1 THREE C.O.’s 1 (This sketch of the three C.O.'s of the regiment was made by an officer who knew the three of them in militia days and who served from 1939 to 1945 with the regiment.) He says: "My all too imperfect sketches of them, made with the help of several others, are designed to enable the reader to envisage the type of men who made -- and led -- one, not altogether insignificant, section of the Second A.I.F." MAJOR-GENERAL SIR ALAN RAMSAY, C.B., C.B.E., D.S.O., E.D. Alan Hollick Ramsay is one of that small but impressive group of Australians who have made a success of their careers, both as civilians and as soldiers. Enlisting in the First A.I.F. in 1915 at the age of twenty, he served as a signaller, gunner and N.C.O., and received his commission at the end of 1918. On his return to Australia he resumed duty with the Education Department, and his ability as a teacher brought him successive promotions until in 1939 he was a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the Melbourne University. Whilst on service with the Second A.I.F. he was selected for the most coveted position in the secondary division of the Victorian Education Department -- the head•mastership of Melbourne Boys' High School. Finally, he reached the highest post open to a Victorian educationist -- Director of Education. In between the two wars, Alan Ramsay continued to serve in the militia forces, and when war broke out he was C.R.A.,1 4th Divisional Artillery, with the rank of Brigadier. On the formation of the 6th Division, he was given the opportunity to take command of the newly formed 2/2nd Field Regiment and he unhesitatingly reverted to the rank of Lieut.- Colonel to do so. His job was to form a regiment. To do this he had to pick officers and get them all working together as a team; he had to train his troops, most of whom were raw recruits, and he had to weld the whole into a perfectly co-ordinated fighting team. No one could have been better suited to the task. Alan Ramsay was the best type of teacher. He was a scholar, but he was also a broad-minded individual. As a gunner officer he knew his job perfectly and as a commanding officer he inspired the respect of all ranks. He was completely unselfish and he was just. He was imperturbable, very far-seeing and determined. Under him, all differences in the early days were quietly smoothed out and he gave the regiment a start which few others could have done. The regiment is very proud of his subsequent record in becoming in succession C.RA. 9th Division, C.C.R.A. 1st Corps, and G.O.C. 5th Australian Division. BRIGADIER W. E. CREMOR, C.B.E., E.D. A brief taste of the 1914-18 war (aged twenty, he arrived just in time for the finish) and an intensive study of Japan and her history, by which he concluded that Japan would eventually attack Australia, furnished the impetus for Bill Cremor's decision to re-join the militia in 1923 as an artillery subaltern. By May, 1936, he had become a Lieut.-Colonel and C.O. of the l0th Field Brigade. Reverting from Lieut.-Colonel to Major, he followed Alan Ramsay into the A.I.F. as he had followed him in command of the l0th Bde. In all his service he was animated by two ideals: that all ranks must be efficient at their own jobs and that officers must look after their troops. Within twenty-four hours of their arrival all recruits were vividly aware of his presence; his direct and picturesque flow of language, his walking stick, and his energy impressed themselves on everyone. Efficiency was still his god. He knew his own job as a gunner, but he also knew that of the infantry and other arms. No one, senior or junior, was ever in any doubt as to his views, but this forthrightness did not tend to endear him to some seniors, and sometimes the regiment suffered through these having “a crack” at its C.O.